one4review | On 17, Aug 2026

Fanny Bleach is weird, and she’s determined to take you with her.

The show is incredibly creative, the costumes are outrageously good, and the whole thing is grotesque, odd and committed to its own strange little world.

Bleach finishes by telling us that, at the end of the run, she’s going to get the best audience drawing of her tattooed on her body. That tells you quite a lot about the mindset of the performer: this is someone who is here for all of it. A clown dedicated to clowning.

That dedication is top-notch. In a room with only six audience members, she never gives up. She pushes through, gives everything to the performance and commits completely to every grotesque wiggle, jiggle and strange little flourish.

The problem is that the set pieces themselves aren’t tight. This isn’t set-up-punchline comedy, but too often the costumes and sheer weirdness are carrying the show rather than the bits.

A lot of them fall flat, and there’s a sense that these beautifully curated ideas haven’t been sufficiently tested in front of audiences to discover exactly where the laughs are.

At times, it crosses the line from comedy and clown into performance art. Viewed that way, it’s genuinely interesting. One particularly fun section has Bleach asking us to draw her in an outrageous costume, repeatedly insisting that everyone gets her arse into the picture. It’s silly, playful and gives us something tangible to engage with.

There is no shortage of imagination here. The costume work is brilliant, the set pieces have clearly been carefully constructed, and the entire show feels meticulously curated.

But comedy ultimately needs an audience in the equation. Too often I felt myself leaning forward, willing the performer on and helping carry the show rather than simply being carried by it.

There’s a fascinating clown developing here, with commitment and creativity to spare. But the material needs more time in front of audiences to become as strong as the world Bleach has built around it.

★★★
Reviewed by Stephen ‘Sharpie’ Sharp
Assembly Roxy
Until 30 August (not 18 or 25)
21.50 (1 hour)