Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Assembly Roxy, Venue until 28th August 2022
Reviewed by Rachel Farrier
4****
This show really is one of a kind, and therefore feels like the whole of the Edinburgh Fringe experience encapsulated in one show. French performer and baker Jean-Daniel Brousse has created an hour long, one man performance which includes: bread baked lived on stage, accordian playing, erotic dancing, videography (of France, his parents, and… things rising), an expletive-tastic audience sing-a-long, acrobatics, bag pipe playing, an Aquitaine folk tale, nudity, a graphic acting-out of his symptoms of gluten intolerance, an exploration of the tensions of leaving a family business when all you want is to become a performer, and finding you are gay in a small, conservative Christian village context – all accompanied by a brilliantly apt soundtrack, and rounded off with holy communion (if they wished it) for the entire audience.
By turns it was completely hilarious, thoughtful, moving and.. surprising (some might say shocking – note the 14+ advisory) , as he moved effortlessly between all of the above. I found it to be a beautiful, warm hearted show and very much enjoyed the rollercoaster-ride nature of the performance. This is the epitome of an Edinburgh Fringe show and I highly recommend it.