Review: Nabil Abdulrashid: The Purple Pill

When we're next congratulating ourselves with an ecstatic, mutual backslap about how 'anyone can put on a show' at the Fringe, we'd do well to think of Nabil Abdulrashid.

Despite establishing himself as a comedian over several years, despite the Fringe's grip on the UK comedy scene, getting on Britain's Got Talent seemed a more realistic goal for Abdulrashid than doing an Edinburgh show. 

On the back of his TV success, with no real need to do Edinburgh at all, Abdulrashid is now here. And perhaps because he doesn't need to grease up the comedy industry The Purple Pill is an hour with no time wasted. 

He manages to side-step easy categorising: he isn't keen on the division of right and the left in politics; he wants to be a good dad to his two daughters (while knowing he doesn't have all the answers); he's perceptive about the impact a developmental disorder can have over a life – but how, in the wrong hands, such labels can be abused.

But his activism, his ethics, his thoughtfulness about the wider social context is all very practical and conversational. He successfully interrupts our echo chambers – simply by offering a point of view that's wrapped in modesty and understanding.

The Purple Pill is also wrapped in jokes, Abdulrashid is never far away from a punchline, and the laughter, sometimes his own, spreads around the room with contagious joy.