Yoz Mensch, is no stranger to Adelaide Fringe audiences, having performed there regularly since 2010. He is bringing his show Yozi: No Babies in the Sauna to Adelaide Fringe 2025. We chat to him about the show, about his writing process, about his training at École Gaulier and how clowning helps him with autism. It’s your last chance to see the show this weekend.
Yoz, you’re bringing your show Yozi: No Babies in the Sauna to Adelaide Fringe 2025. Tell us about the show.
It’s a jam-packed hour of semi-autobiographical sketch storytelling with a disco-conga-line, some sexy rules, with a healthy portion of raging against the machine. It’s about my experience as an autistic clown trying my hardest to learn how to be funny on purpose. It’s about trying to fit in when the goal is to stand out!
What was your inspiration for writing the show? What was your process for writing it?
Myself, the masterful director Mary Angley, and the indomitable dramaturg Lucy Haas, locked ourselves in an abandoned ABC building boardroom for a couple of weeks. I would improvise scenes on a theme or a punchline, we’d record these while taking notes about what worked, what didn’t, what didn’t yet – and the pervading narrative sifted through, one of difficulty understanding social constructs, especially around art, comedy and self-expression. From there the show has evolved with every performance, as I find bits that make me laugh more, make the message clearer, or are just more fun.
You’ve spent time in Etampes, in France. Tell us about that.
I was in Etampes to participate in the École Phillip Gaulier summer masterclass, the result of a decade-long obsession and an Arts SA grant. I got to live in France! And it was magical. Etampe is a gorgeous medieval city – the streams.
I learned about the importance of connection and play. To have a little secret to share with your ensemble underneath your script. I also learned that I’m more likeable than I thought – loveable even – which was confronting and beautiful.
I recommend Etampes to everyone that will listen to me. Go to clown school and eat salad with other clowns. Go to clown school and learn how to fail. Go to clown school and be too scared to open your mouth until you don’t recognise that person anymore.
Oh and I did a daytrip to Mont St Michel because I am obsessed with Island Castle Monestary towns – I also visited St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall – this was an amazing place to spend a day – the keychain holds memories, but can’t manage the candle to the real thing.
Tell us more about your time at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in France. When were you there, for how long, and why?
The middle of 2024, French Summer – there was a masterclass nestled between Prague Fringe and Edinburgh Fringe, so I had an opportunity to dive into the world of clown, a world I yearned for since hearing about it a decade prior. I always felt like it would be a place I could grow, but in how many ways was a surprise to me.
How did your experience at Ecole Philippe Gaulier change the way your write and perform?
It’s made me more aware of myself and the ways in which I become my own hurdles – which is great but also, self-awareness hamstrings me out of the focus zone – so melding the lessons and attempting unconscious self-awareness harnessed to balanced self-confidence is a massive barrel of laughs. I’m still discovering ways that it has changed me. I need to return to Etampes.
The show blurb says we’re going to clown school. How much of what we see in the show is based on your own clown school experiences?
The show is warped around a romanticized clown school tutelage with less than desired results. My real experience at Gaulier was a far stretch from what is in the show – where the narrative Yoz of No Babies has a difficult time, I had a magical experience. The show is worst case scenario, reality was much kinder to me.
You were nominated for the Actually Autistic Award at Edinburgh Fringe 2024. How does clowning, writing and performing your own shows help with your autism (you mentioned at the media day that clowning helps mask autism).
I fell in love with performing when I was a tiny child – it was easy to understand what was expected if I read the script, stood where I was told, and feel what the stage directions told me to feel. This, I would discover a good two decades later, was little me relying on performing to mask and navigate the world “correctly”. I absorbed TV and Movies, furthering my social studies – and embraced performing and writing as much as possible. Clowning has helped me lean into my unique social perspective by reminding me every day that “to flop is to learn”
Would Adelaide Fringe audiences have seen you in previous shows?
Highly likely; my first year participating in Adelaide Fringe was 2010 – since then I’ve barely missed a festival! I’ve done theatre, kids shows, sketch shows, and flyered so much I’ve worn away most of the coins on Rundle street.
You have taken the show across the world to Prague and Edinburgh (with the House of Oz Purse award). How did you break down language barriers performing in Prague?
Luckily there were no language barriers at Prague Fringe; the majority of people in the Prague shows were British tourists, so everyone had at least a basic grasp of English Because the show is already unique and breaking barriers, the show didn’t need to change, even with difference in culture in mind. The only difference is here in Australia, there’s a part in the show that I use a Scottish accent, and in Prague and Scotland, I opted to use a thick Australian accent instead – more exotic.
How long have you been performing/writing? Which came first?
I have been performing all my life. My first show was at 4 years old. I played Rudolph in the end of year Christmas Show at Kindergarten. I got to wear a red nose and I was the only one with a red nose, and that’s when I knew I loved attention, loved praise for getting the attention and loved to perform.
I won a short story competition when I was 10 , so I’ve been writing for a really long time too. When I was 11 I made comic books that I sold to raise money for injured wildlife at my school. But I presented my very first solo work in 2020 – ‘Abomination’, which was about grief, loss, and my way of working through the passing of some very close people in my life.
Do you write material for others?
No – not yet. I’ve been selfish with my output. I think comedy is a personal thing.
What made you decide to pursue performing professionally?
At the kindergarten that cast me as Rudolph, “The Kangaroo Creek Gang” came to perform, and I remember the entire place was transformed, it was magic. The characters in the little comic strips in the paper came to life and were bringing so much joy to us all – except the Gherkin, he was mean.
I told my parents just after this performance, that I wanted to “be funny’. I have a deep impulse to make people laugh and according to every manager, teacher and by the book peer I’ve had since the age of 6, I’m a pleasure to have around, just obnoxiously distracting. I decide every day to continue the pursuit.
Who is No Babies in the Sauna for? I note it has an M rating and a 10pm time slot.
It’s for people are okay with stepping out of a certain genre. It’s weird, it’s unhinged.
Even though there’s a script, every show is different depending on the energy of the room.
It’s for people who don’t take themselves too seriously, and for people who consider themselves the clown (in their friend group, in their family, in class growing up). It’s for, reading this right now, yes you – i see you, through the digital ink – you, glorious you! You’ll love it!!
Why should people come see the show this Adelaide Fringe?
*stamps foot* because I WANT you to 🙁
It’s Adelaide’s first opportunity to take a bite of the fruit I have brought back from Europe. The show is damn good. I’m proud of it. It’s multi award winning, and this will be the very last time it’ll be performed.
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We thank Yoz Mensch for this interview and wish him an excellent Adelaide Fringe season.
KEY INFO FOR YOZI MENSCH: NO BABIES IN THE SAUNA
WHAT: Yozi Mensch: No babies in the sauna
WHERE: The Lark at Gluttony
WHEN: 3 more shows remain, tonight, tomorrow and Sunday 9 March at 10pm
HOW: Purchase your tickets here
HOW MUCH: Ticket prices vary between $27 and $32 depending on the night you attend. There are also 241 tickets available for Fringe members for the Sunday 9 March show.
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