Pittsburgh Fringe 2025
Guilty Pleasure: A Cumming Out Story
Genre: Comedy, Solo Performance, Solo Play, Solo Show, Stand-Up
Venue: Metta: A Healing Arts Community
Festival: Pittsburgh Fringe
Review
From the first glimpse of the graffitied, pyjama clad poster poster, Guilty Pleasure: A Cumming Out story offers the promise of sleepover-style confessionals, nostalgic throwbacks, and double entendres. The show delivers exactly that. Amanda Melhuish comes through with a bang in this comedic autobiographical solo show that navigates stories of sex, pleasure and identity.
From the set covered in stickers, a copy of Bend It Like Beckham, and nostalgic dvd titles, it was clear this show had an intended audience, and from the laughs and responses in the crowd, it was clear the show found it. The audience was along for the ride in stories of coming-of-age for the queer, awkward, theater-loving millennials. But never fear! The singular admitted cis-het male ally in the audience received a shiny trophy for his participation with great aplomb.
The show charted Amanda’s search to “achieve” their first orgasm through a sordid array of boyfriends, girlfriends, and sex toys. The quest moved chronologically through time and partners, while flashing back to childhood stories that unveil glimpses of the formative experiences that led to adult mindsets and hangups. For a show built around comedy and sex, I appreciated the thoughtfulness and clarity given to narrative structure. The show followed a clear path throughout, from the rising action of various partners trying to become ‘the first’, to the literal climax reached toward the end. Amanda shows they are as strong a writer as they are a performer
While the show dealt with stories of sex with a comedic tone, it still carried a strong message of empowerment and self-liberation. The emphasis is on trusting individual experience, rather than prescribing any singular solution for a ‘pleasure gap’ in any relationship. Guilty Pleasure may bring the audience in with the titillating promise of sex talk, but it delivers far more than just jokes (though there’s plenty of those to go around as well). After packing the house for an successful evening of pleasure and comedy, Amanda Melhuish proves that Writer / Actor / Sex Educator may very well be the new triple threat of the Fringe Festival circuit!
