One of the buzziest shows of the Fringe, Frankie McNair’s Huge Ass Mindset might sound like a fun romp – and that’s what you might expect if you’ve seen her previously. But it’s anything but, as you’ll see in its long list of content warnings and McNair’s very careful introduction.
This is a show about child sexual abuse – not in the abstract, but in the very real experiences of McNair as a survivor of abuse, as someone with complex PTSD as a result of it, and as someone, we learn late on, for whom all of that came to a head not long ago in a moment that only McNair can describe.
Yes, the show’s exceedingly careful in its set-up – not just as a protective measure, but because McNair is keen to avoid the tropes of the trauma-heavy “dead dad show”. As she repeatedly points out, “you are allowed to laugh”.
The result is a show that is raw and emotional but never prurient. Until an emotional climax (and one, for what it’s worth, that doesn’t feel performed), McNair packs gags into her exploration of that PTSD, self esteem, and a raft of other topics that would be heavy in another’s hands. That it’s funny at all is a huge (ass) achievement, and for some in the room it may be more valuable still.
Frankie McNair: Huge Ass Mindset, Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 30 Aug, 7pm