James MacFarlane talks with Spring Day about her show Exvangelical.
I realised I wasn’t the clean-cut Christian comedian I thought I wanted to be
Let's start by hearng about your background
I am an American comedian who got my start in Japan. After getting fired on my first day from a teaching job there for having cerebral palsy, I decided to try stand-up comedy at the Tokyo Comedy Store, simply because I saw an ad for an open mic night and it was something I had always wanted to do and it was free. I was interviewing all day, every day for a new job and was prepared for more rejection. I met comedians there from the UK who suggested I do a show at the Fringe. I took their advice and have been coming to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 2010.
What can audiences expect from this year's show?
It’s all about my experience in a Christian cult that I joined aged 13, and how I escaped 13 years later. It is a sharp and darkly funny coming-of-age story about learning to evolve after outgrowing a belief system that doesn’t work for you anymore. It also highlights some of the hallmarks of cults, the things that increase a person’s chances of getting out, as well as some alarming statistics you can’t help but laugh at - especially if you have a dark sense of humour.
You’ve described yourself as having 'a uniquely acerbic and sassy' style of comedy. How long did it take you to develop this voice?
Because I spent most of my formative years in a Christian cult, I severly censored my thoughts, life and speech my first few years on stage. My third year of doing stand-up comedy, I realised I wasn’t the clean-cut Christian comedian I thought I wanted to be. It just didn’t ring true. I had different opinions of my own that the stand-up stage in a far-away country gave me a safe place to develop and explore.
The Christian organisations I was involved with didn't allow women to speak their minds; women were encouraged to be pretty, passive and forever play a supportive role. As I slowly adjusted to life outside the cult, I became very aware of the fact that, inside and outside the church, feminine voices are easily ignored and spoken over more quickly in conversation than masculine ones—even by other women, because that is what society has conditioned us to do. I am sharp and to the point because I never assume people will listen to me for very long.
The show goes into some quiet personal moments of your early life. Was this difficult to write, or more of a cathartic experience?
For me, comedy has always been about making something painful into something palatable so that we can move on in life. Otherwise, pain wins, and I am far too competitive to let that happen. There is so much in the show that I have never talked about on stage because I genuinely didn’t think anyone would understand.
It’s not easy to admit how wrong I turned out to be about how I saw the world, and it has been very difficult to come to terms with how that stunted my emotional growth. I was careful to go through accredited and science-based therapy well before working on this show in order to avoid harming myself or causing harm to others. It is both a difficult and cathartic show that, unlike a cult, doesn’t tell you what to think but hopefuly makes people, particularly outsiders and seekers with a dark sense of humour that crave community, feel less alone for an hour.
This is your Eight Edinburgh show. What is it about the Fringe that keeps you coming back for more?
It’s where I grew up as a performer and it is where I met my husband. There is simply nothing else iike the Fringe. Every year is full of surprises. I get to gorge myself on all types of shows I wouldn’t be able to see anywhere else. The whole month is just electric.
Finally, do you have any shows that you’re looking forward to seeing when you’re in Edinburgh?
There are so many! Yuriko Kotani, Rob Mulholland, Zoe Brownstone, Mark Silcox, Michelle Shaughnessy, drag star Kate Butch, Aaron Twitchen, and Dee Allum. I can’t wait to see what they all do!
