Proud Glaswegian Hardeep Singh Kohli is back for another hour of political discourse, wrapped in humour. Coming out to loud applause and stopping to hug members of the audience before drinking most of his friend's pint, Hardeep was quite slow to get properly going, but such was his stage presence and natural charisma that the audience were happy to go along for the ride.
Alternative, Fact is not a quick-paced, laugh-a-minute type show. Instead, Hardeep recalls his childhood growing up in Glasgow and using it to draw comparisons with the modern day political climate.
For the most part, he held the audience throughout, although you could feel the points where attention started to slip. His musings on the Scottish Independence referendum, despite being conciliatory in tone, still seemed to divide the room - and his attempt to break bread with 'No' voter James completely failed, sucking the energy out of the room. It also slightly failed to resonate with a proportion of the room simply because the audience weren't exclusively Scottish.
It's not like Hardeep didn't know that either. At points, when he got especially energised, he slipped into a full blown Glaswegian accent and then went back to translate what he said for the English in the room, recognising that there were some who didn't understand. It was funny in its own right, but it did slow the pace down further.
Although not continuously funny, it was consistently thought-provoking. The liberal dialogue has changed in recent months to finally start asking why it is that voters are going against the polls and Hardeep advocates and initiates such enquiry. We have a lot to learn from one another, and that won't be achieved through shouting.
Read our interview with Hardeep here. For tickets and more information visit the Ed Fringe website.
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