Review: EDINBURGH 2024: JAKE ROCHE: NEPORRHOIDS, Pleasance Courtyard

“Does everyone know what nepotism is?”

Jake Roche: Neporrhoids certainly has one of the more interesting show starts of the Fringe. Roche kneels in front of a keyboard on the stage, pulling down his trousers and simulating having an org*sm while staring directly at the audience member in front of him. But, as Roche says to the audience, “It’s highbrow art, get over it,” before launching into a song about haemorrhoids. 

The audience is being invited on what Roche calls a “musical odyssey,” one that explores Roche’s own life, from his parents being celebrities to his own rise to - and fall from - fame. I went into the show unfamiliar with Roche or either of his parents (Coleen Nolan from Loose Women and EastEnders star Shane Richie), though I did have a gasp of realisation once I figured out that he was in the band that did “Me and My Broken Heart” - hilariously my favourite Just Dance song growing up. His own description of himself, “Marty McFly as a nepo baby,” is actually quite accurate, given the character’s love for rock’n’roll and fun one-liners. 

A large portion of the show focuses on fame and the price that one has to pay for it, with Roche declaring that the desire for fame is “a sickness, but one that is exploited again and again” by those in the music industry. Roche’s climb to fame is shown in quite a literal way, with Roche climbing a ladder, reaching the top during his concert at Madison Square Garden, wanting to stay on top of the world forever. But, as one might expect, he eventually must climb down the ladder whether he wants to or not. 

We learn about Roche’s fall from grace, being told from first-hand expeirence what it is like after the fame and how some may handle it. Roche compares it to a tour bus crash, a surprisingly poignant metaphor that works incredibly well given Roche’s situation as a member of a band with only one hit. There are discussions of suicidal ideation, with Roche stating, “I fantasise a lot about my own death” and recalling his struggles with returning to a “normal” life after he loses his contract and his fiancée.

It takes a bit of getting used to, but one of my favourite parts of the show ended up being when Roche would have conversations with his father, which involved him speaking both parts and pitching his voice high and low to represent a change in speaker. It does a fantastic job of showing audiences the relationship between the two without making anything too expositional. It reminds me of the conversations between Simba and Mufasa in The Lion King, though certainly with different subject matters. Even with jokes interspersed, it is a serious conversation the two are having, and I found myself getting the most emotional during these moments. 

While there are some serious subject matters in the show (haemorrhoids are no joke!), there are also plenty of moments for laughs, including one where Roche simulates having sex in the bunk bed of a tour bus with his then-girlfriend, an unnamed singer in a famous girl group that gave him a “little mix of emotion” (you can guess from context or, if not, Google can provide the answer). 

Ultimately, Jake Roche: Neporrhoids is an entertaining musical comedy performance about family, fame and fallout. Roche is a talented performer and I look forward to seeing some more comedy work from him in the future.

Jake Roche: Neporrhoids ran until 25 August at Pleasance Courtyard - Beside.

Photo Credit: Hnry

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