Lis Coin’s approach to her first-ever Edinburgh Fringe Festival will be “half spontaneous and half supportive.” She means as a theatergoer. But that’s also not a bad description of “Lizzy Sunshine,” her solo show which includes lots of improvised audience interaction (that’s the spontaneous) while telling a sad, relatable story underlying the comedy (that’s the supportive.)
“This Show Is About Meth” flashes on the screen early on in “Lizzy Sunshine.” The word “Meth” is quickly crossed out and replaced with “Positivity.”
“Everyone has problems,” Coin’s character Lizzy Sunshine says on stage, “but there’s nothing that positivity can’t fix.” This starts with her changing a sign that says “Boos” into “Booobs,” and continues with energetic song and shtick and an hour’s worth of rapid (sometimes rabid) clown/clownish costume changes, including a memorable scene involving dress-up and dialogue with an audience member (who’s instructed to read aloud from the latest text messages on their phone.) But despite the over-the-top effort to be upbeat, it turns out her show IS about meth, at least indirectly. Lizzy is supposed to be performing in a duo with her brother. But he never shows up. We eventually learn why. It’s the reason why Lizzy Sunshine feels she has to be happy all the time.
“I did not start out writing about my brother,” Coin explains. “In true Lizzy Sunshine fashion, I was dead set against making the show sad. It’s supposed to be funny, a comedy. That’s what I do as a performer: When I audition, it’s for comedy, nothing heavy or deep or real. But anyone you talk to who’s written a one-person show will tell you it’s a big journey of self-discovery. It’s almost like the show was already there and I just chipped away to get to it.”
When she has performed the show – near her hometown in Iowa, and in her adopted city of New York (most recently as part of EdFest) — response, she says, has been gratifying. “After almost every show, someone has come up to me, usually a little misty eyed, and says ‘my brother/my dad/my friend/my mom/my (insert person here) is an addict. And this is my story. I’m (first name here) Sunshine.’ Even if it’s one person in the audience who feels like that, I feel like I’ve really accomplished something.”
Given the way it’s labeled on the Edinburgh Fringe website and catalogue, she suspects that most people will expect ”Lizzy Sunshine” to be nothing but comedy. “I love letting it surprise them at the end.” She sees this as fully in keeping with Fringe tradition. “When I think of the biggest wins that have come out of Fringe. I think Fleabag and Baby Reindeer. Those shows are funny, but there’s also an undertone.”
When she is not performing “Lizzy Sunshine,” Liz Coin expects to be passing out flyers for it (another Fringe tradition.) But she hopes to fill up all other waking moments seeing some of the 3,000 other shows in the festival – some by her New York friends and acquaintances; there are at least 30 of those (that’s the supportive), some from abroad that she wouldn’t get a chance to see in New York; there are shows at the festival from more than 50 countries (that’s spontaneous. Most, she concedes, will probably be among the 199 shows at the venues run by Gilded Balloon, since that’s where her show is being presented, and so she gets a discount.
(It sounds as if she might already know the Ten tips for Fringe first-timers in 2025)
Lizzy Sunshine is being presented from July 30 to August 10 in Gilded Balloon Patter House at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Excerpt from Lizzy Sunshine
This is a two-person show about positivity! I’m Lizzy and my co-star… is running late
tonight. Wah, wahhh. But don’t fret, the show must goes on. This is a show (motioning to the audience to say it with her) that GOES. ON. The show that what?!?
(The audience yells “GOES ON.)
You get it. Good thing you’re IN THE SHOW. ou’re all theater people. And, I mean, we’re from Iowa – the theater capital of America. This is showbiz baby, it doesn’t stop for no one, and I learned it in community theater playing Drug Dealer #2 in the all-white ensemble of RENT! Here we only sing HAPPY songs about queens… and wizards…..and AIDS!
(Cue “Seasons of Love.” Lizzy pumps her fist in the air)
Just remember Lizzy Sunshine is for you. It’s all about YOU. It cannot exist without YOU… Now, watch ME do a cartwheel.
(She does a cartwheel)
