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Egyptian Australian Akmal Saleh has made a name for himself through mainstream Australian radio and television and his current show It’s not my Fault feels in that vein. Although touching on racial issues and the immigrant experience, it’s more lightweight than hard hitting. This is not to say it isn’t funny – Akmal has plenty of entertaining jokes on religion (he was raised a Coptic Orthodox Christian), regional Australia (he’s been gigging at every RSL from here to far north Queensland), Egypt’s contribution to world civilization and the stupidity of footballers. He keeps things rolling, with considerable spatterings of the f*** word and offers to answer any questions, should there be any.

Warm up act Joel Osbourne got the crowd going but most of his material stemmed from two people in the front row – an Irish man with quiffed hair on a date with his beautiful Aussie wife and a woman eating Kettle Chips rambling on about Formula One. He dragged that out for all it was worth and then had a couple of good lines about working cruise ships, theatre seating etiquette and an impression of Tom Cruise.

Overall, this whole show could go further in both its subject matter and also, simply, in its duration. Even with Osbourne’s opening act, It’s Not My Fault clocks in at under an hour, which feels a bit underdone. In terms of content, Akmal plays up the wog, bogan, terrorist stereotypes that you’d expect. His long winded story about him, Osbourne and a friend dressing up as Arabs and going to the Rockhampton show where he got threatened and beat up by a scary woman is about as deep as it gets in his discussion about middle eastern politics and perceptions.

As standard comedy fare, this show passes, but considering the high profile and unique background of Akmal, I wanted more. 


A-List Entertainment
It's Not My Fault
Akmal

Venue: Athenaeum Theatre | 188 Collins St, Melbourne
Dates: 24 March - 18 April, 2010
Times: Tue - Sat 9.45pm, Sun 8.45pm
Duration: 75 minutes
Tickets: Full Fri-Sun $34, Full Wed & Thu $29. Tightarse Tuesday $25
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 | Venue Bookings 03 9650 1500 | at the door
Visit: www.akmal.com.au