Laurie Stevens is an actor, writer, and clown. She has worked with the Lyric Hammersmith, Leicester Square Theatre, Pleasance and Soho Theatre Labs. She is an experienced improviser, including performances at the Upright Citizens Brigade Los Angeles, The Free Association, and two runs at the Edinburgh Fringe in ‘Geraldyne: Improv from Music’. In 2023 she received Camden People’s Theatre’s Starting Blocks commission. She brings her debut, emo-inspired Fringe show, ‘David’s One-Man Band (F*ck you Steven)’ to Edinburgh in August. We spoke to Laurie about the show, the mid-00s sweet spot for emo culture, and dreaming of taking over Murrayfield.

Can you tell us about ‘David’s One-Man Band (F*ck you Steven)’?

It’s a character comedy with live music about a 13-year-old emo boy. He’s about to play the gig of a lifetime – headlining Sticky Floors, the coolest under-16s’ band night in the Bay Area – but when his best friend and only bandmate bails, he’s forced to pursue rock stardom alone.

Set in 2006, it’s filled with nostalgia and teenage awkwardness – from angsty poetry, to feeble attempts to flirt, to the perils of wearing black layers during a heatwave. I’ve taken my love of American teen comedy-dramas and merged it with original songs and noughties bangers to create an emo love child of Freaks and Geeks and Spinal Tap.

For those unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe your comedy style and approach to performance?

Character-driven and a bit clown-y. I take a character that makes me feel fun and silly, test that audiences like them too, and then I get rather carried away building their world. In this case, that’s meant diving into emo culture, all the little details of the mid-noughties and learning to play the guitar and drums. The latter was by far the most work, but it was worth it.

What is about the music from that period that inspired the show? 

I think mainstream mid-noughties emo is a lot like a teenage boy: there’s little subtlety to how it expresses itself. It’s not as rebellious as it thinks it is. It’s pretentious and wordy, which, er, some of us definitely were as teenagers. (DMC over a Smirnoff Ice, anyone?)

 Whilst a lot of emo songs address heavy subject matter, there’s a comedic side to the genre – from its extra-long song titles to the theatrics of the music videos (I’m looking at you, Panic! At The Disco). That unique mix of earnestness and playfulness is something I try to emulate in the show.

The show was developed with support from Camden People’s Theatre and Soho Theatre Labs. In what way did they help?

Camden People’s Theatre selected me for Starting Blocks, which helps artists during the early stages of making a show. This included a commission, rehearsal space and weekly check-ins with the other Starting Blocks artists and the artistic director at the time, Brian Logan. The financial support was a relief, as I had to buy multiple instruments, and the rehearsal space provided much-needed accountability and routine, but the group meetings were my favourite bit! Making solo work can be a lonely process and having that sense of community really spurred me on.

The Soho Theatre supported the show in numerous ways, too – my first proper gig as David was as part of the Soho Drag Lab, and I later learned how to produce a Fringe show in their Edinburgh Lab. Lee and the team have given me all kinds of support – coming to work-in-progress shows, giving feedback and even PAT testing my musical kit. Again, though, I’d say the highlight was the community of artists on both Labs. Am I sounding like a lonely freelancer yet?

‘David’s One-Man Band,’ is your debut Edinburgh show. What are your hopes and expectations for the month?

I think, when making a show, you have to allow yourself to dream that yours will be the biggest hit the Fringe has ever seen. Audiences will fall in love with your work – laughing, weeping, marvelling at your reinvention of comedy and theatre and everything in between. There will be such demand for your shows that you’ll have to add extra date after extra date, eventually kicking Oasis out of Murrayfield Stadium so that you can play instead because it’s WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT.

But then, when you get to Edinburgh, you have to let that all go and just enjoy it.

Apart from your show, is there anything you’re particularly looking forward to (or dreading) about the Fringe?

 Right now, I’m dangerously optimistic about my time at the Fringe. I’m imagining hikes, trips to Portobello, maybe even the gym… Is this realistic? Is it f*ck. But let me have it. And if, during August, you find me crying on a kerb somewhere, soggy and exhausted, please don’t remind me that I wrote this. Buy me a Moo Pie ice cream and send me home for a nap.

Beside ‘David’s One-Man Band’, can we expect to see you performing elsewhere during August?

Throughout August, I’ll be doing short sets at various mixed-bill nights. My first one’s at Chortle’s Fast Fringe on July 31st @ 18:30 – come along for a taster of the show.

Are there any other acts at the Fringe that you would recommend audiences see?

Annie Siddons, my dramaturg, is a whip-smart playwright who loves character-driven work as much as I do. She’s at the Fringe for one night only with her new show, ‘Dickie Dimplethorpe Has a Day‘. So get your tickets before they sell out!

There are so many brilliant character, clown and alternative acts making their debuts this year – keep an eye out for Christiaan Hendriksen, Ellen Turnill Montoya, and Ozzy Algar, to name a few. And for some late-night banana-throwing chaos, check out ‘A Night of Drama‘!

‘David’s One-Man Band (F*ck You, Steven)‘ is at Underbelly Cowgate – Belly Dancer from Thu 31 Jul to Mon 25 Aug 2025 at 16:10