Berlin-based New York comic Sofia May is bringing not one, but two shows to the Fringe. The Buddha Wears Prada is an exploration of seven years inside a femaie-led Buddhist cult. May is also reviving her debut show 9/11 The Birds and the Bees – an account of being a witness of the attack on the World Trade Center, which she will be performing in a venue made from the interior of a passenger aircraft.
Tell us about your show.
“The Buddha Wears Prada” is about my time as a member of the inner circle of a Buddhist cult. For 7 years, I was part of an off-the-grid community of women in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, working as the assistant to an impossibly chic and effortlessly diabolical female cult leader. What I thought was an opportunity to heal the trauma of being a woman, turned out to be a sacred opportunity to be in the service of traumatising other women.
This show is a rapturous comedic revelation of what it was like to be in such a position. It is also a seminal part of what I like to call “A whistle-blowing rampage” I am the only survivor to come forward using their real name thus far, and am the whistleblower aka the squeaky wheel
What is your favourite thing about your show?
My favorite thing about this show is that it turns 7 years of cult-indoctrination into a loud-mouthed celebration of my emancipation. Cults are extremely effective at taking one’s voice away and making you believe their dehumanizing narrative about you instead. It makes you cripplingly small like being trapped inside an exoskeleton that you’re far too big for. This show is a complete and utter bursting out of that narrative into a much more vibrant, forceful human form.
Do you have a Fringe idol?
Garry Starr is an obvious choice. I saw his show “Penguin Classics” at last year’s Fringe and it was a religious comedy experience (seems I always take things to religious places). You’re sitting there watching a man sacrifice himself on the altar of the comedy gods to make it pour comedy mana. This man puts the funny before everything. Before himself. Everything is sacrificed in the name of what is holy.
What three words best describe your performance style – and why?
Whimsical, dark, and villainous. I’ve always been told that my content is extremely dark, although personally, I don’t see it that way at all. I think “dark comedy” is an antithetical term. If you’re finding the funny in the darkness, that means you’ve found the lightswitch in said darkness and flipped it on. In the illumination, the darkness ceases to exist. For me, playing a villain is a relief. I spent the first 3 decades of my life in my family cult, a Buddhist Cult and then in humanitarian aid in the Middle East. I spent those decades of my life sacrificing myself for others at tremendous cost to my own boundaries and well-being. I’ve been the “Saint”, and it cost me a lot. Embracing my own shadow and the devil on my shoulder is like drinking a warm bowl of soup. “The Buddha Wears Prada” however is a narrative that complicates my comedic instinct to be the villain. The show is essentially punching up at a wealthy white woman with power. And I tend to balk at the prospect of punching-up because it feels like a moralistic circle-jerk between me and the audience. However, by taking down this cult leader I am actually rebelling against this saintly world I once inhabited, and I am sticking it to the entire Buddhist-loving West— aka “the good guys”.
Who are you looking forward to seeing in Edinburgh?
Garry Starr has a new work-in-progress show and I practically ran to the ticket website to secure mine. What do you hope to achieve in Edinburgh – what are your hopes and dreams? I have the humble dream of growing as an artist, getting rave reviews, having a sold-out run, getting offered a Netflix special and taking down a heretofore unchallenged famous religious leader. I try to keep my Fringe dreams realistic. The metric of success is my artistic growth, accolades and whether or not my jokes drive a famous narcissist into a frenzy. Staying down to earth with your Fringe goals is important.
What are the biggest obstacles you face as a performer at the Fringe?
Currently I have no idea how to flyer for “The Buddha Wears Prada”. Every performer needs to figure out: What is the concise hook that I can yell into a stranger’s face that’s going to make them abandon their previous plans to come see me talk at them for an hour? What do you hope the audience will take away after an hour in your company? I’d love for them to be so intrigued by their experience that they look up my cult, read and watch all the media around it, and tell all their Buddhist friends “Did you know Lama * (rhymes with Salty Baloney) is a huge bitch? Oh yeah? You had that feeling when you met her? Now it’s verified!” And of course I’d love for them to enjoy my comedic stylings so much that they find their way to my later award-winning show “9/11
Birds and the Bees” at the West Port Oracle at 7:30pm.
How do you plan to relax and recharge when not on stage?
Since I am bringing two solos this year, resting and recharging will be top priority. I will, thusly, be planted face down in my bed several times a day.
What is your idea of a perfect Fringe day?
Great night of sleep, kill in both the solos, down time, gig on some comp shows with incredible comics who inspire me to be better, see another performer’s show, and then meet up with my buddies for a late night hang at one of the comedian haunts.
The Buddha Wears Prada, 15.15, The Other Room @ Laughing Horse @Dragonfly, August 6 – August 30
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-buddha-wears-prada
9/11 Birds and the Bees, 19.30, Flight Club @ Laughing Horse at West Port Oracle, August 6 – 30
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/9-11-birds-and-the-bees
