KC Shornima on Her Edinburgh Fringe Show Detachment Style

With her sharp wit and unflinching honesty, KC Shornima’s Detachment Style explores how a lifetime of experiences has shaped her into someone who’s, in her own words, “a pretty emotionally detached person.” Blending dark humour with raw self-reflection, the show navigates white guilt, terrorism, abandonment, and more - all with a comedic lens that invites audiences to laugh while they sit with uncomfortable truths. We caught up with KC to talk about tragedy, truth, and why she’d always choose the punchline.

Tell us a bit about Detachment Style.

It’s a show about how my life experiences have shaped me to be a pretty emotionally detached person.

Detachment Style mixes dark humour with honest, lived experience. How do you strike that balance without losing either truth or punchline?

Well, I’d sooner lose the truth than the punchline. As in if it’s true and it’s not funny, I don’t need to tell you all.

You’ve said that the rhythm of a joke and a tragedy can be the same. How does that idea shape the structure and tone of the show?

In a tragedy, there’s usually a character with a deep flaw who is met with external challenges that result in their eventual downfall. That’s basically what every sitcom episode is. There is a flawed central character that’s met with a challenge. The challenge leads to a minor downfall and ultimately they resolve the situation but not the character’s great flaw, which means there can be another episode. Rinse and repeat. My show is about I think a great flaw I have and exploring how I came to be this way, and by the end we will find out if that will lead to my downfall or not. But like with lols.

Do you think comedy is becoming a more open space for voices that were previously on the margins?

Definitely. More people are creating their own audiences, which is great. It’s nice that we don’t have to rely on exec approval to find an audience. But that can be a double edged sword. e.g: for a while we had marginalized neo-nazis and now they have their own hilarious podcast.

You cover everything from white guilt to terrorism to abandonment. What role do you think humour plays in helping audiences actually sit with difficult ideas, rather than avoid them?

I think when it’s funny, people are willing to listen more than when it’s boring.

As someone whose writing spans both late-night satire and solo stand-up, how has that range influenced your live performance style?

A lot of times, after a show, people will tell me, “You are such a great writer.” which used to annoy me because it felt like a dig at my performance style. But it’s just evident in my comedy that I’m a writer. As a performer, I bring a delivery style and personality to the jokes that help, but I don’t want to rely on charisma to sell the jokes on stage (mostly because I’m not exactly dripping with rizz). I want someone to be able to look at a transcript of my show and find the jokes funny on the page because they have a distinct voice and perspective. I think that comes from being a writer.

KC Shornima will be performing Detachment Style at Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker One from July 30 – August 24 at 6:10pm. Tickets here.