Let’s pin down the pin-up (metaphorically speaking—get your mind out of the subterranean depths of sexual self-delusion.)
Smart, sassy and about as sexy as sexy gets, the pin-up in question is Claire Sinclair, who is, as it turns out (and by obvious design) the star of a show titled PIN UP. With slinky burlesque moves and a sunshine smile, the 25-year-old stage temptress toplines a throwback-style, song-and-dance production potpourri, backed by an energetic ensemble cast and live band.
And, oh yes, she was Playboy magazine’s 2011 Playmate of the Year—ya know, as in a pin-up--in the publication’s glorious, pre-no-nudity days. (An Internet search will confirm why the choice was a no-brainer.) So in the spirit of the classic Playboy centerfold questionnaire, we take you on a whirlwind tour of the mind and heart—and only the mind and heart--of the brunette bombshell. Here’s Claire on …
Advice on performing the art of the tease: “Accept whatever your persona is going to be. That starts with the name. A lot of the girls in burlesque create a name, a character they develop (a tip courtesy of the woman born Clairissa Irene Riccio). It’s extreme, so you act that personality and bring all of your favorite attributes to the stage. Our old director, his wife came in and said, ‘When you’re on stage, I want you to feel like you’ve had two glasses of wine and you’re performing for your man right before you go to bed.’ You’re relaxed, just calm—that loosey-goosey/chill/I’m-doing-this-for-him intimacy, and build that with these strangers in the audience. Find someone in the audience and think, like, for a second, ‘OK, that’s my boyfriend.’ The keys is to learn how to relax and it took me a really long time to learn to do that onstage. For the longest time I would get shaky before I went on. Then it was like. ‘Why? I’m just going to enjoy.’ Breathe out, let go.”
How a man can impress you on a date: “To not make it feel like a date. I don’t like a date-y atmosphere. It feels like a job interview to me. I’d get super-nervous, like going on stage. Let it feel laid-back, easy-breezy. Make it a friendship adventure. Something you would do with your friend, something low-key. I’m not the wine-and-dine type of chick. I hate movies on a date, I think it’s ridiculous. You don’t talk to them at all. You get to see their profile for two seconds. Or even a show. That’s later on, once you’ve been dating for a while. And the friendship arc can become a relationship.”
Attribute you most admire in a man: “Creativity.”
Pickup lines: “If it was a guy who sparked my interest in any other way, any pickup line would work as long as they have the (let’s paraphrase this as testicular fortitude) to do it. Literally once a week at the meet-and-greet after the show, I will get a person who is like, ‘Can I get your number, can we go on a date? I will take you to dinner right now.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m seeing someone right now. But you know what? Kudos on your (that fortitude again). If you go to 50 girls one of them is going to respond.’ I always give them props. They are on the spot, there are photographers there taking their picture, the whole cast is standing there. I admire that. It is a very good quality to have. You will succeed if you do that.”
Celebrity crush: “Seth MacFarlane. He’s a genius, There is nothing that man can’t do. He is a brilliant writer He can sing too. He is the jack of all trades. I think I would be too intimidated to ever date him. He is such an ultra-human. It’s like, ‘Did you come back from 200 years from now and perfect all these skills? How could these be crammed into one human?’ He’s a cool cat.”
Favorite TV show: Black Mirror (on Netflix). It’s like a current Twilight Zone. It’s a trip. When you go back and watch The Twilight Zone, it was amazing, and then Night Gallery. It’ super incredible that they pegged a lot of the technology that is now in existence. When you watch Black Mirror, it’s like you’re getting a glimpse into what will be. You can never predict it. And Breaking Bad. Aaron Paul , who played Jesse Pinkman, I love him. I named my cat Jesse Pinkman.”
Favorite movie: Harold and Maude (1971). “It’s amazing. I hope I’m that old lady (played by Ruth Gordon)—full of life, charismatic, just showing the youth how to be. She doesn’t give a (we’ll substitute “damn” here) anymore, she’s 80 years old, she’s done it all and seen it all and just living. I love her character, how she takes this kid who is really depressed and just turns him. He has hope at the end. Everyone aspires to that before the age of 80, but it just takes till you’re 80 to not give a (make that substitution one more time). I hope to do that sooner.”
