Natasha Sutton Williams’ bold, provocative show Clown Sex gets elbow deep into the dirtiest, most messed up cavities of sex secrets, ones which you scarcely want to imagine. Going for shock factor as much as comedy, Williams – as London sewer resident Gary Strange – recalls three stories of debauchery and desire which she has heard through the sewer pipes, each one delivered in its own unique style. Cats, clowns, and rigorously detailed daily schedules all feature. It is a shocking, borderline uncomfortable, but admittedly often funny product of a twisted imagination.
Williams is unafraid to push the boundaries of just what the sedate audience are prepared to listen to. The second vignette is the one that pushes too far, with any laughter too often stifled by concerned silence. Some moments in the first story about a dissatisfied teacher also don’t quite smack of the satire Williams is evidently aiming for, although it is on balance a far stronger story and has plenty of giggle-worthy moments. The climax is by far the best moment of the show; the audience is introduced to the rainbow-haired, maniacal sex demon known as Cuckoo the Clown. The laughter here is consistent, wicked, and at times almost through the roof.
Throughout the thick and thin of the show, Williams’ ability to inhibit and gloriously exaggerate a character is on full display. Almost all gestures, expressions, and sounds are amplified in the name of grotesque humour. She rolls syllables on choice words and writhing her body just at those moments that make you squirm in your seat. Such decadent content could only really be brought to life through an animated performance such as this. Perhaps the most concerning thing about Clown Sex is that you feel like Williams is still holding herself back.
A show of fun and risque storytelling not for the faint of heart (or those of rigid morals), Clown Sex sometimes pushes too many buttons for its own good, trying too hard to make the point that is already being squirted in the audience’s face like seltzer. At other times however it is an utter riot, with a great performance from Williams. Turns out Pennywise is not the craziest clown hiding in a sewer drain after all.
Clown Sex has finished its run