Winner of last year’s prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Best Newcomer award, Lara Ricote – a Mexican-born, Netherlands-based comic – jokes of her “minority show”, GRL/LATNX/DEF: “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but being in a minority is very ‘in’ right now”.
When she was 21, a flatmate described Lara as “a person of colour”, which came as a shock, so she’s well aware that she’s often seen as white. And since her self-described “Bart Simpson with a lisp” voice doesn’t exactly scream hard of hearing, either, Lara labels herself “disabled lite”.
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Prior to commencing, Lara requests that the house lights be brought up a fraction so that she can visually gauge our reactions and, later on, commends one particularly “supportive” woman for her vigorous head nodding throughout. Top-of-the-range hearing aids have Bluetooth, Lara points out, which means she can listen to podcasts while talking to people (“every modern woman’s dream”).
We’re told that Lara’s little sister is “the stupid one” and her older sister – also hard of hearing – is so “insanely hot” that people simply refuse to believe she’s “disabled”. Her dad, from Venezuela, is a “granola anti-vaxxer” (which means very healthy, apparently) and her Mexican mum embraces the Mayan religion – that’s enough familial comic potential for several shows! Yet Lara also manages to include an international border-crossing stalking story and a song about organ trafficking plus so much more.
Lara’s thoroughly likeable, sweet demeanour adds gobsmacking shock value to some edgier content (OMG, the ovarian cyst bit!) and that mime sequence, during which she attempts to purchase the morning after pill from a chemist in Thailand, is superbly done. Well played.
Best bit: Imagine if Moby Dick was called ‘Moby Vagina’? “Nobody would’ve read it.”
Making a difference: During GRL/LATNX/DEF, Lara dons Dame Edna-esque glasses to represent a version of herself from “a parallel universe” who interrupts to push for the inclusion of more climate change content. Post-show, she hands out flyers containing climate change resources (these are also accessible via a link in her Insta bio).
Takeaway: Getting food stuck in your teeth as a metaphor for the climate crisis, because no one wants to say anything about it – genius.
Catch GRL/LATNX/DEF at the Westin until April 23. Grab tickets here.
