Review: UROOJ ASHFAQ: HOW TO BE A BADDIE, Soho Theatre

“So I’m a bad girl now”

After some feedback from her last show, Urooj Ashfaq has returned with a new hour as a transformed woman. How to Be a Baddie has Ashfaq leaving behind the good-girl expectations that were set in the show that won her the Best Newcomer award at the 2023 Edinburgh Comedy Awards. But what inspired this change? It turns out that this show is based on a review she got from her 2023 show, Oh No!, from a comedy critic - let’s just call him Steve. 

According to this Steve critic, Ashaq is "appealing to conservative tastes,” a comment which gets a loud laugh from the audience - it’s pretty unusual to hear an actually conservative comedian somewhere like Soho Theatre. To defend her show, Ashfaq discusses what it’s like to perform comedy in India, comparing the levels of freedom of speech between her home and the UK. But enough of this conservative nonsense - it’s time for Ashfaq to break the taboo. 

Now that she’s a “baddie,” Ashfaq is ready to talk about a range of edgy topics, including Islam, erotica, and a surprisingly popular comedic subject these days - haemorrhoids. Ashfaq talks about growing up as a liberal atheist feminist who believes in astrology and the struggles she faced as a child, with the hate being “pretty 360” as an Indian woman. There’s a great bit in which Ashfaq does crowdwork through zodiac signs, leading to her keeping score between Allah and Juipter.  

The absolute highlight of the show comes during the section on erotica, with Ashfaq asking the crowd if they know what Wattpad is. While most audience members admit they don’t know what it is, a select group of people have an audible reaction, as the site is known for its fanfiction, mostly written by preteens and teenagers in the early 2010s. It turns out that Ashfaq was one of those authors, writing about Harry Styles from One Direction at the age of sixteen. But, if you’re unfamiliar with the concept of 1D fanfiction, fear not - Ashfaq has written an example of one of the most popular tropes, being “Sold to One Direction.” The fake fanfiction is so incredibly accurate (throwing your hair up in a messy bun, anyone?) that it will have former fangirls laughing and cringing at the same time.

The final subjects of the night? The light topics of child abuse and haemorrhoids. Ashfaq uses the subject of hitting your children to discuss her own childhood, where it was so commonplace for kids to be hit by their parents that there was an art to make it sustainable - no punching to be seen.

Ashfaq got in trouble a lot growing up for being talkative, which leads to a confrontation with another student who calls her sister a “randi,” a Hindi term for a prostitute. This is one of the segments in which those who speak Hindi will get a bit more enjoyment out of the bit, but that is the majority of the audience, so it makes sense for Ashfaq to make some jokes for them. Somehow, being talkative also leads to her getting surgeries for her haemorrhoids, which brings the show to a hilarious conclusion. 

Ultimately, Urooj Ashfaq: How to Be a Baddie is a great hour of comedy that allows Ashfaq to delve into some edgier topics than normal while still being her charming, Gen Z self. It just goes to prove that you don’t have to be controversial to be a successful comedian. Take that, Steve.

Urooj Ashfaq: How to Be a Baddie runs until 15 November at Soho Theatre. The show then tours to Leeds, Manchester, Luton, Leicester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Birmingham, Bradford, and Glasgow across November.