ADHD seems to be this year’s hot topic at the Fringe, with a few comedians focusing on it in their shows. Alice Brine was diagnosed aged 15 but, unexpectedly (or maybe it should be expected, we are talking about ADHD after all), does not particularly dwell on her diagnosis, or examine how it made her feel.
This means we kind of skip over an issue that is becoming very apparent, girls are being underdiagnosed with various forms of neurodiversity. This is not to say Alice doesn’t touch upon this fact, but it’s treated more as an aside and arguably it’s not Alice’s job to educate us, she just wants to make us laugh.
Instead, Alice plunges us headlong into her ADHD-soaked behaviors, such as hyperfixation. For Alice, her hyperfixation landed on creating Facebook pages, remember those? Something that seems quite harmless but somehow, like most of Alice’s stories, this innocent pursuit ends up with wild consequences.
It’s her final story that really shows Alice at her best, though I understand it’s not so ADHD inspired so Alice has chosen not to centre the whole show around it. Let’s just say if somebody ever wrongs you, you could do worse than having a friend who is a vet.
★★★★
Alice Brine: Brinestorm is at Gilded Balloon, Teviot at 16:20 until 28th August. For tickets visit EdFringe.com
