Stand-up comedian Dee Allum brings her new show, Raumdeuter, to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer.
“Football is, of course, gay. Common knowledge, but important, nonetheless. But could it also be – transgender? In a show about mortality, transformation and genitals, comedian Dee Allum asks the big questions. What is purpose? Who is Britain? And why pick a show title that people won’t understand? Some of these questions will be answered in this sophomore stand-up show following Dee’s award-nominated debut Deadname.”
Where: Pleasance Courtyard, Upstairs
When: 5-30 Aug (not 18)
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/dee-allum-raumdeuter
What can you tell us about your show?
Hello! Thank you for asking! It’s called Raumdeuter, and it’s about England not winning the World Cup (probably, at the time of writing) and why that means it’s okay to get gender reassignment surgery. I promise that those two things are related. Also, it is very funny and enjoyable, I reckon.
What is it about and where did the idea come from?
I think I’ve been trying to reconcile my enjoyment of football with my transness, as those two parts of myself feel quite at odds a lot of the time. But the closer you look, even at something as heteronormative as football, the more you see a bit of queerness. You do have to look quite hard to be fair, but it is there! The title is taken from a footballer, Thomas Muller, who used Raumdeuter to describe what he did on a pitch. It means ‘space interpreter’, and that’s a pretty trans thing to be if you ask me.
How would you sell it to audiences in one paragraph?
In the very unlikely event that you’re not sold by either of the previous two paragraphs, I’d say it is the only show like it at the Fringe. And so far audiences are really enjoying it, and you could be in one of those audiences!
Do you enjoy participating in the Fringe?
I do, in the same way that I enjoy eating an entire chocolate cake at once. Lots of good stuff in there for sure, but you probably don’t want to do it more than once a year.
And do you have any moments you particularly remember?
Lots of flyering in the rain in my earlier days, and making sketch comedy that very few people seemed to enjoy. I also once fell on my arse in the wet on the Royal Mile, and nobody laughed, which at the Fringe felt worse.
What are you looking forward to the most in Edinburgh?
Friends! And comedy! It’s such a nice vibe if you can get out of the rat race of it all a little bit. Everyone’s there to have the best possible time, and the more you can lean into that side of things, the better time you’ll have.
What’s next for the show?
We shall see! Hopefully the show has a life after the Fringe in the same way that my previous one, Deadname, did. That went on a UK tour and was such a blast; it would be great to have more of that if at all possible, thanks! Xoxo