By James Murphy
Four years after reaching South Australia’s RAW Comedy state final, the musical comedy duo of Indian/Lebanese queer filmmaker and TV presenter Leela Varghese and Fijian Indian actor Shabana Azeez have launched their debut Fringe show, Brown on the Outside, White on the Inside which explores their shared experience of being brown in Australia, intermingled with gags about dating, “nice” guys and slow walkers.
The long gestation period between The Coconuts’ RAW comedy final appearance and their Fringe debut may have been tactical or, as they stated at the end of their performance, they may have needed the nudging from their producer, Annie Schofield from The Finest of Filth. Regardless of the reason, by gracing The Bally stage after four years of doing spots around town, be they at the Rhino Room or the OzAsia Comedy gala, the pair were greeted by a sell-out opening night crowd, while a throng of eager performers wielding artist passes who had heard the buzz were turned away. The buzz is deserved: The Coconuts are stage ready, tour ready, Melbourne ready, Edinburgh ready.
Varghese and Azeez are already independently successful creatives: Varghese’s films have won awards and been screened at Tropfest, while Azeez has acted in SBS, ABC and Netflix productions. There is a synergy, though, when these two creative minds meet, banter and bond. At the conclusion of a riotous set, Varghese cried as she spoke of the importance of this creative partnership, which has given them both the opportunity to raise awareness of the experience of growing up as a person of colour in a nation still embedded with systemic racism. Given all they’ve achieved separately, the sky is the limit; 2023 could mark the flight of The Coconuts.
Humour is inserted during every moment that the pair spend on stage: there is a pre-recorded joke track as the walk on, gags for when there is a change of guitar. While a couple of gags did not necessarily merit an entire song, it’s very hard to poke holes in The Coconuts’ formidable debut set. Theirs is not a talent that simply fell from a tree; they’ve made the steady climb, and now is the time to enjoy the sweet, sweet, innards.
Five stars
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