If your joke repertoire includes more references to penises and priests than puppies and Pollocks, head straight to the Buntport Theater for tonight's premiere performance of Kinky Comedy, a show by the Sick, Twisted & Wrong Comedy Troupe that's based on America's favorite taboo subject: sex. "All of the scenes basically spoof on sex -- from phone sex to cyber sex to oral sex," says Winnie Wenglewick, the show's writer, director and producer. "Anything that can go wrong during sex, we pick on. All sexual orientations are equally abused."
The sixty-minute performance includes vignettes such as "No Wood," the story of a disheartened porn star who can no longer get it up. "I can guarantee that out of all the theater companies in Denver, we have the largest prop box full of dildos," says Wenglewick, laughing. "It's so fun to go to Fascinations and be able to write it off as a business expense."
Although Kinky Comedy doesn't involve any nudity, it does flaunt a fair amount of sassy underwear. "This is not for the prudish, or people who might be easily offended," says Wenglewick, who's also one of the actors in the five-member troupe. "And it is definitely not for children."
Kinky Comedy will play at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights now through August 2 at the Buntport, 717 Lipan Street. Tickets are $15, with a $3 discount for students and those who make reservations via e-mail at dangeroustheatre@ hotmail.com. For phone reservations, call 720-233-4703.
And if Kinky Comedy gets you hot to see more, stick around for the Dangerous Theatre Productions' presentation of To Hell in a Hand Basket, two original one-act interpretations of what really goes on up in heaven.
"In 'The Cell,' imagine waking up in a jail that is actually a holding cell in heaven," explains Wenglewick. "It seems that you died unexpectedly, and heaven's computer has crashed, and they can't figure out where you belong."
To Hell in a Hand Basket plays at 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights through August 2. Tickets are $9, with a $2 discount for students and advance reservations.
"They're both really fun shows," says Wenglewick. "And they're only meant to be entertaining, not offensive. We're all out there to have a good time." Consider yourself warned. -- Julie Dunn
Bringing the homeland to life
Mohammed Albow, a member of the University of Denver's Arab Student Association, is at a loss to explain traditional Palestinian dance in terms of everyday American culture. But tonight's performance, by twenty Palestinian teenagers from the Dheisheh refugee camp, should speak for itself -- delivering the message that cross-cultural knowledge and understanding are both possible and necessary. The young dancers are members of a group called Ibdaa, which means "to create something out of nothing" in Arabic. And Ibdaa, whose most visible portion is the dance troupe, aims to create an enriching, supportive atmosphere for the children of Dheisheh refugees. Because the Dheisheh camp was established when Palestinians were forced to leave what is now Israel, children living there have never seen the villages that their parents or grandparents called home. Although the 11,000 refugees living in the camp today still dream of going back, Albow says, "their actual homes are in the land of 1948."
So Ibdaa's performers use traditional dances to re-create their homeland, bringing Palestinian culture to life. The performance starts at 7:30 p.m. at DU's Lamont School of Music, 2344 East Iliff Avenue; tickets are $10, available at the door or in advance at Jerusalem Restaurant (1890 East Evans Avenue) and Pita Jungle (2017 South University Boulevard). -- Jonelle Wilkinson Seitz
Plots and Pans
SUN, 7/20
For more than a decade, Don Prorak -- a music educator at Brighton Heritage Academy and Colorado State University -- has been engrossed in his favorite subject: ³pan²-style steel-drum music, which originated on the tiny Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Although island natives regard the music as their most famous national export, the genre was virtually unknown in Colorado until 1991, when Prorak gathered a group of musicians -- including fellow educators, music-school owners and a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra -- and launched the Pan Jumbies. Today the group is the state's only steel-drum ensemble, and its live performances stretch across a sunny range of sounds, from calypso and reggae to blues and even classic rock. Don't be surprised if Prorak serves up some Led Zeppelin tunes. At 6:30 p.m., the Jumbies will introduce their second full-length recording, Jam It With You, at a special CD-release concert at Hudson Gardens, 6115 South Santa Fe Drive in Littleton. Admission is $4 to $6, and the scenery is free. Enjoy the Gardens' lovely ponds and fountains while listening to the metallic ping-pinging of the pan drums. With a setting like this, who needs the Caribbean? For more information, visit www.hudsongardens.org. -- Laura Bond
Who wants to see queen for a day?
SUN, 7/20
The play Lili'oukalani focuses on an almost-forgotten episode of the Western world's imperialistic march to -- and through -- the sea: the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. To prevent a bloody fight in 1893, Queen Lili'uokalani of the Hawaiian Kingdom peacefully ceded temporary power to the "provisional government" imposed by Americans with an interest in the Hawaiian Islands' sugar industry; in 1895, she was forced to officially abdicate the throne. The United States government formally apologized for its actions in 1993. Miriam Paisner and adult students from her Hula School of the Western Mountains will bring that era back to life, performing dances and chants as interludes during a dramatic reading of Aldyth Morris's play. Paisner, whose students know her as Pumehana ("warmth," in the Hawaiian language), describes the event as "a political statement as well as a docudrama as well as dance and song -- pure entertainment."
Lili'uokalani will be performed twice today at the Chautauqua Community House, 900 Baseline Road in Boulder. Tickets for the 2:30 p.m. show are $8 for adults, and $5 for children and seniors; tickets for the 7 p.m. show are $10 and $7. For more information, call 303-440-7666. -- Jonelle Wilkinson Seitz
