Ellen Leslie
Walking into the poky room for Bad Birds (or Kleptoparasite), we are immediately immersed into a flat party. The music is blaring and Dylan (Isaac Burnett), the party’s host, is forcefully passing around crisps as we settle into our seats. He has just moved into his flat and is throwing a housewarming to celebrate. Little does he know that the week ahead is about to be unimaginably terrible.
Extremely hungover, he is awoken by a flat inspection the next morning, where his landlord’s representative Chris informs him that he is close to eviction. He is then late for his appointment at the job centre, and his work coach Derek informs him that he risks getting his benefits sanctioned. But between this, he faces a bigger problem: there’s an evil seagull inside him, and it’s desperate to get out.
The show pokes fun at the bureaucracy of the benefits system, and uses humour to demonstrate some of the obstacles that unemployed people face. From the ridiculous amount of evidence Dylan needs to appeal his benefits sanction, to the “reasonable” landlord requiring him to pay a huge amount of money by the end of the day to keep his flat, we laugh at the absurdity while feeling sorry for Dylan. A conversation between Derek and Chris where they speak about how sad it is that Dylan has fallen through the gaps, and joking that this is why the benefits system is called a safety net, and not a safety trampoline perfectly highlights attitudes towards unemployed people. Their lack of empathy is appalling, but it is the sad reality of how unemployed people are treated as case numbers and not humans by the system.
Dylan’s seagull costume and Derek and Chris’ masks are highly effective, and their simplicity adds to the humour of the show. Burnett brings them alive, turning them into middle class snobs that clearly don’t care about Dylan’s struggles. At times, he does make a few mistakes—for instance, he mixes their accents up—but these are extremely minor, and just add to the performance’s charm and chaos.
With a run time of 30 minutes, it is a very silly short show but highly entertaining. The only two things that suggest it’s a work in progress show are the music (Burnett uses his phone to control it, which is a little distracting), and the ending. It seems to just fizzle out, which is a bit anti-climactic.
Absurd, chaotic and hilarious, Bad Birds (or Kleptoparasite) is lots of fun. With its high energy, witty material and charismatic performer, it’s hard not to enjoy it. After all, what’s not to love about a show where you’re pelted with bags of crisps?
Recommended Drink: water to wash down the crisps.
Performances of Bad Birds (or Kleptoparasite) have concluded at Dundee Fringe 2026.
Clara Sunset
Salvador Kent
