London-based comedian James Trickey is back at the Edinburgh Fringe this August with a new show, Split, based on the night he was punched in the face during an outdoor performance last year.
Trickey was on the final night of his debut solo show when a fire alarm forced an evacuation. The audience, enjoying the set, urged him to continue on the street. Around 10pm, as the crowd settled on a street towards Cowgate, a member of the public told them to be quiet. Trickey apologised and began to wrap up the show, but the man continued to shout.
“Then he just punched me in the face, it came out of nowhere,” Trickey said. The man ran off and was later arrested, but has failed to attend court dates and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Immediate high to low
The punch split Trickey’s lip so badly he needed stitches at A&E. His first reaction was not anger but shame, and he has spent months processing the experience.
“I think the main thing was the immediate high to low,” he said. “I was like, ‘I’m having such a good time’, to a complete change in status and feeling.”
Trickey questioned whether, as a man, he should have been able to defend himself, and noted that reactions from fellow comics often focused on how the incident would give him material for his next show.
Working through complicated feelings
He said he did not feel comfortable with what happened until around January, and that therapy helped him understand why the incident lingered.
“I was like, how come I feel way worse about this than everyone seems to think I should feel?” he said. “Being drunk on a night out and having an argy bargy with some dude is different to doing the final show of your Edinburgh run, that you’ve poured loads of time into, and having it happen in front of the audience.”
The incident also made him reevaluate his relationships with male friends and left him more anxious in public than before. He said he does not believe the attack was motivated by local objections to the Fringe, but was a breakdown of communication.
Split runs at Bunker 2 in the Pleasance Courtyard from August 5–30 at 9.25pm.
