REVIEW: Villain Era, Juliette Burton, EdFringe 2026 ★★★★

Juliette Burton is unleashed and is, gloriously, villainous. In a new nerdy comedy hour Burton talks sexuality, cosplay, comic books, and relieving herself of the burden of being a ‘good girl’. It’s a battle cry of feminist reclamation of the body and a dissection of what truly makes a villain.

Burton points out that many villainous women in comic books are too complex to really be placed in the binary category of ‘evil’. In life, also, women are villainised for being body positive, for being queer, or for exercising their autonomy. Juliette talks about the influences in her life that made her feel that being a ‘good girl’ meant denying who she really was, and subsequently her liberation through strong female figures in media.

What do you think it is to be ‘evil’? Burton talks about being raised christian and the affect it had on her self-image. It’s a relatable concept to anyone who is neuro-divergent, as Burton shares that she is, that following the rules feels important, but does not always make us happy. The conflict between wanting to do things ‘right’ and wanting to live well paralyses. Burton makes light of her struggles, choosing instead to celebrate where she is now and the joy she has found living authentically as a pansexual and polyamorous person. It’s very much a feel-good hour, although the overall themes are somewhat serious.

Everything, however, is very much tied up by nerdiness. She talks about her experience cosplaying and how this helped her feel more confident embodying these powerful female characters and paying homage. It’s difficult to do this without acknowledging the overt sexualisation of female characters in comic books and other nerdy media. Burton addresses this in her show, but without a significant conclusion. She does talk about the grey area between hero and villain, digging in to characters like Poison Ivy and Jean Grey. There’s a lot to dissect here about what makes a villain, and Juliette relates this to real life, candidly sharing the experiences that she endured whilst trying to be a ‘good girl’. Now, as a ‘bad girl’, she’s found power in exploring her dominance, politely watching at sex parties, and generally doing whatever the f*ck she wants.

Burton is very entertaining, and a charming, warm presence onstage. Her material was fun and she’s quick witted with audience interaction, there was a lot to enjoy in this show. I do wish that it had sacrificed some of the topics to dig deeper into others, for instance the section on colour theory was interesting but not as interesting as the exploration of what villainy meant.

The whole performance was given visual aid via powerpoint, and nerds do love a powerpoint, which included a game of ‘who grunts like this?’ where the contenders were Henry Cavill or Paddington Bear. She’s sexy and she’s nerdy, what more do you want? Burton may have been a ‘good girl’ before, but she’s so much more delicious being bad.

Recommended Drink: Dirty martini to keep it sexy.

Catch Villain Era from 5th to 30th August at 18.30 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.