Amanda Knox, 39, says her murdered flatmate Meredith Kercher would have found her new one-woman stand-up show funny. The show, Cartwheel, is part of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe and draws on the US national’s memories of the aftermath of Kercher’s killing in Perugia, Italy.
‘I don’t joke about Meredith’s death’
Knox, now a mother-of-two, was twice convicted and twice cleared of Kercher’s murder before being finally acquitted by Italy’s Supreme Court in 2015. She has described Cartwheel as her way of revealing to her children what happened to her. The show is produced by her husband, writer Christopher Robinson.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Knox said: “I don’t joke about Meredith’s death. I joke a lot about how I was vilified, but I don’t joke about her murder. That’s just a line for me. I set red lines for myself that other comedians don’t. I’ve had other comedians pitch me jokes that I just would not do.”
‘She liked to have a good time’
Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student from Leeds University, was found dead in the apartment she shared with Knox in Perugia in November 2007, after being sexually assaulted and stabbed to death.
Knox recalled: “Meredith was really sophisticated and smart, but she was also fun, she was also playful. We would put on music together, and we went out dancing. She liked to have a good time.” She added: “I think that she would appreciate the show, because it grapples with what it means to be a young woman, and it’s honest.” Asked if Meredith would have found the show funny, Knox said: “Yeah, I think so. I mean, it is funny!”
From motherhood to ‘the elephant in the room’
Knox, who has previously worked as a warm-up act for comedians including Golden Globes host Nikki Glaser, said she initially planned a stand-up routine about motherhood. Friends then told her she needed to “address the elephant in the room”.
The case drew intense press attention. Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of the murder in 2009 and jailed, then freed on appeal in 2011. A third defendant, Rudy Guede, a drifter from the Ivory Coast whose DNA was found at the scene, was separately convicted in 2008. Guede was released in 2021 after serving 13 years of a 16-year sentence and is currently awaiting trial over a separate alleged sexual assault.
Family lawyer’s criticism
Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca described the show as “offensive and deplorable”. He told the Scottish Sun on Sunday he had “lost all hope” that Knox could understand the family’s feelings, adding that her behaviour had “always been over the top and extremely excessive”.
He has previously accused Knox of producing books and TV shows that focused on Kercher’s death rather than her life, a criticism Knox called “unfair”. She insists Maresca has never “actually engaged with any of the material that I have made”, adding that Meredith was “a real person who I have a real relationship with”.
Cartwheel by Amanda Knox plays at the Gilded Balloon Teviot (Wine Bar) from August 7 to 17, as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Tickets are available from edfringe.com.
