QUALIFIED DISAPPOINTMENT, a memoir

193pp., paperback, Pan Macmillan, Johannesburg, 2026

ISBN: 9780639881782

In his memoir about tradition, taboo and the pressure of expectations, South African comedian Prev Reddy discusses growing up queer, brown and ambitious in a conservative Indian household in Durban, and how he learnt early to perform, deflect and entertain his way through a world obsessed with appearances. Hovering over the narrative is his famous alter-ego, Aunty Shamilla, who serves as the voice of community judgment, reluctant affection and unsolicited advice.

Qualified Disappointment is adapted from his one-man show Prev Reddy is a Triple Treat, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in 2024 and was performed in London, in 2025.

Prev Reddy is a comedian, actor and digital creator based in Johannesburg. Known for Netflix's Miseducation (2023) and The Honeymoon (2023), in 2020 he won the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Award for African Social Star of the Year, and SAFTAS18 Best Actor in a TV Comedy.