One performer's Fringe mishap

Clowning can be bad for your health, as Lauren Brady found at last year’s Fringe.

She combines ballet with clown-like comedy in her show, which can take its toll - even if the injuries sometimes come from unexpected directions.

One day last year – her 25th birthday, to make things even more awful – she twice got hurt in other people’s shows.

Int he first, she was in the audience when a prop broke, resulting in a high-heeled shoe flying at her face.

‘I swear the brim of my baseball cap saved it from doing too much damage,’ she says. ‘The performer was mortified and stopped the show to make sure I was OK. I couldn't stop cry-laughing, but was fine.

‘Then I went to another clown show where the entire audience left the performance space and did a conga line down the street. During that adventure, someone accidentally stepped on my big toe, causing the nail to break completely in half and break the toe itself.’

Sitting back in the theatre, she nudged my stage manager  sitting next to her and said: ‘Do you wanna see something cool? and pointed to her foot, which was now covered in blood. 

'My stage manager was mortified,’ Brady said.  After the show, we tried to find a store that was still open so we could buy bandages. No luck.

‘ I couldn't stop laughing, and my stage manager couldn't stop stressing. But I taped up my toe with toilet paper, wrapped it in two socks, and called it a night. 

‘The next morning, I woke up early to find a nail salon that glued my toenail back together, bought some painkillers and found a new chip in my tooth from the projectile shoe. 

‘That night, my stage manager urged me to cancel – but I’m a ballerina, and stuff like this happens. I didn't come all the way from Canada not to do the show cause of a toe.

‘"I’ll be fine," I told her. We hugged and did the show, which resulted in my first five-star review. 

‘This year, I will be returning with my same dear friend/stage manager, closed-toed shoes, an even larger hat to dodge flying shoes and a little chipped tooth which holds the memory of the start of my quarter-life crisis.’

 Lauren Brady is performing the theatrical clown show Swan at Underbelly Colgate  at 2pm during the Edinburgh Fringe.

Published: 31 Jul 2025