Based on writer and performer Aaron Pang’s own experience, Falling: A Disabled Love Story is a bold and provocative solo show that unravels the complexities of love, lies and life after disability. Blending uncomfortable truths with dark humour, Falling challenges the disabled narrative. Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker Two) from 30th July – 25th August at 15:00. Buy tickets here.
- Thank you for chatting with A Young(ish) Perspective! Introduce us to who you are and what your doing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year?
My name is Aaron Pang, I’m a storyteller and comedian telling stories to anyone who will listen. A first-generation child of Chinese immigrants, a choir boy, a former tech guy, and a disabled person, I hope my stories will inspire others to embrace their multifaceted identities. I’m at Edinburgh Fringe this year performing my solo show Falling – a disabled love story. It’s a show about trying to find love after disability and settling for sad handjobs instead.
- A Youngish Perspective platforms accessible arts and champions the huge scope of different perspectives – can you tell us about the show you’re taking to Edinburgh Festival Fringe as if you’re flyering to both a young first-time-Fringe goer and a festival veteran returning every year?
I think the pitch is the same for both audience groups because talking about disabled sex is so uncommon.
“When is the last time you thought about disabled sex?” Well Falling is about searching for love after disability but settling for sad handjobs. When people see my cane, they always want to ask “what happened?” but my show wants to change audience members so that the next time they see a disabled person instead of wondering “what happened?” They will think “I wonder how they fuck?” Yes this is the disability social justice the world needs”
- Falling is an unapologetic look into the highs and lows of navigating intimacy while disabled, how are you able to reach some sort of closure with the audience when this is an ongoing challenge and societal conversation?
This is an awesome and yet impossible question to answer. I think the show tries to challenge the need to reach “closure” because in many ways our want as an audience for “closure” limits the stories we are able to tell. I want the audience to feel wonder at not having closure, to show them that a story that isn’t nicely tied up at the end can still be satisfying and worthy of being told. That feeling is what will make nuanced stories about disability and sex possible, to ask the audience to consider something completely different than the experiences they are accustomed to both in terms of storytelling and sex.
- Challenging concepts such as “happy endings” and “inspiration porn” is a large task and you are asking many of your audience members to abandon their preconceived notions and ideas – how do you create an environment where people feel comfortable enough to address these biases?
It’s creating the perfect balance between comfort and discomfort. To successfully challenge these preconceived notions inevitably means that the audience has to be uncomfortable. I think there’s a really important distinction between creating discomfort versus adversarial vibes. I am never fully dunking on the audience but I am showing them their own biases. I’m never sure how successful I am because a 60-minute show is not long enough to fully deconstruct these narrative “happy ending” institutions that we’ve constructed. Like audience members have still come up after the show to tell me how much of an “inspiration” I am. And I think that’s how the “comfort” is created, because I am disabled, this very particular image I present (that I am) is disarming. My disability allows me to challenge the audience without threatening them. I wish I could say it is my storytelling skills or my jokes (which I do think help) but I think audiences are more open to listen to a disabled man worthy of sympathy.
- Who would your surprise dream audience member be?
For me there are 4 performers that have really informed this show so I would love for them to see it. They are Mike Birbiglia, Hannah Gadsby, Derek Del Gaudio, and Jerrod Carmichael.
Each of them contributed to a different aspect of the show. Mike Birbiglia set the foundation for this type of storytelling style. Hannah Gadsby’s Nannette really moved audiences by confronting them with something true and deeply uncomfortable. Derek Del Gaudio’s In and Of Itself inspired the interactivity and the mode that allowed the audience to look at themselves. And Jerrod Carmichael’s Rothaniel’s confessional feels really close to the truth that I confess in the show. This would be a killer audience and I would love to know what they think.