Bilal Zafar: Cakes

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Given that it's practically one big database for the absurd and the extreme, it's surprising that Twitter isn't exploited for comic effect in standup more often. Certainly on the evidence of Bilal Zafar's Cakes, it's a rich seam that's just waiting to be mined. 

Zafar uses his debut Fringe hour to recount more than mere one-off tweets, though. It's the story of an entire saga bourne out of his willingness to tackle trolls patiently. After a satirical tweet led online Islamophobes to believe he was running a Muslim-only cake shop in Bristol, he sensed an opportunity to prolong the fun and get a whole show's worth of material out of it in the process. By preserving the pretence and tweeting as though he was in fact the non-existent bakery, he managed to trip the EDL gang up in their own stupidity. The highlights of his bigot-baiting exchanges are even shown on a projector screen behind him for added context. 

Whilst it's a unique premise and the conceit works well initially, it does begin to feel a tad worn by the halfway point; the same joke repeated ad infinitum ("racists are gullable", essentially) eventuallly reaches the point of diminished returns. You're also acutely aware that you're laughing more at other people's idiocy than at his actual craft. 

Still, it's a delightfully deadpan affair, as well as a startling conduit to the murky depths of the web for anyone uninitiated with the unique charms of social media.