When Lorin first asked her father, John Clarke, if she could record their conversations, she assumed the audio would be something private.
At the time, she already had a podcast studio set up at home, and her father, celebrated satirist John Clarke, had a lifetime of stories to share.
Those recordings began just a year before his death at 68.
After he passed away, Lorin realised the conversations held more than personal memories- they captured something his audience had also lost.
“I feel like his audience… he had such a connection there,” Lorin says.
“It was so multi-layered, and the audience felt that it had been cut short… I wanted to say, well, it meant something to him too.”
That realisation became the foundation for But Also John Clarke, a documentary built from the recorded conversations, archival footage of John Clarke’s career, and reflections from his colleagues.
What does this documentary reveal about John Clarke?
But Also John Clarke, a feature-length documentary created and narrated by his daughter, sets out to look beyond the public persona.
The film traces his life from a troubled childhood to the creative freedom of his university years, following his path from early comedic experiments to becoming Australia’s most beloved satirical mischief-maker.
Though Clarke was famously private, the film gently opens a window into the personal experiences that shaped him.
Together, Lorin and her father explore how those early influences helped him channel silliness and wit into an everyman voice that exposed political, economic and social nonsense.
How does the film bring his world to life?
The documentary is a fun 99-minute journey, rich with home movies, Clarke was a constant recorder of family life, alongside archival television and stage performances.
Interviews with friends, collaborators and admirers deepen the portrait, including Sam Neill, Ben Elton, Bryan Dawe, Anne Edmonds, Jana Wendt, Paul Keating and Wendy Harmer.
Why are the recorded conversations so central?
At the heart of the film are the audio interviews Lorin recorded with her father in the years before his unexpected death in 2017.
In these conversations, Clarke reflects candidly on his upbringing in Palmerston North, New Zealand, where a difficult home life and rigid school environment fostered a lifelong suspicion of authority.
Those early years also fuelled his attraction to humour and fairness.
“I see two sides to things,” Clarke tells Lorin, a trait he connects to growing up with parents who “couldn’t deal with each other”.
What did Lorin learn from recording her father?
Even Lorin, who believed she already knew most of her father’s stories, discovered new layers when they sat down together. One of those was her grandmother Neva’s tragic love story.
After losing her first love, George, Neva later fell for a Scotsman named Jock while working as a secretary for the New Zealand Army during World War II.
When the war ended, Jock planned to move to New Zealand to be with her, but never arrived.
“The fact that the war was over and someone just hadn’t been told that detail to me was insane,” Lorin says.
John Clarke shared his mother’s story during their recorded sessions: “It was kind of amazing to have the detail of that.”
What shines through in this documentary?
Throughout the film, John’s cheerful nature is ever-present.
While Lorin Clarke celebrates a comic genius who adored words and rhythm, she also reveals a generous, unpretentious man who took genuine interest in everyone he met, often chatting at length with strangers.
As Bryan Dawe tells Lorin during the film: “Your dad always said from the outset, ‘We’re here on behalf of the audience.’”
Where can you watch the documentary?
But Also John Clarke premiered at 7.30pm on Thursday, January 1, on ABC and streams on ABC iview.
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