As we enter Buttercup at Underbelly there’s a range of musical choices – Ava Max, Rihanna and Kelis to name a few, all intercut with each other. Each song is a different genre, filled with different emotions – all becoming one. Fitting, then, for James Barr’s wonderful show Sorry I Hurt Your Son (Said My Ex to My Mum).
A moving and eloquent show
After some great crowd work, Barr begins with a very strange question, one that leads us to find out more about not only his, but his mum’s, body count, a hilarious biblically-themed nickname and, most importantly of all, his most recent relationship. As one can guess from the title of the show, the relationship wasn’t a happy one, and this show is a powerful and brave exploration of the abuse that Barr suffered under a Gen-Z bawbag (we are in Edinburgh, after all).
This is a courageous story to tell on stage to a group of strangers. Barr himself admits that maybe he’s not ready to tell it. But his structure, timing and delivery of the material are incredible. In the darkest moments of the show, you could hear a pin drop and I could feel my heartbeat in my ears.
But as humans, we heal. This show is definitely part of that process for James Barr (there’s a fantastic five minutes on one of the most unusual places he found his healing after the break-up) He doesn’t have all the answers to the questions yet, but what he does have is a moving and eloquent show which won’t just make people laugh, but will finally answer the question ‘What is Piers Morgan like when he’s not on television?’
