ComedyFeaturedFestivalsReviewScotland

Olivia Raine Atwood: Faking It – Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024, Greenside @ Riddles Court

Reviewer: Tom Ralphs

Writer: Olivia Raine Atwood

Most comedians hope to have a USP. Olivia Raine Atwood was a USP. In the months leading up to the pandemic, Atwood went from being an actor employed as a waitress, a tutor and a part time clown, to working as an undercover patient in the New York healthcare system. As an Unannounced Standardised Patient, she presented herself at various hospitals with various symptoms so that doctors and admin staff could be monitored for the diagnosis and treatment they offered her.

As this was late in 2019, one of the illnesses she was soon asked to be concerned about was the coronavirus that was, at that time, little more than a rumour of something happening in a foreign land far away. Her experiences doing this form the centrepiece of her Faking It show at Greenside. It would be a unique selling point for a fringe show, but it’s not the only thing on offer here. Before going into the full story of presenting for Covid in two halves of the same hospital with very different results, Atwood reveals a lot about herself not only to show why she was perhaps the last person who should have been given a role that would influence New York’s response to the Covid threat and other major viruses, but also to show why she is ideally suited as a comedy story teller.

From the problems of being a vegetarian working in a burger bar, to having the mathematical equivalent of Dyslexia and how an inability to read numbers nearly ended more than the sporting career of a young US football player during her time at university, she delivers anecdote after anecdote. Her excitable and sometimes manic style of delivery adds to the absurdity of the stories as she looks directly into the eyes of the audience daring you to blink first.

The energy and pace of the performance never drops as Atwood also incorporates gymnastic style movement to further bring her experiences to full vivid life. Her approach to the subject and to performing is the USP she brings to a show about her time as an altogether different USP.

Runs until 24 August 2024 | Image: Contributed

The Reviews Hub Score

A Unique Patient

Show More

Related Articles

Back to top button
The Reviews Hub