Stroke of Genius: Pantomime Masturbation Throughout Performing Arts History -
Boiled Horse Productions
This professor takes "jackin' around" very seriously! Deadpan intellectual social satire meets silly Monty Python buffoonery in this polished multimedia comedy lecture. "Course materials" @ www.BoiledHorse.com.
[Editor’s note: Link totally safe for work. Don’t worry. You’re not clicking through to pictures of a dildo collection or anything]
Venue: Strike Theater
Tagged For: Clowning, Comedy, Solo Show, Audience Participation, Historical Content, LGBTQIA+ Content
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Sexual Content
Ages 18 and up
I know. I know.
But here’s a weird coincidence I only just noticed in prepping for this post.
The actor in the silent movie portions of the show and video trailer is Vulva Va-Voom,
who has their own solo show at this very same Fringe across town at Mixed Blood, TransMasculine Cabaret, which I wrote about over three weeks ago, as #11 on my Top 20 list this year. And now, by the sheer randomness with which I’ve constructed this list, two shows featuring Vulva Va-Voom’s are right next to each other on the list in slots 10 and 11. Didn’t plan it that way, it’s just how it shook out.
Oh… sorry.
So many entendres one can trip over here.
I’ll let the show’s website do the talking, it’s safer:
“The award-winning comic multimedia “lecture” is fresh from its off-Broadway run! “Stroke” strikes an unfailingly straight-faced Monty Pythonesque balance between sharply intelligent humanities references, edgy satire of respected institutions, and– most importantly– hundreds of rapid-fire sex jokes. The world’s most eccentric academic is eager to show you his obsessively polished deck (slide “deck” with an “e”).
From the “COURSE DESCRIPTION”:
“Dr. Walter Winkworth-Pérez’s career is devoted to the preservation of a highly specialized performing arts discipline. His extensive research into sexual clowning techniques has made him the foremost expert on conventions that date back to ancient Greece.
“Attendees will learn to appreciate regional styles of Pantomimed Masturbation, complete with historical context. Following last semester's workshop, "All in the Wrist: Vaudeville Jackin’ Practicum," this syllabus provides in-depth analysis of the genius who immortalized theatrical skills on the 1920s silver screen: the legendary Spankin' Shyster.”
Last week they're at the KC Fringe Festival, this week, they’re here.
Winner of “Best Dick Joke” in 2023 from Best of the Bay Staff, and Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
Orlando Weekly got in on the fun by calling it "Intellectually stimulating [...] [A]n inspiring story about stiffening your resolve to pursue your solitary passion…”
The bio for Shane Mayforth, Writer and Dr. Walter Winkworth-Pérez, says he once provided “the voice of a puppet haunted by Jimmy Stewart.”
The bio for Vulva Va-Voom, Head Writer and Ira K. Goldsmith (The Spankin' Shyster), says the core theme of their work is that “High-brow culture and low-brow humor need never be contradictory.” Their work loosely falls under the category “Theatrical NeoVaudeville,” and is best summarized by the taglines, “It’s like Carol Burnett violating Oscar Wilde with a rolled-up New Yorker,” or “Picture Frasier and Niles Crane, but they’re drunken, singing, dancing strippers.”
All of this is also a recommendation (or a warning) for their show TransMasculine Cabaret.
I know on some level I’m expected to resist this show, but I can’t, it’s too craftily put together and presented. On the list it goes…
Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.
While I have your attention, please VOTE :)
Minnesota is currently in the early voting period
for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate,
Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to
vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait
until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)
Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th.
We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your
vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and
gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.
As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.
Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.
For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.
Vote. Raise your voice. We're not going back.
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