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[The Kats Report]

‘Genital origami’ is headed for—where else?—the Erotic Heritage Museum

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Franchise players: Puppetry of the Penis‘ goal is to extend (sorry) the brand in the U.S.
James Penlidis

This show will fold. Guaranteed. It’s a real stretch, too.

What can be accurately stated less than a month before the stage show Puppetry of the Penis, billed as a celebration of “genital origami,” makes its debut in Las Vegas, is that this show is not a good fit for a hotel-casino showroom, theater or lounge. That concept was floated years ago by Australian producer Simon Morley and one of his partners in the show at the time, a fellow Aussie by the name of Ross Mollison. We would hear from Mollison later in Vegas, as the “Improssorio” and founder of Spiegelworld, which blasted into town with Absinthe at Caesars Palace four years ago.

Many hotel-casinos were contacted, on and off the Strip and Downtown, and the producers were quickly rejected once resort entertainment officials learned of the contact. “There are laws on the books that you cannot have live sex shows and you can’t have frontal nudity in these places, you can’t touch yourself and so forth,” Morley says. “The hotels couldn’t get caught up in risking our show, which is unfortunate, because the laws are not implemented to stop a show like ours. But they do. We’re just really happy to have found someone to support us.”

Or lend a hand, as it were.

Morley has a fitting home and stage at the Erotic Heritage Museum, managed by Déjà Vu strip club founder Harry Mohney. The show will be performed in the 160-capacity Jewel Box exhibit space, easily filling the room with the help of video screens and the bold personalities of co-stars Christopher J. Cannon and Rich Binning. Puppetry of the Penis has been performed to upwards of 2,000 people, and has had a successful run on London’s West End—more than a “dickade,” as promotional material trumpets—at the famed Redditch Palace Theatre.

“We have seen 16-foot-high penises,” Morley says. “It’s all part of the big picture.”

The show is as the title infers, a exercise in which the stars manipulate their genitalia into various familiar characters and even landmarks. These characters are called “installments,” and include the Eiffel Tower, Loch Ness Monster and one dubbed the Hamburger. Cannon and Binning are dusting off an old installment from even before the production launched 15 years ago, the One-Armed Bandit. Elvis will be depicted, too, in a little caped costume made of rhinestones and sequins.

This is where we say, it would not be the first time a prick has performed an Elvis impersonation in this city.

The long-term goal is to extend the Puppetry of the Penis brand in the U.S., develop a franchise with the Las Vegas production as its launching point. Blue Man Group is such a model, starting with a simple three-man act and building a production empire. The guys from Recycled Percussion, too, are training cast members to branch into a series of production shows, with the home office in Vegas.

Still, challenges are inherent in such a unique production, even one as inventive as Puppetry of the Penis. Many of those who have been in the audience for the show on the West End or in New York have said it is indeed hilarious—for about 15 minutes. It feels a bit like an act at the old Freaks production show at O’Sheas back in 2009, a series of oddball (and typically, gross) circus side shows that ended just as the audience became either bored or queasy.

And the ticket price of the show is $49. Alert Las Vegans can find a two-for-one deal at a Cirque show for that cost. Shows such as the hilarious Zombie Burlesque production at V Theater at Miracle Mile Shops are in that range, at $65 per ticket. Pin Up at the Stratosphere, starring 2011 Playboy Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair, starts at $56 per ticket.

“We will be doing deals for locals, and we wanted to make it one of the cheapest shows in Las Vegas and make it an exceptional deal for locals,” Morley says. “But because we have such a small capacity, we will have a good demand for tickets. But we want to target the locals audience, especially in the first six months.”

Morley hardly sounds concerned about the reception his show will receive in Vegas. “We are always looking for new installments to keep the show fresh,” he said. “I am looking at some of these buildings, these hotel-casinos, and many of them look very phallic to me.”

Sounds like it’s time for rehearsals.

Puppetry of the Penis Begins April 14; Tuesday-Sunday, 8 p.m., $49. Erotic Heritage Museum, 800-595-4849.

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