” Her trademark dry, biting wit has been forged in fire — and now she’s turning it on the world of hospitality.”
3 * * *
Krystal Evans is on a roll. Her 2023 debut hour, The Hottest Girl at Burn Camp (now also a book), was a full-throttle ‘coming out’ — if instead of a gay awakening, she shared the biggest trauma of her life. This year’s follow-up picks up where that left off, opening with animated drawings and voiceover to recap the fire that changed her life and claimed a young family member. As the name suggests, the story runs parallel to Gaga in A Star is Born… but the version where instead of dramatically defying her boss and walking straight into showbusiness, she’d just, I don’t know, taken the bins out.
You’d be forgiven for thinking some of her topics might be off-limits for palatable comedy. But Evans makes it look easy. Her trademark dry, biting wit has been forged in fire — and now she’s turning it on the world of hospitality. Specifically, the chaos of being a 20-something waitress in New York, dancing to the tune of the mega-rich and mildly unhinged.
Evans is one of those people you instinctively describe as having “had a life.” Whatever else happened, it always felt like comedy was going to find her. There’s a great recurring thread about her David Cross obsession, her failed musical theatre dreams (too sarcastic for warm-ups), and the fact that wherever she is, she’s always, unavoidably, Krystal. That’s a big part of her charm.
The hospo stories are gold — gossipy, absurd, occasionally nightmarish. We’re talking billionaire sex scandals, an amazing race-changing skydiving Santa, and a genuinely horrifying encounter with a short-lived Republican press secretary turned podcaster (no NDA can save him now). Also woven lightly between the lines is the story of meeting her future husband, a chef she will call ‘Stuart’, because that’s his name. At times, it feels like you’re leaning in with a glass of wine while a friend spills secrets they probably shouldn’t be telling you.
But this isn’t just ‘trauma dumping’. Evans is doing something much sharper: threading real pain through proper punchlines. A joke about blue roll brings a ripple of recognition from the hospo crowd — “My people,” she grins.
She mentions a divorce in passing, then shrugs: “I’ve got to save something for next year’s show okay?”
And honestly? I’ll be back for the next chapter of Krystal’s story.
Krystal Evans: A Star is Burnt
Monkey Barrel 2
19:10 | 1st-24th (Not 13th)
Krystal Evans: A Star is Burnt ***
Published on
Edinburgh Fringe 2025 
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