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Metro
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
I watched a woman orgasm on stage and it wasn't even awkward
If you stumbled across Betty Grumble's Edinburgh Fringe show unawares, drawn in by an eye-catching poster and Melbourne Comedy Festival's rave reviews, you would be forgiven for hating every second of it. Just as it seemed, a group of women was sitting next to me in the audience. 'Did you know she was going to do all this?' one of them asked me, with a face full of horror as Emma Maye Gibson was finishing up her show, writhing and sliding around on a wet floor totally naked, having a moment before she shaved her public hair and pretended to eat her own poo (it was not actual faeces, though she did mimic laying it). Not long into the show, Gibson masturbated on stage in her 'Grief Cum' – a way of releasing her past traumas. (Yes, she did actually orgasm on stage, as she told Metro in a pre-Fringe interview.) Gripping a pink vibrator to her chest, Gibson went for it, moaning and masterbating like she was alone in her bedroom. Apart from a few courtesy side-eyes and clenched smiles shared with my uninitiated neighbour, the room – made up of men and women, mostly young but with some older – watched on without the creepy intensity you may expect. Some even started shaking their macarenas in vocal support of her climax, as is encouraged by Betty throughout the show. Audience members were warned of 'sex scenes' and 'joyfully wetter full-frontal nudity'. But there should have been a stronger trigger warning that we were about to see a sex act on stage. Gibson did tell people they could leave while explaining what she was about to do. But at this stage, being an 'Enemy of Grooviness' didn't seem like an option. My neighbour said her friend just wanted to go home after seeing this intensely artistic show, having thought they'd signed up for a comedy. But Grumble fans, who knew the wild ride they were in for, were left in awe and raving, as I found out in the toilets after. Enemies of Grooviness Eat Sh!t is the Australian sex clown's most recent wild art piece, and it sees her messily, chaotically and in some strange way beautifully put a middle finger up to beauty standards and social norms, while owning and giving thanks to her body, which men have attempted to violently claim over the years. She talks about the death of a friend, domestic violence and the court systems, which, after her ordeal concluded, 'Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned.' It's heavy stuff. But while some people go to therapy, Gibson releases it all through her art. It leaves her through music; with her voice tuned into a man's for a thrilling, naked and crazed rendition of Don't Cha by the Pussycat Dolls. She also finds freedom in poetry, nudity and sex in a way that's strange – deeply so – but also euphoric. Betty's musical assistant Craig – who was utterly poker-faced throughout, wearing Charli XCX sunnies and nipple tape – offered an almost comical contrast to her extravagant frolicking. Together, they were what I can only describe as lesbian rock n' roll. Erring into the spiritual, eco-sexual Betty sees earth as a lover rather than a mother: she lovingly talks of tree roots and composting her grief. That was a little much for my personal tastes, but I totally went with it. This is her hour of soul-pouring with absolutely no regard for what is considered 'normal': who am I to tell her this isn't? Gibson has an almost hypnotic knack for taking the audience with her into a cult-like mindset of releasing inhibitions. It is admirable, and although her confidence on stage likely couldn't be dented by an 18-wheeler truck, I think it's brave. At one point, the audience were hurried up on their feet to do a 'boogie with Grumble in the bin'. (The bin being her messy trauma). Led by Gibson, this moment reminded me of a housewife's dance fitness video from the 1980s – except she was totally naked and wearing demented The Joker-esque makeup applied by an audience member. So, naturally, we danced. Mortifying, right? Weirdly… no. I've had redder cheeks seeing poorly executed stand-up comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe. Betty gives so much of herself that a little jig in a lit-up room with 50 strangers paled in comparison. All in all, Betty Grumble wasn't totally my cup of tea. But perhaps that says more about me than it does her. This sex clown is on the frayed fringes of the Fringe. It's totally over the top and verges on the pretentious. But hell, it was more interesting, gripping and life-affirming than watching someone stand on stage for an hour talking about that time they missed the bus. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: 'My comedy show is usually illegal – I can't wait to let loose in Scotland' MORE: EastEnders' Michelle Collins reaches out after fan collapses during her performance MORE: Drag Kings are struggling to survive – there's one reason why
Metro
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
'I am orgasming on stage every night for this very good reason'
If art is digging into the human condition, then Betty Grumble has arrived at the core with a pickaxe. The eco-sexual sex clown (more on this later) will be taking her most risky show yet to this year's Edinburgh Fringe in Betty Grumble's Enemies of Grooviness Eat Sh!t. The show is a flowing blend of clownery, silliness, fleshiness, poetry and in its essence is deeply queer – born from drag, burlesque, strip-tease and underground LGBT scenes. Betty Grumble is both profane and profound – depending on who you ask. Her show is also deeply personal for Emma Maye Gibson, the Australian performance artist behind Grumble, she explains in a chat with Metro ahead of her Fringe run. Gibson's alter-ego Grumble – a 'war-mask' against patriarchy and love letter to living – will be masturbating and orgasming on stage every night. Emma Gibson explains: 'If you haven't encountered a sex clown before, you might imagine somebody who uses their body to remind us to love ourselves.' Audience members will be encouraged to look at a content brochure pre-show, which will warn of 'sex scenes' and 'joyfully wetter full-frontal nudity'. The orgasm is a release of all Gibson's personal grief: of losing her best friend, drag artist Candy Royal, in 2018, and the grief of injustice in her horrifying domestic violence ordeal. Gibson has aptly named the moment the 'Grief Cum'. 