Fringe review: Adi Parmar – Sunny Boy
Flashes of Bollywood energy drive this fascinating biographical show. ★★★★★
Walk in expecting stand-up, leave feeling you’ve experienced someone else’s life for an hour. Sunny Boy begins with straightforward, sharp jokes: about being queer, about family expectations and the awkward, sometimes painful, dance of explaining yourself to the people who raised you. The room quickly fills with warm, familiar laughter; the kind that suggests recognition. ‘Papa Adi’ is funny, dramatic and full of heart, with flashes of Bollywood energy woven through the storytelling.
Then the show slowly opens up. Parmar speaks about first love, first kisses and becoming a father. He shares stories from his childhood: rebellious, tender and complicated. The laughter doesn’t go away but you sense that it has softened, shifted. No one moves, no one checks their phone, smiles turn to quiet sniffles and the and the odd wipe of the eyes. But nothing feels forced: it simply feels real.
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What lingers most is the ending: there’s no big punchline, only a quiet confession as Parmar tells us the one thing he wishes for. It’s honest, simple and it breaks your heart open. Sunny Boy isn’t just comedy, it’s love, forgiveness and growth, all wrapped around with humour.
Sunny Boy is playing at the Squeaker at Gluttony from February 20 – March 1
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