18th July 7.30pm
Tickets: £5
Big Heart – a poetry show about surviving a heart attack (with jokes!)
How do you fight back when your own heart tries to kill you? Get a sneak preview here .
In 2010, for his thirtieth birthday Richard Tyrone Jones, the healthy, gym-going ‘Ringmaster of Spoken Word’ (ThreeWeeks) got a rather unexpected present. Heart failure.
Having battled back from the brink of death to (almost) full-health, armed with a pen and a pacemaker, he has now written a show about his experiences, which he describes as ‘a unique prescription of cardiomyopoetry, animation and anecdosage.’
Richard will expand on the lurid details of his near-near death from dilated cardiomyopathy (heart failure), atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) and atrial thrombosis (blood clot in the heart), his convoluted convalescence and living everyday life with the condition that will almost certainly kill him. Here is truly a show for anyone who ever had a heart. Or failure. Many Fringe acts consider their show to be a matter of life and death. This one literally is.
What had caused this triple-decker of misery? And can being so dangerously ill actually improve your life?
Richard Tyrone Jones is a poet, writer and founder of spoken word clubnight ‘Utter!’, celebrating its 10th birthday in 2013, and is also Director of Spoken Word for PBH’s Free Fringe. Germline, his first book of stories, poems and art was published by Vintage Poison Press in 2009. Big Heart (& other sickness) is published summer 2012 as an e-book and paperback.
‘Raw, at times graphic, and very funny’ BBC Ouch!
‘Fascinating, sobering, hilarious, and ultimately uplifting’ New Scientist
‘Masterfully manages the listeners’ mood as it oscillates between laughter and despair… It is a big-hearted show, and a valuable lesson in making the most of whatever life throws at you. Highly recommended.’ Fringe Guru
BIG HEART earned recommendations from Time Out and New Yorker for preview performances in London and was nominated for ‘Best spoken word show’ at the Buxton Fringe. Following Edinburgh it tours the UK this Autumn. See www.richardtyronejones.com for details.
Richard Tyrone Jones’ BIG HEART is supported by The Wellcome Trust and aided by Apples & Snakes, The British Heart Foundation and the Cardiomyopathy Association.