Darren McGarvey: Trauma Industrial Complex – Trauma and Oversharing in the Age of Lived Experience – Stand Comedy Club

With a different guest each day, award-winning author and journalist Darren McGarvey explores trauma, and the risks associated with sharing personal stories. Friday’s guest, Jenny Lindsay, is all too familiar with the subject, having faced the full force of cancel culture after tweeting a political opinion rooted in personal experience in 2019.

Lindsay’s detractors label her a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) because she advocates for single-sex spaces, believing them to be vital resources for women, particularly those who have experienced sexual violence. ‘Having been raped as a teenager, Lindsay reflected, years later, that should she have sought support services, they would have had to have been single sex. Her introduction to feminist teachings cemented this opinion. Her stance, once widely accepted, has become controversial with the rise of social media and online activism. This shift left Lindsay at the centre of a successful campaign to deplatform her, ultimately forcing her to leave Edinburgh to survive financially.

McGarvey, who is no stranger to the complexities of shame, introduces both the subject and Lindsay with his trademark humour, challenging the audience to consider the role shame plays in modern political discourse and the toll it takes on individuals. Lindsay then skilfully recounts the aftermath of her tweet and the years that followed. As an adept performer, she is engaging and easy to empathise with. The natural rapport between Lindsay and McGarvey, old friends, makes the conversation both informative and captivating.

Regardless of your views, this show will leave you questioning whether the role of social media warriors in political debate is proportionate and fair, and longing for a pre-internet era when the playing field was more level, and debates were more nuanced.

Reviewer: Triona Scully

Reviewed: 9^th August 2024

North West End UK Rating: