Jake Mace
Stand-up Comedian Alice-India’s upcoming EdFringe debut hour See You In Hell explores moral relativism and being “one of the girls”. In the show she looks to understand a world of morality using the tagline that she was arrested only 10 days before receiving an autism and ADHD diagnosis, and the journey she’s been on since. We caught up with her for a pixelated pint to find out more about how she finds the funny in her life experiences.
You can catch Alice-India: See You In Hell from July 30th – August 25th (not the 11th) at Daisy at Underbelly, Bristo Square from 19:15 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake: Hi Alice-India, your debut hour follows moral relativism and the moment you found yourself arrested only 10 days before receiving an autism and ADHD diagnosis. Tell us about what inspired the show and how you found the funny in it.
Alice-India: This show has been in the works for longer than I would be willing to admit. I had plans to debut in 2024, but had my heart broken in the late summer of 2023. At that time, the show was about softness, finding my own, valuing my partner’s and the journey towards sharing that softness with the world. When my relationship broke down in 2023, I believed it was because I was a cold, wretched and evil little creature undeserving of Love or Goodness. Within a few weeks, the fog had cleared and I realised that there was a real disparity between who the people around me saw and I who I knew myself to be. So, I decided to create a show where I could work out once and for all if God would like me. I’m not a Christian and was never raised with religion as a serious part of my life, but have always been dogged by the fear that God was out to get me.
Whilst the above probably reads like an edgy misery-fest it’s so far from it. With the audience as Judge, Jury and Executioner, I have found myself with a playful debut hour that allows me to show the world who I really am, what I think – unmasked – and why I might actually deserve a seat in heaven (if it exists).
Jake: Tell us about what the audience can expect coming into the show, and what they might not expect about the show.
Alice-India: The audience can expect charisma, vulnerability and the reality that autism and ADHD are not necessarily what they first thought. It’s highly confessional, and I hope liberating, for those of us who struggle to make a space for ourselves in the world. Whether that’s in an office with a psycho line manager, around the frightening truth-tellers known as Children or in a relationship with someone who isn’t right for you.
Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Alice-India: Throughout my time in comedy, I have experienced what I can only describe as conventionally attractive women sneaking up to me after gigs to tell me they do/think/feel the same things as me. This show may be for them more than for the people Like Me who have no choice but to let it all hang out. For those of us in life, maybe they’re not autistic or ADHD or whatever, but who are continually forced into wearing a mask of normalcy and actually they wish their cousin or colleague or stranger on the bus would just fuck off and die too, and that’s ok it doesn’t make them a bad person. Their cousin on the other hand…
Jake: With Edinburgh Fringe 2025 just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Alice-India: This is my first time doing a Big Show and all the elements that come with it. A wonderful producer, a thoughtful director, a team around me to get this thing off the ground. It takes a village to raise a child and an army to raise a distinctly chaotic neurodiverse person’s Edinburgh hour.
Also, less glamorous, but after going back into teaching September 2024, I think I’ll be looking forward to a month of lie-ins? Not waking up at 5am, tightness in my chest as I try to recall whether I printed 500 resources the night before. This is going to be the most emotional and stressful month of my life, and it’s still technically my summer holiday for the year. Mojito, anyone?
Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Alice-India: A theme of my show is sobriety, so I’d like to take the time to create an homage to the beverage that kept me buzzing when alcohol no longer could: The Iced Oat White Mocha with an Extra Shot. Sweet, satisfying and likely to put you into a coma.
A reminder, you can catch Alice-India: See You In Hell from July 30th – August 25th (not the 11th) at Daisy at Underbelly, Bristo Square from 19:15 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Image Credit: Rebecca Need Menear
Lamesha Ruddock
Jasmine Silk
