American comedian and storyteller Marina di Marzo makes her Edinburgh Fringe debut next month with her show, Love in the Time of Fifth Grade. Marina is “a writer and performer based in New York City who uses humor to explore her 1st generation Italian upbringing and pop culture. In her spare time, she’s also a news producer.”
“Before age ten, Marina di Marzo was an unstoppable romantic force. After eleven? A cautionary tale. This New York comedian digs into her early 2000s childhood – armed with MS Paint, Sharon Stone, and her Italian heritage – to figure out exactly when and why it all went wrong. Expect real stories of Austen-level passion from primary school, Dickensian heartbreak from middle school onward and a Disney channel inspired pop song you didn’t see coming. Oh, and at some point she flashes her bra. It makes sense in context. Mostly.”
Where: Muse at Braw Venues @ Hill Street
When: 7-20 Aug
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/marina-di-marzo-love-in-the-time-of-fifth-grade
What can you tell us about your show?
Love in the Time of Fifth Grade is all about how I hit my sensual peak in primary school. I present the audience with real-life stories of my passionate love affairs from under the age of ten and compare that to my dating horror stories from my early twenties.
Now, I grew up in the early 2000s, so my comedy is chock full of Y2K references including but not limited to: Bratz… Shrek… and Chef Gordon Ramsay. In keeping with the theme, everyone I mention in my show appears as a stick figure that I’ve drawn in Microsoft Paint just like the good old days on the family computer.
And to cap everything off, I end with a Disney Channel-inspired original pop song about how raw scallops are a metaphor for living life to the fullest (I mentioned Chef Gordon Ramsay is a key reference, right?).
What is it about and where did the idea come from?Â
In my early 20s, I went through a period of about five years where I didn’t go on a single date (woof). Eventually I broke that seal with a guy from my improv team (woof woof). I started reflecting on how I ended up in a situation where I was completely comfortable cutting love out of my life. How did it get so bad? Especially when, as a child, I was kissing and biting countless boys and even forging love letters!
This show is an exploration of what happened and why I’m ready to embrace my childhood Marina all over again. Many of us, especially women, are taught to shed parts of our personality when we hit puberty and become “adults.” We think “to grow up” is to accept what’s in front of us, and stop dreaming of what we doodle about in the corner of our journals. This show is my way of getting some of those parts back, and encouraging others to also reconnect to their past selves.
I’ve been working on this show on and off for the past ten years, and I love sharing that it was originally called Desert of Labia — wherein I played the deputy sheriff of the ghost town that was my vagina. Over the years, as I worked my way up in the New York comedy scene and discovered my authentic comedic voice, I realised that framing device wasn’t serving me. Instead, those stories I loved to share were always at the heart of the piece.Â
How would you sell it to audiences in one paragraph?Â
About halfway through my show, I flash my bra to the audience after describing how it was hand-picked by my 80-year-old Italian grandpa. You’re gonna have to buy a ticket to get THAT context.Â
Do you enjoy participating in the Fringe? And do you have any moments you particularly remember?
This is my first time going to the Fringe or any Fringe, so I am looking forward to making panic-filled and stress-inducing memories (just kidding!).
What are you looking forward to the most in Edinburgh?
I can’t wait to connect with like-minded theater folk and trade notes about our respective journeys. Working as a producer and doing comedy in New York, I’ve never been able to do a two-week run — let alone a two-day run — so I’m excited to stretch my performance muscles in that way. I’ve been longing for the chance to finally really immerse myself in nothing else but theater. Also, I would never miss the chance to visit a real-life castle.
What’s next for the show?
When I get back to New York, I plan to bring the show to off-off-Broadway and tape it as a special! So if you miss it in Scotland, you should be able to hopefully see it soon while scrolling on TikTok.