In some ways, Abby Govindan’s narrative is a well-travelled road – there are opportunities for women in the twenty-first century that were not largely available to previous generations. But it would be a gross oversimplification to assert that Govindan looks down on older relatives who still hold fast to more traditional values. Still, there are people in her extended family who are keener than Abby (stuff it, such was her warm demeanour I feel compelled to be on first name terms for the remainder of this review) feels they should be, to know when she intends to settle down and start a family.
It’s not like she hasn’t dated, and some time is given over to discussion of the various types, and ethnicities, of men she has encountered over the years. Elsewhere, some previous social media content Abby put out, satirically, was taken far too seriously by the likes of movie website IMDB and – wait for it – the BBC. (“What has the BBC ever done for me?” Fail to fact check.)
An extensive deck of slides accompanied this wide-ranging story, providing many visual aids, especially proofs of emails and messages sent and received. Abby has her reasons for her thorough dislike of San Francisco (inadvertently more hilarious than perhaps intended at the performance I attended, thanks to San Franciscans in the audience), and elsewhere her political stances on various issues was writ large. Most hilarious of all, at least to me, was Abby’s systematic demolition of the prestige awarded to a list she was recently put on, ‘Forbes 30 Under 30’, an annual set of lists of teenagers and twenty-somethings in the United States across various industries who have been judged to have achieved success in their industry.
Warm and engaging, this was an assured Fringe debut from Abby Govindan, who enjoyed an excellent rapport with the audience, even with those who disagreed with her.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Every generation of women in Abby Govindan’s family had arranged marriages, against a background of regressive notions of “educate your sons, marry off your daughters.” But Abby had the rarest of things, a progressive grandfather, and so her mother blazed a trail to study at medical school in South India. Despite this breakout moment in her family history, Abby still gets asked when she is going to get married and when she is going to have kids. The answer? Don’t hold your breath – dating is rigged!
ABBY GOVINDAN: PUSHING 30
Pleasance Courtyard at the Edinburgh Fringe
5 to 30 August 2026
