Michelle Brasier’s, ‘Reform’ mirrors the story of viral Netflix show Baby Reindeer, in which she shares the reality of empathizing with her swindler.
Australia’s hottest rising comedy star’s theatrical hour of storytelling and original music is laced with friendship, radical empathy, redemption, and kindness.
After a sellout show at last years Edinburgh Fringe, Reform returns for a UK and Ireland tour, with her last show in Clapham on the 6th of June.
Over the hour the performance has the audiences cringing at every naïve exchange between victim and conman. This story sweeps them along for the ride, discovering how this unique relationship developed.
This cautionary tale begins in lockdown, where Michelle attempts to buy a Pilates reformer online.
However, after realising she has been scammed, she finds herself becoming emotionally entangled with the scammer.
Ordinarily, when encountering a scam most people would feel angry, however Michelle’s story reveals a new side to humanity.
Michelle said: “I needed to check my anger and remember there are bigger issues in the world, I think it came into clear vision, how desperate this man must have been.”
“Once you see a person as three-dimensional, a person with a name and a family who had made this series of mistakes. I couldn’t turn away; you can’t turn away from people easily once you can see their vulnerabilities.”
“It is interesting how a person ends up like this. It was an opportunity for me to understand people, I’m a storyteller, I’m a comedian that’s what I do.”
“I feel sort of guilty about my curiosity, he was exploiting me of course but here’s part of me that wonders if I should be looking this closely into someone.”
“If you approach a story with empathy, interest and curiosity then an audience should come to you that same response. There’s a real culture of judgment, looking for the bad guy and looking for the good guy. Life can be more interesting if we are curious about people’s motivations and what got them there.”
Gripped by the fascination of the conman’s story, Michelle’s story takes the reader along the path experiencing empathy, and an unusual relationship.
Similarly to Baby Reindeer Reform features the concept of empathy, despite people continuously doing the protagonist wrong.
Michelle adds: “I loved seeing my own self reflected, feeling empathy for somebody who is doing you wrong and breaking the law. However, you can see them as a person and so you have empathy for that person, and this was really captured so well in the TV series.”
After tragically losing her father and brother to cancer, Michelle shared how her own experiences led to a change in her outlook.
“I’m interested in in the people that are right in front of me, because you never know when it’s somebody’s last day and you never know how close somebody is to the edge. It informs why I would rather be a fool than a cynic.”
“I feel like I have a duty to point out all the beautiful little things, all the funny, stupid little things about life.
“You just don’t know how much time you have.”
Michelle Brasier
“Reform is an unexpectedly healing story with compassion at its core – and a thrillingly relentless pursuit of Michelle’s pilfered dollars.” ★★★★ FEST
After her success in 2023, Michelle will return to Edinburgh Fringe this year, with her show Legacy.
Legacy is a hysterical performance, exploring of all the other women she might have been if she’d made different choices.
There’s still time to grab tickets for Michelle’s final show of the tour in Clapham on the 6th June.
