So, what is a crapshoot, exactly?  Basically it’s something risky — something that depends more on luck than on skill … something that has an unpredictable outcome.  But the secret to the success of Rising Sun Production’s monthly show Crapshoot! is that while a lot of it is wildly unpredictable, it’s sitting on the shoulders of talented folks who have a solid improv foundation and are pretty much ready to handle whatever gets thrown at them.  More luck than skill?  I’d say there’s skill aplenty here, and it comes zooming at you at 90mph in this variety show.  The result is a boisterous, crazy, sometimes chaotic but always hilarious night of pure enjoyment that offers up nothing but silliness, fun and entertainment.

The format for Crapshoot! is simple – and they stick to it. Part improv (well, more than part) part talk show, part audience participation, part balls-to-the-wall hilarity … these folks will do anything to give the audience a good time and I left with my sides hurting from laughter.  Just be warned if you answer their sweet-faced “Do you want to play a game?” with “Yes” then your name is going into the pool of volunteers who will be called up to the stage.  While it’s all in good fun, if you don’t want to play, make sure you don’t submit your name card.  If you do wanna play however … be ready for anything.

Each show is different but I can assume the basic premise will be the same. On my night host Mia Y. Anderson had the audience in the palm of her hand as she immediately warmed us up with material that was both prepared ahead of time as well as tossed off on the spot. As a full-fledged bisexual she had full license to flirt with any and all who caught her eye, and she did so with a naughty wink that never went too far.

There was just enough variety – served up in short segments – to keep the movement going: a talk-show format, some interviews with “Nurse Betty” where questions were taken from the audience, a game show (cue giant puffy dice) that was so hilarious I couldn’t catch my breath. The audience is encouraged to liquor up beforehand (and during!) so the looser the crowd the better the show.

Intersperesed between all the games, fake commercial breaks, and white fly girl dancing, there is some out-of-the box improv done on the spot to real life postcards and love letters – supplied by the audience.  (“BRING YOUR POSTCARDS, HIGH SCHOOL LOVE LETTERS, DIARY ENTRIES AND BREAK UP STORIES AND SEE YOUR MEMORIES ACTED OUT LIVE ON STAGE FOR THE AMUSEMENT OF OTHERS!” Click here to submit. All names will remain confidential.) Bad handwriting often proved to be the speed-bump which brought this otherwise funny bit to a halt.   I’d suggest perhaps vetting the cards before hand – not for content but for legibility.  Still, on my night the audience gamely rooted the cast on and was duely happy with the results.  It’s all in good fun, folks.

Coming in at just around an hour this later show is the perfect way to start an evening of hi-jinx of your own … see the show, get in a few laughs and then hit the great bars in the area. While almost all of your experience may vary, chances are this capable cast will do right by you.  You’ll have a blast.  And that, my friends, may be a crapshoot, but it’s also a pretty safe bet.

The cast I enjoyed on Thursday June 21st for Crapshoot! was:

Host Mia Y. Anderson
MC/Pianist/Closing Act: Michael Burns
Fly White Girls: Samantha DeSimone, Amanda Berry, Haley Selmon
Cowboy Deuce: Ryan Dursek
Nurse Betty: Sarah Norris
Jackie Walker: Haley Selmon
Wish you Were Here (Postcards Players): Mike Burns, Sarah Norris, Ryan Dursek, Amanda Berry
Post-Apocalyptic Mailman: Carl Fengler
Game Squad: Amanda Berry, Sarah Norris, Carl Fengler

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When you read that the title of a play is as blatant as Stripper Lesbians you might be led to believe that what you are about to see is nothing more than a show which has women in various states of undress (personally or professionally), making out a lot.  However, read further to “Rising Sun Performance Company” and your perspective quickly changes.  Sure, the show is sexy, shows a lot of skin, and has no problem exploring the more intimate moments of the relationship, but Rising Sun’s inherent intelligence as an ensemble ensures that your skin is served up with a side of thoughtful, though-provoking drama which explores the title rather than exploits it.

So, who are these stripper lesbians of the title?

