FringeReview Scotland 2025
Jersey the Devil
Jersey the Devil aka Jess Paris, part of Buzzcut Double Thrills
Venue: Centre for the Contemporary Arts
Festival: FringeReview Scotland
Low Down
A disconcertingly delivered, yet hinting and teasing us with what may yet appear with a mixture of visual film and song that takes the story of Jersey, a girl in the club toilets who may be a bit of a rascal or simply a confidant woman of her age. This is delivered by song which mixes popular culture with well-choreographed and directed theatre.
Review
Technically, the film was well put together and the opportunity to explore and expand this pop persona of Jess Paris’s Jersey the Devil
Paris plays this persona with enough of a hint of suggestiveness that it intrigues, embarrasses and draws you in at the same time. The cleverness of the video at the beginning is to turn the camera into a voyeur and provide us with a suggestion that sits on the edge between being inappropriate and exploitative. Or does it give vent and fury to emancipation and somebody in their own skin, behaving in a way that is comfortably them?
Once we get into the music despite a few tonal issues in terms of delivery Paris gives us a very thought-provoking pop princess alongside an unnamed partner who mirrors her movement on the chair and when she gets up to move.
Not knowing the relationship between them allows her to hold him and us, within her own passions. Whatever fantasies and ideas of those whose gaze happen upon her intrigue and entice towards sleaze, but at the same time you feel slapped about the face because of the danger she may pose. Even contemplating going anywhere near is not to be contemplated because she carries this dangerous sledgehammer of suggestion. This is exceptionally powerful.
Paris knows how to strut but she also knows how to do it with an arrogance and a swagger that allows you to believe that there is danger ripped across this woman
Her accompanying partner takes a back seat and the way in which that allows the female part of this duo to dominate which gets across a feeling of emancipation and power. you may be in danger of being mesmerized by the performance.
It may have lasted a few minutes but was powerful. At times, however it felt a little under rehearsed and depended on a nervous energy rather than a confidence.
And whilst it made an impression, playing more with the pop format could lead to much more depth and opportunity to delve into the way that the female form is viewed and how it may still be commodified within the arts industry. You get the feeling that in these culpable hands, more is possible and welcome.
