At one point in Bill Posley’s show about his time in the US army, he tells us how, after failing to transition to postwar life, he was denied a PTSD diagnosis by the military. It is ironic that, in an age when the word “trauma” is so freely applied – in comedy shows as elsewhere – such a compelling claim (the one for which the term PTSD was invented, no less) should be denied. The point is well made that veterans are misunderstood and overlooked in American life – and Posley has plenty more evidence to back it up.
I was struck, as I watched The Day I Accidentally Went to War, by how rare narratives like this are, on the comedy stage at least – although maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that few ex-soldiers turn their experiences into solo performances for the arts centre crowd. So much the better for Posley, a writer on Apple TV’s Shrinking, whose account of his youth, his military training and service, and his troubled homecoming, can’t help but be interesting to audiences who less often hear these stories firsthand.
It’s an exuberant if slightly unwieldy 70 minutes, which Posley struggles to engineer into a morality tale for divided modern America. The coda, which includes a sketch about conspiracy theories that comes from another show entirely, feels like an overstretch. But what precedes it is always engaging, as our bouncy host introduces his disciplinarian dad and gambling addict mum, talks us through the narrow range of options that drove him into the National Guard, then relates the irony that found him graduating on 9/11, and duly enlisting to serve in Iraq.
The show is at its best when Posley lets the experiences of being a teenager pitched into geopolitical extremis (manning heavy weaponry; burning human faeces; burying his best friend) speak for themselves. When he sermonises (Iraqis are humans too, etc), it’s not always enlightening. Finally, he tells us, he remains proud of his service, and he can likewise be proud of the service rendered with this show, which demystifies soldiery, flies the flag for the plight of veterans – and raises a few good laughs while doing so.
• At Soho theatre, London, until 13 Sept
