Colin Ebsworth, master storyteller and comedian, takes a long hard look at his life as a person with late diagnosed ADHD in Maybe He’s Born With It, Maybe It’s ADHD. He paints vivid pictures of his life as an othered child with “electricity bones”, as a teen who discovered belonging with an art teacher and the theatre kids, and as an adult whose hyperfocus on writing put him at risk of being othered again.

Ebsworth first shows us what ADHD is like by giving an audience member a short informative text to read into a mic. As the audience member gets going, Ebsworth starts making noises into his own mic, repeating words from the text (echolalia), and distorting the sound with a little sound board sitting on a table next to him. This is exactly what it’s like for an ADHD person to listen to…well…anything really – there’s an overlapping line of brain noise that interrupts and disrupts the ADHD person’s senses and processing, causing dysregulation. It’s a very effective demonstration that would be extremely instructive to anyone who’s got an ADHD kid, friend, partner, or colleague in their lives.

In fact, every part of Ebsworth’s show is instructive. He talks about a phenomenon that happens quite often with families where a child (even an adult one) is diagnosed with ADHD, and one or more of the parents will start to see the same traits in themselves, start to see themselves differently, and then seek diagnosis. Ebsworth’s father, though, couldn’t take that journey, and even questioned whether Colin is actually his son. Ebsworth first passes this off as a joke, but by the end, he makes it abundantly clear that his father’s denial is the deepest gut punch of all.

Ebsworth lets us know his show is not a TEDtalk, and he doesn’t try to pass his neurodivergence off as a ‘superpower’. Every anecdote, even though humourous, describes how downright painful and disabling ADHD can be. The NDIS doesn’t (yet) consider ADHD a disability, so kids and adults are left without a safety net if their ADHD makes it too hard to learn to read or hold a steady job. Ebsworth becomes very impassioned in his final five minutes, drawing conclusions about his father’s denial and unmet potential, shifting that sadness into a call to action for wider acceptance and understanding for those whose brains function atypically.

Ebsworth’s show should be required viewing for every parent, teacher, and therapist who has a kid with ADHD or suspected ADHD in their lives. His passionate, astute, and hilarious account of lived experience is invaluable and has the potential to be a huge source of comfort, relief, and recognition for ADHDers and the important people surrounding them.

CICELY BINFORD

Maybe He’s Born With It, Maybe It’s ADHD debuted to sell-out audiences at FRINGE WORLD 2024. For more information, visit here.