Could you see the funny side to going blind? Twelve years on from losing most of his sight, Tom Skelton ‘looks’ back at over a decade of being blind and wonders what might have been. Exploring his regrets, the what-ifs and the realities of life as a VIP (Visually Impaired Person), Skelton ruefully imagines his sighted-self going on to shape the last few years of history. But would the Tom from 2022 really swap places with fantasy Tom with 20:20 vision?
Tom first noticed some loss of sight at the Edinburgh Fringe when fellow performers on stage became blurry. His sight quickly deteriorated and he was soon diagnosed with Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (a genetic eye condition that runs in his family), leaving him with 5% vision.
Tom’s 2017 Edinburgh solo show Blind Man’s Bluff, which he went on to perform at Perth Fringe World and Melbourne International Comedy Festival, examined his own blindness and disability as well as the history of blindness, and his follow up show, Blind Eye Spy, imagined an improbable adventure in his future as a blind spy in post-Brexit Berlin. Now Tom looks at the decade in between with both blind reality and sighted fantasy.
Tom has performed at the Fringe for many years as part of the fantastic improv shows Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes and Racing Minds. He has also starred in the BAFTA-award winning History Bombs, and children’s show Did You Hear What I Saw? explored Tom’s relationship with his best friend and fellow comedian Tom GK, who happens to have hearing loss… and a show at this year’s festival.
Venue: Daisy Room – Underbelly Med Quad, Teviot Place, EH8 9AG
Image credit: Matto Charlie Lucas
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