Puppetry of the Penis Swings into Town
by Steve Desroches
Imagine walking out on to a stage completely naked and having everyone in the audience point and laugh at you, and that constitutes a successful show! Such is the case with Puppetry of the Penis, a show new to Provincetown at the Art House featuring two men using their genitalia as comedic devices in this hilarious comedy stage show starring Robert Ryan and Shane Shishov. There are no actual puppets and no strings attached, just two naked men and their penises engaging in “genital origami” and good, old-fashioned “dick tricks.” It’s not a strip show nor is it erotic in nature. It is rather the brilliant theatrical presentation of centuries of penis jokes told by actual penises and the men attached to them, breaking convention in a town widely known for tucks instead of letting it all hang out.
“The most common question we get is ‘does it hurt?’,” says Shishov.
The answer is no. None of the tricks done on stage are dangerous and the only occupational challenge is if the theater is too cold. Otherwise, the feats of penile daring have their roots in high school locker rooms, fraternity parties, and the like as men have been playing with their penises for comedic effect for time in memoriam…and especially since that one scene in Silence of the Lambs. The show Puppetry of the Penis has its roots in Australia where Simon Morley and his younger brother would try to outdo each other with genital configurations in their Melbourne home. Later, Morley created a calendar featuring 12 different tricks down under. With a need to sell the calendars and the prodding of friends to present what was featured within at parties, he invited his mate David Friend to form a dynamic duo stage show called Puppetry of the Penis, first performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 1998 where it won “Outright Best Show.”
The show was a mega hit at the festival and led to an eight-month tour of Australia. One might assume that this show and the subsequent popularity was fueled by gay men, but alas, these were two straight men and their audiences were also largely straight, with bachelorette parties (or “hen parties” in Australia), fueling their notoriety in a cultural flip. Soon, the show brought in a diverse audience of all ages, sexualities, and genders. After their first trip abroad to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2000, where it was the talk of the town, Puppetry of the Penis has had productions in 35 countries in five different languages—at least the dialogue, as the penile acrobatics are really a universal manner of speech. Come 2015 the show landed in Las Vegas, where it’s still running, and where Provincetown regulars playwright and actor Jamie Morris and Christopher Kenney, perhaps better known by his drag persona Edie, became associated with the show. The creative couple brought Puppetry of the Penis to Provincetown, bringing more than just the tip to the Cape tip. So just who is this show for?
“Anyone who is ready to laugh,” says Ryan. “People who don’t take life too seriously will love this show. And actually people who do take life too seriously may need this show.”
The show features Ryan and Shishov performing 40 different “installations” with names like “The Pelican,” “The Windsurfer,” “The Eiffel Tower,” “The Loch Ness Monster,” and the signature creation, “The Hamburger.” Since opening night here in Provincetown they’ve attracted a wide array of folks, all of whom end up laughing hysterically at not just the nudity and the penile theatrics, but also the dialogue, which is full of puns, double entendres, and outright dick jokes. And to date everyone in the audience has been respectful with no one attempting to touch the performers and only a few breaking the no photography rule, too impatient to wait for the one trick that is photo approved.
Silly and slappy, Puppetry of the Penis is a cut, or uncut, above the rest with its ability to disarm and then charm with vaudeville-like showmanship and the naughty-but-nice of other nude revues like Naked Boys Singing or Oh! Calcutta! And it also helps to battle puritanical thoughts that nudity in and of itself is always sexual, erotic, or even dirty, rather than natural, beautiful, and at times funny in the right context. The Pilgrims may have landed here in 1620, but hopefully hang ups about nudity went with them across Cape Cod Bay.And it seems that’s the case as at one point in the show members of the audience with a member are invited to go onstage and learn a trick in front of a room full of strangers.
“We’re always surprised by how many men are willing to come up on stage and pull their pants down,” says Shishov.
“But we’ve never had as many as we do in Provincetown,” says Ryan. “Yeah, here, we have lots and lots of volunteers.”
Puppetry of the Penis is at the Art House, 214 Commercial St., Provincetown, Wednesday through Saturday, now through September 13 at 10 p.m. Tickets ($35/$45/$55) are available at the box office and online at rainboweg.com. The show is for ages 21 and up. For more information call 404.664.1736.
