Fab Goualin: Mixed Messages comedy review – A likeable and catty presence
A free-wheeling trawl through racism, coming out and adulthood anchors this likeable tour of Goaulin’s life
With a wide grin and a penchant for berets, French Nigerian comic Fab Goualin has an easy charm that makes his gig feel more like a chat with your (slightly bitchy-but-we-love-it) mate than a polished routine. He recounts navigating awkward assumptions around his identity with a light touch, spinning between racist colleagues, a quinoa-fuelled childhood, his athletic family and the expectations people seem to place on him.
Retelling how he came out to his Nigerian family is hilarious, as is his devastation over swapping sweaty nights on the dancefloor for silly little dogs and Jo Malone candles. Goualin is quick but kind with the crowd, even when a rude ringtone threatens his grand finale. Occasionally, the material treads familiar ground as he eye-rolls at the creeping horrors of adulthood (think Rightmove, overpriced lattes and phone-obsessed boomers) but with a wink and a nudge, he mostly gets away with it.
Fab Goualin: Mixed Messages, Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 30 August, 5.40pm.