Pali and Jay’s Ultimate Asian Wedding DJ Roadshow – Octagon Theatre

The wedding caterers may not have turned up, but Bhangra beats, Snapchat and sabotage are still on the menu of tonight’s performance.

The show’s storyline is a simplistic one – DJ Pali (Jas Binag) is keen to permanently recruit his young assistant Jay (Viraj Juneja, who also wrote the show) to his Asian wedding DJ business, improve their Google rankings, and complete his LED-tile dance floor, goals that Jay seems a little reluctant to commit to. The show is described as am immersive experience, as various threats to Pali’s ambitions present themselves over the course of 75 minutes.

Pali and Jay are certainly a likeable pair and the bursts of music certainly get the toes tapping but the rest is less convincing. For an energetic wedding party, it’s a slow burner that seems to only find it’s feet in last 15minutes. The dialogue feels a bit forced and repetitive in some places (including recurring jokes about Chai tea), or laden with cultural references that seem a bit beyond quite a few in the audience.

Whilst the layout of the Octagon doesn’t really allow for a truly immersive experience (in previous performances the audience has been seated at cabaret tables), the best moments occur when members of the audience get involved, particularly a hilarious entrance of the ‘bride’ and ‘groom’.

And there are some clever moments that manage to shine, and the flashes of Bollywood-style dancing liven things up. But our understanding of what makes our disco duo really tick comes too late in the proceedings to truly buy-in to their dreams.

Ultimately, a bit of a re-write to sharpen the script and tighter direction to bring the pacing under control could turn this into a real gem of a show and take full advantage of its charming premise.

Reviewer: Lou Steggals

Reviewed: 16th October 2024

North West End UK Rating: