Rogue Sisters (and friends) are the London based character-comedy writing & performing duo Laura Jean Marsh and Nadia Lamin. Spawned originally from the creation of their alter egos Sister Florence and Sister Mary Joseph (The Rogue Sisters – Two Nuns kicked out of the convent for their unholy behaviour.) They have now expanded their universe with the release of Pig and Mix, a short film introducing some mad (and possibly disturbing) new friends, also played by the duo.
At Funny Women, we are immensely proud and privileged to host the exclusive premiere of Pig and Mix! We love championing brilliant female/non-binary comedy talent, and bringing this dark, delightfully absurd short film to our platform first is an absolute joy.
But first, we caught up with Laura Jean and Nadia to chat about unholy nuns, their favourite comedy influences, and what it really takes for these two powerhouse creators to bring their brilliantly bonkers universe to life.
Tell us about the sketches you have released and performed up until now.
Our Rogue Sisters sketches ‘Guess Who’ and ‘He’ll be back’ were released and featured on The British Comedy Guide and were received well by comedy fans who have a taste for the dark, bombastic, surreal, naughty and ridiculous. We took ‘He’ll be back’ to the stage multiple times in Leicester Square Theatre/Museum of comedy’s Sketch Off and had a bit too much fun. Turns out two Nuns fighting over an egg-shaped Jesus in a frying pan to ‘Smack my Bitch Up’ really does it for audiences.
How did you get into comedy/writing/producing etc?
We have both been working with each other on both sides of the camera for years and are truly in love/obsessed with each other in the silliest possible way. Our friendship mainly consists of us making the other laugh as often as we possibly can. The world is a mess but finding humour in the darkness and absurd is something we both have in common.
Rogue Sisters was an idea that was born on the set of a feature film Laura Jean had written and was directing a few years ago (Giddy Stratospheres – also starring Nick Helm and Richard Herring as well as Nadia and Laura jean herself) it was a fun but intense set but for some mad reason we decided that all we wanted to do once the film was over was dress up as Nuns and have a fight. Which we did.
From that, the Rogue Sisters was born and developing new characters for our universe has been a ball.
Egging each other on in our writing and performing process, and the creating of bonkers and absurd characters is the best therapy and we’re thrilled that other people are into it too!
We’re excited to be pitching and discussing our sitcom and sketches with the powers that be, as we are chomping at the bit to bring our world to a wider audience.
Tell us about your comedy style.
Absurd and bonkers with a worryingly dark and surreal tail.
What is your short film Pig and Mix about?
Pig and Mix, our short film that we are happy to be premiering here on Funny Women is about our two bickering nuns Sister Mary Joseph & Sister Florence who are headed to the cinema, but what should have been a nice day out quickly turns upside down when they come face to face with some colourful characters.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Laura Jean wrote this particular script but was inspired mainly by Nadia and knowing that she could bring the hilarious intensity of someone trying to enjoy a film surrounded by unbearable distractions.
Nadia’s frazzled character Sister Florence is in the most insane and infuriating situation possible; the perfect framework for our kind of comedy. And the two of us play all the other bizarre and dark characters in the cinema ruining her time.
The film was directed by long-time collaborator and ally Alastair Clayton from Turtle Canyon Comedy. Not only did he smash the directing out of the park, which was challenging when two actors were playing multiple mad characters but he masterfully pieced the editing together into the silly jigsaw puzzle we dreamt of and you will all see in the film. We like to be hands on when we create our stuff but Al totally got what we were after. Good egg.
We hope it has the brashness French and Saunders and Smack the Pony with a sprinkle of David Lynch.
What’s next for you?
Alongside the release of Pig and Mix we are pitching our ideas for our telly show as we have some big and silly plans up our sleeves. Watch this space!
A massive thank you to Laura Jean and Nadia for giving Funny Women the exclusive premiere of Pig and Mix!
Grab your popcorn (or your favourite pig ‘n’ mix) and watch the short right here:
Loved the short? Give it a share and follow their upcoming television and sketch developments here.
