Kicking off my 2025 fringe season is none other than Kit Loyd's "Frenzy".
I first came across Loyd a few years ago when I was handed a flyer to see his show "gosh!". I was told he had trained at the prestigious Ecole Philippe Gaulier, and that was enough for me to be sold. It's no secret that I have a soft spot for clowning, so that was all I needed to hear to go.
As you can imagine, I enjoyed his performance so much that the next time I could make it to his show, I jumped at the chance, hoping not to set my expectations too high from a memory of a previous fantastic fringe!
The show is being performed every day at 20:20, except the 11th of August, at Assembly Roxy, which has a lovely little courtyard to wait in before your show. Always a bonus if you can wait in comfort rather than hiding down a side street.
The venue itself is quite lovely, a standard black box theatre with about 60 seats, a godsend compared to the metal chairs you may find in basement "theatres".
But to the important bit, the all-important question: "How was the show?"
"Frenzy" was simply outstanding!
The atmosphere of a rave is built in from the start, tunes pumping as you take your seats. Loyd comes out to David Guetta & Bebe Rexha's "I'm Good (Blue)" and raises the energy of the room, getting the audience involved by asking them what their favourite blue thing is, gleefully rejoicing with every answer he gets! He is excited, and we can't help but feel it too!
The show is a series of one man sketches, a daunting task to play several characters in one scene, but it is a task that Loyd pulls of flawlessly.
The sketches start off fairly tame, but as the show progresses, it all becomes much weirder and much more wild. I never thought I would watch a show where a sad, lonely janitor splashes the audience with water from a mop, reveling in their laughter and the chaos of it all before leading into a steamy make out session that ends in mop fellatio [Yes, it's exactly how it sounds, and you will struggle to breathe from the laughter].
The audience are a constant part of the show, the fourth wall always being broken, if it was even there in the first place! At some points, the audience is on the edge of their seats as they participate in sending a bottle into a bin to the soundtrack of Hans Zimmer, whilst at other points, they are full-on participating in the rave where they are the bubbles, whistles, and strobes!
I think what makes Loyd a master of his craft is his ability to make the audience fall in love with the joy of stupidity! There was not a single quiet moment—if Loyd wasn't talking, someone was laughing. This show is what brings life to the fringe, no need for expensive sets, on-the-nose politics, or edginess. This show is just the pure entertainment that we all need in our lives.
That being said, the show is not without some sober moments [yet we still manage to laugh during them]. Loyd reveals several times throughout the show that he is two years in recovery, and that although it has him feeling better and thinking clearer, a part of his life that he misses from before is a rave. He hopes one day to be able to go back to it, when he knows it can be a safe environment for him, and I really hope he gets to that place because he seems to me to be a magnificent and talented lad who deserves a night at a rave with friends.
In the meantime, why not come to "Frenzy" when you're at the fringe so that you can be a part of Loyd's mini-rave each night?
I think it's fair to say that this show is beyond a doubt deserving of the first official Fantastic Fringe Award!
I hope you get a chance to see this show and most of all I hope you have a fantastic fringe! 😁
Love,
Tony x
