Edinburgh Fringe 2019: Courtney Pauroso review – Fearless clown seeks love
After Dr Brown and Natalie Palamides, the latest exponent of interpretive movement hoping to grab the Fringe by the scruff of its neck is American Courtney Pauroso, whose debut, Gutterplum, has been developed with Brown.
It is certainly never dull – how can a show in which the star runs through the audience naked be dull? – but it does not quite match Brown’s own work or Palamides’s last outing, Nate.
Gutterplum is essentially a series of scenes from a female life. Pauroso starts by introducing us to gauche bespectacled pre-teen “Dale Ravioli”, who likes little more than bouncing a yoga ball and kicking a can. At the end of Dale’s life the ball bounces back. Imagine a feminist take on Disney’s Up with a nod to TS Eliot’s In my beginning is my end.
The best comedy shows at Edinburgh Fringe 2019
Pauroso is talented and fearless, transforming herself in a flash from curly-haired pre-adolescent to twerking blonde bombshell revelling in her newfound sexuality. A romantic storyline is played out with the help of an audience volunteer. A playground piggyback becomes something much more a few scenes on.
The piece’s success depends a lot on her amateur ad hoc partner. On this occasion he was so on-message he almost deserved equal billing. Pauroso skilfully drew out a performance from someone who thought they were going to be watching a gig for an hour, not co-starring in it.
This is not as complex as previous clown shows, and at times it feels a little derivative. But it is undeniably moving, disconcerting and funny. Buy into it and you may even shed a tear.
Until August 25 (0131 226 0000, edfringe.com). Sept 9-21, Soho Theatre, W1 (020 7478 0100, sohotheatre.com)
