Raul Kohli’s comedy material sounds intriguing: he’s apparently going to use his comedy and his life experiences to explore divinity, let go of the past and find peace in our increasingly unstable world. Wow! Is that what we’re going to get tonight at BATS stage for A British Hindu’s Guide to the Universe?

Kohli is on a world tour, and this is his first time in New Zealand. He’s on a search for the meaning of life and here he is armed with just a table, a stool, a microphone and questions for the audience. “Where do you derive your meaning from?” is directed at a hapless chap in the audience who dares to admit he’s Hindu.

Kohli hails from Newcastle in the UK, a town noted for its football team. This claim to fame turns out to be of recurring importance. The film Braveheart came out in 1995, and Newcastle, to honour William Wallace, put up a statue. But no one knew what Wallace looked like, so guess who the statue resembles?

From being diagnosed with ADHD as a child, Kohli confesses to drinking, then smoking, then to being found sexually attractive as a means to meaning. “Is anyone here in a relationship?” he asks. If we are, we’re not prepared to admit it. At this point, I’m not going to let a joking reference to 9/11 go. There was a similar one made in the recent comedy gala. Must I reiterate that any joke about this appalling event is completely unacceptable?

The year 2020 marked a change for Kohli as it did for so many of us. A trip to India, and later a bout of Covid had salutary effects. But his career in comedy was taking off, and it hasn’t stopped since. Even if Newcastle United lost to Manchester United, life goes on according to the holy man Kohli attributes his search for meaning to, and it’s full of contradictions.

I get the idea that our comedian is still in search. That’s honest. If someone were to ask you “Where do you derive your meaning from?” what would you say? Thanks, Kohli, for asking.

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