Curiosity

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This month, my curiosity got the best of me, and so I bring you a review of the show "Puppetry of the Penis" at Myer Horowitz Theatre.  A female comedian opened the show. She was very funny. She covered a variety of topics; such as why she hates kids (because her friends that have them can’t go out with her), how she thought the new fitness craze "Pilates" was a disease, and how her friend waxed a strip of hair of the top of each arm then (due to her embarrassment) tried to pass them off as burns from an iron. My favorite part of the show was when she described her days sitting at home watching Jenny Jones and the Sunday Night Sex show reruns (she described Sue Johanson as an old demented lady who plays with wooden sex puppets). I laughed so hard, it hurt. She definitely broke the ice, and set the mood for what was to come.  When I first heard about this show, I thought I would be seeing 2 men that wore puppets on their genitals, and I wondered how they’d cause them to move and talk for an hour. But once the show started and their capes dropped to the ground, I realized their male members ARE the puppets. The 2 men are from Australia and tried to make light of things and ease the tension by cracking jokes. Some were funny, some weren’t received well, and with their strong accents I’m not sure they were always understood.  After a few minutes of warming up (stretching) and preparation, they proceeded to manipulate their private parts into a variety of shapes. The displays included the Eiffel Tower, the Loch Ness Monster, a Kangaroo pouch, a hamburger, a hotdog, a wind surfer, a thong, an Emu etc. They even had an audience participation segment where they begged for a volunteer from the audience. After some coaxing, an older lady reluctantly made her way up to the stage, after being offered to the puppeteers by her family. One of the men had her hold her hands up as the other performer ran and did a handstand, causing his legs to land in her hands. He stood on his hands facing the audience, as the embarrassed lady stood behind him. The poor woman looked petrified (understandably so) as her face was inches away from his "family jewels”. She quickly left the stage with a bright red face and a Polaroid to take home and show her friends.  Their big finale had one of the performers on a skateboard while once again demonstrating the Wind surfer. His cohort followed behind him aiming a fan at him causing him to sail across the stage. What an ending!  Coming next month: Holly McNarland & Wide Mouth Mason play Reds October 5th, Tool with guests Meshuggah play the Skyreach Centre October 6th, Guttermouth, Moneen, Riddlin Kids play Reds October 12th.  See ya next month!