Toronto Fringe Review: Aliya Kanani: Where Are You From, From?

It’s a good year for stand up at the Fringe Fest in no small part because of Aliya Kanani and her warm hearted, yet biting, Where Are You From, From?

Kanani has the comfort and ease on stage of a woman who has been writing and performing comedy long before Groupon was a thing, as she grabs the attention of her audience and doesn’t let go until she decides she’s done.

Her curiosity and love of people informing all of her jokes, that makes it easy for Kanani to hold everyone rapt as she talks about difficult things like racism, sexism, hardships and dead parents with a disarming warmth and openness that, otherwise, might make less melanated and more masculine audiences pucker.

Throughout the set, Kanani sets up questions of identity from overt “where are you from, from?” situations to ways in which women’s identities are challenged. Whether it’s Kanani rhyming with a common euphemism, a story about deciding motherhood isn’t for her and her subsequent IUD, or demonstrating what rap sounds like when the male gaze is inverted, all her jokes are central to the importance of identity. So when she brings the final and vulnerable quarter of her set back round to the loaded nature of the titular question, it hits hard as the chorus of laughter fills the theatre.

After the sold out show, Kanani proved her curiosity about people to be as genuine as the audience’s affection for her, by taking the time to speak with everyone who wanted to congratulate her, share experiences, thank her for making them feel seen. Watching from the line for the next show was a sweet bonus show that made Kanani and her already heart warming show just that much more endearing.

Aliya Kanani: Where Are You From, From? in on now until July 16 as part of the 2022 Toronto Fringe Festival.
Find show times and tickets here.