Eleanor Conway does not hold back. In the 60 minutes of this show she tells the audience about her alcohol addiction, her drug addiction, her love of cocaine, her sex addiction, her job as a hardcore porn editor, her need for attention and approval from complete strangers, and how she moved to Taiwan with her drug dealer for six years. She has been clean and sober for three and a half years now, but she has plenty of stories to tell about all the years that came before that, and she is not afraid to tell them.
I have to admire her honesty. At no point does she apologise for any of the things she has done, and nor should she - it’s her life, and hers to share if she wants to. Despite what she says she is actually quite self-aware, at least about her past self, and she’s filled with this mad energy that easily fills the room. She dealt well with what was a rather unreceptive audience, and I found her funny, albeit rarely laugh-out-loud funny.
Towards the end of the show, however, the narrative took a much more sinister turn regarding her relationship with her drug dealer in Taiwan, and the mood became very, very serious. I think this was, in part, due to the effect the story had on a member of the audience, who was clearly deeply affected and began crying; Conway was somewhat shaken by this and the jokes that came at the end to lighten the mood felt a little out of place as a result. I don’t think she ever intended for the show to get quite that dark, however, and it was more the audience member’s reaction that changed the tone so drastically.
The show is a slightly crazy emotional rollercoaster which left me reeling by the end, but it was enjoyable, and Conway has a certain charm that can be hard to find.
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