AFTER going on an unbelievable journey performer Victoria Melody is embarking on a new stand-up tour that lets people literally peek into her mind.
The award-winning artist will be bringing her latest show Head Set to the Civic on Friday.
The show will see Victoria perform a stand-up act while wearing a headset that tracks and displays her mental activity to the audience, allowing everyone to see exactly what she’s feeling throughout the performance.
Victoria said: “I’ve been called quite nicely the theatrical Louis Theroux, which is a huge compliment.
“I try to embed myself in lots of different communities, like an anthropologist, and get to know more about them this time I decided to look at amateur stand-up.
“I always take part because I am a performer I thought this one would be easy, but when I started I did really badly.
“It was harder and more gruelling than any other one I’ve done I died on stage constantly.”
The problem, Victoria thought, was due to her difficulty with acting off script.
“You’ve got a set prepared, but with stand-up you’ve got to think on the fly I’ve never been very good at that.
“I thought if I go and see a language therapist and get my speaking sorted out then I’d be good at it, but I ended up finding out I’ve got ADHD.
“The thing is I always felt really good after shows, so performing more became a form of self-medication.
“I thought I’d cured ADHD, we’d just get everyone to perform stand-up sets.”
With this comedic cure in mind, Victoria decided that she would approach a neuroscientist to learn more about her own mental processes when performing.
They presented her with a headset that she could wear on stage that tracked the electrical activity in her brain and recorded the details of what she’s feeling and when.
The unusual headset sparked an idea, and after refining her act the show about sharing an unfiltered look at her emotions was born.
“This defined the show it’s about the way we present ourselves and what makes us so uniquely funny.
“I want to celebrate neurodivergency only I could do this show because of what I’ve been through.”
