Claire Woolner
CLAIRE WOOLNER is an LA-based absurdist comedian. Her show A Retrospection was named Winner: Top of the Fringe, Hollywood Fringe Festival 2023, Winner: Encore Producer's Award, HFF23, Winner: Pick of the Fringe, HFF23, Winner: Platinum Medal, HFF23 and Nominee: Best Solo Performance, HFF23.
The visual of your poster for A RETROSPECTION shows you in a wig cap, with a film reel of what looks like your life as a performer coming out of your mouth. What does all of that represent to you?
You've nailed it already. The film reel is my life as a performer coming out of my mouth. The name of the show "A Retrospection" is a play on A Retrospective--which is the conceit of the show: a retrospective of my 'greatest' most 'powerful' 'performance art' 'pieces'. Pieces that no one has ever seen and also...are they performance art? It's a clown show so it's continually undercutting itself, while dealing with voicemails from a very real inner critic. My intention for the poster was to have it feel performance art-y but also sort of stupid. This is my sweet spot. The wig cap is something I discovered during a show to try to desexualise myself (because I'm so hot and its distracting). An audience member asked me if it was because I was telegraphing an actress in a perpetual state of preparation which also is interesting and maybe smarter than my original intention.
"Clowning" is something many people think of as pure physical comedy, but your show looks as emotional and deep as it is hilarious. When did you realize how much clowning meant to you, and what makes it the perfect medium for telling your personal story?
I was introduced to clowning in 2016 by John Gilkey (cirque du soleil) and The Idiot Workshop in LA. Gilkey's form of 'clowning' (a very touchy and loaded term especially in LA--its hilarious how intense clowns are about what clowning is) merges stupidity and beauty in the most poetic and hahahaha way. It appealed to me instantly. Most if not all of our societal agreements are absolute trash bullshit and the clown is the most powerful one of all because it can call out these things in a playful way; turn the king on his head, so to speak. If your joy is in playing the fool, power means nothing, and the littlest most benign bits of life become sacred. To me, this is everything and also (embarrassingly/sadly/beautifully) this is my life. I am not someone who is good at social networking, I'm not a person who knows how to plot and plan to get ahead; I'm someone with a big heart who feels deeply and searches for beauty and connection and tries and fails and tries again; and this is the clown.
If you could say something to your younger self, before you discovered performing - what would you say?
I've been performing (and forcing my family to watch me perform) since I could move/make sounds. So I would say "hell yeah you little cunty baby smarty girl keep going!"
What is the "heart" of your show, or what is the thing you're hoping the audience walks away with after seeing it?
All the things we wish we didn't have to live through are actually what make us most powerful. The power dynamics in the world and internalized by us are made up and fake. We can transcend them through presence, joy and connection. Woah, my show sounds amazing. I should just remind you, it's an absurdist comedy clown show.
Can you tell us about some other female-driven shows you've seen at Fringe this year that you would recommend checking out?
I have so many incredible female performer friends here this year I am blown away by how cool the women in my life are. It's fucking SICK!!! My clown friends: Courtney Pauroso: Vanessa 5000, Natalie Palamides: WEER (one night only work in progress) and Pearman then Palamides (limited run), Sarah Shtern and Reshma Meister: Seeking Representation (works in progress), Julia Masli: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha