THERE'S no chance of falling asleep during Roly Bain's sermons, as one congregation at a North Dorset church found out.

A self-styled Holy Fool, Roly travels across the country spreading the word of God with his own unique blend of circus clowning and worship.

And on Saturday September 11, Roly had them rolling in the aisles at St Nicholas' Church in Winterborne Kingston.

He calls himself the Church Jester, and uses a slackrope act, storytelling and slapstick in his clowning around.

"As the fool, the jester, I can tell the truth and get away with it," said Roly.

"Laughter is a great gift. I use lots of different circus skills to tell Bible stories and talk about faith."

As an ordained priest, Roly founded the Holy Fools in 1982, a "loose-knit network of loose nits dedicated to clowning in ministry and worship".

But in 1990, he decided to take the plunge and go professional.

He resigned from his parish in London, did a year at circus school and then took to the road as a freelance fool.

Now he travels worldwide, performing in schools, churches, prisons and theatres, and clocking up around 35,000 miles a year.

Annabel Shaxson from Winterborne Kingston said: "We asked Roly to perform at the church because we thought it would be something with a spiritual background but also a bit of fun.

"His slackrope act was hilariously funny but there was something for everyone.

"It was very comic and yet very profound."

But Roly has an impressive pedigree to fall back on.

He's the triplet son of Richard Findlater, the biographer of the first great English clown, Joe Grimaldi.

And now he's following in his father's footsteps, with three books already published, together with two videos.

Along the way, he has picked up a Clown of the Year award, an International Slapstick Award and, most recently, the Impact Clown Award in 2001.

His work is now supported by the Faith and Foolishness Trust, a charity committed to supporting Roly's ministry.

First published: September 15