After a certain age, I’ve prided myself on going to bed – if not sleep – pretty early, so getting me out on a Monday for a show at 2100 feels like a late-night pub crawl. I’m not alone in staying up past my bedtime, because we have all come to Heldeke! to see Mohna Joshi’s Indian Auntie Goes Dating, a reflection on starting life over again in your fifties, and beyond. We start arriving nearly an hour early, before the staff have had a chance to reset the tables, or the comedian to even make it to the venue. When she does arrive, the sound check is brief and cheerful: “Drink as much as you can, we’ll see you in a bit!”
The show was opened by Moira, a Lithuania-based comedian and podcaster – the pair had subsequent performances in Vilnius. She’s a fabulous opener with quick speech and wit, acting as a gauge for “how far we can go” – but unlike other folks I’ve seen, she’s incredible at reading the room. Her blend of crowd work and personal anecdotes goes over very well, and the room is warmed up and ready to laugh more by the time the headliner takes the stage.
Mohna spent her fifties figuring how to get out of India, her marriage, and her mindset. Now living in the Netherlands and in possession of Dutch citizenship, a divorce, and a cycling addiction, she’s decided it’s time for her to climb back on the metaphorical bicycle. What follows is a masterclass in all my favourite things about comedy – her observational jokes draw from a deep well of knowledge, with incredible historical puns and wild reaches of imagination and relatability. She brings storytelling and one-liners, sound effects and physical comedy. She ranges from sex jokes to integration, playing with stereotypes and subversions on topics from old age to polyamory to cultural conditioning. She was, as one audience member put it after the show, “raunchy but wholesome”.
It was an incredible performance, and disappointingly only a one-night engagement, though I do hope not her last in Estonia. The Tallinn Fringe Festival, however, continues with more comedy and surprises through 18 September.
Author: Laurie
Laurie likes alliteration, ambiance, and lists with three things.
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