Natasha Mercado @ Underbelly Cowgate
A genuinely Fringe experience that has audiences rolling in the pews, #1 Son is an hour of saintly clowning from US newbie Natasha Mercado
At the heart of #1 Son, Natasha Mercado’s debut clown show, is Priest Greg, who turns to the cloth following a failed relationship. Mercado is clown through-and-through, toting an inflatable cross, a nude muscle shirt and speak-sings in a constant R&B cadence: think Drake, but slimier, though with the same constant need of validation about his sex appeal.
The format is insanely inventive, as Mercado seeks a new girlfriend (within the audience) whilst battling bouts of demonic possession—a demon that has no problem stripping the audience of their belongings, shoes and clothes. Underbelly Cowgate’s attic feels particularly appropriate for Mercado’s hilarious commitment to blasphemy, tucked up in the rafters like some kind of hilarious ghoul. The DIY production values contribute, as the demon character is signposted simply by a lighting change and the physical additions of tiny hands on Mercado’s index fingers and the tilting of her head to reveal a pound-shop Halloween mask.
Mercado commits wholly to both characters: the awkward pauses of the needy crooning sadboy (Mercado waits indefinitely for the quality of call-and-response that pathetic Greg expects) and the possessed, whose wince-inducing proximity to the audience is almost as galling as it is legitimately hilarious. They both vehemently give everyone the ick; our audience, Greg’s new ‘girlfriend’ and a God who truly doesn’t want to come to the phone.
Much of #1 Son’s success rests upon buy-in from the audience, but when, for example, the chosen ‘new girlfriend’ is a very committed mother of two and her satanic ex-boyfriend someone that genuinely can’t speak for laughing, the highs of their awkward asides are heightened, synergising with Mercado’s committed clowning mastery.
It’s not so much that it needs to be seen to be believed, but more that to see #1 Son is to understand quite how alternative Edinburgh Fringe’s comedy offerings can get – something Natasha Mercado embodies with tenacity and aplomb.
#1 Son – Natasha Mercado, Underbelly Cowgate (Iron Belly), until 25 Aug, 11.10pm, £7-£11