I'm an actor/writer from Los Angeles (Main Company member of the world-famous Groundlings Theatre, HBOs Silicon Valley, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lionsgate Dirty 30 film) coming to the Fringe for the first time, and here is why I wrote my show. There’s a popular book called What To Expect When You’re Expecting. It’s about having a baby. Well, I wasn’t having a baby (anymore) and my marriage, the marriage I used to define myself, was ending (not my choice) so I went to the book store in Los Angeles (there are still a few) looking for a book on what to expect when you’re expecting...a divorce, a blind side, a shit storm. There wasn't one. Sure books about navigating divorce or relationships in trouble but not one that would tell me what I needed to know. That this felt terrible. I wanted to die. And, it would most likely get worse.
Annie Sertich
And it did. You'll have to come to the show to find out more.
My training is in sketch comedy and improv but I couldn't find the funny. I was eating pudding for breakfast, drinking wine at noon, and crying in public. Cute when you keep running into celebrities right? Not showering for 7 days. Smelling like depression and cream cheese. Even cuter? So how do you get through that? For me, you start to write about it. And you write about it with honesty and humor. They can exist at the same time.
So what started as a memoir, turned into a stage show at my home theater (The Groundlings), then snowballed to here. I never thought a little show would go international.
You do it for one person. If one person feels something, it's a win.
See Annie Sertich: How To Not Kill Yourself for 30 Days…And The Next 330 at the Pleasance Courtyard throughout the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 2nd – 27th August. For tickets visit www.edfringe.com