Jess Karamjeet does stand-up comedy with REDUNDANT, a portrait of the artist as a young, queer, bi-sexual, multi-racial, physically handicapped, neuro-divergent, woman of the female persuasion.
This was performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2023 as Redundant Neighbours Writer Does Stand Up.
Karamjeet is a British National. She has a white British father and a Punjabi mother.
She has a passion for writing and has completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in creative writing and writing for stage and screen.
She has been domiciled in New Zealand since 2019, has been an emerging talent on the local comedy scene inside the recent global Pan era. That is Panic, Pandemonium and Pandemic.
The full title references her dream to become a writer on a soap opera, and her addiction was the Australian soap Neighbours.
Soaps are unwatchable for me. Except for that which is one of the greatest television achievements ever, Coronation Street. Can still drop in and out of that one at will. And retain an air of high-brow superiority by revelling in the fact that it takes inspiration from Dylan Thomas and Under Milk Wood.
Working as a doctor in the UK in the early Nineties, I was chided by colleagues for this, who were all addicted to Neighbours and even admired Shortland Street (come on, there is a limit).
Even though I found Neighbours no different from any other, it boasted sterling alumni.
Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Holly Valance, Guy Pearce, Delta Goodrem, Natalie Imbruglia, Margot Robbie (Jess admits to a crush), Russell Crowe.
Overflowing with talent and so it must have pulled in writers of the same standard. Karamjeet stamped her personal mark on the show by introducing gay marriage and a transgender character.
The stage is minimal and confined to an intimate space. A comfy chair, the type Ronnie Corbett sat in for his tangential monologues, an acoustic guitar and a microphone are the only props needed.
We are all welcomed into the Loft theatre by Karamjeet wearing a striking figure-hugging black outfit. The next hour will be seductive feminine Anima energy, where the polemical and political come in disguise.
Her comedy career was established in this country. She founded the Pan Asian Comedy School Aotearoa. To encourage other Asians to break perceived confines of race and inertia experienced from inside a dominant culture.
Karamjeet has a smooth practised manner and leads the audience into her odyssey. She mentions some critics saying she is non-linear in her material. The best comedians are.
I watched Henry Rollins and Heath Chopper Franklin do this within the last year. Great comedians must always be great actors first.
A little detail but her English accent helps immensely. Like Billy Connelly and his refined Glasgow one. The broad one is incomprehensible and try reading an Irvine Welsh version of it.
Karamjeet takes us on a journey of being mixed brown and white. Not black, and the distinction is important. Indians and Europeans are of the same Caucasian racial sub-type. One reason why the fissuring of the Empire started in India.
At its heart is an erotic power. I am aware of it, being fully Indian and growing up in a predominantly white New Zealand. Being born and growing up in Pukekohe, where the openly racist White League of New Zealand was founded in the 1920’s.
We get to hear of her physical disability of fibromyalgia, a syndrome of widespread pain and generalised fatigue. Also, her overarching label as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
She throws it into her routine early. Speaking to a male in the front row, I know you understand and I want to jump the girl next to you. Poor impulse boundaries.
Asian family prejudices still apply in mixed race families. The older brother carries on the tradition of a lawyer and a judge’s career. She wanted to write and dance.
A central part of the show tonight centres on the death of her father. When she found out she was Daddy’s little girl although she must have had a sense of this growing up.
This was also a feature of her Grief Sex Race show in 2022 which won her a Fringe Festival Award.
Karamjeet is open and frank about her sexuality, and diving into intimate personal details which draws laughter. One quarter uncomfortable, three-quarters big belly laughs.
I have found female comedians are far more gynecologically focused than males. Women in the audience may be more vocal in appreciation. Fluid gender times may be breaking these barriers.
She can also pick up an acoustic guitar and drop a little Folk song in context. Again, this is like Billy Connelly, who was a Folkie musician before his stand-up comedy. Playing with fellow Glaswegian Gerry Rafferty in a duo named the Humblebums.
I don’t think she has performed solely as a musician.
Jess Karamjeet and her REDUNTANT show is raw, ribald, and openly personal comedy. Held together by a seductive feminine Anima spell.
Rev. Orange Peel
