Something OT for Toronto residents
Alex W.
Shamelessly scooped from today's Toronto Sun...
http://www.canoe.ca/Canoe/canoelifewise.html
DON'T TRY THESE TRICKS AT HOME
By VALERIE GIBSON -- Sun Media
Okay, so a theatre show titled Puppetry Of The Penis, The Ancient Art Of
Genital Origami is going to attract attention.
It sure attracted mine.
First thought -- what the heck are they on about?
Do they make penises out of paper or something? Or have dildos dancing
about
at the end of puppet strings? Or perhaps re-enact ancient scenarios of
Japanese erotica?
Which of course begs the question -- who would actually make a legitimate
theatre show out of this, performance "art" or not? And the other
question.
Why?
Aha. Curiosity kills the cat and the sex columnist.
Which was why yesterday morning found me wending my way to Planet
Hollywood
to find out for myself.
A press conference was being held, given by the "artists" of the show who
call themselves the Australian Masters of Genital Origami. The press
release
states that they "will be on hand to demonstrate and assist interested
media
in constructing and performing classic genital origami installations."
Curiouser and curiouser
As Alice In Wonderland said: Curiouser and curiouser. Which actually got
her
into an awful lot of trouble didn't it?
So, despite the fact there appears to be more television cameras than
people
at the conference, the curious few gather dutifully in an upper room at
the
bar to await enlightenment. This is apparently to be demonstrated on a
zebra-striped carpeted platform in front of us.
Ta da! Lights go up and in stride two fit-looking 30-ish men in long
cloaks -- Australians Simon Morley and David Friend.
They are, they announce, going to give us a basic warm-up performance
first.
Then they throw off their cloaks.
And stand there stark naked.
I grin. Hey! The full monty! Nothing like seeing a naked, fit, male body
early in the morning.
They march off and return quickly, still naked, in order, they say, to
now
demonstrate their "art" of genital origami. I already have an inkling of
what we're about to see.
So have some of the group around me judging by their mesmerized faces ...
First The Snail, they beam at us, and, yep, proceed to manipulate their
own
private parts into a snail shape. The faces around me blanch a bit and
there
are some nervous giggles. I wonder idly exactly how the television
cameras
are going to show this on their evening news.
Ignoring the astonished silence, they announce cheerfully in their Aussie
twangs that they are going to create The Hamburger. And, lo, squelch
their
members into another weird shape with Morley pointing out the "sesame
seeds"
on it. (I am not making this up.) We all grimace and wince, especially
the
men that are present.
They then move onto the next "creation" (the Loch Ness monster) and yet
another (the Eiffel Tower. Er, don't ask!)
End of press conference demo. We clap dutifully. Thankfully no one unzips
to
try it themselves.
The Sun photographer walks back grinning to where I'm standing saying he
hasn't a clue how he's going to take a shot of all this that can be
published in the paper. Last I saw of him he was persuading the guys to
hold
their mics in front of their still-exposed parts.
I mention to one man there that I thought this all seemed to me to be
very
much a "guy" thing. Do men think it's really funny to twist and pull and
bend their penises into different shapes? "Not me, not me," he says,
stepping back a bit, obviously in a bit of shock and regarding me with
more
than a smidgen of suspicion.
I chatter on, ignoring his discomfiture, and note cheerfully that there
is,
after all, something similar for women -- The Vagina Monologues.
Obviously
our private parts are very fashionable at the moment, I say to his
retreating back.
Dubious entertainment
Now, just in case you're thinking this dubious entertainment is strip
joint
material, I have to solemnly tell you that Puppetry Of The Penis, which
stars these two with another performer and a full show backup, has been a
runaway hit in Melbourne, Australia, London, England, New York, Montreal
and
the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. No, really!
And now Torontonians can also bend their minds, not to mention their
penises
as the show opens in Toronto at The New Yorker Theatre, 651 Yonge St. on
Aug. 24 -- after The Vagina Monologues closes.
Hmm. Should be a joke somewhere in that last bit of information, but I
think
I'm still mesmerized by yesterday's display ....
brian carter
Brian
Alex W.
"brian carter" <swla...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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