Elisabeth Flett
Bed rotting in his early thirties, feeling listless and suffering “multiple ego deaths”, Willing comes up with an unusual way to pass the time: creating a meme page on Instagram. What starts off as a hobby quickly becomes a much larger part of his life, and when DMs start sliding in from boys who want to meet up in real life…well, who is he to refuse modern day romance in all its admittedly unromantic forms? Edgelord right-wingers and soft boi aesthetic poets alike are soon dropping into his notifications, and what started as a bit of fun looks dangerously close to losing that light-hearted edge.
Willing jokes at the start of this show that his decision to kill time by creating an ironic meme page is peak “zillenial behaviour”, and that descriptor could be given to 0G Crush as an overall performance. Pop culture references are to be found throughout, as is a mix of millennial earnestness and Gen Z sardonic wit. The show takes us from initial humorously awful romantic mishaps as Willing explores the dating pool available to him as an anonymous meme page administrator- a remarkable amount of men, it turns out, will slide into the DMs of someone who they’ve literally never seen in their life – and ultimately ends up in a place of surprising earnestness as one of the meme page boys turns out to be a great deal more than just a fun time.
Outrageous stories abound – one of DM sliders is described as ‘Bukkake Cinderella’ for very good reasons – but as the chaotic fun settles into a true romance the tone of 0G Crush shifts away from entertainment and towards something more sober. What does earnest love look like, for someone who has always chased the short-lived, ecstasy-tinged party highs? Now that Willing has found true romance, can he hold onto it without reverting back to old habits and self-destructing his own happiness? The last third of this show is, increasingly, a bittersweetly painful watch, but one which grounds 0G Crush in reality and gives it a depth which elevates it from flirty entertainment to a genuinely moving reflective memoir.
0G Crush is a musical show – Willing is clearly a professional singer, with excellent vocal skills – and the songs are an eclectic mix of 80’s style heartfelt ballads, Backstreet Boys-worthy catchy bops, musical theatre-style belters and upbeat bangers. Some songs are stronger than others in terms of lyrics and backing style choices, but when Willing leans into the more dance track feel of songs like his “club banger about heartbreak” this show really shines, and we all feel transported to the back rooms of a 2am London gay bar as drugs and alcohol blur the world into a technicoloured whirlwind of bodies, heat, designer clothes and illicit lust.
“I know how to tell a story,” Willing sings, and he does. 0G Crush is that story, and it is well told indeed.
Recommended Drink: Something salaciously flirty, pink, and ideally consumed in a Vauxhall gay bar.
You can catch 0G Crush at Drawing Room @ Assembly Rooms until 24th August at 21:50 (1 hr 10 mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake Mace
Lamesha Ruddock
