I began making Primal Bog because I wanted to make a clown show about queer kink – but it turned into something bigger than that. The basic idea was to clown around a topic that is misunderstood, perceived as sinister, and taboo. Masochism falls under this, of course, but as I began making the show, it morphed in its own way to encompass the concept of desire itself. The show deals with the process of learning to embrace, interrogate and move through your own desire in our social context, sometimes using kink as a language to pick that apart. I think it happened this way because for a lot of people, simply engaging with authentic human desire is perceived as sinister and taboo – no whips and chains needed.
The show takes place in a metaphorical Bog: the swampy part of our psyche that contains erotic desire, often shrouded in a cloud of shame, mystery and taboo, but also (just like in fairy tales) with a compelling and magical aura. The show explores what happens when we bravely adventure into this bog, spend time with it, and get to know it – it may be difficult, it may be strange and messy, but it’s real, and the rewards of pleasure are worth it. Please note this is not an endorsement to venture into actual bogs (see this informative and educational reel).
The title of the show is from an Esther Perel book (I’m delighted to announce that I am just like other girls). She talks about one partner in a couple finally allowing the other into the ‘primal bog of his erotic desire’. I remember immediately writing ‘SHOW TITLE??’ into that page of the book. I love the contrast of the freedom implied by being primal, and the danger implied by the bog. Freedomdanger.
Speaking of, from the start of the process, I wanted to use the show as a space to explore the joy of risk, drawing a parallel between physical risk and the risks we take when we are vulnerable, with ourselves and others. That’s what has led me to perform acts like pissing, getting tattooed on stage and falling over in gunge all the time, but the more I perform the show, the more the truly scary risk makes itself known: showing a room of people what you think is funny, and hoping they will laugh. It might not feature on the risk assessment, but to me, clowning is the most intense stunt I do out there.
When I perform, I want to create an otherworldly space where the audience and I can in some way transcend together. Before I go on stage, I send a little message up to the clown gods: ‘In that room, may we all be more than the sum of our parts. It’s a very sincere thing to do, and that makes me squirm a bit, but at the end of the day, isn’t that the point?
Primal Bog runs at Soho Theatre, 25 February – 7 March 2026, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3N, United Kingdom.
