Kids Corner

Film/Stage

Hardeep is Your Love:
Sikh-Briton Hardeep Singh Kohli is Back With a New Stand-Up Comedy Tour

ALAN THOMPSON, et al

 

 

 

 

 

It's hard to talk about the subject of sex to a cross-cultural audience, relentlessly poking fun at bedroom habits - and yet offend no one.

Hardeep Singh Kohli - fresh from his five-week run in Aladdin at De Montfort Hall over Christmas – managed to pull another genie out of the hat to make it work.

A full house at the Crumblin Cookie laughed uproariously as the Glaswegian funnyman took a ribald ramble through people's attitudes to the subject in his year-long Hardeep Is Your Love Tour which he chose to kick off with this show as part of the Leicester Comedy Festival.

The broadcaster, journalist and chef offered his take on life, love and finding romance in middle age - drawn from his own deeply personal experiences.

No one was safe from the bouquet of barbed wire he served up which made those of us who weren't publicly probed about their most private moments soooooo grateful.

There was also the odd departure into achingly funny tales - drawn from stories about friends - about unfortunate experiences with an upset stomach on a train and the too-ridiculous-for-words uniform dating website.

But the more he probed, the more the audience loved it. Much of the subject matter was X-rated and unsuitable to repeat in a family newspaper, but the audience lapped it up.

It was funny; very funny; toe-curlingly, squirmingly funny.

He genuinely seems to love visiting and staying in the city too, declaring "Leicester, I f****** love you" and that he will be back later this year in panto again.

*   *   *   *   *

Following a successful season at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013, So Comedy are proud to announce the highly anticipated UK Tour of Hardeep Singh Kohli's debut Stand Up Comedy show.

After three critically acclaimed tours that have tantalized the tastebuds of audiences across the UK with his culinary skills and anecdotes, Hardeep has decided to step out from behind his hotplate and take to the stage with only a microphone and an evening's worth of top class humour.

This brand new show examines the pitfalls and triumphs of a pure soul searching for love ... Unfortunately that soul is trapped in the body of a 43-year-old, hairy, fat, brown man from Glasgow.

Hardeep is a regular panellist on Channel 5's hugely popular current affairs show, The Wright Stuff and has been a regular reporter on BBC1's The One Show and a guest on BBC 1's Question Time, and This Week with Andrew Neil. For Channel 4 he has written and presented the BAFTA Award winning In Search of the Tartan Turban, the critically acclaimed and award winning Hardeep Does ... and the seminal gambling series 50 Says You'll Watch This.

As a journalist, his column in Scotland on Sunday called "Hardeep is Your Love" saw him twice nominated in 2007 and 2008 for Scottish Columnist of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards. He is also Contributing Editor on the Spectator Magazine, has written for the Independent on Sunday, The Times, Observer Woman, Conde Nast Traveller, to name but a few.

Having started his broadcasting career in radio he still holds the wireless very dear, presenting extensively across Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live and has made a plethora of documentaries for Radios 2, 3 and 4.


[Courtesy: Leicester Mercury & Broadway World. Edited for sikhchic.com]
February 18, 2014

 

Conversation about this article

1: Shammy (United Kingdom), February 18, 2014, 7:36 AM.

I thought his 'Thought for The Day' on Radio 4 was excellent - More power to your elbow!

2: Sandeep Singh Brar (Canada), February 18, 2014, 11:07 AM.

I lost all respect for him after he wrote that Guardian article against Sikh kids being allowed to carry kirpans in school. Not only does he consider the kirpan irrelevant, but he also referred to himself as a 'secular Sikh' in the article, whatever that means. For Hardeep, the Gurus' gift of the dastar is nothing more than a stage prop to attract attention in the competitive world of comedians. That's too bad, he could have been a great role model for Sikhs.

3: Harmeet Singh (USA), February 18, 2014, 2:30 PM.

Sandeep, I really don't think one needs to be so harsh and dismissive of someone to be a Sikh. This is something that will never allow us to be culturally appreciative of ourselves.

4: G Singh (United Kingdom), February 18, 2014, 4:44 PM.

Sandeep, there is a huge argument within the community itself over whether it is such a good idea for kids to wear a kirpan to school. Should kids only take amrit when they have been through puberty and are old enough and mature enough to understand what the Khalsa vows mean?

5: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), February 18, 2014, 6:48 PM.

Very funny man who was a regular on my favourite UK show, "The One Show"! I miss his talent and humour more than I miss him being any particular kind of Sikh because he is naturally funny and that is good because our world needs Sikhs in every department ... including comedy!

6: Aryeh Leib (Israel), February 19, 2014, 3:51 AM.

The ability to make people laugh is truly a gift, as it unites people for a good cause. I would hope that Hardeep will use his resourceful mind to find a way to get the laughs without resorting to scatological references and vulgar speech. Surely a man who presents himself as a Sardar should set a good example in this regard. In this day and age there's no excuse for adopting the adage, "If you want to get along, you've got to go along."

7: Parmjit Singh (Canada), February 19, 2014, 9:35 PM.

Sandeep, I agree with you. Hardeep may be intelligent, funny, nice, etc. However, in addressing the kids and the kirpan issue, he has undermined and insulted the kirpan for all Sikhs. He has done so very carelessly, if not cleverly.

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Sikh-Briton Hardeep Singh Kohli is Back With a New Stand-Up Comedy Tour"









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