Theatre review: Americana Psychobabble

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: It's tempting to recommend this howlingly indulgent, but oddly fascinating, one-woman free show by Alexandra Tatarsky, a clownish American who makes Harley Quinn look well-adjusted.

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom (Venue 93)

**

Watching it is like taking part in a prison experiment. The first half hour is a constant litany of hypnotically tedious word-association but if you tough that out (understandably, some made a break for it) Tatarsky engages with the audience, successfully conducting improv exercises and performing some deeply weird shit. It is amazing that she wins us back after 30 minutes of near torture –perhaps she just wore our defences down? Tartarsky describes this show as “part exorcism and part enema”, which seems curiously accurate but, troublingly, it’s still unclear which one of those aspects I enjoyed.

Until 27 August. Tomorrow 7:30pm.