REVIEW: WHAT IS GOING ON? Sameera Bhalotra Bowers, Camden Fringe at Etcetera Theatre 21 – 23 August 2025
‘Bowers highlights the absurdities of life with straight faced irony’ ★★★★
Another sold out night for fresh Graduate and former Cambridge Footlight performer, Sameera Bhalotra Bowers. An hour of stand-up sketch comedy loosely linked by her current predicament: what to do with her degree in Law and Economics. Bowers comments on academia, and the absurdities of life with a sense of irony which also infuses her delivery.
She neatly highlights a common objection to the most obscure and petty research with some of her sketches. An Economist and Geographer argue in the jargon of their own subjects on the best place to locate a sea hotel and eventually compromise. Academics research whether it would be possible to make cows spherical, “but we’re barrel shaped”.
Bowers gives a nod to the obsession of getting media coverage and the need to tick inclusion boxes with a sketch about landing the role as the Indian face on the Final Pathway Manor Nursing Home brochure. The nursing home is a recurrent theme during the hour of comedy and allows her to give a poignant mention of her own grandfather. This is the moment that Bowers steps out of the public domain and into something far more personal and she allows it to show. It’s deeply felt and an interesting juxtaposition with her lighter material.
A therapist called ‘Crystal’ is also neatly portrayed, with a nod to the very fashionable Gestalt therapy that emphasizes the importance of being fully present in the moment. She’s all flowing scarves, and softly spoken mysticism. It easily has the feeling of a whole culture, and could offer further material.
Bowers also uses rhyme, audience participation and puppetry. The audience seems quite willing to take part, and one wonders how Bowers would cope with a less eager response. The rhyming is cheesy, but this is comedy, whereas the puppetry is quite complex, a GPS system going in two different directions with her uncle and father at the wheel. This might need a little more definition and again, could offer larger, rip roaringly funny material. Nevertheless, it all adds to the invention of the show and allows more variety keeping the attention on her performance.
Bowers ticks a lot of boxes, for originality, having a distinctive voice, being able to highlight the absurdities of our lives today, and not being afraid of offending anyone (whilst keeping a cap on it). It is interesting that the Asian aspect of her show is down-played, which is a refreshing considering so many comedians use their heritage as barbs, but at the same time she’s slipping in one or two comments allowing us to see underneath the skin from time to time.
It might be the case that Bowers has found something that she would like to pursue, there are plenty of comedy venues for her to hone her craft. She has plenty of material and an overall sharp observation of the absurd, which could now be developed into more in depth studies and lacerating critique.
WHAT IS GOING ON? Sameera Bhalotra Bowers, Camden Fringe at Etcetera Theatre 21 – 23 August 2025
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