A mere 30 hours after my first Fringe show – but physically and mentally feeling as if I’d aged several years – I returned to the room where I’d seen Just The Two Of Us for my penultimate one, Ozzy Algar’s Fringe debut Speed Queen. A student of renowned clown teacher Philipe Gaulier and 2024 Leicester Square Sketch-Off finalist, Algar comes to the stage in a strikingly ghostly form; a paper-white old lady, with bright blue eyeshadow, pink lips, and an over-sized brown coat and headscarf. They introduce themselves as Pet, the proprietor of the last laundrette in the Isle of Wight, speaking in a quavering voice that suggests fragility but combined with Algar’s powerful charisma and glistening eyes, also manages to be deeply sinister. At times, Pet feels like a horror version of a Talking Heads character, but it’s combined with a winking, gentle silliness that holds the audience captive. She tells us stories of the laundrette and people in the wider community, lightly mocking men’s mental health advocates and a family trying to scatter ashes.

There’s quite a bit of audience interaction – initially just patrolling the aisle, but escalating into getting an audience member to hold the washing line (then temporarily abandoning him, sitting in the audience and shouting ‘Sing a song from the war!’ which escalates further into a singalong) and getting crowd members to donate their socks for washing, engagement which is reflective of Algar’s clown training and great fun. When not involved in the show, the audience giggle merrily at the funny and frequently surreal lines (‘Everyone’s hair grew inward and there was no room for their blood’). The pivotal moments – including a breathtaking transformation – are made transcendent by the use of music (by Tom Penn, with lyrics by Algar), and combined with their singular physicality and committed characterisation, are what really elevates Speed Queen from a character piece to a work of art for me. It’s hard to describe the ultimate narrative of the show, and several people I spoke to each interpreted it differently – but it’s deeply impressive and thought-provoking.

Algar is dynamite, and I’ll be following their future work with interest.