Avital Ash Workshops Her Suicide Note

Unexpected and very funny dark humour. A lot of raw emotion and feelings that made her relatable to the whole audience. Highly recommend

Often dark, never bleak. Avital talks about her life skipping between melancholy, anger and wry humour with exceptional skill. Just terrific work.

This show is heavy, there’s stuff that definitely won’t make you laugh but there is stuff that definitely will. It’s heartbreaking, but also heartfelt at times. This is a deeply personal and moving show, and Avital was such a presence on the stage the whole time. Not what I was expecting going into the show, but still a brilliant experience. One to watch if you’re able. Loved it!

I could not recommend this show highly enough! This is one of the most profoundly funny yet challenging pieces I've ever seen. It is a difficult thing to reveal the layers of trauma and joy that form us and a more difficult thing still to do so while providing solace, laughter and comfort through acknowledgement of pain to an audience.
I am so thankful to have seen this!

Warm, funny, heart wrenching - my favourite show of Edinburgh so far.

⭐⭐⭐⭐½ (4.5/5 - Superb)

Avital Ash's one-woman show is an unapologetically audacious romp through some of life's darkest corridors. More one woman show than traditional stand-up, and all the better for it. Avital Ash's performance in "Avital Ash Workshops Her Suicide Note" is an extraordinary exploration of deep personal terrain, masterfully bridged with humor, compassion, and raw (often terrifying) honesty. Ash's performance is not merely a comedy show; it's a sophisticated and nuanced commentary on identity, depression, and generational trauma.

Growing up a Hasidic Jew and navigating the complexities of queer identity, Avital's narrative resonates deeply with the human condition. Her dialogue on depression is neither trivialized nor overblown but is treated with a humane touch that manages to connect with the audience on an intellectual and emotional level.

The show's brilliance lies in its ability to tackle the heaviest of subject matters with grace and poise. Avital's humor serves not as a mask but as a vehicle for exploration, delving into her personal experience and broader societal reflections. She touches on generational Holocaust trauma with a deft hand, capturing both its profound impact and its lingering echoes.

What sets Avital apart is her capability to oscillate between humorous and poignant moments without losing the audience's engagement. Her performance is at times devastating, yet frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious (especially after she took off the 'armour' of one-liners). The structure of her show is intricate, weaving through various themes while maintaining a sense of fluidity that makes the complex topics approachable.

At the heart of this performance is a genuine sense of compassion. Avital manages to humanize topics that are often discussed in abstract or academic terms. Her connection to the audience is palpable, and her delivery makes each person feel as though they are part of a shared experience.

A 4.5-star rating seems apt for a show that excels in nearly every aspect yet leaves room for further growth and exploration. Avital Ash's ability to create a tightly woven work that still feels loose and free on stage marks her as a burgeoning master in her craft.

In conclusion, "Avital Ash Workshops Her Suicide Note" is more than a comedy show; it's a thoughtful and empathetic reflection on life's complexities. It's a must-see performance for those willing to engage with heavy themes, guided by the compassionate hand of a truly gifted performer. It's academic without being dry, compassionate without being overly sentimental, and above all, a testament to the transformative power of storytelling.

Avital's show is a masterpiece, Avital has managed to combine very difficult topics such as depression and SA and talk about them in a humoristic way as well as bringing much needed attention to them. It was very emotional for me but the feelings that this show brought out were very much needed. This makes many people feel less alone in the things they have experienced. An absolute 10/10 show, I recommend :)

Three days after seeing Avital Ash’s brilliant one woman show I am still thinking about it and new things have revealed themself to me. An intricately structured, darkly hilarious masterpiece dealing with the heaviest of subject matters with the deft hand of a burgeoning master at work. Not for the faint of heart, Avital manages to create a tight woven work while still feeling loose and free on the stage. At times devastating, repeatedly laugh out loud hilarious, and if you aren’t moved by the end, you are as dead inside as Avital would like to be as soon as she finishes this suicide note.

Avital Ash Workshops Her Suicide Note (***)
The key to understanding this show is to note that she titled it as a workshop. She makes notes throughout, and has an audience member jot observations as she explores her depression and life growing up in an Orthodox Jewish household after her mother fell or jumped off a building when Avital was only one. While she often told touching, funny stories from her life, the show is punctuated with her sincere tears as her depression is triggered in the telling.


This is the 20th most enjoyable of the 28 shows I have seen so far at the Fringe this year. I hope to see almost 200. You may see my other three-sentence reviews, in order from most enjoyable to worst, at my non-commercial website: https://fringefan.com/