The title of Sid Singh’s ninth Fringe hour in ten years, ‘American Coloniser’, is ironically spelled with the British spelling. It’s an apt introduction to Sid’s show, which wrestles with his three halves of different identities: American, British, and Indian. Throughout the show, Sid voices his frustrations with an industry that touts inclusivity and diversity while seemingly favoring the performers of color who ‘sell out.’ By feeding into a specific type of representation that makes a mostly white-led industry comfortable with diversity, these performers, one of whom won the award for best show in 2023, may give up their morals while leaning on their identity to deliver a show without a truly fresh perspective to offer.

In ‘American Coloniser’, Sid does just that, but by commenting on it and on his frustrations with the industry, he does it tongue-in-cheek to appeal to the media and simultaneously offend it. He tells the story of his ancestors too — but they’re not just poor immigrants clawing their way to freedom and acceptance so that Sid can put on his show. They’re the villains in the story.

Sid’s twist on the classic riches-to-rags, immigrant ancestor-to-performer pipeline is not just a meaningful commentary on how much work the industry has to do to continue pushing diversity in a way that’s not tokenizing. It’s also funny! Sid works in his classic quickfire joke-writing to further his message. In comparison to his 2023 show, ‘Table for One’, which was award-worthy with one of the highest laugh-per-minute rates of any show at the Fringe, the jokes are fewer and perhaps less punchy than what we’ve seen from him.

But as a whole, ‘American Coloniser’ is carrying a much heavier load. While continuing to be his silly American-Indian-British self, Sid uses humor to get from point A to point B and teach his audience why performers like him deserve to be recognized, even if they’re not sucking up to the idea of what a classic Fringe performer of color’s show should be. Add to that the fact that despite over 10 years in the industry, Sid has never let his frustration weigh down his ultimate goal of raising money and support for the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, with whom he volunteers as a human rights lawyer. Without selling out his values or his story, Sid ironically pulls in his unique background to perform an impactful and funny show well worth seeing.

‘American Coloniser‘ is at Just the Tonic at Cabaret Voltaire – Just the Liberty Room until Sun 25 Aug (except Mon 12) at 17:00