Interview: Kristina Libby - I Almost Died for This?!
I Almost Died for This?! (A love story. Sort of.) is a comedy piece written and performed by Kristina Libby, an American comedy writer who won the award for Best Storytelling Show at the United Solo Festival back in 2025. This year will be her debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her comedy show, I Almost Died for This?!
Ticket Link: edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/i-almost-died-for-this-a-love-story-sort-of
Venue: Space 1 at theSpace on the Mile
When: 7 – 29 August (no performance on 16 August)
Could you tell us a bit more about yourself and what the show is about?
Normally, I talk about the show as being a story about soulmates and almost dying. But today, as I was driving back to my house, I was also thinking about how this show is about grief and the healing power of creativity.
In 2019, I had a series of tough breaks: things didn’t work out with my soulmate, I fell on my head while kitesurfing, which resulted in a traumatic brain injury that I really struggled with, and we had a global pandemic. The only reason I found my way back from all of that was art. And, in a way, the show is me sharing my learnings about the redemptive power of art – while also, in a very meta way, is me continuing to do the thing that is redemptive and healing. AH!!
Your show tells the incredible story of a "good girl" who meets her soulmate, gets way over her head, suffers a brain injury, and comes roaring back. What inspired you to take such an intense, deeply personal life experience to put it on stage?
I don’t want anyone else to go through what I went through. So, I want to share what I’ve learned. It’s really that simple. If I could do this another way, I would, but this is the medium for the message. So here I am.
The show has a very eye-catching title, and the description calls it a "love story, sort of." Why did you choose to frame this story around the idea of a complicated love story?
I almost died because I didn’t understand love. Frankly, I’m still learning to understand love. I believed in the fantasised ideal of love at all costs. And, the cost was almost dying. So, it was the only frame that could work to contextualise the broader story about finding myself through creative practice, coming to terms with grief, and learning finally to trust that I am worthy of being loved, regardless of anything else at all.
This is a one-woman show, and you've already won "Best Storytelling Show" at the United Solo Fest! How does it feel to be on stage completely by yourself, sharing such a powerful story directly with the audience?
Scary! Vulnerable! Fun! But, also, I have a secret: I’m joined by a wonderful violin accompaniment. Daniel Lee is a Yale professor and a frequently performing musician who improvises to my emotions. So in a way, through his music, I have a sense of being held, even as I am being deeply exposed.
You are an incredible writer who has been published in The New Yorker and Elle. What made you want to step away from the page and bring this specific story to life as a live theatre performance at the Edinburgh Fringe?
If this is a story, at its core, about the power of art to change the world– which I’m still exploring and think it might be - then Fringe feels like its natural home. Fringe is where the dreamers and the artists and the creativity community go to share their wisdom, and I’m coming to share mine.
What do you hope audiences will take away from your story?
Drop the need to be a good girl. Find yourself however you need to: art is a good vehicle for self-finding. Men are a less good vehicle for that. Soulmates might be real but perhaps our culture has misunderstood their role. And, love will never replace the sadness you feel when you are being who everyone wants and not who you want to be. Love yourself first.
Allow yourself to be yourself.
If you have to describe the show in only three words to make people eager to come and see the show, what would it be
I’d let All About Solo do it, from their 5-star review: “Tender… powerful piece.”
