Byron Vincent and Escalator East to Edinburgh Present Talk ABOUT SOMETHING YOU LIKE, 30 July - 24 August

The medical profession say acclaimed poet Byron is mad. He measures madness in pills, hospital visits, losing his life savings to manic whims, hurting himself and those he loves. Feeling like superman. Feeling so unbearably frightened that he'd do anything stop the noise.

Talk About Something You Like is a dark, funny, moving and unflinchingly honest account of mental illness, specifically Bipolar disorder. In 2011 Byron Vincent spent the summer resting in the magnolia bosom of an NHS psychiatric unit. In this memoir he recounts tales from the looney bin, explores Batman's diagnoses and offers a critique of psychiatry's murky past and underfunded present. In a society in which mental health diagnoses are becoming ever more common, this show extends the frayed mitten of insanity in the hope that you'll shake hands.

Talk About Something You Like challenges the authority of the medical establishment and pharmaceutical industry. It says uncomfortable things about the nature of mental illness and the behaviour of those with diagnoses. You need to see it.

"This unflinchingly personal account of Byron Vincent's struggle with mental illness (and with a system that seeks to 'treat' him) achieves a rare combination, succeeding both as a cerebral discourse on a weighty topic, and also as an intensely emotive piece of theatre. Both deeply unsettling and extremely funny, I believe this work adds an important voice to the conversation on mental health in the UK" - Nathan Filer, Costa Book of the Year Winner 2013

One of BBC poetry season's New Talent Choices, Byron Vincent is a regular at the nation's most prestigious literary and music festivals. He has performed several times on television and national radio, including Channel 4's Random Acts, Radio 4's Bespoken Word and BBC 3's The Verb. He was poet in residence for the South West of England for Apples and Snake's groundbreaking poetry project My Place or Yours. His first collection Barking Doggerel was released by Nasty Little Press. Byron has worked as a writer and performer on several theatre projects including The RSC's Midsummer Night's dreaming. He has recently written for The Guardian and Radio 4′s Four Thought.

Talk About Something You Like has been selected for Escalator East To Edinburgh. Each year Escalator, East to Edinburgh helps artists and arts organisations to raise their profile and perform to new audiences as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

byronvincent.com

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

Tickets: £12-£8 (previews 30, 31 Jul, 1 Aug £7

Dates: 30 July-24 Aug (not 11, 18)

Venue Box Office: 0131 556 6550

Time: 14.15 (60 mins)

Online: pleasance.co.uk/edinburgh

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