Nazeem Hussain has over 300,000 followers on Instagram and nearly a million on TikTok, so it’s not too surprising that his show You Paid for This is playing to packed houses.
He plays the culture card immediately in his set, instantly checking out the demographics of his audience. While doing so, his show has parallels to He Huang’s MICF 2025 show White Man’s Burden, in that different cultures and racial stereotypes are such a rich mine for comedians to plunder, and also that they provide an arena for edgy, provocative, dangerous comedy. In fact, more than once this reviewer was laughing equally at the joke and Hussain’s audacity for saying it.
Hussain says that Sri Lankans “identify ourselves by not being Indian”, similar to Asian people all being presumed to be Chinese. His topics include the Tooth Fairy, the current popularity of true crime (“in Sri Lanka it’s called crime”) and extended stories involving racist trolls on social media and how he deals with them. These stories are fascinating and very funny insights into the online life of a “brown” person, especially one as popular and prolific as Hussain. It also surveys the kind of characters he meets out there in the cyber world.
It’s clear that Hussain has been in front of countless audiences – his assuredness on stage is that of a seasoned pro. WIth only a few shows left, including extra shows on Friday and Saturday, get your ticket while you can.
Tickets: $35-$45
Nazeem Hussain: You Paid for This will be performed at various venues until 20 April as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF 2025).
