{image1}They say that you can take the man out of the country but you can NEVER take the boy out of the man. Perhaps there is a scintilla of truth in this observation, particularly when speaking of physical humor. The male genitals are cause for hilarity when calligraphically employed in the release of urine atop snow banks. As the young male matures, however, he may experience a bit of embarrassment long about 7th or 8th grade when thing start to change in the most awkward of situations, namely in female company.
All this understanding of where the "boy" comes from brings us to the very old skill of Genital Origami, being presented nightly at the Miramar Theatre. There, to assure authenticity, diligent research has gone all the way back in time to the last decade of the 20th century and has resulted in "Puppetry of the Penis."
A pre-exposure announcement is made, "This is not 'Pinocchio'!" for those patrons (where females seem to outnumber males by three- or four-to-one) who may have misinterpreted and placed greater emphasis on the term "puppetry" rather than on "penis." Denial is made that "Puppetry of the Penis" is in any way an envious -- and boisterous -- rejoinder to "The Vagina Monologues."
The 90-minute performance opens with a 30-minute warm-up by comedienne Patti Vasquez. Her scatological repertoire incorporates humor involving mammary glands, genitalia, pregnancy, gynecology, birth of a 3-year-old son, vomiting and flatulence.
Then the two male performers appear -- no seat is a disadvantaged one owing to big-screen projections of their ... fine art. Daniel Speed is an authentic Aussie (where the craft of Genital Origami originated) and Jeff Benjamin hails from our own Seattle and is the first American to participate in this Australian-originated exhibition.
The overall intent is to make the penis appear friendly and non-threatening. Perhaps in deference to the large female following, the nude men begin with reproducing the appearance of The Woman followed by The Other Woman.
From there they proceed to reproducing the brain, the eye, the atomic bomb, the Muppet's Big Bird, the wrist watch, the Loch Ness monster, the hot dog -- well, I'm sure you get the idea of the "origami" nature of the show. It requires greater stretching of the skin by the performers than of the audience's imagination.
When one considers that the all-nude revue, "Oh, Calcutta!" hit the Broadway stage about 35 years ago, then Milwaukee might seem just a tad behind the times to have its first all-nude show. Neither salacious nor erotic, "Puppetry of the Penis" might be assessed as just plain dumb. But, then, boys will be boys!
Call (414) 276-4545 for tickets. "Puppetry" runs through Sunday, April 25, but may be extended.
