The comedic musician duo returns to the Fringe with a hilarious, tuneful adventure through marriage and mortality
After last year’s acclaimed show Honey Honey Moon Moon, real life couple Micah O’Konis and Marnina Schon, aka Couplet, are back. Just like their previous outing, which referred to the pair’s actual honeymoon at the Fringe, this punnily titled new performance takes us through the travails of sex, marriage and mortality via song and stand-up. O’Konis and Schon may be perfectly in tune, but like any couple, they’ve faced bumps in the road (sometimes literally – a song about an encounter with an Uber driver is a highlight).
The premise is that while consummating the marriage on their wedding night, Schon (who uses she/they pronouns) exclaimed to O’Konis (they/them): “You’re not allowed to die!” The resulting discovery of their differing attitudes to death – one constantly anxious about it, the other believing they’re essentially immortal – aided by an eccentric couples’ therapist, self-help book and a British sleep hypnosis podcaster, led them to create Folk Marry Kill. This hour features all-new material, as well as some favourites from their previous shows and online output. How did marriage change their relationship? What is it like to be queer and monogamous when people think they’re straight and poly? Is once a week a reasonable request for scheduled lovemaking? And who gets to die first?
The songs and stories, intertwined with audience-input rounds of the titular game, are a complete delight. Schon and O’Konis have crafted a fast-paced and absorbing piece of comedy theatre that gives hilarious, relatable insight into them as a couple, while turning a mirror on the spectator, having you consider your own neuroses regarding the people you hold dear. Plus, their skills on violin and guitar are mightily impressive.
In a world full of division and cynicism, Folk Marry Kill proves that lighthearted, life-affirming togetherness can trump the most morbid of obstacles.
By Maia Kahn
Photo by Jack Morris
Folk Marry Kill runs until Sunday 30 August. 4.35pm. £15, £14 concs. Studio Five @ Assembly George Square Studios, EH8 9LH. edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/couplet-folk-marry-kill
