EdFringe Talk: A Terrible Show for Terrible People

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2023 by

“I can’t wait for Fringe to start; it’s going to be an inspiring hub of not just creatives, but DRIVEN creatives who all had the gumption to take their show here.”

WHO: Bonnie He

WHAT: “Winner: Best Comedy, 2022 (Hollywood Fringe). Raunchy, absurdist physical comedy with two spoken words. For perverts, feminists and your mom (not mutually exclusive). ‘Highlights include a hilarious, irreverent burlesque act performed by Bonnie He.’ (StageRaw.com). ‘He’s Hello Kitty-accessorized, coquettish character is a breath of fresh air, as she acrobatically assaults unwitting audience volunteers in her endearing search for love’ (Orlando Weekly). ‘Great, clean, dirty fun.’ (TheTVolution.com). Additional awards: Fringiest Show, 2023 (Orlando Fringe Winter Mini-Fest); Craziest Solo Show, 2019 (Crazy Woke Asians Solo Performance Festival); Maverick Award, 2023 (Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival).”

WHERE: Underbelly, Cowgate – Iron Belly (Venue 61) 

WHEN: 23:10 (50 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Second time to Edinburgh, first time producing a show!!! Sorry for all the exclamation marks. It’s been an absolute dream of mine to take A Terrible Show for Terrible People here for years, so I’m excited it’s finally happening. I was first here in 2019 to scope out the festival. I would have felt far too nervous and anxious just putting up the show without getting SOME idea of the lay of the land first. The Los Angeles theatre scene isn’t as big as New York, but everyone still knows that if you’re serious about your craft, you take your show to Edinburgh. And to get to do that this year WITH a mini-team in tow: director Bruce Allen, producer James Carroll and me, creator, performer and producer Bonnie He, is nothing short of amazing. I can’t wait for Fringe to start; it’s going to be an inspiring hub of not just creatives, but DRIVEN creatives who all had the gumption to take their show here. It takes a LOT of work to get everything in order by August! My team and I have been working non-stop since getting our official offer from Underbelly at the end of March (late, I know). Producing is certainly a very different experience than just hopping on a plane mid-August to watch some shows for a few days haha.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

The 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival was the first time I was putting up my show post-pandemic, and I gathered a few life philosophies while prepping for it.

1) You will always learn more from lived experiences.
I’m a recovering perfectionist. Wonderfully, the art of clowning, in which one learns to be okay sitting in failure, is what made me chill out. But sometimes old habits die hard. Before I made any decisions—which venue to pick, who to hire for PR, etc.—I would research my options, but at some point, they became overwhelming, and then I found myself procrastinating on finalising any decisions because I felt that I didn’t have all the information I wanted yet. I 100% do not recommend this methodology. The aha moment for me was realising that this was a PROCESS, not a one-and-done project. I asked myself, was this the last time I planned to do my show? No. I realised then I had already learned so much while prepping for Hollywood Fringe, and I was only going to learn more for the next festival. Be easy on yourself. You’re always improving as you go along, but you can’t improve if you never launch.

2) Know what you’re presenting.
At the Hollywood Fringe, the single category you put your show into is the category in which people will vote for it at the end of the festival. A Terrible Show for Terrible People is a comedy in the form of a solo clown show and physical theatre, and there were three categories A Terrible Show fit into: 1) Comedy, 2) Solo Show and 3) Dance & Physical Theatre. I quickly ruled out Solo Show because A Terrible Show is not a vulnerable tale of overcoming obstacles (it is a HILARIOUS tale of overcoming obstacles), and that didn’t quite fit. I struggled between the other two categories, however. I had been advised that Dance & Physical Theatre was the easier category to win in because historically, there were simply less entrants than Comedy and even less than Solo Show. But I ultimately decided, if things went well, I’d rather risk getting just a nomination for Comedy because that’s what the show REALLY is at its core: a fun, dumb time that makes people laugh. I was nominated for the Comedy Award and I did end up winning it, which of course, feels great! But moreso, it felt deeply gratifying knowing I had done my show justice by decisively labelling it in the category that most accurately described it.

Tell us about your show.

The show is A Terrible Show for Terrible People, a physical comedy show with only two words! It is a raunchy romp from a woman’s perspective, and suitable for perverts, feminists and your mom (not mutually exclusive). The show debuted in Los Angeles at the Lyric Hyperion when Dr. Brown was running it. Our show did well in the States, with multiple awards including Best Comedy at the Hollywood Fringe and Fringiest Show at Orlando Fringe Winter Mini-Fest among others. James came on board to produce for Hollywood Fringe and has been my rock ever since. Bruce has been a supportive partner from the inception, but officially came on board for our live taping and now Edinburgh! Afterwards, we’re going to continue touring it on the U.S. circuit, but fingers crossed, we’ll get interest to put it up in the U.K. as well, and hopefully we’ll find distribution for the live taping of the full show that we did in Los Angeles right before Edinburgh.

This is honestly NOT how I saw my life going, by the way. My parents immigrated to the U.S. from China in the ’80s for a better life, and I’m sure having their firstborn become a touring clown was probably not on their list of dreams for their children. I started with improv, and clowning became the hot new thing in the 2010s. I was instantly enamoured with the artform, especially as an over-thinker. Clowning forced me to confront my own stupidity and then fully embrace it, and now I feel both sides of my brain operating harmoniously. And I’m excited to share my stupid with the world, and I hope people have a good time laughing.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

Oh hell yeah! There are a LOT of great Hollywood Fringe shows at EdFringe this year!

2022 Best Solo Show winner Teruko Nakajima with Made in America
2022 Top of the Fringe winner Becca McGlynn with Asexuality!
2023 Top of the Fringe winner Claire Woolner with A Retrospection
2023 Best World Premiere winner Laser the Boy with A Shark Ate My Penis

I literally cannot believe I made friends with all of these insanely talented, lovely people through Hollywood Fringe and we all get to be together here at Edinburgh Fringe.

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