Worst job you’ve ever had: “Being an elf for Santa at the mall. It was horrid. Dealing with the kids who didn’t want to take a picture on Santa’s lap. The Santa, I don’t know if he was drunk or on painkillers, but he was always kind of out of it and just chillin’. Looking back on it, it’s hilarious, but when I was doing it, I was like, I don’t want to spend one hour of my time doing something I don’t want to do. But you need that one job where you say, ‘This is not what I want to do,’ and hopefully it propels you on.”
Favorite food: "It always changes. I’ll eat a food until I can’t eat it anymore. I will go on binges for two weeks like that’s all I want. I crave it like a pregnant lady. Right now it’s Tacos El Gordo (1724 E. Charleston Blvd.), it’s their spicy pork taco, it’s amazing. Oh God, it’s got this creamy green sauce on it and you can eat five of them and want more."
Food you hate: “Mustard. Plain mustard on the table ruins my appetite. I don’t want to see it, I want it removed from the table. I will ask someone kindly to do it. My dad put it on the tip of my bottle when I was weaning off it and I didn’t want to let go of it. He told me it was poo, so I think subconsciously, the smell and color of it scarred me for life. Thanks, Dad. If they put it on something and I take a bite accidentally, I feel like I want to vomit. And I hate pickles, the stench of it.”
Guiltiest pleasure: “I got obsessed with scents recently, There are these amazing bloggers. They write about these scents, like, ‘It (smells like) going back to an old brothel with leather and whiskey.’ The descriptions are like, I have to smell them immediately, And it’s an expensive habit, just buying samples of perfumes. Even for some of these small ones, these hoity-toity expensive brands, it’s like 10 bucks for a tiny vial for one spray. After reading the blog I’ll get like 20 samples and that racks up. It’s like a drug addiction. But they have these grandiose stories about what they’re smelling and you see it when you smell it—like ‘I SEE THAT.’ I could smell a thousand scents and not get a headache.”
If you could dine with anyone from history, who would you choose? Teddy Roosevelt. He was such a character. They said he had a presence like no other. It would be fun to be in a presence that bold.”
What other endeavor you would like to try: “Acting would be fun, like SNL (Saturday Night Live) status. I don’t know if I would have the (let’s go with testicular fortitude again) to join Second City or The Groundlings. I’m a big believer in being prepared and having an outline. I would love to do some outlined improv.”
Attempting straight acting: “Going out on auditions, I am the queen of diarrhea, sweat stains and nerves. If you give me the job and give me a second to get comfortable, I’m fine. But it’s the cattle calls that are intimidating. I’d have to figure a way to get over those nerves.”
Congrats, dear reader. You’ve pinned down a pin-up. Yes … metaphorically speaking.
A Playmate on Playboy
Still a member of Playboy’s extended family, Claire Sinclair weighed in on the magazine’s new era:
Playboy sans nudity: “I thought it was a publicity stunt, a short-term thing, just to get interest in the magazine again, and then they would put it back in. That’s Playboy’s history, their legend, the first nude magazine to have an impact. It’s strange. It’s a completely different world and business than when I was there. It’s unrecognizable. I don’t know what this is anymore.”
A recent visit to the Playboy Mansion: “I went to the gate. You say your name and usually every Playmate of the Year, it’s instant—you go right on up. There was a rumor trending on Twitter that Hef (now age 90) had passed away. They confirmed it was a rumor. But I hadn’t seen him in a very long time. They said the list is completely condensed down to family and people who work in the office. They said it’s a completely different atmosphere than when I had lived there. They said, ‘I’m sorry you have to make an appointment a couple of days beforehand to get into the mansion.’ It’s not like it used to be, it’s private and completely restricted. I hope he’s in good health and OK to visit people. They used to be very happy to have the playmates back on the property. That made me concerned that things had changed dramatically.”
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