First there’s Evan (Amanda Berry). She strips, of course, but identifies herself first and foremost as a woman’s studies major. After all, she wouldn’t even be stripping if she wasn’t writing her senior thesis (cleverly titled “Stripper Lesbians”) as an insider’s exposé on what it’s like to be dating a sex worker.

Stripper Lesbians At Work (Amanda Berry and Samantha Cooper)

By her side -at home and at work- is Aisha (Samantha Cooper) who strips because that’s what she’s good at.   There’s no ironic twist to her chosen career, no air quotes when she uses the words, no parenthetical or ellipsis or slash after the title, no ”I’m just doing this for now” attitude. Aisha is a stripper’s stripper and she makes no excuses about it. She’s ambitious at that, weighing the option of posing for Playboy because posing means more traffic to the club – and more traffic means the ability to command a higher salary. Evan may be the one going after the fancy education which requires a thesis to obtain, but Aisha is the one getting a graduate degree from the school of hard knocks.

Always popping up between the pair is DJ (Joe Beaudin).  He’s not just an ex-boyfriend (and current roommate) of Evan’s but also serves as a type of Greek Chorus of the play.  It is DJ’s job to wag a finger, shine a spotlight, underline with a highlighter and repeat for emphasis.  Not that he doesn’t have his own subplot; in a show-stopping, scene stealing audition he takes the text from Our Bodies, Ourselves and turns it inside out, invoking the spirit and mannerisms of prostitutes to hilarious effect.  In a play which centers on women’s viewpoints and is punctuated with women’s sexuality it is a wonderful moment when Beaudin can have the stage to himself and showcase his own talents without distraction.

Things come to a head when DJ pushes things to a place where, ultimately, they probably would have ended up anway … he just got them there sooner.  More Devil that Devil’s Advocate he nonetheless ultmately feels he’s doing the right thing even if it is for the wrong reason.

A poinant epilogue ends the play, and we are shown that while these two young women were vastely different the feelings between them were real.

Playwright Kate Foster has done a strong job of taking the already difficult moments of a new relationship and placing them in a unique setting.  She beautifully highlights that first crack in the ice when passion abates for a moment and two people step back and begin to notice their difference of opinion, their diverging paths and their incongrouous goals.

There are no heroes here, just flawed human beings.  Each character has distinct complexities which Director Jeff Woodbridge coaxes out and deftly presents. All three characters exist in a tug-of-war where their discord amounts to another wrinkle in the fabric of their relationships.  Each character is learning how to continue on with integrity while maintaining a climate of support for someone they care about.

In the end this story isn’t about stripper lesbians, but rather about two young women who are trying to protect the identities they treasure most dearly while still living up to the person they would like to be in their partner’s eyes.   It is the conundrum of weighing what is more important – how you see yourself, or how you want others to see you?  And, regardless of how much of your body you expose throughout the day, at the end of it, can you truly say you’re comfortable in your own skin?

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The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

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• Man Saved By Condiments: Some Time Alone To Ketchup (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
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Five Questions. Five Answers. And One Big Decision: Rock, Paper, Or Scissors?

Stripper Lesbians

Company: Rising Sun Performance Company

Evan, a woman’s studies major, is writing a killer senior thesis– by becoming a stripper at her favorite strip club. In between her current girlfriend, a stripper-lesbian, and her ex boyfriend, an unemployed Tisch graduate, Evan dances the line between love and betrayal. A comedy about what it really means to be ‘in love with a stripper’ and what it means to become one.

Show Times:

• Wed 2/22 @ 11pm
• Sat 2/25 @ 6:30pm
• Mon 2/27 @ 11pm
• Thu 3/1 @ 8pm
• Sat 3/3 @ 3:30pm

Answers by: The Whole Gang!

(Because we’re an ensemble company,

we’re gonna answer this ensemble style!

Everyone’s got a little something to say!)

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
That’s some title. How did you come up with it – and what does it mean?
Kate Foster (The Playwright): The title was the joke that fit. When I was writing the play, I would tell interested parties I was writing about strippers and lesbians. People kept on giving me the classic double-take, so I had a feeling Stripper-Lesbians was onto something.

