I’ve been using Otter to transcribe my interviews ever since AI became a thing—so for the past three months. If you’ve used the AI transcription app before, then you know that each recording becomes a note. Once your note is ready, Otter provides a list of keywords to help identify that note.
For my interview with “Stroke of Genius'' co-writers Shane Mayforth and Vulva Va-Voom, the keywords are “LBGT, masturbation, masturbate, academia, makeup artist, stockings, silent film era, photography, art form, spankin, and dick jokes.” That should give you an idea of what the play is about.
Tickets to see "Stroke Of Genius" at Tampa Fringe Theatre in Ybor City every Friday in July are $15. What was the stroke of genius that resulted in the latest from Boiled Horse Productions? Va-Voom caught Mayforth pretending to masturbate on the other side of a smoked glass door.
“Are you pretending to jack it?” she asked him.
“Yes, I am. I'm the Spankenshyster,” Mayforth replied. Why Spankenshyster?
The performing arts duo pondered the question until they had a story.
"We decided that it evolved out of some obscure, music-hall Vaudeville art form that someone had mastered," Va-Voom told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. "And then we decided that we could trace it throughout all of history."
“Stroke of Genius” presents Mayforth as Dr. Winkworth-Perez, professor of Pantomime Masturbation at Scottsdale Community College.
Seeing Winkworth-Perez approach the podium in a button-down shirt, tie, and corduroy jacket gave me college flashbacks. Then he launched a PowerPoint presentation full of fake history and penis-themed infographics. The highlights: a couple of ancient Greek vases digitally altered by graphic designer/illustrator Natasha Marie to include more penis, and a series of silent film segments featuring Va-Voom in drag, comedically pretending to masturbate. For one segment, Va-Voom created a 13-foot-long string of felt sausages. Fringe regulars Ami Sallee and Dickie Corley (Gutter Fly Productions) built a conveyor system for them, creating a never-ending loop of wieners for Va-Voom to handle.
“It was an eight-hour film shoot with professional filmmakers,” Va-Voom told CL. “We had a real director, a director of photography, and a grip.”
The credits at show's end reveal a team of a dozen people. In addition to Va-Voom and Mayforth, the group includes graphic designer Natasha Marie Art, Film Producer Chris Giuffre, Director of Photography Wes Pratt, Jeff Scolaro as Grip, Makeup Artist Hannah Foley, Editor Angela Ellis, Costumer Kelsey McCarter, Creative Consultant Patrick Creel, and production assistants Arlene Jacobs and Drew Suarez.
The amount of work that went into this ridiculous dick joke of a comedy act is absurd.
As Va-Voom says, “We take our dick jokes very seriously. We want our dick jokes to really resonate with people. We’re both absurdists. We think that absurdism isn’t just funny; it’s a life philosophy.”
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For my interview with “Stroke of Genius'' co-writers Shane Mayforth and Vulva Va-Voom, the keywords are “LBGT, masturbation, masturbate, academia, makeup artist, stockings, silent film era, photography, art form, spankin, and dick jokes.” That should give you an idea of what the play is about.
Tickets to see "Stroke Of Genius" at Tampa Fringe Theatre in Ybor City every Friday in July are $15. What was the stroke of genius that resulted in the latest from Boiled Horse Productions? Va-Voom caught Mayforth pretending to masturbate on the other side of a smoked glass door.
“Are you pretending to jack it?” she asked him.
“Yes, I am. I'm the Spankenshyster,” Mayforth replied. Why Spankenshyster?
The performing arts duo pondered the question until they had a story.
"We decided that it evolved out of some obscure, music-hall Vaudeville art form that someone had mastered," Va-Voom told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. "And then we decided that we could trace it throughout all of history."
“Stroke of Genius” presents Mayforth as Dr. Winkworth-Perez, professor of Pantomime Masturbation at Scottsdale Community College.
Seeing Winkworth-Perez approach the podium in a button-down shirt, tie, and corduroy jacket gave me college flashbacks. Then he launched a PowerPoint presentation full of fake history and penis-themed infographics. The highlights: a couple of ancient Greek vases digitally altered by graphic designer/illustrator Natasha Marie to include more penis, and a series of silent film segments featuring Va-Voom in drag, comedically pretending to masturbate. For one segment, Va-Voom created a 13-foot-long string of felt sausages. Fringe regulars Ami Sallee and Dickie Corley (Gutter Fly Productions) built a conveyor system for them, creating a never-ending loop of wieners for Va-Voom to handle.
“It was an eight-hour film shoot with professional filmmakers,” Va-Voom told CL. “We had a real director, a director of photography, and a grip.”
The credits at show's end reveal a team of a dozen people. In addition to Va-Voom and Mayforth, the group includes graphic designer Natasha Marie Art, Film Producer Chris Giuffre, Director of Photography Wes Pratt, Jeff Scolaro as Grip, Makeup Artist Hannah Foley, Editor Angela Ellis, Costumer Kelsey McCarter, Creative Consultant Patrick Creel, and production assistants Arlene Jacobs and Drew Suarez.
The amount of work that went into this ridiculous dick joke of a comedy act is absurd.
As Va-Voom says, “We take our dick jokes very seriously. We want our dick jokes to really resonate with people. We’re both absurdists. We think that absurdism isn’t just funny; it’s a life philosophy.”
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