Lauren Bray on Y2K Boyband Slapstick Comedy SYNCING
After the success of our 2025 Camden Fringe Interviews, we thought it only right to attempt a repeat for 2026. So throughout July we’ll be publishing new interviews each day to give a taste of what to expect from London’s best fringe theatre festival. The festival starts Monday 3 August this year, so we may give ourselves a couple of days off inbetween the end of the interviews and the first shows… then again, we might not.
You can find out more about Camden Fringe, along with details of every show playing this August here. You can also find all of this year’s interviews as they are published here.
The year is 2002. Low-rise jeans are everywhere, dial-up internet is roaring, and Justin Timberlake has just shattered the pop music landscape by going solo. Left in the wake of the denim-clad golden boy, the four remaining members of the band are left scrambling to keep the dream alive.
Heading to the Lion & Unicorn Theatre for Camden Fringe 2026, SYNCING is a gloriously uproarious slapstick comedy that serves as the ultimate antidote to modern digital fatigue. Written and developed by Lauren Bray, the show celebrates the beautiful absurdity of the Y2K era with minimal props but maximum nostalgic chaos. We sat down with Lauren to discuss the ongoing Y2K renaissance, DIY celebrity transformations, and surviving a world without JT.
If you had to describe the vibe of your show in just one sentence, what would it be?
It’s 2002, Justin Timberlake has just gone solo, leaving the four remaining boyz scrambling to keep the boy band together in this uproarious slapstick comedy.
Why is 2026 the perfect time for this show to be seen?
We’re living in a Y2K renaissance. People miss when life was simpler, sillier, and offline. SYNCING is comfort food for a generation burnt out on modern brain rot.
We’re all stressed out about money and the state of the world, wondering where our lives are going, how we can be more creative, but also how to be an activist while cutting down screen time and replacing our phones with an SAD lamp because where the hell is our serotonin? This show doesn’t give you a solution to any of that. But it will make you laugh.
Which specific pop personas do we get to see navigate this crisis?
The remaining four: Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, and JC Chasez!
Fringe festivals demand minimalist staging. How did you get around this with your props?
Unfortunately, the real JT wasn’t available for this run, so a curly wig and a rhinestone bandana glued to a builder’s hat must suffice!
If you could describe your show as a single colour, what would it be and why?
Silver, because it is perpetually second best to our golden boy, Justin Timberlake.
If budget or reality was not an issue, what’s the one piece of scenery or set you’d love to have in your show?
A functional zipline and four mechanical bulls. Obviously.
Are there any future plans for the show after its Camden Fringe run wraps up?
We’d absolutely love to continue touring the show. Hopefully next summer, we’ll be making the people of Edinburgh (who are basically just the people of London on holiday…) laugh too!
Many thanks to Lauren for filling us in about the show. You can catch SYNCING at Lion and Unicorn Theatre from Monday 10 to Wednesday 12 August.
