Cockettes, Hypnodrome and Pearls Over Shanghai
Note: I didn’t take any photos at the event so I’m including one here from someone else. The photographer is David Allen, a local photographer who has a broad portfolio of work featuring the arts and entertainment world in San Francisco. Check him out!
There are many different types of sexy and all of them can be found in San Francisco. You can find smart sexy and creative sexy and fetish sexy and scary sexy if that happens to be what you’re into. There are quite a few different types of sexy events that I like to attend but my favorite type has got to be silly sexy. I think that this is because sex is silly when you get right down to it and silly sexy events highlight the humor in our human relations. Sex involves playfulness, strange bodily sounds, weird faces and a lot of laughter if you’re doing it correctly. Silly sex events put sexiness as the foundation of what they’re doing but then amplify the silliness of it all for purposes of entertainment. Pearls Over Shanghai which is being performed at The Hypnodrome through at least the end of January is an example of such a silly sexy event that can be enjoyed in San Francisco right now.
Pearls Over Shanghai was one of the performances that was done back in the early days of the Cockettes. For those who don’t know, The Cockettes were wild group of drag queens that formed in the 1960’s and did over-the-top shows in a venue in North Beach. I actually learned about them when I came across a documentary about them at the local library. They’ve got an interesting history and I’d definitely say that documentary is worth checking out. The Cockettes ended up going their separate ways over time but some of them are still around and still doing drag performances. In fact, two of the original Cockettes were performing in the showing of Pearls Over Shanghai that I went to. They’re still belting it out and tottering along in six inch whore heels and full-on glitter faces.
Pearls Over Shanghai is a funny story that’s essentially about three white virgins who get trapped into White Slavery in Shanghai. They end up loving their new debaucherous lives which are filled with opium and lust. There are a variety of scenes that depict various romances that are going on. It’s a musical so you learn about these tales in song mingled with a bit of burlesque, a bit of striptease, some spanking of audience members and more nudity than you might want to end up that close to.
The show is over at The Hypnodrome which is in the SouthWest part of SoMa. It’s a small theatre but a great one. It’s got a row of “shock box” seats in the back which are booth-style seats where you can snuggle up against your date. Be forewarned that these silly seats are the ones most likely to get the attention of the cast during the show so don’t hang out here if you’re shy. If you’re not, though, they have fun interactive aspects that make them worth the bit of extra money that you pay to sit in them.
What did I think was sexiest about the show? The sense of humor that these folks apply to sex is probably what I would have to love most about it. However other sexy things that are worth mentioning include seeing a form of nudity I’d never seen before, a point in the performance where the room goes absolutely pitch black and nobody can see what you’re doing, and a cast filled with diversely sexy people. Fun stuff!
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