My Little Phobia

A NoHo Arts theatre review of My Little Phobia, written and performed by Emily Markoe, and directed by Julie Pearson at 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of My Little Phobia, written and performed by Emily Markoe, and directed by Julie Pearson at 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Emily Markoe is one of those rarest of actors who can play it completely straight while being incredibly funny. My Little phobia is about Emily Markoe’s clinical fear of puke. It’s actually a thing. It’s called emetophobia and it’s very very real. Emily takes us on a journey though her life with this sometimes debilitating problem. Where it started…and how it’s going. 

My Little Phobia is a very very funny show. Emily’s steel-like demeanor belies her deep insecurities, particularly around vomit, whether other people’s or her own. She takes us back to the beginning, her first horrific vomit drama as a kid and how her therapist back then, her My Little Pony, talked her through the trauma. Since then the phobia has become more and more extreme and acute. Just the thought of vomit can lead to panic attacks and a kind of self-induced stillness, catatonic-like that, while absolutely hilarious on stage, must be a bit of an issue in real life.

A NoHo Arts theatre review of My Little Phobia, written and performed by Emily Markoe, and directed by Julie Pearson at 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Emily Markoe is a brilliant performer. Blindingly funny, and this show is one of the most creative Hollywood Fringe shows I have seen. She merges anecdotes with improvised interactions with the audience, punctuated with hilarious characters and scenes, and is so brilliant in her non-reactive interactions it’s almost uncomfortable. In an outstandingly brilliant way. 

Bodily functions can usually be relied upon to entertain. Puke is probably not at the top of the list though. It does tend to halt the fun in real life…too messy and smelly and violent. But for the purposes of this wonderful show and Emily’s quite brilliant performance, the vomit stays thankfully theoretical but the laughs are real.

There’s a lovely theatricality to My Little Phobia. Emily walks onto the stage draped in a veil and proceeds to monologue. It’s like a combination of Ophelia and a wrestler entering the ring. It sets the tone for the play. The elevated weirdness complements the subject matter and highlights Emily’s awkward grace. The reason this show is so funny is because it’s true. Emily doesn’t need to be hammy when the audience knows deep down that everything is shiningly real. Emily and her phobia are old friends, she is simply sharing the ceremony of her life with us in the most captivating and grimly fun way possible. She ends the show as it began, with the draped heroine and her magical burden. It’s achingly funny and sweetly tender and Emily is eery and magical and strangely moving. It’s a gorgeous finale and I highly recommend this beautifully original show. 

Emily Markoe is taking this show to The Edinburgh Fringe in August, but there’s one more performance in our Fringe: Thursday, June 27 @ 9:30PM

A NoHo Arts theatre review of My Little Phobia, written and performed by Emily Markoe, and directed by Julie Pearson at 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Where: 

The Broadwater, 1078 Lillian Way, Hollywood

Tickets: 

https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/10438?tab=tickets