Edinburgh Fringe Review: I Am Going to Reveal Something Personal About Myself at Greenside @ Riddles Court

"a lot of sharp and self-aware humour”

I’m Going To Reveal Something Personal About Myself is already a funny title for a show at the Edinburgh Fringe. Combined with the overly serious poster headshot and pull quote from the performer herself, there is already a strong indication of what this show will be, and it absolutely delivers as Sarah Dealy presents a funny and clever deconstruction of the one-woman show.

Staring at us from the stage in her long black raincoat, Dealy announces that her story begins with her grandmother. She whips off her coat to reveal a maid’s costume, and mimes scrubbing the kitchen floor whilst delivering a monologue in a grating parody of a New York accent. Suddenly, she stops, admitting she is nervous about the show. She therefore makes the audience sign agreements promising, amongst other things, not to judge her for anything she reveals in the show, whatever that may be.

This is the first of many similar pastiches over the hour. Dealy engages in heavily detailed tangential fantasies, often involving members of the audience, imagining herself as not just successful and beloved, but also tragic, tortured and inspirational. She fantasises about losing great loves of her life, and what this would mean for her story and narrative. It’s a really astute send-up of how performers, and also everyday people, are encouraged to self-romanticise their most tragic moments and misfortunes.

The show is also really funny, both in concept and in writing, with a lot of sharp and self-aware humour. Dealy is a talented performer with great physicality and excellent command over her facial expressions, allowing her to bring an over-wrought quality that really augments the character.

I do wish that there had been an opportunity for genuine sincerity at the end. But maybe that just makes me the kind of person I’m Going To Reveal Something Personal About Myself is satirising.