Bonnie He and ‘A Terrible Show For Terrible People’ will be one of the smash-hit successes of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023. It’s the ‘Fringiest’ show I’ve seen in years, and if Rico Demarco still had the Traverse, he’d book He in Lawnmarket minute. That is to say it’s bat-sh*t crazy, outre, and ingenious. Armed with a lithe body, and the clown’s tool box, this sexually charged force of nature holds her audience captive (willingly), and takes them on quite the adventure.
The 50 minutes of ‘A Terrible Show For Terrible People’ are tightly plotted, He’s Hello-Kitty accessorised love-bug wasting no time in selecting her first paramour of the night from amidst the stalls. What follows is a neatly chapterized, highly sensual story of one relentlessly horny woman’s life of love, loss, more love, toilet seats, and a bunch of consequences. Through it all she will utter only 2 words, relying on her arch-physicality, costume-changes, and a supply of large pickles, to do all the talking. There is also a completely apt soundtrack – performed in absolute silence, it would be a singular experience!
Fringe-goers wary of crowd-working comedians can be reassured by the impossibility of any verbal assault. Just don’t smile and make too much eye-contact if you prefer your petting kept in private. (In truth, He is constantly assessing her audiences for consent, so you can leave the cans of Mace at home). For the bolder of heart, expect a memorable experience – and be prepared to close your eyes whilst grasping, you guessed it, a pickle. This is, remember ‘A Terrible Show For Terrible People’. If you didn’t consider what that meant before coming in, well caveat emptor my friend, caveat emptor.
I admit, at first, I wasn’t sure if I liked ‘A Terrible Show for Terrible People’ all that much. Maybe it’s memories of being sexually molested by a puppet, maybe it’s the punters behind me who’d seen the show before and insisted on enthusiastically ‘pre-hooting’ at all the ‘good bits’. Practically speaking, He’s persona, it’s boundaries – and lack thereof – takes a little time to establish, as does the narrative direction of the show.
However, He’s progress proves impossible to resist, and as her antics escalate, so too does the good humour pouring from the stage. Truly, a bunch of flowers has never have been molested quite so funnily, and just when you think there’s no more she can do with a large pickle (or have an audience member do to her), she proves you wrong. (Don’t get me wrong, this is all strictly 12a stuff, but the metaphors aren’t subtle).
Her finale is a multi-pronged assault, beginning with a pre-recorded adventure, and cultimating in a set-piece of truly barmy, and abundantly carnal crowd-work. It’s a ridiculous, and utterly fitting end to a unique experience.
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