Kanan Gill wonders why he is putting himself through monetary loss to perform at Fringe because he’s actually very famous in India. But boy, are we glad he’s dipping deep into his pockets since this show is a must-watch.

Propelled to fame in 2014 due to the cult following of his and fellow comic Biswa Kalyan Rath’s Pretentious Movie Reviews of Bollywood films on YouTube, it is true that Gill is now well-known in the comedy circuit in India. He’s even starred in a Netflix Christmas movie and had a few specials there and on Amazon Prime. ‘What Is This?’ marks his Fringe debut.

Gill is an Indian stand-up comic, but his Fringe show won’t be enjoyed by just Indians. His routine deals with existential crises in your 30s, but it won’t be appreciated by just millennials. He brings in metaphysical concepts about contentment and identity – who we are internally, the (cringeworthy) self we put forth into the world, and the amorphous Ideal Future Self we aspire to be but can never achieve – but it’s not targeted at just philosophy junkies.

Gill exudes ease. The deftness with which he moves about the small stage, manoeuvres obstacles in the form of beams and hanging speakers, and reacts to interruptions lets the audience know that they are in safe hands. He is playful and charming, so his quips about his audience only provoke laughter. Even the preposition-ary naming of the Pleasance venues aren’t safe from his sharp observations. His comedic physicality and goofiness strike a balance with the intellectuality of his material. The routine takes us through the never-ending bureaucratic intricacies in India, to the search for a friend’s hateful cat, and – surprisingly – the Tiramisu World Cup in a small Italian village. And these disparate scenes are cleverly bound together through his overarching quest for answers.

Luckily for the audience, one of the answers to extract meaning from life could be to live in the moment, and Gill’s skillful performance makes it easy to do so.

‘What Is This?’ is at Pleasance Courtyard– Cabaret Bar until Sunday 25 August 2024 at 17:40