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UNDULATING UNMENTIONABLES
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by Unknown Author
November 5 - 11, 2009 |
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It takes a special kind of chutzpah, not to say cojones, to make a career doing magic tricks in the nude for strangers the world over, but that’s exactly what Simon Morley and Dave Friend have done. By twisting, stretching and contorting their intimate anatomy into quite recognizable shapes, such as a hamburger, or the Eiffel tower, they have entertained millions. They call it genital origami.
Strange to say, the two men were both earning cash by their private–part creativity before they banded together in their hometown of Melbourne, Australia, to create the worldwide phenomenon called Puppetry of the Penis. Friend had a thriving business as a party entertainer, and Morely had produced an art calendar of 12 different installations, or “dick tricks”, to use their term.
From there they went on to tour their country and the world, and their story is a classic example of what can happen when two industrious and determined people with a unique talent set out to make a living. They and their show are to Australia what Guy Laliberte and Cirque du Soleil are to Quebec, but the acrobatics are waaay more intimate. Hairier, too.
After touring their own nation in a Volkswagen van to sold–out audiences and prestigious awards, they went international and performed a sold–out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festical. Sorry, festival. After that they took London’s West End by storm, toured Canada, including a feature guest spot at the Just for Laughs Festival, before a two–year run on Broadway.
Having attained notoriety the world over, the pair became penis impresarios by hiring new talent to expand the franchise. Chris Cannon and Rich Binning are the North American team. College buddies from Pittsburgh’s Point Park University, they honed their performance skills earning BFAs in Musical Theatre.
“Chris had seen the show years ago, and bought the book,” said Binning. “We learned how to do a few of the tricks for parties, and we became kind of known around school for it. We never imagined it would become our career. It’s an unexpected dream come true.”
Most men would probably rather die than display their gifts to an audience of strangers, much less try to invoke laughter by so doing, and you might expect the job to be a challenging one in that regard.
“The only time we were really nervous was our first show. We’d only done it for friends before, not for strangers, but now it’s really nothing. It’s like doing anything. After the first show we did the audience loved us, and that gave us the confidence to go out and do it every night.”
You might also wonder if such a sensitive part of the anatomy might not respond well to some of the treatment required to make shapes like “the wind sail” or “the Atomic Mushroom”. Doesn’t it hurt?
“It kind of looks like it would, but as a guy, I know my body, and if there’s any pain or discomfort at all, I just stop. I explain it to women by saying it’s sort of like pulling on your elbow skin and twisting it.”
Morley and Friend were such pioneers in the art of genital origami, it must have been daunting to take on the parts they had made so famous.
“Simon and Friendy are really really funny guys who wrote the show around themselves. It took a while to make it ours. We do a sombrero and a cowboy hat, and Yoda is new to the show, plus we have some works in progress yet to be unveiled.”
That women have The Vagina Monologues and men have Puppetry of the Penis says something about the battle of the sexes. Women are busy building community and articulating gender identity and working towards a world free of inequality for future generations. Men are playing with themselves. At least now we’re doing it publicly. Huzzah for the sexual revolution!
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