REVIEW: Charlene Kaye: Diversity Shredder, EdFringe 2026 ★★★★★

In a world of white artists looking to diversify their bands with a sick female PoC guitarist, there’s only one* woman who can rise to the occasion! Multi-hyphenate artist Charlene Kaye takes the stage by storm in Diversity Shredder, a breathtaking solo standup musical comedy show on swimming against the current as an Asian American woman in the music industry.

Handing a member of the audience a leaf blower, Kaye lights up the room from the moment she enters, from a high-energy number about how people often compare her to Bobby Lee (who is Korean, and Kaye is Chinese. Clearly to some people, all of Asia is a monolith) to an educational track about the history of “Asian music” that is continuously interrupted by examples of white artists appropriating ESEA culture.

She presents her journey through a series of emails proposing prospective gigs and promising exposure, all while playing backups for white artists such as a nepo baby Soundcloud rapper, a folk singer and a wannabe reggae artist to a Christian church with deeply ingrained values of chastity.

This is tied in with a running musical bit where she chants to herself and the audience: “Sometimes, you gotta get that bag and shred for a dumb little white [boy]!” As an Asian creative myself, that unfortunately rang very close to home, showcasing the dire straits of achieving success in the arts: do we have to hide behind a more successful white person in order to ‘make it’?

In between these numbers, Kaye receives a Facetime from a record label producer who tells her that she should make more “Asian music”. Which sparks the question: what even is “Asian music”? Asking the audience this, Kaye accurately predicts that at least one person would shout “K-pop!” and launches into a parodic number utilising the stereotypical formula of K-pop music. Growing up in Hong Kong, I listened to a lot of K-pop in my childhood and early teenage years and I could not stop laughing from how spot-on this bit was at criticising the mass-produced aspect of the K-pop industry.

At another major turning point of the show, Kaye receives a phone call from her father, who encourages her to look to all the (white) female pop stars dominating the Billboard charts, which prompts her to emulate their individual sounds in a hilariously and scarily accurate fashion. A moment of clarity is reached when she realises that emulating other artists means that she isn’t being true to herself — a genius critical metaphor on the assimilation expected of Asian immigrants — which triggers my personal highlight of the show:

Kaye reaches a moment of vulnerability about her struggles with depression, seeing a therapist and being on medication (do NOT get off your Lexapro, ever) because though telling an audience about the lasting after effects of existing in a world rooted in white supremacy works in raising awareness, truly showing them — through a brilliantly mixed number taking influence from hard metal and What’s Up by the 4 Non Blondes — leaves an ingrained impression that will surely follow each person that was in the room for days to come.

In a tear-jerking moment near the end of her show, Kaye opens up about finding her sound through the unique avenue of musical comedy and living her dream, accompanied by footage from her childhood and an astral projection of her higher self. Charlene Kaye is showing young Asian artists that they too can find their sound, without having to conform to anyone’s expectations or hiding behind a ‘more successful’ white person. This show was definitely one of the highlights of my Fringe experience so far.

Diversity Shredder is a prime example of how music connects us all through an earth-shattering, electrifying hour of showcasing Asian excellence.

Recommended Drink: A Yakult soju – fun, fruity and fresh!

*I hope the people reading this know that I write this ironically — there are plenty of very talented female PoC artists out there who, like Kaye, do not deserve to be tokenised, but if you did take that seriously:

You can catch Charlene Kaye: Diversity Shredder at Gilded Balloon Teviot (The Den) between August 19-30 (Not 25th) at 20:20 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Box Office.