SHOWTIMES
The Jewel Box inside the Erotic Heritage Museum
Las Vegas, NV
LINKS
Puppetry of the Penis – Private Parties: The ancient art of genital origami now showing in North America and London. Click the above link to go to the country of your choice.
POTP On YouTube: Learn about the show and hear what the Americian’s have to say about it.
POTP On Facebook: Become our friend on Facebook!
POTP On Twitter: Follow us on Twitter!
http://www.puppetryofthepenis.com
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As of today most of the Western World has played host to PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS including Australia, UK, USA, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Iceland, Norway, Spain, France, Denmark, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Switzerland, and it has been performed in climates ranging from 45º to -35º.
Puppetry of the Penis was born when Simon Morley teamed up with fellow puppeteer David “Friendy” Friend. Their first show at the 1998 Melbourne International Comedy Festival was received as the “Outright Best Show”.
The name Puppetry of the Penis was originally conceived by Simon, as the title of a highbrow art calendar. Released in 1997, the calendar showcased twelve of Simon’s favourite penis installations (known as “Dick Tricks”). Years before, Simon’s youngest brother, Justin, had shown him his first installation – ‘The Hamburger’. Natural sibling rivalry resulted in the evolution of a grand repertoire of genital gesticulations. After working for many years as a comedy promoter working some of Australia’s funniest people, Simon finally felt he had something just as funny lingering in his pants.
Friendy had been performing his own repertoire of installations, keeping himself busy for most of the year having created a solid business at Batchelorette/Hen’s night’s and private parties. Friendy had begun his Dick Trick career as a young boy, in the bath, and developed his skills further when he discovered beer in college. After completing his degree in Computing, he returned to Melbourne with his own highly individual collection of hanging art.
It was on New Year’s Eve in 1997, with a garage full of calendars to sell and burgeoning requests for live demonstrations that prompted Simon to team up with Friendy and unleash their talents on the world. Together, Simon and Friendy’s solo “acts” became Puppetry of the Penis, and a global phenomenon was born.
Their debut at the 1998 Melbourne International Comedy Festival was a huge hit, kicking off an eight-month tour of Australia. The national tour covered 20,000 kilometres and was been captured in the documentary “Tackle Happy”.
Subsequent sell-out runs in Sydney and Melbourne encouraged the boys to take their wares to the 2000 Edinburgh International Fringe Festival, where they were humbled by yet another sell-out run. When a West End producer realized the potential of the show (after attending a performance where the woman sitting next to him wet her pants laughing), the world was no longer safe from the Art of Genital Origami! Contracts were signed and mops were brought out, and a deal was made on the spot: PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS was on its way to London’s West End.
Initially booked for a five-week run at London’s Whitehall Theatre, the overwhelming response led to numerous extensions. The show finally closed after an astonishing five-month run. Simon and Friendy became the darlings of the West End, delighting London’s A-list including Hugh Grant, Naomi Campbell, Elton John, Bono and The Beckhams.
In September 2001, on the heels of a smash hit run in Toronto, conquering the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal as it’s featured guest, and a successful tour of Canada, PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS opened in New York at the John Houseman Theatre, where it played for nearly 2 years. By 2002 a second and third American company opened at LA’s Coronet Theatre and San Francisco’s Theatre on the Square. These two productions plus the international companies highlighted 2002 as being the phenomenal year when eight companies started playing simultaneously worldwide. The year was capped off by a memorable appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, which was one of the highest rating shows of the year.
The PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS juggernaut continued to gain momentum, with Simon & Friendy parting ways (temporarily) in 2003 & 2004 to focus on conquering both the USA & Europe simultaneously. During this period PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS was translated into Spanish (European & Mexican) and French (Canadian & European)!
2004 also saw Friendy & Simon reunited for a second West End Season, this time at The Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. After five years touring the world and successes from The West End to Broadway, it was time for the boys to come home & hang up their capes. In 2005 they launched their ‘So Long’ tour and prepared to say goodbye. Little did they realize that Australia had not finished with them yet and they subsequently toured Australia extensively throughout 2006 and 2007 doing the ‘Res-erection’ tour. 2008 continued to expand the reach of PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS, with the first visit to the continent of Africa.
New teams are now running throughout the UK, Europe, North America, and throughout the Pacific. After more than a ‘dickade’, the world continues to embrace the Art Of Genital Origami!
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