If Greta Gerwig wanted Barbie to be truly radical in its upturning of rigid gender norms, then she should have taken a page out of Frankie Thompson and Liv Ello’s book. Through the guises of post-apocalyptic Barbie and Ken, Body Show presents a montage of darkly comic sketches cunningly enhanced by found footage and audio from American commercials and British reality TV. Working with material from the 20th and 21st centuries which enforce the segregation of masculinity and femininity, Body Show engrosses an intergenerational audience.

There is an inevitable sense of shock as we’re once again faced with the messages we internalised as children and took into adulthood. Of the things we’d really rather forget, we recall X Factor judges Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne ordering a contestant to go on a diet, or the infantilisation of Scottish singer Lena Zavaroni who battled anorexia, prodding aches where love and worthiness should have been felt at such a vulnerable age. For those who manage symptoms of body dysmorphia, this show will resonate the most; there is a great catharsis in watching televised toxicity go up in flames.

Strikingly, Body Show is at its innovative best when it involves the crowd. From supporting bulge-less Ken on the hunt for his penis to playing an essential part (the table) in The Last Supper, the audience participation is dynamite. Exceptionally entertaining, fiercely poignant and daringly funny, Body Show will undoubtedly be long and fondly remembered in Fringe history.

Frankie Thompson & Liv Ello: Body Show, Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 August, 5pm.