Desiree Burch on returning to the Fringe
After the success of her critically acclaimed one-woman show on race in America, Desiree Burch talks about evolution, expectation and Edinburgh
Desiree Burch is a little lost for words. That's unusual considering our 90-minute interview has touched upon such diverse topics as her opinion of the Fringe ("it’s like this weird theatre version of Burning Man in some ways"), memory loss ("The process starts at sexual maturation. Oh, my God, that means that that dude that I fucked at 25, literally fucked an idea out of my head!”) and the inexplicable rise of the Republican Presidential nominee, one Donald Trump ("I just don’t understand how we got to the point where we went, 'Hey, this guy! He’s run companies into the ground, let’s help him run America into the ground!'").
Since relocating from the US to London two years ago, Burch has won The Funny Women Award 2015 and also received a Fringe First for her solo theatre show, Tar Baby. Summing up her latest work This is Evolution – her debut hour of stand-up – is difficult.
"'A performer at the beginning of her midlife crisis,'” she begins, before pausing. "'A performer in her mid-30s looks at the things that have formed her life and how she can break free of them?'” She pauses again, before adding, “I think part of it is dealing with the expectation of what I was supposed to be right now.”
Expectation weighs heavily on Burch’s mind and In This is Evolution she's taking a look at the trappings of life, the expectations she has of herself and how to change for the better. "It’s me going, 'Fuck, I’m stuck like this, I’m not magically gonna become this person.' You never think, 'How do I get from here to there?'
"You think something’s gonna happen that’s magically gonna get you there. I’ve been doing this for a couple for decades. Can I be a butterfly now? When we were younger, we changed because of time. Now, it’s not like that. Nothing besides death is going to come along and change you.”
After her accomplishments at the last Fringe, Burch is aware it’s not just her own expectations that are high but the audiences' are too, something that her previous show, 52 Man Pickup, also taught her. “My first Fringe was incredible. That was the reason I came back the second time, and the second time was ten times as hard, when you’re like, 'I paid for this venue, and it’s on Mars and I’m busting my ass because I know what’s at stake.' Whereas the first time, it’s like, 'It’s theatre camp, hooray!'”
The success of Tar Baby, which discussed race in America, took both the Fringe and Burch by surprise. By that point she was used to, as she puts it, “the backhand of the Fringe.” But the experience of performing the play made her think more about performing, and the kind of topics that she wanted to tackle. Having discussed sex with her trademark honesty and frankness, she wanted to present something that was more comedic and less restrictive.
“With Tar Baby, I love doing that show, but it is a bit like being Sisyphus – once you’re into it, it moves, but it really feels like you have to make the sun come up with your two hands every day. With comedy, you can do more complex ideas, but you can also be like, 'I don’t know, I’m still figuring it out.'"
Desiree Burch: This is Evolution, Heroes @ Bob's BlundaBus, 6-29 Aug (not 17 & 24), 8.15pm, £5/PWYW