Tomatoes
tried to Kill me
But Banjos Saved My Life

An Award Winning, Inspirational True Story
Keith Alessi playing a banjo

Accolades

Awards

Sold Out Run
Edinburgh Fringe
Pick of the Fringe
Mervyn Stutter's Pick
Edinburgh
Winner
Fringe Encore Series
New York City

Reviews & Press

British Theatre Review - Edinburgh Fringe
British Theatre Review - Edinburgh Fringe
August 16, 2023

Paul T Davies reviews Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life at Space @ Surgeon’s Hall as part of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Three Weeks Edinburgh Review
Three Weeks Edinburgh Review
August 8, 2023

I missed this show in 2022 and was keen to catch it early this year. Now an established international success, it’s a fine piece of American storytelling....

The Munro Review - Rogue Festival 2022
The Munro Review - Rogue Festival 2022
March 11, 2022

A banjo, the lean and kindly man tells us, draws a line to the past – back to circles of players whiling away pre-electric evenings in the Blue Ridge Mountains, back to the vestigial sound of bagpipes urging Scotsmen across a battlefield, back even to primeval times, with people sitting around campfires and vocalizing with grunts and hums.

Audience Feedback

An amazing journey presented here - very touchy and powerful story told in a very intimate theater...makes you look, as Keith Alessi suggests, in your closet...and forward through the windshield...This is an authentic and not-to-be missed!!!

Very well done- humorous, poignant, excellent.

Heartfelt personal experience, like a Moth story hour. Good story teller. I will leave it up to the listener if he/she wants to hear about a personal journey.