It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure at Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
★★★★ It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure | Underbelly, Bristol Square | Aug 13, 15-20, 22-27 | 2:20pm
A revolutionary meta-comedy about disability politics and using identity to sell.
The show is like a beautifully sinister Black Mirror episode that cuttingly dissects 21st century PR bullshit and the identity politics used to sell difference in the marketplace.
The inclusive satire explores the limits of woke guilt apologies, and asks us to think about our own privilege in unexpected ways. How much can you help as an ally? And what does being an ally even mean?
The talented trio of angry Australian Samuel Brewer, camp funster Aarian Mehrabani and hilarious HR person Chloe Palmer bring activist anger to this apt and timely exploration of ableism.
The cast’s sarcastic stage presence feels like an explosion of pent-up aggression that needs to be released – and they do it with gusto. The comedy is on point, and the cringe things that characters in the fictional world of RIZE PR say are horrendous but also not so far-fetched – which makes it all the more terrifying!
The meta-theatricality does at times feel a little smug, and the show can feel a little ‘Guardian wokery’ – but It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure does a great job of sending this up at the same time. The show opens up the world of intersectionality and the complexities around this, but maybe could have given a few more examples of this to illustrate a quite complex idea into a comedy.
Overall the show is a much needed poke aimed at us woke folk, to delve deeper to understand the true lives and needs of people with disabilities beyond the ‘identity’ PR tropes.
I am Joint Editor at To Do List. I like free, cheap & offbeat London, especially: cabaret, art, theatre, pop-ups, eating out, quirky films, museums, day trips, social enterprise & much more.
