The Edinburgh Fringe is almost upon us and to get prepared for another Scottish summer Read About Stuff is running a ‘Five From The Fringe’ interview series, where creative teams answer five questions about their upcoming Festival shows.
In this interview, I chat to Marina di Marzon about new show Love in the Time of Fifth Grade.
Can you tell me a little about your show and what audiences can expect?
Love in the Time of Fifth Grade is all about how I hit my sensual peak in primary school. I present the audience with real-life stories of my passionate love affairs from under the age of ten and compare that to my dating horror stories from my early twenties.
Now, I grew up in the early 2000s, so my comedy is chock full of Y2K references including but not limited to: Bratz… Shrek… and Chef Gordon Ramsey. In keeping with the theme, everyone I mention in my show appears as a stick figure that I’ve drawn in Microsoft Paint just like the good old days on the family computer.
And to cap everything off I end with a Disney Channel-inspired original pop song about how raw scallops are a metaphor for living life to the fullest (I mentioned Chef Gordon Ramsey is a key reference, right?).
What drew you to this specific story, and why does it belong at the Edinburgh Fringe?
In my early twenties I went through this five-year stretch where I just didn’t date. At all. Zero. Then I finally broke the drought with a guy from my improv team (pray for past me). I kept asking myself how did I get so okay with not having love in my life at all? Because childhood me was out there kissing and biting random boys, forging fake love letters and thriving romantically (I had two kisses in two different countries in one year, come on).
The show is basically my journey trying to figure out what happened in between those two versions of myself, and how ultimately childhood me was right. I think a lot of us, especially women, get the message early on that once puberty hits, you’re supposed to pack away certain parts of yourself to become a “real adult.” This show is my attempt to get some of my youthful drive back and hopefully nudge the audience to reconnect their old selves as well.
It belongs at the Fringe because it scratches that Y2K itch that’s making a big comeback right now… it’s jam-packed with laughs… and about half way through the show I flash my bra to the audience after describing how it was hand picked by my 80 year-old Italian grandpa. Can’t be Fringe-ier than that.
What has been the biggest challenge in bringing this production to life?
It took me a long time to figure out how to workshop this show. It’s based in joke-packed, in-depth storytelling and comes paired with a slideshow — so that’s not a great match for a 5 minute window at a standup open mic. I also sat and wrote the whole show in one go as a script so I wasn’t working on it in piecemeal bits like how many comedians work. Eventually I created and produced my own workshop series that promoted someone else’s work and allowed me to try out one 30 minute section every month before setting the whole hour on its feet. Not having to present a whole finished hour right off the bat certainly took the pressure off.
I’ll also say that being the only performer is freeing since you don’t have to deal with other personalities. BUT the trade off is you have to do everything by yourself. That’s why I’m so grateful to my personal and comedy communities and their support throughout this entire process. I couldn’t have done it without them.
How does the design of your show (set, sound, or lighting) impact the presentation of your story?
The backbone of my show is a powerpoint which makes all the difference. As I said, my jokes are very referential. Some of those references are well known and some are very niche even by American standards. Being able to show what I’m talking about ensures everyone can at least understand the joke even if they don’t know the source material I’m talking about.
Not to toot my artistic skills too loudly, but my MS Paint stick figures are flipping cute. My depiction of my dad has him looking like an angry republican Gepetto and it makes me laugh every time. I worked hard to really capture the essence of my memory of the people I mention. I feel I can confidently say that no one else at this year’s fringe spent hours dragging around the fill-in bucket tool with a computer mouse.
As a side note: I’m also designing and making my finale skirt for my original finale pop song. I’m documenting the whole process in the lead up to the Fringe online so be sure to follow me on Instagram (@marinadi.nyc) to be a part of that journey!
If you could sum up the show in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?
Just do it.
I realized that at the end of the day, I was holding myself back. Voices in my own head telling me something was the “right way” or the “proper way” stopped me from finding love for a long time. Who cares if you embarrass yourself! Who cares if you blow up a friend group! Little Marina certainly didn’t. You can’t guarantee a lot in life but if there’s one truth I believe — you’ll always be proud of the version of you who chose to take the risk in the moment.
Marina di Marzo: Love in the Time of Fifth Grade runs at Muse at Braw Venues @ Hill Street (Venue 41) from August 7th – 20th. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/marina-di-marzo-love-in-the-time-of-fifth-grade
