Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

A nun with some unholy habits makes the audience her congregation in this cheeky, irreverent and personal exploration of Claire Robin’s faith. 

Playful and risqué throughout, Robin highlights the contrast between restrictive Christian dogma and our underlying sexual needs. 

She uses games, songs, character and props well. There is some good audience participation, and Robin’s facial expressions are particularly funny. But her energy on the day was a little low.

Her impression of Jesus gets big laughs, and her chaotic version of the Catholic communion, particularly the part that involves stuffing an impressive number of grapes in her mouth, is joyful. The singing nun cleans the space, getting aroused by dirt and filth and interacting with audience members as she goes.

An opening joke where her habit is shown not to be entirely intact, revealing her bottom, goes to the heart of the tension she is highlighting and could be played up more or revisited later on. And some of the personal storytelling and themes might have been fed in earlier. Much of this is packed into a monologue in the middle of the show where she breaks character to connect with the audience. 

She shares an anecdote that touches on shame, judgement, forgiveness and right-wing politics - powerful themes that might have heightened the comedy and made for a more captivating piece had they been introduced earlier.

Robin opens up about moving from Anglicanism to Catholicism without evangelising or seeming holier than thou (pun intended). This is to be celebrated for its place in the broader plurality of views in comedy and the way she delivers it.

Accompanied by a keyboard, playing in a church organ-style throughout, Nun Slut ends with a cabaret-style song and dance that lands well but leaves things a little unclear about how her personal narrative concludes.

Regardless, much of her audience clearly enjoyed their time with the Robin, in and out of character - and clothing. 

Review date: 20 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: John Simpson
Reviewed at: Gilded Balloon Patter House