Edinburgh Festival Fringe – A Panda Suit, Pythagoras, and Plenty of Puns

Just the Tonic at The Caves 1 – 22 August (not 13). (60 mins), 20:00 Just Out of the Box (60 mins), 20:00

Written and performed by Nikhil Tilwalli, directed by Lindsey Hope Pearlman

After twenty years of experience in unintentionally saying what he didn’t mean and inadvertently hearing what others didn’t intend, Nikhil Tilwalli found himself, quite accidentally, to be considered (by all who knew him) an expert in miscommunication.

He was cursed, or so he thought. But like any good expert in miscommunication, Nikhil Tilwalli, took the word “cursed” to mean “gifted” and so he decided to embrace what he called his “talent”. What he discovered (much to his confusion, like a Zen koan) is that actively trying to misunderstand what others said and responding in kind with statements that made no sense mysteriously caused people to find him more relatable.

In his Edinburgh Fringe debut show, stand-up comedian Nikhil Tilwalli uses winding narrative (including a reverent discussion of Dr. Dre, an irreverent discussion of the dating lives of Plato and Pythagoras, jokes that relate sex with mathematics and a section devoted to puns) to deconstruct his personal experience while exploring the philosophical foundations of jokes and communication.

Lindsey Hope Pearlman is a director who resides in Brooklyn, NY. She is a graduate of the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA) and received her BA in Theatre from Hamilton College.