A YouTube star who lived in fear after her stalker kept turning up at her LA home leaving creepy ‘totems’ behind is taking her ordeal to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Anna Akana, 34, will perform It Gets Darker at the premier comedy event, making her stage return after her attacker forced her to stop performing live.
But after the huge success of the Netflix series Baby Reindeer, Ms. Akana tackles the difficult subject in her latest show.
Praising Richard Gadd’s “fascinating” show, the Los Angeles star told the Times: “I think it’s different when you flip the genders, because there’s an implied physical threat.”
She added: ‘I never really worried that he would get into a situation that he couldn’t physically get out of.’
In 2020, Anna’s stalker first showed up at her California home, after years of online threats and abuse.
Anna Akana (pictured), 34, will perform It Gets Darker at the Edinburgh Fringe in August
Anna’s stalker began coming to her Los Angeles home in 2020 after years of threats and leaving strange objects for her
Richard Gadd portrayed as Donny in Baby Reindeer with Jessica Gunning as Martha in Baby Reindeer
“He would send me letters or leave me totems, like bloody necklaces, random things. And eventually I was able to gather enough of his tirades to get a restraining order,” she said.
The 34-year-old woman was afraid that he would enter her home and harm her.
She stopped performing stand-up around 2017 because the threats became so severe.
The American comic strip told New City Stage: ‘I kept getting messages from a guy saying he was going to shoot me at a show.’
Her worries grew even greater when Christina Grimmie died in 2016. She was shot while meeting fans after a performance.
The actress has amassed 2.85 million subscribers on YouTube and her videos have been viewed thousands of times
Anna’s story follows on from the recently released Baby Reindeer, but her experience differs slightly from that of Richard Gadd, who is said to have inspired the hit Netflix series.
Baby Reindeer hit the screens in April and follows aAn aspiring comedian and victim of sexual abuse who is stalked by a woman he meets as a barmaid in a bar.
However, in May, ‘Martha’ outed herself as Fiona Harvey in a shocking interview with Piers Morgan and denied ever stalking Gadd, sexually abusing him or attacking his girlfriend.
Mrs Harvey, 58, said she had only met the comedian three times and when questioned about the content of some of the messages, she admitted calling them “funny jokes”.
The Scottish woman went on to say that she wanted to “set the record straight” following the massive global success of the Netflix series and the online trolls who contacted her after the series began streaming.
Baby Reindeer hit screens in April and follows an aspiring comedian and victim of sexual abuse who is stalked by a woman he meets as a barmaid in a pub
Jessica Gunning portrayed as Martha in the Netflix series Baby Reindeer
Gadd has never publicly named his stalker, but Anna’s actions have become public after she filed for a restraining order against him.
She, too, hopes her story will be seen on television around the world, but realizes that for legal reasons she may have to change several names and details if the story goes ahead.
The actress has 2.85 million subscribers on YouTube and her videos are viewed thousands of times.
She regularly uploads videos on topics related to mental health, in a personal and often humorous way.
Last year, she posted an Instagram post launching her show with the caption, “After a stalker said he was going to shoot me during a show, I’ve retired from the stage.
But armed with a restraining order and years of therapy, I finally feel comfortable enough to come back and make some jokes.
Anna pictured accepting an award for ‘Youth & Consequences’, a miniseries in 2018
She regularly uploads videos on topics related to mental health, in a personal and often humorous way
‘Come see my new work in progress show It Gets Darker
‘Warning: It is indeed dark, and it will get darker.’
Her debut performance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival also reveals how her father volunteered to serve in Ukraine and became the head of an organisation helping refugees, people without food or water, and bomb sites.
The final topic of her show is the suicide of her younger sister in 2007. She has spoken out about this before, including by writing the book Surviving Suicide and making a video called Please Don’t Kill Yourself.
She will be performing at the Pleasance Courtyard in Edinburgh from July 31st to August 24th.