EDINBURGH 2023: Review: JEREMY SEGWAY: A LIFE OUT OF BALANCE, Bedlam Theatre

If you know me, you know that I have a deep love for Segways. Whenever there is a chance to take a Segway tour, I immediately hop on it (yes, pun fully intended). So as soon as I saw a show with the description, “A show dedicated to Mr Segway, the man who invented the segway, all performed entirely on segways,” I knew I had to go. 

Jeremy Segway: A Life Out of Balance tells the story of Jeremy Segway, the man the show claims to be the one to have invented the Segway, whose life ended after he drove a segway off a cliff. The reality isn’t that simple - Jimi Heseldon, the man who bought Segway Inc. in 2009, died a year later after falling off of his Segway on a cliff. But, as you might be able to tell from the title, the show takes reality and tosses it out the window. The chaotic Duncan Brothers play Daniel and Radcliffe Segway who are at the funeral for their deceased father.

There is only one way to describe Jeremy Segway: A Life Out of Balance and that is chaos. Pure, utter, chaos. The “segways” used in the show? Hoverboards with brooms taped onto them. The brothers were constantly falling off of their “segways,” with one completely shutting down. Props are destroyed, lines are forgotten, costumes are messed up, and apparently, it’s all scripted. Pure, utter, organised chaos. Audience members would be howling with laughter and looking at each other like, “Was that supposed to happen?” There was no way to predict what would come next, and I loved it.

Ultimately, Jeremy Segway: A Life Out of Balance is one of the most bizarre shows that I have ever seen and left me in genuine tears of laughter multiple times in just one hour. Even though it was an absurdist show, I left feeling close to not only the people on stage but the other people in the audience as well. We are Jeremy Segway!

Jeremy Segway: A Life Out of Balance ran at the Bedlam Theatre.

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