Storm Large @ Underbelly

Article by Erin McElhinney | 26 Aug 2010

This is a strange one: the show title, its genre, attitude and my own response all being rather difficult to pin down. Storm Large is the (real) name, Crazy Enough is the game; it's filed in the Comedy section of the programme and whilst there's plenty of that in there, it's equally matched with pain, screaming rock vocals, sex and spoken word, all combining together to create an auto-biographical, theatrical, musical, semi-improvised performance.

Appropriately enough, Large's recurring theme whilst leading you through her life is how she never really fits into any box. She flirted with a few for a while – Lolita, schizophrenic, drug addict, rock star… the story is told with a brutal honesty, whether singing or speaking, that takes a while to get used to. I run the gamut of reviewer responses in that one hour; awkwardness, cynicism, begrudging respect and then full blown adoration, and a wish to have an ounce of Large's courage.

The Edinburgh show is a condensed version of a longer set and it does have a sense of being crammed in and a little rushed. But this is one performer that lingers in the mind, and goes straight on to the 'see again' list.

Storm Large on EdFringe.com  

http://stormlarge.com/