Alexis Gay: Unprofessional

Edinburgh Fringe – Underbelly

The journey of self-discovery and realization that Alexis Gay’s Unprofessional tries to takes us on is instead a forced show that tries to be more interesting than it actually is. Underlying Gay’s main narrative of her time working in Silicon Valley and the professional culture that she experienced, is a an exploration of the correlation between self-worth and outside approval through the lens .  

After a strong start, the story slowly declines into a slow-paced monologue where the distance between us and Gay is palpable, too far for any of her attempts at humour to breach. She constantly misses the mark with her material through the adoption of a restrained style, which makes the show and material a little difficult to buy into. She uses a variety of mediums from powerpoint to some physical theatre within the show to help us visualize a moment, but the segues between these contained moments, again, feel a little forced and create disjointed aspect in her material.

“It’s like she’s answering an interview question about her background, and in doing so, she hides behind this experience which is rather generic in the end. “

 Interspersed are allusions to perhaps a more universal and relatable experiences and tendencies than working in tech, which are briefly referred to but not really expanded upon, which is a shame as these are the least performative moments where Gay connects with the material on a personal level more than the rest. Most of the show is just detached, matter-of-fact narration that often feels monotonous because of the delivery and our lack of interest in it. She focuses on the wrong aspect of the show, incorrectly identifying what we might want to hear about. We want to know who Gay is as a person, and her show doesn’t really tell us that. It’s just a little boring to hear about something we don’t really find a reason to care about anyway. It’s like she’s answering an interview question about her background, and in doing so, she hides behind this experience which is rather generic in the end. 

The idea of self-worth being tied to validation is an interesting one that is worth exploring, but there needs to be more material tied to this message for it to be effective and for it to be a valid lens through which we can understand the story on a more personal level.

By Katerina Partolina Schwartz

Photo credit: Mindy Tucker