The thing’s the play

By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
January 22, 2003

Two men are on a small platform wearing nothing but flashy capes, sensible sneakers and big smiles. That they’re happy to see us has yet to be determined. But yes, they are nekkid and about as full frontal as you can get.

Australians Simon Morley, 36, and Daniel Lewry, 25, are two of the stars in “Puppetry of the Penis: The Ancient Australian Art of Genital Origami,” which will make its Chicago debut Feb. 18 at the New Lakeshore Theater. Their act has nothing to do with puppets, ancient Australian practices or the Japanese art of origami.

But they do create unusual spectacles with their penises that are supposed to resemble hamburgers, turtles and, inexplicably, the Eiffel Tower. Do their twisted genitalia actually look like these things? Possibly, but you have to have a really good imagination and be the type of person who sees pretty ponies when a shrink shows you those Rorschach inkblot tests.

At a news conference Tuesday morning at the Drake Hotel, the two performers explain their shtick–which involves more comedy and penile dexterity than triple-X bawdiness–to a room full of slightly embarrassed reporters. One grandmotherly journalist asks if all the touring members are circumcised. The answer would be no. Another wants to know what they need to have to do this type of show. Answer: A complete lack of shame.

Later, during an interview, both Morley and Lewry look quite trendy and demure covered up in jeans and T-shirts. Morley, a former comedy promoter, got his start in penile puppetry when he tried to out-do his youngest brother, who shaped a hamburger out of his penis. Sibling rivalry set in, and Morley went on to create enough genital configurations to make a calendar. Because the calendar didn’t have a built-in audience the way that, say, Anna Kournikova’s calendars do, he took his act on the road five years ago with the hopes of generating some income.

After debuting at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 1998, “Puppetry of the Penis” toured Australia for eight months before heading over to Europe, where it won rave reviews in 2000 at Edinburgh’s cutting-edge Fringe Festival. “Puppetry” made its U.S. debut in 2000, and it went on to run for more than a year Off-Broadway in New York. It also had limited-engagement runs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and will hit Portland, Ore., before landing in Chicago next month.

Dubbed a “non-sexual adult show,” “Puppetry of the Penis” definitely is an adults-only production.

“My mother isn’t quite so embarrassed with me now that pop culture has sort of recognized this as theater,” Morle says. “She had to put up with her friends joking and saying things like, ‘We saw your son the other day!’ She still hasn’t seen the show yet.”

Lewry’s mother attended a performance, but he made sure she sat in the back row so neither mother nor son would be too embarrassed.

Morality aside, the question arises as to whether “Puppetry of the Penis” actually is theater or just a bunch of overgrown boys playing with their peepees onstage. It’s your call.

But as Morley admits, “It’s safe to say that if women were onstage doing similar things to what we’re doing, men–myself included–would get turned on. That’s just how we’re wired. Female genitalia is gorgeous and designed to be worshipped.”

Laughing, he adds, “Ours are just silly, and we’re recognizing that with this show.”

“Puppetry of the Penis” will conduct local auditions to find new puppeteers. A Chicago audition date hasn’t been confirmed yet, but Morley admits that potential contestants should keep in mind that size does matter.

“The more clay a sculptor has to work with, the better,” he says.