Sleeping With The Yemeni: Mike Eshaq – Just The Tonic Legends

Mike Eshaq is an American Muslim on Yemeni descent, who has served in the US marines and loves bacon. In other words, he has plenty to talk about. He comes from Detroit, which used to be America’s murder capital. But the city has been colonised by hipsters and now, even Eshaq’s old friends use words like “delectable”.

It is Eshaq’s first time in Scotland, and apparently we are hard to understand. In particular, Eshaq’s GPS does not like the Old Town. “Have you ever found a show.. and then found that you were above the show?” That’s my pet peeve about Edinburgh (my home city) too!

Eshaq travels extensively, doing shows in all sorts of exotic locations – but the weirdest is Oklahoma. He is keen to learn about Scotland and what makes us tick. One joke falls flat due to the cultural difference, and Eshaq is keen to understand why. A good comedian is always learning from their audience.

Eshaq is direct in his delivery, with a confident stance befitting of a US marine. He is curious too, about people and places and culture, which feeds well into his style of observational comedy. There are plenty of punchlines, a few of which are in bad taste, but Eshaq keeps us on his side. Eshaq seems like good company, and I greatly enjoyed his show.

Reviewer: Wendy McEwan

Reviewed: 9^th August 2024

North West End UK Rating: