5 Questions with Maybelline San Juan
Maybelline San Juan is commemorated as one of Adelaide Festival Centre’s stories in its book Celebrating 50 Years for her passion and work in festivals. Currently, she is the Associate Producer at Sydney Festival, with an evident passion for the arts through her past work at organisations including Festival City Adelaide, Adelaide Fringe and Riverside Theatres.
Maybelline's artistic journey began in 2018 performing in the prestigious ‘Class of Cabaret’ at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, returning in the 2019 GreenRoom Speakeasy. Now an accomplished comedian, Maybelline is the winner of the 2025 Adelaide Fringe 'Hollywood Fringe Tour Ready Award' for her debut one-woman show, which sold out its premiere six-show season followed by a three-city tour.
No.1
Your new cabaret show, Maybelline is in Her Slut Era, is based on a true story, where after a long-term relationship you were “liberated into your slut era”. How was the show conceptualised?
I started documenting my “Slut Era” on my Instagram Close Friends stories to bulk update my friends back home in Adelaide about my tragically funny escapades in Sydney. It’s a collection of rants, sneaky tours of the apartments of people I slept with, dating profile reviews, and miscellaneous sh*tposts in the form of memes and Tik Tok lipsyncs that won’t ever become public. Ren, a bestie of mine, has described it as “watching Sex and the City, but interactive”. Admittedly, I did conduct polls and it became a sort of choose-your-own-adventure story; ultimately I was doing it for the plot and by “plot”, I mean my friends’ entertainment.
Despite being hesitant to become an artist (because I wasn’t sure I had anything important or worthwhile to say) three external factors then pushed me to create:
1. I watched Lou Wall’s show The Bisexual’s Lament at this year’s Adelaide Fringe and thought, Wow my stomach hurts from laughing. They’re incredible I want to be them.
2. I watched other shows at Fringe and thought, Oh. Huh. I could do that.
3. I was severely heartbroken by *redacted. you’ll have to see the show, no spoilers* causing my “Slut Era” to come to a crashing halt
It then all clicked. I realised I had proof that people were interested in what I had to say, and like my creative foremother Taylor Swift, I then channelled my pain into art. My story naturally had a beginning, middle and end, and didn’t need any dramatisation, so the show tumbled out of the folds of my brain and into a script rather naturally. As Ren also said, “If the Close Friends story is the TV show, then Maybelline is in her Slut Era is Sex and the City the movie!”
No.2
You’ve worked as a producer with festivals such as the Sydney and Adelaide festivals in the past, among others. What has working with major national festivals taught you about putting on a good show?
It’s taught me that a “good show” is an iceberg. The performer is only as good as the script; its other onstage elements of lighting, sound and costuming that then make it a good-looking show. However, it’s also the behind-the-scenes of ticketing (can audiences afford to attend?) and the marketing (do audiences even know to attend?) that make it a viable show. Without an audience, it’s the old “If a tree falls in a forest…” adage.
Producing for my day job has definitely given me the practical skills of knowing how to get a show “tour ready”. Things like organising music licensing, how to forecast ticket sales and make a budget. But also, this knowledge has actually influenced how I created Maybelline is in Her Slut Era from an artistic standpoint—I designed my show so that I can cue all my music and visuals from a clicker, and not have to rely on a tech person, which means I can ask a friend who is not necessarily tech-savvy to operate the tech desk. I also now know that gaining music licensing for a cabaret show is easier than a stage play for example. I understand that people are late ticket buyers and early bird sales are strategies to combat this. All those examples and more are a few practical benefits of coming into my artistry as a producer first.
Despite working for these large-scale festivals, being an independent producer for my own work was and is a different ball game. What I do on a national and international level, working alongside teams of ticketing, production and marketing, then becomes a one-woman job. All of which, mind you, I complete 5pm–9pm after I clock off [from the day job]. That’s not to say that I don’t have a village behind the scenes supporting me (shout out to beloved friends like Tamara, Tony, Lily and Tyler who’ve helped on the tech desk, selling merch and capturing social media content). However, this is all to say that it’s the unseen work before and after performing on stage that is equally a mammoth effort.
