Puppetry of the Penis: The Ancient Art of Genital Origami is a novelty stage presentation created by Simon Morley, an Australian with more than too much time on his hands.

Morley began his presentation as a contest with his younger brother to see who could do the toughest "dick tricks". In 1996, he began selling calendars with photographs of himself in action. A number of requests were made for live demonstrations of these feats of um, flexibility, so Morley looked for a partner. Somehow, a kindred soul was found in Mr. David 'Friendy' Friend, a recently released university student in Melbourne.

The two's first public performance was at the 1998 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, which commenced an 8-month Australian tour. This tour was followed by engagments in Sydney, Melbourne, Edinburgh, and a 5 month stay in London's West End. The duo have also made their way through North America, and they are planning on creating local POTP crews à la Stomp or Blue Man Group. You can audition at their web site.

They have released two videos: Tackle Happy, a documentary of their very first tour; and Live at the Forum, a one-hour live performance DVD with multiple angles and other extras.

Their tricks look quite disturbing, but many of them can be deciphered for personal use without too much trouble. A few of the presumably easy ones follow.

• The Woman - Tuck everything between your legs.
• The Hamburger - This is the original dick trick (yikes) taught to Morley by his brother. On the Live at the Forum DVD the boys actually explain this one.
  *ahem* Take your two testicles and separate them. Then take your penis and tuck it around your scrotum. Now turn the whole mess sideways and hold it like a hamburger. Looks tasty, doesn't it?
• The Brain - Grab your scrotum in your fist so that your testicles both hang out one side. Shove them in someone's face.
• The Eiffel Tower - You have to be uncut for this one. well, maybe not, but I'm not testing it out. graceness tells me that you can do this cut. Pinch your foreskin between each pair of thumb and forefinger and yank straight down as far as you can.

Some of the more complicated ones (The Other Woman, The Snail, The Hairy-backed Turtle, and the Dick that Fell Off) are in the process of being purged from my memory. Please do not think about them.

Puppetry of the Penis's website is http://www.puppetryofthepenis.com. You can find informations about auditions and tour dates there, along with assorted pictures.

Holy cow! More pictures at http://www.daimi.au.dk/~clemen/puffisse/penis/! Don't look at those with anyone with a weak stomach nearby!