In April 2023, internet personality Dylan Mulvaney sat down in front of her phone and recorded a short ad for the most-bought beer in the United States, Bud Light. There’s nothing particularly remarkable or controversial about the video, which is reminiscent of most sponsored influencer content nowadays: her hair coiffed into an Holly Golightly-esque beehive, Mulvaney enthusiastically sips from a can of beer while encouraging her followers to ‘check out my Instagram story for more information about how you can enjoy March Madness with Bud Light!’ She ends the video with a cheery, ‘Love ya!’

Within hours, both her social media accounts, and those of Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, were blowing up – and not in a good way. The Guardian describes the reaction to the post as ‘swift, brutal and unprecedented.’ A boycott resulting from the ad even caused a 10% drop in Bud Light sales. Mulvaney alleges that the company never contacted her amidst the backlash.

The cause of the vitriol? Mulvaney is a trans woman, and Bud Light had sent her a personalised beer can to celebrate 365 days of womanhood. Given the toll that this harassment campaign has clearly taken on her, it’s amazing that Mulvaney has chosen to remain in the public eye. But remain she has – and even more incredibly, she’s brought her autobiographical solo show, ‘FAGHAG‘, to Edinburgh.

‘FAGHAG’ charts the highs and lows Mulvaney’s life – from being born to a conservative mother in San Diego, to getting her first job at Lush, to coming out as transgender, to the aforementioned Bud Light media maelstrom. It’s part-confessional (literally, as she went to a Catholic school), and part-PowerPoint presentation, but all enjoyable. Mulvaney certainly knows how to put on a performance: there are plenty of digressions and tangents in the form of original musical numbers (the ‘Twink Funeral’ Sister Act-adjacent scene is particularly memorable) and cameos from queer icons.

Of course, there are also many sombre moments throughout the show – as mentioned above, Mulvaney – like so many trans women – has been the target of a great deal of harassment both off- and online. But Mulvaney herself has stated that her goal for ‘FAGHAG’ was to bring ‘queer joy to mainstream media’ – something which is so often absent, something we need more than ever, and something which her show has in abundance.

‘FAGHAG‘ is at Assembly George Square Studios – Studio Two until Sun 25 Aug 2024 (except Wed 14 & 21) at 21:40