No.3
Slut Era is billed as ‘a raunchy comedy cabaret (based on a true story) about those "f**kable" days’. Besides the clear feminist message, what do you think you want to communicate through this show?
That my story is not unique and there’s comfort in a shared slutty existence. Firstly, gay men don’t hesitate to tell me that 23 people in 132 days is just a regular Monday for them, which I cackle at. Secondly, girlies rush to tell me their J-named siuationship stories and honestly, it makes mine look like a playground incident compared to the borderline psychotic experiences they’ve had.
I adore the camaraderie that comes with acknowledging that life and specifically womanhood is meant to be messy and chaotic, and it’s at that intersection where you find beauty. The joy of performing my show is connecting with audiences afterwards and having girls my age say “OMG SAME”, whilst also having older generations either say, “Baby that’s a tale as old as time”, or even better, “Oh God bless your generation”.
No.4
Who are some of your favourite cabaret performers in Australia?
Well I’d be remiss to say Michelle Brasier, who is both Motherrr (3 R’s) and the mentor to my show. She’s the epitome of “What can’t she do”. As in read her book, watch her special ‘Average Bear’ and soon you can watch her on tv (both on Ghosts and soon to be her own TV SHOW!)
Rapidfire dot point list (in no particular order) of people who are also my biggest inspirations:
● Amelia Ryan (My cabaret mum)
● Lou Wall (Double shoutout)
● Elouise Eftos (The hottest and kindest woman in comedy)
● Gillian Cosgriff (Wit with a capital W)
● Reuben Kay (My jaw always drops)
● Catherine Cohen (International pick)
No.5
In a previous interview, you recounted a story about being introduced to cabaret through your parents, who took you to Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2012 as they were interested to see Filipina singer and actress Lea Salonga. Since then, how have your thoughts and love for cabaret evolved?
Now having written my first-ever show, I have a deep love for the writing of cabaret. I’m a capital-N Nerd who will immediately brain-dump a bunch of notes about shows in the “Comics Study” section of my Notion app: I write down the jokes that I cackled at, dissect the structure of said joke and how their delivery made it work. I note what lessons I can take from each show and apply them to mine.
For example, I love how Gillian [Cosgriff] can make things relatable or present something true to her in a way that is actually universal. For Michelle [Brazier], her pacing is second to none—and ironic that she tells me to sneak in as many drink breaks as possible, when I don’t think I see her breathe on stage. She knows how to drive a narrative and build tension, putting the punch in punchline. With Elouise [Eftos], her comedy is incredibly layered and she has an insane comfortability with the fact that the girlies who get it get it, and if you don’t, well sorry not sorry.
Cabaret is an incredible artform in that no two shows are ever the same; it’s always about responding to the energy of each audience and thus is something that’s constantly evolving. One of my best jokes was an Adelaide exclusive because it responded to the venue I was performing in. And in Sydney, I improvised something that wasn’t meant to be a joke, but because it got a hefty laugh, it’s now a permanent gag. Now the exciting challenge is to learn how my script translates to Hollywood audiences—currently, I’m trying to find the US equivalent for a ‘wog’ and a 1:1 comparison for an illegal warehouse party in Marrickville.
Find out more
On Monday, 21st August 2023, Maybelline was liberated from a 5 year long-term relationship. In the 132 days that followed, Maybelline slept with 23 Men, consumed 3 Plan B’s, had her heart broken by a J-Named Man (a canon event), took a midnight train, and kissed a Girl.
If you deduct the days of menstruation and only count the 96 active (as per data collected by her period tracking app ‘Flo’), or for lack of a better word, "f**kable" days where Maybelline could sleep with someone; then everyday there was a 51% chance of sex, with a 47.9% chance of sleeping with someone new. Statistics show that Maybelline is a Slut.
Slut Era is a raunchy comedy cabaret (based on a true story) about those "f**kable" days.
Mentored by Michelle Brasier and developed and Supported by Shopfront Arts Co-Op.
Maybelline is in Her Slut Era opens on 15 May and runs till 17 May.
More info and tickets here.