In a world where so many people are afraid to say so many things, Ethnic Cleansing felt like a breath of fresh air.

South African – Indian comedian Ruven Govender does everything he can to offend various ethnic groups in his FRINGE WORLD Festival show. From jokes about his upbringing in South Africa, New Zealand and eventually, Australia.

It’s important to note that most people would consider Govender to be what you would call ‘racially ambiguous'. You can’t really tell exactly where he is from, and he knows that. He uses his multicultural background to engage with the multicultural crowd – with people from Scotland, New Zealand and Nigeria.

The show began with a general discussion of where everyone is from and without fail, whenever, Govender will find a way to mock them. There were six Scottish people in the front row who were made fun of and he referred to the one black person in the crowd as ‘my brother’. The first few minutes of the show, when the audience laughed, we all looked at each other as if to say ‘It’s ok to be laughing at this right? Right?’.

The show centres around the idea of poking fun at different ethnic and racial groups (I mean, the show is called Ethnic Cleansing after all). The show didn’t really offend anyone in the crowd. Although that is usually a good thing, and the show was still great, it could have gone further in terms of its offensive-style humour. But the charm and charisma Govender make sure no one is offended.

The style of jokes Govender tells is mainly anecdotal, so it makes It easy for every immigrant in the audience to relate to him, which only adds to his charm. His hilarious takes about how gyms are only for white people, his favourite Bollywood movie ‘Harrah Pottah and the Chamber of Commerce’ and the British Empire’s ‘sales pitch’ of Indians being transported to South Africa for slave labour

Overall, Ethnic Cleansing is a comedy show that doesn’t need to be politically correct to stand on its own two feet and make everyone in the audience laugh, guilt-free.