Edinburgh Fringe Chats (#116): Aaron Pang, FALLING: A DISABLED LOVE STORY
As anticipation builds for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025, we’re catching up with a range of exciting creatives preparing to bring their work to the world’s largest arts festival this August. In this series, we delve into the stories behind the shows, the inspiration driving the artists, and what audiences can expect. Today, we’re joined by Aaron Pang to find out more about his show, Falling: A Disabled Love Story.
1. Can you begin by telling us about your show and what inspired it?
My show is Falling-a disabled love story. I walk with a cane and everyone asks me “what happened?” I got tired of telling the same story over and over again, so I decided to write a solo show about it. It is about one accident that changed my life and the two stories that it caused, one story you’ve heard a thousand times and one you’ve never heard before. I’ve told a lot of stories with organisations like The Moth, and I’ve always felt the format to be insufficient to depict a complete nuanced story about disability. I want to be able to laugh at the ridiculous things that random people on the street say to me and the situations that I face that no one would usually think of. The show is about my journey living with this condition and my stumbly journey trying to find love and sex after disability.
2. What made you want to bring this work to the Fringe this year?
Fringe is a place that makes space for things that push the boundaries. My show plays with the expectations of the audience. When they see me, people immediately make a bunch of judgements about me and my show plays with those judgements and leads audiences to places they don’t expect. My show is both completely serious and completely unserious and I love to play hopscotch with that blurry line and Fringe feels like the perfect place for it!
3. How would you describe your show in three words?
Unexpected Disabled Sex
4. What do you hope audiences take away from watching your performance?
I want them to think about disabled sex. The next time they see a disabled person on the street, instead of wondering “what happened?” I want them to think “I wonder how, who, and why they fuck?” I also hope they reflect on the types and stories we tell about disabled people. How our collective wants “inspirational” disabled stories limits the stories of true disabled life.
5. What’s your top tip for surviving the Fringe?
I’m a first timer at Fringe, but I think a thing that I will do to save a few bucks and feel at home is to take a trip to Costco and load up on snacks!
6. Where and when can people see your show?
Pleasance Courtyard Bunker 2 at 3pm/15:00!
X: AaronZengPang
INSTAGRAM: @az.pang
SHOW LINK: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/falling-disabled-love-story
READ MORE FROM THE FRINGE..
