by Mariah Girouard
American comedian Jamie Lerner was always obsessed with little orphan Annie, having starred in several productions of the show itself as a kid. In F*ck Tomorrow, Jamie introduces her character to the audience through an on-screen projection of her 5-year-old self singing for the camera, showing off her “star quality” from a young age. Although her dream was to become a star, Jamie is now a thirty-something semi-pro comic in Barcelona undergoing an identity crisis.
In this work-in-progress, Jamie takes the audience on a journey to finding herself and falling in love with the life she’s made, even if it’s not the one she once imagined. As a self-proclaimed musical comedian, Jamie leans into the inferiority often associated with the title, playing the keyboard and ukulele in between bits, both silly and dark. The show felt a bit haphazard and all over the place which is to be expected with a WIP, but this seemed to be an artistic choice. This physical display of chaos felt representational of Jamie’s psyche undergoing the stress of navigating the modern world as a woman who once had a mission and is now tapping into plan B.
Audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe will be charmed by Jamie’s raw and rambunctious energy on stage and will admire her authenticity—even when Jamie creates tension. Her powerful stage presence is only heightened by her musicality; adorned with a ukulele and a piano, she strums along to self-written songs about love, death, therapy, and sex and honestly, what could be better than that? But it isn’t all fun and games. This show will cause you to question what it means to be a person. Is it worth planning for the future or are we all just better off living in the moment and saying “F*ck Tomorrow”?
F*ck Tomorrow is running Aug. 3-25 (not 14, 21) at PBH @ Southsider at 14:05. Pay-what-you-want tickets can be reserved here and more information can be found on the Edinburgh Fringe website.
