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Industrial Strength Humor  |
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Or, "What To Do When You're Absolutely Devoid of Talent"
Posted on 07/10/2003 9:19:24 AM PDT by sjersey
Just when you think you've seen it all, just when you're certain there are no more surprises, two guys roll into town, take over a main stage in Center City, and begin pulling their penises every which way. They turn their privates into wristwatches, windsurfers, turtles and the like.
They are the gentlemen of Puppetry of the Penis, which runs through Aug. 3. The show's a hoot.
The bizarre Australian import, popping up on main stages around the world, now has eight performing members. Two of them belong to Daniel Lewry and Lincoln Davies, the trim and fit duo who, amid a flurry of comic patter, are handling the Philadelphia version.
The novelty act has no real puppets, only penises and accompanying testicles and scrota, which the men contort into different items without benefit of strings or costumes (except socks, sneakers, one Aussie hat and an occasional cape), and mostly without props. It takes the audience - this thing has been playing to big houses - a few minutes to grasp the Australian accents and a few minutes more to warm to the idea, given that two guys stand before them in the altogether and display a talent rare and flexible. Helping to break the ice is the opening act, Claudia Sherman Smith, who has a little Don Rickles in her, and quickly conjures a party atmosphere.
Smith, who refers to herself as the evening's "fluffer," is a stand-up comedian. Lewry, 25, and Davies, 31, are not. This is one show where the actors must render flaccid performances, in order to turn themselves into different "installations," as the tricks are called. To anticipate a question that will arise, Lewry and Daniels are circumcised; this makes the Loch Ness monster look really scary when it stares right at you.
What I'm going to tell you may seem strange, or even ludicrous, but it's honest: Puppetry of the Penis is good, clean fun. (This will be a relief to some, an abject disappointment to others.) Lewry pulls off his installations with a look that says, "Hey, Mom, I can do this!" and Davies is a master at the clever but naughty smile.
Each seems like the nice guy down the block. When they arrange themselves into a hamburger sandwich or the Eiffel Tower or a chicken drumstick or a boomerang, Lewry and Davies are playing purely for laughs. But they're serious about the performance: the timing, the hit-or-miss delivery of one-liners, the way they move around the stage. Whatever they are, they are not erotic.
For those to the rear of the house, the installations are flashed large, onto a screen, which "does something for your confidence," Davies tells the men in the audience. On opening night, about two thirds of the crowd were women, many in festive groups.
Under all the laughs, there's a message for the men: Do try this at home. There's even a $20 instruction book with step-by-step diagrams. Guys, I can tell you first-hand, you don't need a book to do the Philly gag: the Liberty Bell. And it'll crack you up, just like the show.
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Industrial Strength Humor |
| No amateurs, please. Send FReepmail if you want on/off ISHP list |
|
Or, "What To Do When You're Absolutely Devoid of Talent"
Have they gone blind yet?
My mom beat my butt when she caught me trying Puppetry.
Natural humor...lol. I love it. I could do the "Turtle" routine, but I couldn't tie it into anything...
- I am not..
Yeah, Madonna's kootchie made her a fortune.
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