Puppetry of the … what?
If you consider yourself prudish or body-shy, get over your fears by hanging loose at the Puppetry of the Penis in SA this Spring: For over a decade the Cape Town International Comedy Festival has put the Mother City on the world entertainment map with Africa’s largest and funniest comedy festival. This year the Comedy Festival’s Danger Zone will make sure you never look at male genitalia in the same way again, when it presents the global comedy hit Puppetry of the Pen!s.
Despite its provocative title, the below-the-belt show is neither rude nor lewd , however it is – by necessity – performed in the nude. The ingenuity, resourcefulness and dexterity of the show’s creators, Simon Morley and David “Friendy” Friend has had audiences gasping with laugher since its extraordinarily successful debut at the 1998 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. With a stretch of the imagination and some other bits, they manipulate their genitals into various “installations”: get an eye-full of the Eiffel Tower, marvel at the slow-emerging molusc and be reasonably repulsed by the hamburger. A camera and a large screen mean that even those at the back of the theatre peeking through their fingers absorb every detail.
After being a runaway hit at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and voted “Outright Best Show”, it ended up touring Australia for eight months. The show was then unleashed at the 2000 Edinburgh International Fringe Festival where West End producer David Johnson realized the potential of the sell-out show and the world was no longer safe from the Art of Genital Origami!
Since its West End debut in 2001, the show’s popularity and subsequent growing international demand has meant that the duo has been exposing themselves to a wider, global audience. Puppetry of the Pen!s is one of the most successful, confronting and bizarre theatrical experiences of our time with up to 8 companies running at one time. It has been presented in 7 different languages in over 20 countries.
South Africans will join the legions of POTP fans that include celebrities Naomi Campbell, Elton John, Bono, The Beckhams and Hugh Grant, whose member has also enjoyed the spotlight for illicit puppetry of its own!
This time around the show will be hosted by one of the UK’s hottest female comedians, Ninia Benjamin. Dubbed “The Comedy Assassin” by the British media, Ninia Benjamin is well-known to many South Africans as one of the hilarious 3 Non-Blondes on BBC Prime.
POTP will continue their tour of South Africa after performing at the Cape Town Comedy Festival to include showing Johannesburg audience members, theirs.
Puppetry of the Penis Tour dates for South Africa:
Cape Town:
Tuesday, 9 Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Wednesday, 10 Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Thursday, 11 Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Friday, 12 Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Saturday, 13Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 18H00 & 21H00
Sunday, 14 Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 18H00
Tuesday, 16Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Wednesday, 17 Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Thursday, 18 Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Friday, 19 Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Saturday, 20 Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 18H00 & 21H00
Sunday, 21 Sep 2008 Baxter Theatre 18H00
Monday, Sep 22 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Tuesday, Sep 23 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Wednesday, Sep 24 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Thursday, Sep 25 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Friday, Sep 26 2008 Baxter Theatre 20H15
Saturday, Sep 27 2008 Baxter Theatre 18H00 & 21H00
Sunday, Sep 28 2008 Baxter Theatre 18H00
Johannesburg:
Tuesday, 30 Sep 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Wednesday, 1 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Thursday, 2 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Friday, 3 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 21H00
Saturday, 4 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 18H00 & 21H00
Sunday, 5 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 18H00
Tuesday, 7 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Wednesday, 8 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Thursday, 9 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Friday, 10 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Saturday, 11 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 18H00 & 21H00
Tuesday, 14 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Wednesday, 15 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Thursday, 16 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Friday, 17 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 20H00
Saturday, 18 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 18H00 & 21H00
Sunday, 19 Oct 2008 University of Johannesburg Arts Centre 18H00
Tickets available at Computicket (www.computicket.co.za)
Ticket price: R120 – R200
Age Restriction: No under 18’s.
