Razor-sharp stand-up with candid storytelling that’s as heartfelt as it is hilarious
Commissioned by the Lowry as part of their Developed With programme, ‘How’s Your Head’ is the debut stand-up show from Aarian Mehrabani, performed in the Lowry’s studio ahead of his upcoming run at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Mehrabani is energetic right from the start, walking on after a warm-up playlist of upbeat Charli XCX and Gracie Abrams numbers and drinking from his water bottle to, in his own words, assert dominance. The show is full of jokes, from the introduction to the post-show thanks. His crowd work and stage presence is deft, and Mehrabani never pulls his comedic punches. The show is playful and varied, with projections and audio clips keeping everyone interested without ever feeling gimmicky. Dec Munro’s direction is central to the success of ‘How’s Your Head’, bringing Mehrabani’s jokes to life and maintaining the energy of the show.
As acknowledged in its description, there’s a risk that at times ‘How’s Your Head?’ could feel scattered, covering Mehrabani’s previous visits to the Fringe, his childhood, politics, his deteriorating eyesight and his brain cancer, his bisexuality. However, various running jokes and themes pull everything together. He repeatedly hands one couple in the audience his medical documents; there’s a repeated gag about his love of bells; and various references to his planned take on comedian Hannah Gadsby’s show ‘Nanette’, done as an impression of Benjamin Netanyahu. Other impressions include Donald Trump with a self-professed subpar Australian accent; Mehrabani’s self-deprecating sarcasm works particularly well in this part of the show. As in a similar section where he tries to get his mother to write him a will while becoming increasingly irritated at her for crying over his cancer diagnosis, Mehrabani is skilled at not taking himself too seriously and playing up his own flaws for comedic effect.
‘How’s Your Head’ has an interesting atmosphere: conversational and intimate, but also angry at times. The tone of the show becomes much more sincere and serious towards the end, though not in a way that feels jarring or unnatural. Personally, various jokes about his freelance consultancy work and accessibility in the arts landed well, but it’s possible that wasn’t the case for everyone.
Mehrabani’s performance can be a little limited at times, with his vocal delivery essentially restricted to either shouting down the mic or talking in a completely conversational tone. It’s only really the former that feels overused, though, with the latter suiting the intimacy of the space and his closeness to the crowd in a way that the swearier version of Mehrabani doesn’t always.
That said, ‘How’s Your Head’ does a good job at balancing its humorous and sincere sides, and is even educational at times, with some displays of Iranian dancing, slideshows on phraseology, and a discussion of the racial politics of Elmer the elephant. Most importantly, though, it’s very funny.
‘How’s Your Head’ was performed on the 31st July and 1st August at the Lowry, Salford, ahead of a run at the Edinburgh Fringe – Tickets here.