Fringe Festival Reviews: Self-Help and Self-Love

via Larchmont Buzz By Sika Lonner June 20, 2024

A body count, as Joy Regullano explains, has two meanings. The dictionary defines body count as “a list or total of casualties,” usually referencing a war or some other disaster. In slang, a body count is the total number of sexual partners in a person’s intimate history. Over the course of one hour, Regullano recounts the bodies left in her wake, and the hard-won lessons she learned along the way.

Half stand-up comedy show, half TED Talk, Body Count is brutally honest and incredibly vulnerable. With a wry smile, Regullano will tell you she is “sick of hearing about your shitty relationships,” before chronologically recounting all her co-dependent, manipulative partnerships, spanning from her relationship with her immigrant parents who are struggling with their own baggage to her long series of boyfriends. 

Though Body Count is inherently one of those tell-all autobiographical solo-shows, Regullano is careful to not overindulge self pity. In fact, Body Count is told with a surprising degree of humility and a good deal of research. The end of the performance is rushed, but only because Regullano has a lot to share. With thoughtful writing and graceful self-analysis, Body Count is an affecting exploration of dependency and the possibility of healing.