Can art change the world? This is the weighty topic at the heart of Kate Cheka’s debut hour, one that wowed Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 and has lost none of its relevance and refreshing political directness.

You don’t see many left wing stand-ups these days – not to be confused with liberal, vaguely “progressive” comedians, whose anti-establishment credentials were so defenestrated during the Jeremy Corbyn era*.

With neoliberalism and austerity rolling forever on, Cheka is a proud socialist, whose talk of guillotines, billionaires, and the hoped-for venn diagram intersection between them make the white liberals in the audience decidedly uneasy.

They absolutely don’t need to be. This comedian is so genuine and dedicated to punching up in all the correct, and occasionally brilliantly savage ways; she invites us into her metaphysical circle like it’s the most natural thing in the world, as though we’re in the corner of the coolest bar in Berlin and our friend is setting the world to rights.

Her upbringing – with a white, militantly feminist mother; learning of her faraway, black father, a retired Tanzanian politician – is beautifully told here, and Cheka’s effortless, extremely meandering rivers of material veer between the personal and the political (there are also ox bow lakes of dating, sex, and bisexual societal mores). Even when a segue is clunky, she draws attention to it, embracing the absurdity of it all. 

All the best targets are hit: North London white boys called DJ Mango; Bob Geldof, Comic Relief, and the whole industry of White Saviourism; right-on male feminists who can’t handle a bit of muff; and we’re presented with incredibly funny jokes about Meghan Markle, Israeli lovers and wealthy submariners which absolutely do not get the reception they deserve.

Just when you think you’ve got a handle on Cheka, she’ll throw a brilliant curve-ball, like her not-exactly-Brighton-friendly take on environmentalism; or her important, room-silencing points about sexual predators within stand-up, or the mysterious difficulty of an award-winning, anti-colonialist, black, socialist comedian has in acquiring an agent.

Back to the world changing – or not – there is some musing here about whether our comedian could be using her undeniable talent and ambition in a field more impactful than stand-up, especially given the industry’s resistance to anyone to the left of, say, Matt Forde.

But with such a brilliant first hour behind her, and with truth, frankness, and a brain the size of a planet, here’s hoping that Cheka stays the course – she could do absolutely anything next, and it will be exciting, entertaining, and maybe even world-changing to find out what that might be.

*For a precis on this sorry epoch, Juliet Jacques’ viral article for Red Pepper is a good place to start.