Photo credit: Elly Wel

Post by @federicabalbi

Seen at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026

5 stars – clever drag parody

If Johnny had a profile on a dating app, I imagine it like this: a selfie of his face (from below), a selfie in the gym flexing muscles, a selfie in the gym leaning against the machine and tilting up his chin; description: ‘Just a simple guy from the North. AKA Johnny the Biblical Rapper. #poetry #rap,’ a series of emojis. Except hashtags are no longer a thing, but he’s a millennial after all.

Tessa Parr created a hilarious and clever drag king show in which she impersonates Johnny: Northerner, white, working class, early 30s. Man. Despite his showcase of attitude and personality, Johnny is struggling to be the man he’s been taught to be (and poses as). Fresh out of the shower, he expresses his distress through poetry – bad, clanky poetry filled with broken rhythms and unpredictable similes, absolutely ludicrous.

Tessa Parr does not only embrace and parody the aesthetics and stereotypes of this specific demographic (one that rankings about university and career success show as particularly fragile). She stages the attempt of a person who is desperate to communicate and doesn’t have the tools to do so. And each time he senses this defeat, Johnny resorts to those tricks he is familiar with to prove his worth: lifting objects, opening jars, flexing muscles… A tragicomic destiny for this character, but maybe, hopefully, no longer a fate in a society that evolves in new directions.

Warning: Northern accent all along.

6^th – 31^st August (not 17, 24); 6.15 pm

Running time: 60 minutes

Venue: Summerhall

Tickets and Info: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/i-am-johnny

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tptissy/