If you haven’t planned to see Micky Overman’s show Small Deaths at the Fringe; change your plans. This is not a show to be missed.
Micky manages to straddle a tricky balance of self-confidence and awkwardness, which makes her a very endearing performer and good company. What’s so refreshing about this balance is that it transcends basic self-deprecation. This isn’t a device, it’s just Micky. Even when Micky is sharing about how she’ll believe anything if the person expresses their opinion with enough conviction, even that she… might not be Micky, there is no sense of ‘how dumb am I?’ But, ‘why is that?’
This isn’t a navel gazing show though, rather, Micky takes the opportunity to send up every justification made to spend money on face creams or bikini waxes or gym memberships. This isn’t because Micky ‘isn’t like other girls’, she’s just as susceptible, but that doesn’t mean it’s not absolute bullshit. Don’t we all just accept quite a lot of ideas just because they’re delivered with conviction?
For instance, I believe most cis-women will have a story about a gynaecological issue that their doctor thought should just be accepted as a chronic problem, because that’s life. Micky certainly has one, I won’t tell you the story but I will say it features the line “oh great, it’s dusty clam woman again” and if that’s not worth the £8 admission fee, I don’t know what is.
Combine this with a hilarious routine about Patrick Swayze’s seminal performance in Dirty Dancing, the sexual awakening film for most young girls in the 1990s and you have yourself a show where you have to actually try and stop yourself from laughing so hard because you’re making a scene and you don’t want anyone to know you’re relating so much to a joke about yeast.
Seriously, go and see this show.
★★★★★
Micky Overman: Small Deaths is at Monkey Barrel, Hive 2 at 18:10 until 28th August. For tickets visit EdFringe.com.
