FANBOY Comes to Bristol's Tobacco Factory This September

Fringe First award-winner Joe Sellman-Leava (Labels; Monster) is heading to Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol with his hit Edinburgh Fringe show Fanboy.  This love-hate letter to pop culture and nostalgia explores our past and future selves through epic storytelling, razor-sharp impressions, and theatrical magic. 

Joe’s teen obsessions with Nintendo, Star Wars and A Muppets Christmas Carol have continued into his thirties.  But he’s started to notice something about the way certain fans are behaving – something unsettling.  Fanboy doesn’t just question our love for superheroes; it also considers the fandom of political figures and the protectionism that can build around certain icons, and the language and responses that are then generated online. 

 This innovative, multi-disciplinary show examines loneliness, mental health, and how men often use pop culture and fandom to form connections and process emotions.  Sellman-Leava, with director Yaz Al Shaater (Dead Reckoning, Young Vic; Boris: World King, Trafalgar Studios), asks us to consider the very nature of fandom and what happens to our childhood obsessions over time, how we can sometimes feel safer in our childhood memories, hiding from the world.  

Writer and performer Joe Sellman-Leava comments, I’ve seen such amazing shows at the Tobacco Factory Theatres, and Worklight have tested out new work here in the past, so I’m thrilled to bring Fanboy here in September. The show was initially developed in Bristol, so it’s great to bring the finished version back as part of our Autumn tour!