Claire Robin opens the listing for her show in the Adelaide Fringe programme with three words – “Convent. Clown. Communion.” Donning a full habit, she aims to lead us through an hour of non-stop laughs in her show Nun Slut, already gracing the stage at the Prompt Creative Centre. We managed to catch up with Claire for a sinful pixelated pint, so join us here in the Binge Fringe Digital Pub.

You can catch Nun Slut until Sunday 23rd March at the Prompt Creative Centre at various times. Tickets are available through the Adelaide Fringe Box Office.

Jake: Hi Claire! You describe your Adelaide Fringe show as an absurd journey through religion, the body and Barnaby Joyce. Tell us about the connections between the three and how you found the comedy in them.

Claire: The show grew out of my own journey of unpacking my religious upbringing and deconstructing the way the church speaks about sexuality and the body. I think sexuality and spirituality are inherently linked. There is a lot of irony in the emphasis placed on the control of the body and desire, when spirituality is such an embodied experience. In a way, the church can be somewhat obsessed with sex, through their attempts to define and control it. Nun Slut really highlights this irony in an absurd way, switching between the sacred and the profane. Barnaby Joyce, well… an encounter with him in a Catholic church formed part of my spiritual journey, but you’ll have to see the show to hear more about that.

Jake: Give us a bit of an idea of your process becoming a Clown Nun, and what you’ve found out along the way.

Claire: The clown in me really emerged through the creation of this show. I trained as an actor back in the day and have moved more specifically into improv and comedy over the last few years. The Nun Slut concept came to me as a song that I wrote for an open mic. When I decided to do a full show, I looked at all the stand up and sketch bits that I had written, to see what might fit into this theme. Through piecing those together and exploring this idea, putting on a costume and playing around, the clowny nun emerged. A great mentor of mine, Marcel Blanch-de Wilt, helped me to discover this clown side of myself, and follow the joy and play. I’ve learnt that this is where I experience the most fun possible, and where the room comes alive – I love the electricity that is present when interacting with the audience, the sense that anything is possible.

Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?

Claire: Mostly, I’m hoping the audience has a brilliant time. There’s a lot of fun to be had, and a lot of surprises through the show. I also hope to spark some intrigue and conversations around religion and spirituality. Most people are surprised to learn that I actually still go to church, and faith and spirituality are part of my life. Yet, Nun Slut is such an irreverent and silly show. Perhaps, irreverence can sit alongside tradition, earnestness can be ridiculed, and the confines of the institutional church don’t have to define our spiritual lives. We can be many things at once.

Jake: Now we’re in the throes of Adelaide Fringe, what are you most excited for?

Claire: I am excited to have fun with audiences. I love not knowing what will happen each night, and being surprised by people’s reactions and the way they interact with the show. I love seeing what emerges and discovering new things that I can keep in the show.

Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?

Claire: Bloody Mary. For obvious reasons!

You can catch Nun Slut until Sunday 23rd March at the Prompt Creative Centre at various times. Tickets are available through the Adelaide Fringe Box Office.