The Easy Way Out
I wrote The Easy Way Out by accident. My name is Eli Yim, a musician, and incidental theatre maker based in Liverpool. This is the story of how the show came to be.
The songs came before the script, most of them written before I knew what the show was going to be about, and before I even knew it was going to be a show in the first place. I was studying songwriting at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) and had accrued a selection of songs I'd written and, more rarely, was proud of along the past years.
A tutor noticed a lot of my best songs - the ones that ended up in the show - were autobiographical. My Sunbeam being about my best friend from high school, They Know Not What They Do about my experience coming out as nonbinary, Mom, I'm Doing Pretty Good Today about the phone calls I have with my Korean mom, et cetera.
I began exploring the concept of a gig theatre show revolving around my life using these songs, but it hadn't taken concrete form.
Then came the mental health crisis during my final year. They say that great art comes from great pain, and while I hope not because I really don't want to almost die every time I write a show, the timing was pretty convenient. Soon after I left the hospital, I knew what this hypothetical gig theatre show was going to be about. The rest fell into place by itself, which is to say through great effort from everyone involved. It began with my lovely four-piece band who performed the first version of The Easy Way Out with me at LIPA for my third year performance project. It then evolved into a solo show when I took it to Buxton Fringe in 2025.
For this year's performances, including as part of the Queer Words Festival last June, it's developed further. It's now a hybrid of sorts. I'm still the only person onstage, but live voiceover is provided by Xander Castle-Bradley (previously my drummer). And of course, my teddy bear Sunny has a starring role!
Rather than focusing on the pain that may have fuelled its creation, I want to believe that great healing comes from great art. And while I'm not the one who can judge whether my art is 'great', I hope people who have survived similar close calls can resonate with it and find some semblance of healing from my silly show.
You can catch The Easy Way Out at Leeds Carriageworks on the 18th September, tickets and info here.