ENTERTAINMENT
MONEY FOR SONGS
culture TALKING COCKS
Simon Morley is a self-made man. Literally. Twenty years ago, Simon decided to live the dream and get paid to play with his penis. And be asked to tour the world. And have women come to pay and watch. And laugh. A lot. ‘Women just get it,’ says Simon of Puppetry of the Penis – the world famous theatre show where two men make strange objects with their genitalia. ‘For me that’s the wonderful thing about doing the show. We stand there and get the hilarity of how they react to the show. You literally see them slipping out of their chairs.’ Morley made secret men’s business not so secret. ‘It’s about putting male genitalia in its flaccid form on a screen three storeys high and just having a laugh. Women love it because if they did it at home they’d crush their partner’s ego. Here, it’s all about having a laugh. I think its very healthy!’ ‘Men have a lot of hang ups – serious ones – about their cocks. The amount of times you walk into the toilet and you see someone who is a bit hung up and you want to give them a cuddle and say, mate, what’s wrong with your cock?’ The secret of the show’s success is that there is absolutely NO sexual innuendo. Apart from the actual penis, the show is squeaky clean! Puppetry of the Penis were really ahead of their time. ‘We were doing them way before they were a thing,’ laughs Morley, who admits that the show was created so that he could sell the calendars he had made. ‘I met Friendy (the other co-creator) at the Rails in Byron three years before we ever had an idea for the show. I wanted to sell calendars. I thought my brother Justin would join in. My first three shows sold out, and Justin got a job on Neighbours, so Friendy called up and said ‘Who are you doing the show with?’ I said, ‘What are you doing Thursday?’ And that’s how they started, taking the Tackle Happy tour from pup to pub in a Kombi van. Next minute, they’re performing in the West End of London, with their penis projection the size of a small building! This time Morley takes to the stage in clothes. ‘It took me a while to get comfortable being on stage totally clothed. My show Naked Ambition, which I just performed in Edinburgh, is kind of a comedy TED talk with a lot of cock in it’. It’s the show that tells the story, with all the funny mishaps and adventures along the way. Of course Simon will do a few tricks. There’s no way he’ll resist the thrill of showing a few of his fave moves! Simon performs Naked Ambition at the Byron Services Club on Monday 25 March and Tuesday 26 March at 8pm. Both shows $25 at 8pm, tix online at mandynolan.com.au or at the door.
www.echo.net.au/byron-echo Byron Shire Echo archives
Entrants in this year’s Lismore Young Songwriters Competition are in the running for more than $11,500 worth of prizes. The free songwriting competition is upping the ante this year to encourage young musicians and help them fire up their musical careers, according to organiser and Social Futures’ Manager of Child and Family Programs, Deb Hall. The two top prizes are valued at almost $4,000 each and include professionally mastered track recordings courtesy of Rockinghorse Studios and SAE Byron Bay, double passes to Splendour in the Grass, and RØDE Microphone Professional Performers Kits. Five runners up also receive prizes including RØDE performance microphones and paid gigs at Crankfest. All finalists will have access to APRA AMCOS Songwriting Masterclasses throughout the year thanks to Southern Cross University. This is open to young songwriters in the Northern Rivers and the comp closes at midnight on 25 March 2019. For information on how to enter, go to socialfutures.org.au/youngsongwriters.
JUST SAY NJOH Njoh brings his fabulous new body of work to Ninbella this week. This arresting array of paintings, rich in colour and textured gloss, take us to the wonders of the natural world from the outback to seafaring and beyond. He says: ‘I began painting as a child, encouraged by my mother who was an artist, and so my crib was filled with crayons, pencils and whatever was at hand... this early encouragement and inspiration ignited my creativity which has never left me. For me, creativity is my life blood which dictates the way in which I approach life. I was sent to art school from the early age of 12, and I must say the live drawing classes were an everlasting experience! I admire the art of children, as their art is so pure and unadulterated. ‘My art is a reflection of both my imagination and emotion, influenced by feelings experienced by the environment in which I find myself. I don’t paint what I see, but what I feel. ‘My life’s journey has been extremely diverse, having spent time on multiple journeys into the Australian desert, New Mexico, high alpine regions of the world and the ocean. In summary, the extremes of nature. I lived on a farm for 25 years which provided me with insights into the changing seasons and landscape, which fuelled my love of nature. When I approach a blank canvas, I usually have a seed of a notion, but without exception the work evolves, allowing the mediums I work with to shape the image, which changes continually until such time I can stand back and allow a smile to expand. My work is largely humorous, often containing a subtle social message. Hopefully my work triggers an emotional reaction to the viewer, whatever that may be.” Njoh’s On the Edge exhibition opens at Ninbella in Bangalow on Friday with an artist’s talk and Q&A at 5.30pm, and runs through to 31 March.
BALLINA PLAYERS ‘IT COULD BE ANY ONE OF US’ Have you ever struggled with writer’s block? Ever started 34 detective books without finishing one? That is the predicament that Jocelyn Polegate (Julieanne Basham) finds herself in, in Ballina Players’ latest production It Could Be Any One of Us. In a remote country house lives the Chalke family, a family of unsuccessful artists. The family deals with the announcement from the eldest brother Mortimer (Carl Moore) that he intends to bequeath all the family property to his former piano student, Wendy (Mechelle Anderson). When Wendy declares her intention of using the house and property as a breeding site for King Charles spaniels, tempers do not improve with the Chalke family, sister Jocelyn, brother Brinton (Peter Harding) and Jocelyn’s daughter Amy (Hillary Goodsell). So when a murder is committed at the height of a thunderstorm, no one is really surprised. Enter Norris Honeywell (Mick Webb), a former insurance investigator, who makes Inspector Clouseau look like Sherlock Holmes. Norris wants to emulate Martin Stonegate, the detective in Jocelyn’s unfinished novels, so when the murder falls in his lap, he grabs it with both hands. But all he manages to do by meddling is lead the family even further into trouble. It Could Be Any One Of Us runs from Friday 22nd March through to Sunday 31st March. Tickets at ballinaplayers.com.au/bookings (which will charge no booking fee) or at Just Funkin Music in 124 River St, Ballina. ($2 per ticket booking fee) in person or by phoning 02 6686 2440.Opening night special will include canapes and a free drink from 7.15pm.
CONTINUED P42
toni childs in concert
a retrospective lismore city hall theatre
april 3rd lismorecityhall.com.au tickets now on sale
boxoffice:1300 066 772
March 13, 2019 The Byron Shire Echo 41