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Three Shows About Neurodiversity

By Caro Moses | Published on Wednesday 3 August 2022

Three shows about neurodiversity at Edinburgh Festival 2022…

Guerilla Autistics Year 8 – Scenes From An Undiagnosed Life | Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 | 4-19 Aug (pictured)
There are way more than three autistic performers appearing at this year’s Fringe, of course, and lots of them are women, but we seem to have inadvertently pandered to the stereotype of neurodivergent types being predominantly male by picking three male acts for this section. They’re all great shows by great acts, though, so I won’t worry about this too much. Let’s instead get on with talking about these three great shows we can look forward to, starting with ‘Guerilla Autistics Year 8’ by Paul Wady, whose autism went undiagnosed until he was forty one years old. Expect “laughs, tears, obsessions, autism and neurodiversity”. Click here for info and tickets.

Joe Wells: I Am Autistic | PBH’s Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth | 6-28 Aug
I was a fan of Joe Wells long before I knew he was autistic, not least because he’s a bit of a veteran of the Fringe. And given that he’s a bit of a veteran of the Fringe, you probably know who he is too. Or – if that wasn’t previously the case because, I don’t know, you’re not actually much of a live comedy consumer, or, you know, you’ve been asleep – well, you will probably know who he is by now because of his video on ‘Having A Brother Who Is Not Autistic’, which ended up going viral and clocking up more than two million views. And, as you might expect, given that title, this is “a show about being proud of your weird brain”. Click here for info and tickets.

Ian Lynam: Autistic License | Gilded Balloon Patter House | 3-28 Aug
“Most people start comedy because they’re funny. Very few have a doctor’s note saying they can’t be. As an autistic person, Ian’s expected to have a gift, but with no skill in counting matches, he’s settled on comedy. Thrust into a world that told him he could achieve anything but connecting with people, Ian perseveres. In a stand-up comedy show exploring diagnosis, relationships, sexuality, creativity and the history of autism, Ian sets out to prove autistic people have more to offer than being good at maths”. The question is, can he prove it to himself? A show about the expectations, negative and positive, put on autistic people. Click here for info and tickets.