Diánna Martin’s Question
If you were going to invite five people, anyone from past and present, to see your FRIGID show – who would you invite and why?
Joe Beaudin (Actor, Role of DJ): Bono – Because I love him and he is a rock star and very famous
My Grandma – Because she was sassy and would appreciate the “material”
My friends Dina & Amy – because they are lesbians.
My wife – because she is my wife and she usually comes to these things.
My soon-to-be-born child – because she/he needs to see what her/his father LOVES to do.
Its important to note that Kate & Samantha both want to invite Hugh Hefner just because.

Antonio Minino’s Question
What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve ever made for your Art and was it worth it?
Jeff Woodbridge (Director): I sold or gave away everything I owned, except some clothing, and moved to New York with no job waiting, no apartment lined up, and very little money. Just went because I knew this is where I wanted to make theater and it has been the best move ever. I’m not sure I would really call the things I’ve done for my art ‘sacrifices’ because everything always works out for the best. It’s more like taking a leap of faith and trusting that everything will be fine.

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s Question
Was there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and, if so, can you share it?
Amanda Berry (Actress/Role of Evan): Oh my gosh, so many. The one that was most surprising to me was that originally DJ and Evan were just roommates and best friends. However, at some point during the development – and I’ve totally forgotten how this came about – someone brought up that they felt that there was something more to that relationship, that they had previously dated. This just added so much to the piece as a whole, in that it expanded DJ’s character and motivations, it gives Aisha more to play off of, and it makes Evan’s story into that of someone who’s questioning her sexuality and who is dealing with her first homosexual relationship. That one change just added heaps to the text and it gives us as actors a much stronger emotional base to play on.

Michelle Augello-Page’s Question
What do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?
Samantha Cooper (Actress, role of Aisha): I found that I had my own issues with strippers and stripping that I had to let go of. I started out judging Aisha and that is a trap for an actor. I think I learned a bit of what Aisha wants Evan to realize – that a person cannot be defined by her occupation. I hope it makes them think about gender roles, the complications that can arise in relationships – perhaps it will make them take a look at their own relationships. And maybe, like me, the play will challenge people’s ideas about stripping. Questions are always a good thing. And discussions about the questions are even better.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH

THM Bonus Question – We’re serious this year!
In the THM virtual Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH which FRIGID Show do you take on? And what do you throw?

Rising Sun: We just want to be friends with all the other shows, hugs no thugs.

Adorable! You’re like teddy bear stripper lesbians – the best kind. Still, there’s no backing out of this one because you were a very, very popular opponent and we think those who challenged you deserve to have their day in the Rock Paper Scissors arena!  So … FIRST we are going to randomly choose your opponent for you. Promise, this is REALLY random. Here we go to The Randomizer. Flippity Flip … your random opponent is The Traveling Musicians.  And your random throw is … PAPER!

So Round One:  Stripper Lesbians (Paper) versus The Traveling Musicians (Rock) — WIN!
Round Two: you were challenged by Love In The Time Of Chlamydia who threw ROCK at everyone. That’s another WIN!
Round Three: you were challenged by Initium/Finis who also threw ROCK at everyone. Another WIN!
Round Four: you were challenged by Daughters of Lot who threw SCISSORS.  OOOOFF.  That’s a Deaaaaath ….
Round Five: you were challenged by Big Plastic Heroes who thew PAPER.  That’s a TIE.
Round Six: you were challenged by Scratch and Pitz who threw PAPER (in the form of $1 and $5 dollar bills).  That’s another TIE!

Congratulations, Stripper Lesbians!  Six rounds, Three Wins, Two Ties and only One Loss.  And, I would be willing to bet, some hugs in there too from all your Frigid Friends.

Thanks Stripper Lesbians for participating in The Happiest Medium’s FRIGID New York Festival 2012 Q&A. And for playing our game! You’re officially PAPER in any and all challenges. You may win again, you may not – who knows! This is how it works in the crazy world of the Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament of DEAAAAATH!

For the rest of you don’t forget to check out Stripper Lesbians!

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The 2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL will run February 22-March 4 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets to all shows may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

Related Posts:

• Stripper Lesbians: When Baring It All Is Academic (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Crapshoot! Liquor, Laughs and Luck O’ The Dice
• I’m Only Explaining This Once: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Man Saved By Condiments!: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Big Girls Don’t Cry: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)