Interview: Tia Rey Unpacks the Psychedelic Inspiration Behind ‘Oot Ma Banger’

Tia Rey is one of the most exciting voices emerging in Scottish comedy. Her upcoming Edinburgh Fringe show Oot Ma Banger centres on psychedelic experiences in her 20s and the impact they had on her sense of identity. The show serves as both a cautionary tale and an exploration of altered consciousness; how these experiences helped her realise her authentic identity and navigate past trauma.

Tia hosts Too Queer, a monthly stand up show celebrating LGBTQ+ comedians and has amassed a huge following on TikTok. We caught up with Tia to discuss her upcoming show, the power of psychedelics, and living life authentically.

I’m thrilled about your first hour-long show at this year’s Fringe; how are you feeling?

It’s interesting. I don’t get excited for holidays until I’m in the airport. This is like a holiday that I’ve not packed for yet because there’s an overwhelming amount of admin to do. But my biggest goal is to do that show 30 times, and ask: ‘what does it look like on day one, and what does it look like on day 30?’ There’ll be elements in there that get changed, or swapped. Many people that will be coming probably have not interacted with psychedelics before, so I don’t want to make up anything about the actual experiences themselves. I feel like the explanation of what I experienced on these substances has to be authentic.

It has to be almost scientific, so the heart of the story cannot change to whatever suits the show better. Times can change, places can change, characters can change, as long as the things that I’m telling people are things that actually happened. This is a collection of the things that happened to make me the way that I am, and I need to honour that. So the core will remain the same, and then the rest of it can get showbiz sprinkles.

Talk us through your experience with psychedelics in your 20s.

The first time I saw LSD was at a gaff in Maryhill, which is not the best place to try LSD for the first time! It was awful. I ended up in hospital: you’d think an experience like that would make you avoid stuff like that. But I’d always been interested in otherworldly concepts, like religion, magic, and hallucinations. I had questions that maybe something else would answer. So I had that awful experience, but it showed me another world.

This led to ten years of taking various psychedelics, which impacted my mental health both positively and negatively. But it helped me break past barriers of identity, like growing up in Castlemilk. I developed an idea of who I was, what I could do and who I could be. I thought I had to be like the people around me.

These substances broke down the psychological barriers I’d built to protect myself as a young, queer, neurodivergent person. I just wanted to be safe. I just wanted to be alive. Taking psychedelics helped strip all that away, so I could see who I actually was underneath the fear and anxiety.

As soon as I started taking mushrooms and having these funny, light, beautiful experiences, I was telling people immediately. But I realised a lot of people don’t want to hear stories about acid. People hear that word and shut down immediately. They think, ‘Oh, this person’s mental!’ I hear people who haven’t tried psychedelics say they wouldn’t want to be out of control. For me, that’s where a lot of the healing comes from.

If you’re in control, you’ll keep things the way you think they’re supposed to be. But when I had these experiences where I was completely out of my comfort zone, I could really deal with some deep shit. In these spaces, things come out naturally, instead of thinking, ‘I’m gonna deal with my trauma at ten past seven tonight’. Doesn’t work like that.

What are you hoping audiences are still thinking about on the walk home from Oot Ma Banger?

The Gilded Saloon is an incredible space for psychedelic storytelling. There are trippy zebra patterns on the wall, there’s a disco ball, and they do a lot of raves in there. It’s imbued with the energy of loads of people getting on it, which is the energy that should translate through the show. But when the audience leaves, I want them to feel like they’ve had a wee trip.

I want them to leave feeling a bit spacey, with a sparkle in their eye. I don’t necessarily want people to leave with the intent of taking any psychedelics, but more than anything, I want people to leave feeling like they want to be themselves. Not everybody gets to be themselves, and it’s a long process to become who you are. I want people to leave with a desire to say: ‘I don’t want to pretend to be somebody that I’m not. I just want to be me.’ That’s the biggest lesson that psychedelics have taught me: you can only pretend to be somebody for so long before eventually you crumble. You’ve got to be authentic.

Tia Rey will perform Oot Ma Banger from 5th till 31st August (except 17th, 25th August) at The Gilded Saloon Basement, Edinburgh

Photo credit: SP Photography / Two Trolley Productions