"To be honest I can never quite remember which moment came first, whether it was the moment when I first wondered some things about the issues around how we talk about rape, and how it gets legislated, which were really sticking in my craw, so to speak.
"Or whether it was wondering, 'Could you possibly find a comedic way to talk about this, and let the comedy be satirical and slice and dice the culture around these really ridiculous ways that we talk about this prevalent and all too frequent problem?'"
She'd heard plenty of bad-taste rape jokes surfacing on the US comedy circuit, and was sick of hearing mind-bogglingly incomprehensible arguments from various American politicians and public figures about how it was really a woman's responsibility to dress and behave appropriately.
So she decided to take that concept to the edge, and spend an hour on stage naked from the waist down, drinking gin and tonics, and raising that absurdity with a little tongue-in-cheek, videos, dancing, and commentary from George Carlin, Louis CK and Robert De Niro.
"There was just a bunch of stuff happening in the States all at the same time, really pushing that rhetoric around - 'well she shouldn't have been wearing that, and she shouldn't have been drinking, and she was basically asking for it' - and to me, that logic is so ignorant to the point of insanity.
It pretty much hit me that wearing no pants, being naked from the waist down, was the most obvious way to reinforce how ridiculous the notion is of wearing something that can be construed to be 'asking for it'.
"And I thought it was great because it also looks pretty preposterous - visually it just adds to the absurdity."
Truscott's background as one half of circus-comedy-cabaret act the Wau Wau Sisters, meant she was okay with the idea of exposing herself, and being particularly vulnerable in front of an audience.
"In the Wau Wau Sisters we'd been playing around with what female nudity can mean and can be in a performance, how it can be powerful as well as challenging as well as normalising.
"And I used to try to pull off nudity for laughs when I was a kid too, like I'd jump in the pool naked to make everyone laugh and so on, so I've had a ridiculous comfort with nudity for the better part of my life. I don't know if I would've made the costuming choice if I didn't already feel comfortable with it," she laughs.
She's very aware that people will come to her show for different reasons, and will have different reactions to her material.
"I've found it really satisfying that my audiences are generally really mixed, along gender, age, orientation. There are always a lot of guys, and they run the gamut from what I would say are pretty smart, progressive men, to lone wolf gentlemen who come and sit right at the front by themselves.
"I've also remarkably had some guys' birthday groups, and even a bachelor party, which was great.
"I've never had any particular trouble really. Every once in a while a fella will attempt to take a photo with a phone or something like that, which is a bit off, but generally I hope what happens is that I make it really clear that everyone is welcome at my show, and they don't feel the need to lash out at me."
Indeed, though Truscott's show has serious undertones and tackles a tricky topic, she's not doing it to point the finger at anyone or lay accusations. "The whole reason for me wanting to try and use comedy to talk about rape culture was because I'm not interested in lecturing anybody. I'm interested in bringing things up, and discussing and provoking, but it is comedy, and that's why I made a lot of the choices I have with the show. And sometimes people say, 'Do you think anyone will listen to what you say while you're naked?' but I have some faith in humanity. I always feel I should give my audience the benefit of the doubt."
Who: Adrienne Truscott
What: Comedy show Asking For It
Where and when: The Basement Studio on Saturday, April 25, and from Tuesday, April 28 to Saturday, May 2.
- TimeOut
