Weird ruminations on platonic love from very likeable and lonely performer
August McEachern needs friends. People (unfairly!) think they are a pervert, due to their general pervert physiology. As a result, they’ve had to construct their own friend – literally construct, stitching together a 6-foot tall red bunny type being to befriend by force.
Such is the foundation of McEachern’s Fringe show, Be My Friend. They’re an immensely likeable and gentle performer, addressing the audience with the kind of tender tone that makes us feel like close friends (August’s friends) colluding with each other about a mutual we all sort of hate. They have a really distinct stage presence, like a sort of unmedicated Ned Flanders: unfailingly polite, but with some real weird energy peeking through throughout (the self-described ‘pervert’ peeking through! Perv peek!).
The actual content of Be My Friend is difficult to summarise: it’s kind of about McEachern’s childhood in the rural American woodlands, it’s kind of about Julia Roberts’ Eat, Pray, Love, and it’s kind of about cocaine. There’s also some material about periods which does not land, and also doesn’t seem like it particularly has the potential to land – but the majority of Be My Friend is on the right side of charmingly weird. Fantastic one-liners are sprinkled throughout, with McEachern confessing they once “did so much cocaine [they] briefly understood finance”.
However, they’re at their best as a performer when spontaneously interacting with the audience. A well-meaning but well-inebriated audience member makes McEachern’s life a challenge in this particular show, but they rise to the occasion to great comic effect.
“No-one wants to be my friend”, they say, presumably teeing up to some sort of emotional climax.
“We do!”, she screams, somewhat disrupting the CAREFULLY CRAFTED EMOTIONAL BUILD-UP.
“Thanks, Dad”, August replies.
The six-foot bunny creation is a cool touch, sitting stationary to August’s left throughout the whole show: it’s a funny detail that, for all the effort of stitching a six-foot bunny creation, it’s not a particularly integral part of the show.
Overall, August McEachern is a charming and talented performer with a skill for getting the audience on-side – Fringe Friends, if you will.
Show Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/august-mceachern-be-my-friend
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Theatre 3 at theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall
Dates: Aug 7th-22nd
Time: 23:05 (50 minutes)
Ticket prices: £8.50
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / http://www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 18+