Review - Nabil Abdulrashid: The Purple Pill | Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023

Nabil Abdulrashid. Photo credit: Matt Stronge

Standup comedy review - Nabil Abdulrashid: The Purple Pill ★★★★☆

review: Pleasance Courtyard, Beside | August 2023

Making his Edinburgh Fringe debut this year, Nabil Abdulrashid is already an established comedian, and it shows. He's relaxed, confident and seemingly at ease with the packed-out audience.

‘This isn’t my Edinburgh debut.. this is Edinburgh’s Nabil debut and it’s been a long time coming!’ - Nabil

A clever, well structured comedy set

Straight away Nabil let's us know that he's from Croydon via Nigeria, and neither allow for a soft-handed upbringing. He's angry, he's opinionated, and I don't think I disagreed with a single word he said. Preach!!

Nabil's set, The Purple Pill, is a tightly woven hour crammed full of entertaining stories about morals, about being a parent, about being black. But it's really about the challenges and choices everyone makes in life, and it's hilarious.

Nabil makes sure to cover as many topics as he can fit into one hour, but he somehow manages to pull it all back full circle and relate his seemingly random outbursts to earlier topics. It's a clever, well structured show.

Allegedly Nabil received a complaint previously that one of his sets had too many stories. For me, as someone with a terribly short attention span, I want all the stories, give me all the content; I want my money's worth! I love that Nabil's mind is obviously racing and he's bursting to share his thoughts with us. But it in no way felt rushed or chaotic; it's perfectly judged.

Nabil varies the tone, volume and even language he uses throughout his set and I found this added interest and kept the audience on their toes. I'd never heard the word 'moist' used as an insult before, but Nabil used it a few times to great effect. "You can't do that; that's moist!" Everyone instantly new what he meant.

Despite the audience being from a variety of backgrounds, everyone seemed to relate to the topics he raised. He's such a charismatic, likeable performer, that even when he was hurling insults at the audience, everyone was on his side. His rapport with the crowd was great all night, and the room was full of warmth and good vibes to the end. I can see why he's so in demand. ★★★★☆

Age Recommendation and Content Warnings

16+ | Nudity. This show contains audience participation and strong language.

When and Where?

Pleasance Courtyard, Beside

Dates: 2 - 27 Aug (not 15)

Time: 18:05 (60 mins)

Tickets: Weekdays £11 / £10 | Weekends £13 / £12