QUEENAGE WASTELAND

Fringe 2026

QUEENAGE WASTELAND

Following up from her hit show, LARRY, award-winning comedy artist, musician and writer, Candy Roberts presents the world premiere of QUEENAGE WASTELAND!

What if they lied? What if being a crazy cat lady is AMAZING? Like a modern-day Carol Burnett on acid, Candy Roberts spins hilarious misadventures of a Gen-X childhood survivor. From freeze, fawn & flee, to fuck-you, an autobiographical comedy about the pursuit of becoming a dangerous old woman.

Absurd and hilarious true stories told through stand-up comedy and clown about growing up unsupervised in the 70s and 80s in a small town in BC. With a clown-school-breakthrough at midlife, Candy discovers that her childhood was “not fine,” and learns how to begin moving beyond the fear, shame, and survival response patterns and questions why self acceptance is considered "radical".

Let's forget about aging out of expectations. Queenage Wasteland reimagines a culture where young folks look forward to silver hair, wisdom and peace.

“Once she gets you laughing, she will not fucking let up.”– Colin Thomas – Simply the Best of 2019

“a highly skilled physical comedian.... her bravery is virtually unlimited” – Liz Nichols, 12thnight.ca

“A fearless performer”– CBC

Plain Language Description

Queenage Wasteland is a comedy show by award-winning Canadian theatre creator, writer, musician and Somatic Practitioner Candy Roberts.

It uses autobiographical storytelling, stand-up comedy, and clowning to tell absurd and hilarious stories about growing up unsupervised in the 70s and 80s in a small town in BC. Candy describes the social conditions and family dynamics that pressured her to be a good, quiet and pretty girl.

Through clown-school-enlightenment at midlife, she discovers that her childhood was “not fine,” and learns how to move beyond the fear, shame, fawn, freeze, and flee responses in getting to know how radical acceptance feels.

Queenage Wasteland questions aging, social gender roles, trauma and survival patterns. It reimagines a culture where young folks look forward to silver hair, wisdom and peace.

It is a fast-paced hour of stories, jokes, character sketches, and live music to tell a story about the pursuit of becoming a dangerous old woman.