This is an utterly beautiful show about a terrible horrible event which happens to Krystal Evans as a teenager.

 

And it is all really true – she shows us photographic evidence – and ends on a slideshow which makes us laugh and cry at the same time.

 

Evans, from Washington State, had a genuinely troubled start in life – no money, a missing parent and a kleptomaniac fantasist for a mother.

 

There’s more – but I’ll let her tell you the most terrifying part of the story.

 

Evans, has an easy, earthy style of delivery – and lets us know we’re in safe hands by revealing a couple of comedy tricks right from the off.  So, she tells us, if things are going badly she’ll do this – and make us laugh.

 

There are plenty of big laughs in this show. And it also has tremendous warmth.

 

Evans plays the horrors of her childhood for laughs – but she never turns her back on her family.  Her mother, while difficult to say the least, was the funniest person she ever met – and Krystal Evans honours her for that.

 

It can be a risky thing to talk about trauma in a comedy show – but Evans has the skill to pull it off.  You have the feeling comedy has been a survival mode for generations of her family and there is no doubt she is very very good at making other people laugh.

 

You’ll enjoy this show and it’s a hell of a tale, but what really shines about Evans is the love and warmth she has for her family – even in the aftermath of some terrible history.

 

She doesn’t delve into her own psychology – but it’s clear she has not only survived but thrived – and we can all learn something from that.

 

It’s an extraordinary Edinburgh debut – almost the perfect Fringe show – heart, soul, tears, joy and some great big laughs.

 

She’ll never tell a story like this again – but Krystal Evans has already made her mark.