19.58°C “Born into the Petri dish of fundamentalist belief and waterboarded with fear and religious dogma.”
That’s how Leon the Poet introduces The Cult Kid and Me: My Villain Origin Story, his new spoken word show coming to Patch and Roots & Grooves Cafe as part of this year’s Colchester Fringe Summer Weekender.
Leon describes the performance as “a dizzying journey, an odyssey through time” to discover how he became the person he is today. Through poetry and storytelling, he traces his escape from a high-control religious upbringing and the path back to his creativity.
Although the show draws on deeply personal experiences, Leon says audiences should expect plenty of laughs along the way.
“It’s like a movie with one man and a microphone,” he said. “There’s laughs, twists and turns, childhood punch-ups, heartbreak and redemption.”
“It’s an entertaining hour of storytelling and poetry about how a shy and awkward boy rediscovered his creativity, healed from his past and became Leon the Poet.”
Based in Essex, Leon is a songwriter, writer and performance poet. His first poetry collection, Sometimes I’m the Bull, Sometimes I’m the China Shop, was published in 2024. His work explores belief, fatherhood, childhood, mental health and, as he puts it, “my first love: sandwiches.”
The Cult Kid and Me: My Villain Origin Story will be performed at Patch on Thursday 23rd July and Roots & Grooves Cafe on Friday 24th July as part of the Colchester Fringe Summer Weekender.
Event Details
Venue: Patch, 24 Trinity Street, Colchester
Thursday 23 July: 7pm
Venue: Roots & Grooves Cafe, 1 St Nicholas Passage, Colchester
Friday 24 July: 8.30pm
Running time: 50 minutes
Age guidance: 16+
Tickets: £8
Please note the show contains strong language.
More information and tickets for The Cult Kid and Me: My Villain Origin Story and the full Colchester Fringe Summer Weekender programme are available via the official festival website.
You can read the Keep Colchester Cool guide to the weekender here.
