REVIEW: Church of the Clitori, EdFringe 2025 ★★★★

The High Priestess of the Church of the Clitori and her faithful Labias invite you to get baptised – clitorally. Who could refuse such an offer? Certainly not I. From lips, to lips – I have pledged myself to a new clitoral faith and emerged reborn.

The duo (flanked stage-left by a dramatically upscaled felt set of sexual organs) ask us to reconsider our relationship with either our ‘innie’ or ‘outie’ clitoris, which they are eager to share is the only organ they believed to be ‘designed for pleasure’. All of this is to be achieved through laugh-a-minute singalongs of songs rebranded for a clitoral edge (think He’s Got the Whole Clit in His Hands, and so forth) and an hour-long sermon that piledrives through the history of religion, gender, sexuality, and representation.

This is a perfect late night show – but don’t be fooled into thinking this is all flippant frivolity. In between moments of hysterical, knee-slapping heightened character comedy there’s a real passion to explore how sexual organs have found their place in religion over the centuries, nay, millennia. It’s a Ted Talk meeting a class in sexual liberation, all led with charisma and a unique charm that grabs you by both ears and drags you backwards through the mulberry bush.

Moments of audience interaction will prove testing to some – the unfaithful and the unsure. But rest assured this duo have invested the power of the clit into their smooth and highly entertaining presentation, and we’re not for a minute lulled into any sense that we won’t be involved in tonight’s service. The songs are led dutifully by our clergyladies, who gleefully float around the stage and into the audience more than happy to inspire anyone who needs a helping hand on this spiritual journey.

The historic elements are fascinating – all provided with an accompanying multimedia presentation that could perhaps do with a little tidying up as we flash through slides at breakneck pace. Nonetheless, you don’t spend watching them, as either the High Priestess or Labias are providing the real entertaining beating heart of the show. Moments of hilarity are backed by serious discussions about how we treat our bodies and our pleasurable experience. A section detailing how sex toys marketed towards women are often designed to replicate male pleasure are greeted with thorough nods and applause from the audience.

As a couple of willing (though some may need prompting) participants arrive on stage to be draped in labial folds, we’re shown just how far down the clitoral rabbit hole we’re headed. You might wonder just how much variation the church will be able to provide to lyrics and jokes that insert the word ‘clit’ into pop culture – as it turns out, it doesn’t matter – every time the next full batch of lyrics appear on the screen half of the audience are wetting themselves and the other half utterly entranced by the communal atmosphere of it all.

The Church of the Clitori is such a communal and inclusive experience. As the High Priestess says to effect by the end, a church is made up of interactions between people, and this duo aim to get us all to share more about our bodies – their idiosyncrasies, how we experience joy and pleasure, how our body parts are represented and used against our genders across history. It’s a fascinatingly broad concept delivered with gusto and charm.

Fanciful, fearless and utterly unforgettable – join this congregation for great laughs, illuminatory discoveries, and plenty of pleasure along the way.

Recommended Drink: Communion Wine!

You can catch Church of the Clitori until August 9th at The Annexe at Paradise in The Vault from 22:55 (50mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.