Stacie Burrows is an American whose brand of musical comedy has the personal touch. In her Edinburgh Fringe show, Fool’s Goldmine, she combines quirky songs with childhood recollections.
It’s not a high-tech show – just her and a screen with headings and photographs. Fool’s Goldmine is her fourth Edinburgh show, and if the topic of family finances doesn’t grab you – watch and wait!
Sporting a t-shirt with the legend ‘Broke’, Burrows has written about ‘the real stuff’ this time round. Songs and stories talk about the illusion of a life of privilege, bankrolled by maxed-out credit cards and poor accounting.
Whether the parents have influenced the child is not fully explored. Instead, memories of good times in her formative years sit alongside Burrows’ own admission of her shaky relationship with money.
What’s here is not achingly funny – Burrows’ is not a storyteller who will get them rolling in the aisles, and it is clear that is not her thing. What she does do is petform relatable material in an accessible form.
It seems her usual brand is more caustic, so Fool’s Goldmine could be a departure from her previous shows. On this brief acquaintance I find her show honest, funny, and slick. Drawing so deeply from her own experience could backfire, but this is not a story of blame or resentnent.
Burrows’ delivery is fairly static with little movement or audience interaction. She is not a stand-up comedian but instead a witty theatre practitioner. Her Fringe blurb notes ‘instead of keeping up with the Joneses, she’s just trying to keep up with herself’.
This is an artist who can dig deep into her own issues and experiences without laying them heavily on her audience. Her gift is in making a connection without making us carry it away – it doesn’t make the work any less powerful or pragmatic.
4 stars.
Stacie Burrows: Fool’s Goldmine was at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.
For more on Stacie Burrows, visit her website.
I reviewed this show from a recording supplied by Stacie’s PR.