Watching Saaniya Abbas on stage is like listening to that one friend who has a funny take on just about everything. That’s how well she builds a rapport with the audience. And nothing is too sacred or out of bounds, from politics to religion to personal life.
Abbas, we quickly learn, grew up in a conservative Muslim family in New Delhi and studied at a residential school run by Roman Catholic nuns. That in itself offers comedic gold – the restrictions of convention and religion turn into anecdotes of sharp wit. Having then moved to Dubai for work, she found standup comedy, porn, and a British husband, not necessarily in that order. She brings to stage her experiences from all these different aspects of her life as sharp social commentary hidden in a clever script.
Take for instance her response to how, on announcing her tour of USA, she received racist social media comments insinuating that she would go to America, get pregnant and never leave. You would expect this to be about immigration or racism or even the current political atmosphere in the States. Instead, she says, “If I found I was pregnant, I would be on the next flight to India where abortion is legal and safe.” Brutal.
Abbas explores the idea of personal hells – how it would look different for each person. Bad WiFi? Having to spend eternity with an ex? Her own torture, she reckons, would play out under the watchful gaze of her mother. For the Democrats in the US, life right now must be hell, though for Republicans, hell would have no guns and they would have to “watch children go safely to school”.
There are several more vignettes that Abbas leaves with you. Colonialism, the image of Mandelson and Andrew sitting on “the naughty step”, being stuck behind tall people at a Taylor Swift concert, crossing roads while drunk in UK as against India. Divorce and dating feature too, but she doesn’t need to flog these overused topics for material; she has plenty others.
Abbas concludes that her comedy comes from her failures, that her way of coping with setbacks was to write jokes about them. But that would be too simplistic a take on what she does, too commonplace. What she does is take her intersectionality of being Muslim, Indian and female, roll it in the dust of her experiences, and strike it open like a pinata on the global stage.
Saaniya Abbas: Hellariousruns until 14th February at Soho Theatre with tickets available at https://sohotheatre.com
Reviewer: Savitha Venugopal
Reviewed: 10th February 2026
North West End UK Rating:
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