I last saw Alice-India perform at the (sadly) now-deceased Cowgirl Comedy in Bristol several years ago. She headlined a weird but fun show (also featuring an embryonic Sam Williams), and had a compellingly relaxed and confessional presence, so I was intrigued to see how her material and persona had developed.

Fast-forward to 2025 and she’s debuting, with a show called ‘See You in Hell.’ Freshly diagnosed as autistic, and recently arrested, she’s using Fringe audiences to help decide how evil she appears (while guessing what she was arrested for.) The show that I saw was sparsely attended, which can throw the less confident, but she uses it to her advantage, effortlessly creating a casual and fun atmosphere as proceedings unfold. She veers between self-conscious over-confidence – always being the personality hire at her jobs, trying to be the alpha in her feud with a 10-year old student at her teaching job – to vulnerable, talking about her break-up and feeling as if she ‘wibbled into the world,’ in comparison to her neurotypical ex. A pick-me, over-confident persona can be a risky strategy, but she doesn’t fall into the trap, as it’s only part of the whole and remains endearing.

It would be interesting to hear more about how her neurodiversity has affected her job and relationships in a practical, day-to-day sense though, as she somewhat skates over the reality of how being autistic affects these things, as well as regarding her seeing red prior to her arrest. I think the show would also benefit from the arrest ten days pre-diagnosis being set up more as a climactic turning point, as it comes across as more of a coincidence than a vindication.

She’s got a knack for dispassionate one-liners – my favourite being the duty sergeant’s verdict on her arrest – and I enjoyed her recounting her attempts at trying to build bridges with the remaining societies she hadn’t alienated at university, and her suspicion of her boy cat’s relationship with her boyfriend (‘We’ve both sucked on his nipples.’)

Unintentionally, all the shows I’ve seen before or since at the Fringe have been towards the intense end of the spectrum, barely giving you room to breathe. Alice-India felt like a break, coming across as effortless in a way that belies considerable effort and experience.

I don’t think this debut is her final form, but she’s well on her way.