Tuesday August 11th 2026
Amanda Knox (photo by Andrew Perry)
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
One of the most discussed and controversial performers at this year’s Fringe, Amanda Knox, has entertained full audiences throughout the festival’s first week despite a 60,000 plus signature petition calling for the show to be cancelled.
With the Fringe often not shying away from controversial performances, this year Gilded Balloon has welcomed standup Amanda Knox’s new performance, ‘Cartwheel’, where she discusses and acknowledges the continuing efforts to silence her and her controversial past and prison sentence.
Opening the show with “welcome to the most controversial show of the Fringe!”, she definitely didn’t shy away from the controversy during her Fringe debut, having no fear to both deep dive into her past or crack jokes at the situation she was tied up in.
In 2007, Knox was accused of the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher while studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. Sentenced to 26 years in prison, the conviction was overturned in 2011 and Knox was released after spending four years behind bars, returning to her home in the US. Fast forward to 2013, her acquittal was overturned after a prosecution appeal and a retrial was ordered. In a court in Florence, Knox was convicted of murder for a second time until the Italian courts definitively acquitted Knox.
Using the theme of motherhood, Knox approaches the heavy question of how she can tell her kids about her imprisonment. Pacing the stage, picking up children’s toys and folding clothes in a makeshift playroom, a voiceover of her daughter hangs over the performance, prompting Knox’s next points.
Discussing the difficulties of explaining her complicated past to her daughter, she explains it as a Dr Seuss story: “Knox the fox in a box with locks”, highlighting that her daughter is already poking questions at the past she finds so difficult to reflect on.
Explaining in the performance that changing her name would be the equivalent to “confessing to a crime I didn’t commit”, at times in the show Knox displayed a strong offence to people, the courts and the media who accused her of the murder, switching from soft self reflection to self defence against the situation.
Recounting her “extremely prolonged and public trauma” as she folds children’s clothes, we are given an insight into the story but from a now 39-year-old Amanda Knox’s perspective, diving deep into what it was like for her and how the conviction still follows her, rather than an insight into what happened.
The complexity and media coverage of Knox’s case and the overall situation is what has caused controversy surrounding this year’s show, with many people finding the subject matter insensitive. The sensitivity of the subject is what makes Knox’s approach so difficult to pull off, but it also gives the comedy its unusual edge.
For the first 15 minutes, Knox seemed to be testing her jokes, cracking comedy directed towards the case that many people would no doubt find controversial. But after getting into her groove the show turned to more of a deep reflection of herself, turning to more of a moving performance than a ‘comedy’ which it is branded as.
At times, the comedy is deliberately uncomfortable. A joke about her child’s mess becoming a “crime scene” is met with laughter, but also a noticeable sense of unease given the subject matter. Yet that discomfort appears intentional, reflecting Knox’s attempt to find humour in an experience that has defined so much of her adult life.
Away from the controversy, Amanda Knox’s debut Fringe show ‘Cartwheel’, is ultimately less about the murder case that made her a household name and more about the woman left to deal with its consequences.
‘Cartwheel’ won’t be for everyone and those expecting a conventional comedy hour may be disappointed. On the night, a sold-out audience at the Gilded Balloon Wine Bar showed no signs other than enjoyment and emotion towards the performance, ending in a round of applause that echoed through the venue.
The controversial nature of the performance is ultimately what makes it so effective. On its own, Knox’s stand-up may not have been enough to fill a venue of this size, but the controversy surrounding her story, combined with the self-reflection displayed on stage, makes for an entertaining and thought-provoking performance that will leave audiences with questions.
‘Cartwheel’ is a 4/5 Fringe performance that is certainly worth seeing, although its controversial subject matter means it won’t be for everyone.
