Jessica's one-woman show is heading to the Edinburgh Fringe

Jessica RowbottomJessica Rowbottom
Jessica Rowbottom
A Wakefield musician is taking her one-woman cabaret show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.

Jessica Rowbottom, from Wrenthorpe, performs under the stage name The Bleeding Obvious.

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She said: " In the show, I describe my own coming-out experience through original songs and tales which are sometimes funny, occasionally poignant, frequently emotional and most definitely queer."

Jessica, who identified as male until she was in her mid-30s, said: "I was a pupil at QEGS. School was a huge concentration of testosterone back then. I grew up with Section 28 which concerns the promotion of homosexuality in schools and I sing about it in my show.

"I've spent a lot of my life trying to work out where I was and who I am and It took me 38 years to do something about it."

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Jessica left QEGS halfway through the sixth form and enrolled in Wakefield College to study computer science.

She said: "I've got this half and half life. Half of me is computers and half of me is music.

"My day job is doing software development and my evening stuff is about banging around on a piano and singing about being queer."

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She added: "I'm very lucky to have an understanding employer. When I go to Edinburgh I'm going to balance my work with the shows.

"I'll be doing some work during the day and then performing at night."

Jessica has also been involved in the Forgotten Women of Wakefield project, writing the soundtracks for their films and playing the piano on some.

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She also wrote the music for a film about the life of Wakefield's Clara Clarkson.

The Bleeding Obvious Fringe show runs from August 6-14 at 10:15pm each night (no show on 10 Aug) at the unique Underbelly venue in Bristo Square, close to Edinburgh University

Tickets are on sale now and can be booked at the Underbelly website or on the Fringe website.

There is also be a pay-as-you-feel preview show at The Flamboyance in Leeds on Tuesday, August 2 from 7pm with special guests Emma Crossland & R Crack.

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