Jake Mace
Michelle Pearson is an award-winning vocalist and cabaret artist headed to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her show Skinny next week. Skinny explores society’s toxic obsession with diet culture, with Michelle urging us to rethink what beauty truly means. All of this is done through a blend of pop anthems, ballads and true-to-life storytelling from Michelle’s own experiences. We caught up with Michelle for a pixelated pint to find out more about the show.
You can catch Skinny from July 30th to August 10th (not the 6th) at Friesian at Underbelly, Bristo Square from 18:50 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake: Hi Michelle – your upcoming EdFringe show Skinny aims to unpack society’s toxic obsession with diet culture and challenges us to rethink what beauty truly means – tell us about the inspiration for the show and why you decided to bring it to the stage now.
Michelle: Skinny was born out of my own lifelong struggle with body image and the relentless pressure to shrink myself (physically) to fit in. I grew up in a world pretty obsessed with dieting and I felt there was a constant pressure to always be thinner and more beautiful throughout school, work, relationships, from family and from the entertainment industry so it led me down some questionable pathways.
About 3 years ago, in my mid thirties I got tired of pretending that this pressure didn’t affect me and I literally started jotting down notes and ideas for the show from a hospital bed after a traumatic surgery to fix something I had done to my body in my early twenties.
I created Skinny to shine a light on how toxic diet culture can impact young lives. I did it with humour, vulnerability and music which is what I have always known and used cabaret as a vehicle to get this very personal story out into the world.
The timing felt right because these conversations are finally bubbling to the surface, and audiences are clearly keen to talk about it. I have been overwhelmed by the response to the show. I have had hundreds of people reach out to me and share their stories, thank me and want to talk more about this important topic.
We weren’t born hating our bodies, it’s been taught to us. And the show really unpacks that and makes you think about where that comes from.
Jake: Tell us about what the audience can expect coming into the show, and what they might not expect about the show.
Michelle: It’s funny, fierce and pretty unfiltered. It has some extremely powerful musical moments featuring popular songs and an incredible 4 piece band that help to deliver some of the storyline. The story and messaging is immensely uplifting. People feel inspired and start to think about the absurd things we do to chase “perfection.”
What might surprise people is how much they see themselves in it, regardless of gender, age or size. We’ve had audience members tell us it was like someone finally gave voice to the thoughts they’ve carried for years. Others have said it felt like therapy… but with better lighting and a killer soundtrack.
Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Michelle: I hope people leave feeling more curious about diet culture and how it creeps into our lives without us knowing. I want people to question who benefits from our body shame and maybe feel inspired to be a little kinder to themselves – and each other. Some people have told me they felt empowered by the story I have shared, others said they finally understood what a loved one had been going through. That’s the power of storytelling: it connects us in unexpected ways. And if people walk away humming a tune or laughing about their old diet fads, that’s a bonus.
Jake: With Edinburgh Fringe 2025 just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Michelle: I can’t wait to bring Skinny to the Edinburgh Fringe and I’m excited to see how international audiences respond to this work before we make our Off-Broadway debut in September this year. This is my 4th time performing in Edinburgh but this show is the best work I have ever presented and it’s very different to my previous Edinburgh shows, Comfort Food Cabaret (I am presenting this again in 2025 at Edinburgh New Town Cookery School) and Down Under: The Songs That Shaped Australia.
I’m also really keen to see other artists pushing boundaries, and to just soak up that electric atmosphere. I’ll be getting to as many shows as possible that might work well at the Bowden Fringe in Adelaide as I will be looking for potential programming opportunities with my producer hat on. And let’s be honest, I am so excited to order chips with cheese on them (this is definitely an Edinburgh thing) and wake up/go to sleep with the sound of bagpipes.
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?
Michelle: If Skinny were a beverage, it would be a skinny margarita served in a glitter-rimmed glass… then smashed on the floor in rebellion. It starts off looking like your typical guilt free treat (low cal, socially acceptable, Instagrammable) but by the end, it’s exposing all the toxic nonsense behind that label. It’s bold, a little salty, and unexpectedly cathartic! Just like the show, it’s here to disrupt the idea that you have to shrink yourself to be worthy, and it leaves a deliciously defiant aftertaste.
A reminder, you can catch Skinny from July 30th to August 10th (not the 6th) at Friesian at Underbelly, Bristo Square from 18:50 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
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