Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Riki Lindhome: Dead Inside
Riki Lindhome
Genre: Comedy, Music, One Person Show, Storytelling
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Riki Lindhome: Dead Inside is an extraordinary one-woman autobiographical comedy show about Lindome’s fertility journey. Lindhome tells a story of resilience and hope through a mix of storytelling, comedy, and her signature musical stylings.
Review
Lindhome tells us early on that we are going to hear about her fertility ‘journey,’ but immediately goes on to ask why it has to be a journey. She asks why so many things in our lives have to be journeys. So perhaps it goes against her wishes to say that one of the achievements of the show is how it takes the audience on a wild, amazing, joyful, and emotional journey.
A fairly standard review of a comedy goes like this: “I laughed so hard I cried.” A more accurate review for Lindhome’s piece is slightly longer. For her, a more apt statement would be: “I laughed so hard I cried, and then I cried.” Lindome’s unique style of comedic, musical, and yes, dramatic storytelling makes the audience feel as though they are experiencing her fertility journey alongside her in real-time. This means we feel the highs, the smiley faces, and the lows, frowny faces, an emoji-based scale Lindhome uses as a guiding principle. In the smiley face moments, the audience gets to laugh and cheer, while in the frowny face moments, the audience again gets to laugh and cheer. Lindhome never asks the audience to feel sorry for her, she instead allows them to see the joy and comedy in every moment. It goes beyond that, though, when she gives the audience permission to empathize and see themselves in her story. This invitation is open to all, not just women on a fertility journey, and in my experience, the entire audience accepts it.
Despite a fair share of dramatic elements, Dead Inside is undoubtedly a comedy show. Lindhome effortlessly mixes stand-up, musical, and theatrical storytelling in a way that sets the performance apart from other shows of its kind. The fact that the audience can leave Dead Inside giggling but still arguable describe the piece as a drama, or perhaps dramady, is what makes the performance so special. This unique thematic dissonance that makes the show go from ‘excellent’ to ‘must see.’There is immense benefit to going into this production blind. Part of what made the journey (sorry Riki) so exciting was genuinely not knowing or being able to guess what was around the next bend. After the lights faded to black, something incredible happened. I have never seen a fringe show, let alone a comedy show, let alone a comedy show in a small basement space, receive an unreserved and immediate standing ovation from every single person in the room.
