If there are things worth editing in this uproarious work-in-progress show by Gaulier-graduated clown Tara McCullough, please let it not be the number of things she pulls out of her bra.
If there are things worth editing in this work-in-progress show by Gaulier-graduated clown Tara McCullough, please, let it not be the number of things she pulls out of her bra.
There are definitely some shows at the Fringe that really should wear little warning “WIP” pins on their lapels. McCullough’s show – opened by the insanely lovely clown Freidah (Caitlyn Duff) – is certainly not one of them. Its very success lies in this explicit and unapologetic embrace of its wonkiness. It’s wild. It’s unclean. It’s exactly what a clown show at the Fringe should be: shamelessly personal, without meaning to be.
In one of the most unassuming venues at the Fringe, the Container at Potterrow (yes, an actual, diligently soundproofed shipping container), McCullough literally unpeels the different layers of herself. It’s like an abstracted strip-tease of identity. From a horny grandmother to a dumb chicken to a big baby, McCullough blows the bits of herself – Texan, Puerto Rican, woman – to their extremes and then lets them twinkle, one by one, before her audience.
While she extracts herself from each costume layer – digging cheese out of her chest or rifling through her drawers for a musical instrument – McCullough also expertly coaxes out some noteworthy levels of audience interaction. As we ate candy (also from her bra) together and poured each other wine, it was clear that McCullough’s skill as a performer and trustworthy, deeply endearing clown will get her far. If she comes back to the Fringe next year, let’s just say, it will most definitely be farther than the confines of a shipping container.
mul-TIT-tudes was a part of the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and played until 23 August. More info here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/tara-mccullough-mul-tit-udes-wip