BOOST: Watch ‘Made of Magic – Poetry of Rage and (Be)longing’ at EdFringe 2025 – “Eventually, art healed me enough that my words started coming back…” (Ad)

This is a promoted post paid for by Jude FireSong aka Fabulous Phoenix Boy for EdFringe 2025.
All funds raised through advertising on bingefringe.com pay our contributors the Living Wage for their work.
Find out more here.

Made of Magic is a multimedia spoken word show about one non-binary trans boy painting and writing his way out of a 10yr nervous breakdown – 2025 being year ten, because all-consuming mental illness doesn’t really have clear edges.

I used to identify exclusively as a writer. In school, I did 8yrs of art classes; I designed/painted sets for musicals and even the backdrop for a friend’s doctoral project… but ultimately, I always thought of it as a hobby.

Or I did, until my PTSD got so complex, the part of me that writes just… broke. This left me with a literally life-threatening flood of negative emotions, and an an utter inability to turn to what had previously been infallible tools for introspection and catharsis – my own words and voice.

I’m still here, able to write these words, because visual art saved the day. Sure, I often painted instead of sleeping… but I also painted instead of making one very un-take-backable decision. I routinely went to sleep at dawn, but not before spending an hour taking pictures of the sunrise. I drew with such AuDHD/OCD/manic hyperfocus, my poor right hand ended up with a-fancy-name-for-repetitive-strain-injury.

There is a poem in the show about being terrified I may never get to perform again. But eventually, art healed me enough that my words started coming back. And now, I get to perform that very poem (and most of the book it’s from) at the Fringe. How beautiful is that?

You can catch Made of Magic – Poetry of Rage and (Be)longing from August 4th – 9th from 10:30 and again from August 18th – 22nd from 22:50 both at Fleming Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall (55mins). Tickets (£10 / £7 conc. / £5. disabled / unemployed / 2FOR1 4th & 5th) are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.