How to Win Five Grand on the Internet - ZOO Playground - Edinburgh Fringe Review

With a title such as ‘How to Win Five Grand on the Internet’, you could be forgiven for thinking that Laurence Baker’s debut fringe show was, in fact, some sort of ‘how to’ guide teaching audience members how to make money without leaving the comfort of their chairs, but this production is actually an in-depth exploration of grief and control.

When his father died, Baker managed to make enough money to cover his rent by playing poker on the internet. He learned how to play the game, how to spot the experts and the newcomers (the fish), and that no matter the time of day, there will be a poker table open on the internet for someone looking to place a few bets. It wasn’t something new that he took too when facing the loss of his father, he had dabbled before, but instead the poker in a way, become a coping mechanism, something that he could control when everything else seemed to be spiralling out of it.

This production, performed as a one man play by Baker himself, is funny, clever, and brutally honest. Audience members are invited to drink with Baker, to place bets on cards with him as he illustrates the addictive nature of online poker and explains how he managed to make the money that he did. He doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities, doesn’t celebrate the bright lights and buzzing colours of online poker tables, placing it against dark curtains and a broken desk with drawers full of poker chips.

Baker is clever, not only in the sense of having the mathematical intelligence to play the game itself, but in how he works with an audience, bouncing laugh out loud moments against recordings of real-life truthful conversations with family members in an hour-long rollercoaster ride of emotions. This is a brave piece that puts Baker’s experiences of grief out there for all to see as he talks honestly not about making money on the internet, but about losing it, about attending therapy, about talking things over with his family.

Baker’s story is well worth telling, as anyone could fall into the temptation of betting online, anyone could reach out in attempt to control anything that they can when things they once understood are no longer there. ‘How to Win Five Grand on the Internet’ introduces Baker as a wonderfully honest, clever, witty and funny performer, who invites his audiences to not only listen to his story with all of its ups and downs, but to have fun with him. He listens to his audience, doesn’t force anyone to join in but celebrates them if they choose to do so, creating a warm and welcoming environment for all where all can feel comfortable.

‘How to Win Five Grand on the Internet’ runs at Zoo Playground at 11.50am until 24^th August.