In recent years, the topic of being diagnosed with autism has been on the rise for comedians’ shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Several shows last year directly referenced autism, including Joe Wells: Daddy Autism, Josephine Lacey: Autism Mama and Mark Nicholas: This Is Not the Autistic You Are Looking For. But there are some comedians, including Narin Özenci and Ria Lina, who have been incorporating the neurodivergent aspects of their lives into shows for years, well before it became a trend.
In Narin Oz: Inner Child(ish), Özenci takes on the character of her alter ego, Narin Oz, whose only friend is Dr Fecal Matter, an inflatable emoji in the style of Wilson from Cast Away. The show, an inflation of a true story, is meant to poke fun at self-help seminars, as Özenci found that they didn’t help her, instead finding solace in the art of clowning. In Özenci’s own words, “The show is a spoof of a self-help seminar teaching people how to find their self-worth by recreating scenes from the Cast Away movie, but it goes tits up as well, because I’m mocking these gurus.”
When talking about how Inner Child(ish) will consist of relaxed performances, Özenci lets us is on a secret – “All of my shows have been relaxed, and I had no idea, just because of the way I am!” As someone who struggles with too many sensory aspects, Özenci has “always allowed people to do what they need to do” in her shows, including letting people come and go as they please or even get some rest in the back row. This year, her show is officially a relaxed show, with Özenci creating a storyboard to put on her website for prospective audience members to look at.
In contrast to Inner Child(ish), which focuses more on clowning, Ria Lina’s show, Riabellion, is pure stand-up comedy, with Lina coming to the realisation that she wants to rebel after divorcing her husband of 18 years, finally discovering who she is after years of trying to fit in. When she was diagnosed with autism in 2012, Lina “was petrified that people would find out,” so she didn’t tell anyone. But, once she was outed by someone on social media, Lina was shocked at how, “With one diagnosis, I’ve gone from normal to special needs and that changes how you see me. Now you think I’m not even as capable.” She confesses that she found it really hard at first to write about her autism, saying, “It wasn’t a part of me when I started, even though it was always a part of me.” It’s taken her time to accept herself and her autism diagnosis, but now she is learning how to write for herself, “through the eyes of close family and friends.”
Lina separates those diagnosed with autism into two categories – BC, or “before it was cool,” representing her generation where people tended to keep their diagnosis hidden, and AD, “after diagnosis,” with a new generation of neurodivergent people being proud of and documenting their journeys. In Lina’s words, “I’ve been sitting on the side with my bandwagon, and everyone is like, ‘You’re a freak.’ And then one day, I went, ‘Can you watch my bandwagon?’ And when I came back, everyone was playing on my bandwagon. And I’m like, ‘That’s my bandwagon.’ And they were like, “Yeah, well, we’re playing with it now.’ ‘Can I get on the bandwagon?’ ‘No, there’s no room for you. You’re weird. Go away.’”
It is fascinating to see how the subject of autism can be brought into the genre of comedy in different ways while still expressing the same message – autistic comedians have and always will exist and deserve their place just as much as any neurotypical comedian.
Narin Oz: Inner Child(ish), Just the Tonic at The Mash House, 31 Jul-24 Aug (not 12), 4pm
Ria Lina: Riabellion, Monkey Barrel Comedy, 28 Jul-24 Aug (not 14, 21), 2.25pm