'I did it last night, and I hadn't actually had an orgasm in my personal life in about a little while, maybe a week and a half,' she says. 'The first time I ever did the show I was so nervous… I didn't fake it, I just didn't have a kind of clench-release orgasm that some of us have. It didn't happen for me. 'So the next night, I said to myself, 'You have to, let's experience this. Let's really go for it.' So I allowed myself to kind of really be seen in all of the contortion and twists that can happen as you're climbing in that way. 'And I did. Then I've had a 'real orgasm' – a big orgasm – every time I've done it.' Some nights, reaching orgasm takes Gibson longer if she's nervous or feeling uncomfortable. But she's always healing. 'I feel genuinely restored after the show. I feel good. It feels liberating,' she says. 'If it's feeling particularly difficult, I'll imagine myself being more and more non-human, and that's where ecosexuality will help me.' Emma Gibson explains: 'Ecosexuality is a sexual identity, where people reframe their relationship with the Earth from mother to lover. 'For example, breath work would be very eco-sexual. Swimming is very eco-sexual. It's not necessarily about like, literally f**king a tree. Though people can do that. It's called dendrophilia. 'It's about coming into erotic and sensual relationships with nature, with fire, with our perspiration. 'Our bodies don't begin and end. We're as the world. We are of nature. Yeah, that's what ecosexuality is to me. How do you express eco-sexuality? 'Whenever I feel myself hardening in particular ways to the world with anxiety and stress, the eco-sexual mindset can help me just expand and breathe out. 'I can zoom into the gradient of the blade of grass and think: 'How am I bringing pleasure and love to this absolutely extraordinary dimension we find ourselves in and all of the living force we're sharing?'' It's an undeniably vulnerable act. But Betty Grumble isn't just about radical rumination: she's also punk. 'Grumble has always helped me celebrate my body, but also criticise the ways in which it has been hurt by patriarchy,' Gibson says. 'In 2018, I experienced domestic violence in a relationship and I then court justice through the court system. It was the same year that my best friend died, and those two griefs kind of composted me,' she says. 'So what I do is share that compost on stage.' It goes without saying that the Grief Cum is also a march against shame – and the male gaze. 'I've been really interested in shame, and where shame lives in the body, and the power of pleasure as a tonic for that,' Gibson says. 'For women, especially – and I use that term really expansively – our bodies have been the site of so much violation, so the orgasm, the Grief Cum and sharing my body that way is a deliberate act of un-shaming. 'Even though I'm talking about my own story, what I'm actually talking about is another way of being with pain and grief and coming to love our bodies despite the wounds that we have.' While all this is a lovely idea, reality is rearing its cynical head. Yes, queer spaces are magic – but isn't Gibson worried about a more mainstream and possibly less respectful audience at the Edinburgh Fringe? Many of them may not be there for Betty Grumble, but for an eye-catching leaflet, or a night on the town. Some will likely scoff at and resist her art. 'We're connected as humans by being human, and it's the role of the artist to make visible the invisible, and the team and I have done a lot of work to translate and to hold the meaning of the show in a protective membrane,' Gibson says. 'So this was a really valid point. But I also think that the Fringe is a place to take risks, and there are people that might come into the show and be surprised, either happily or not, and that's okay, because we can make that together.' Rather than hushing the audience into submission, Gibson is actually inviting them to participate in her Grief Cum. Come again? (No pun intended.) 'They're involved in a percussive way,' Gibson says, carefully avoiding ruining the surprises of the show. 'They can contribute energetically to the soundscape. They are given a tool to assist the climax,' she says, cryptically. 'A sonic tool!' she adds quickly, before explaining, '…I just kind of want people to be surprised by it.' Of course, Gibson isn't a fool: she knows her art is unsettling stuff. But why shouldn't it be? 'It's a big invitation to sit in some discomfort. The ocean goes through different tides; waters are sometimes calm and then sometimes tumultuous, and that's good for us,' she says. 'When handled the right way, this kind of work can be helpful, and that's why I play with taboo and play with my body in particular ways.' Gibson's goal isn't to shock you, however much this may feel like a wacky, avant-garde Fringe stunt to get tongues wagging. 'I don't sit home and go, 'How will I shock them now?' I genuinely want to invite people into my body, even though I'm very aware of taboo protocol. More Trending 'While there are reasons things are taboo, people have agency to be in their bodies in a particular way. 'There are boundaries that definitely need to be tested, especially as we pendulate the way we are towards more conservatism.' She adds: 'I hope that this act of pleasure can be one that is of defiance, but also unity.' See Betty Grumble's Enemies of Grooviness Eat Sh!t from August 1 to 24 at 9.15pm at Assembly Roxy – Upstairs. Tickets here. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: 'I was in love with an incarcerated man – now he's my Edinburgh Fringe show' MORE: 'I was in Amazon Prime's biggest surprise hit – now you can watch me in a hotel room' MORE: Jewish comedians devastated as Edinburgh Fringe shows axed despite being non-political
