Sex Tips For Straight Women From A Gay Man. The title alone will elicit some hand-over mouth, embarrassed, red-faced giggles. The joke could easily stop there, much like movies which reveal all of the funny moments in the trailer. And while this cotton candy theater piece is not the most intellectually….er..um…”stimulating” bit to hit the off-Broadway boards, there are plenty of comical and charming moments in Matt Murphy’s sex-capade.
The plot and character development is nearly as thick as the 6 page program which, incidentally, is used later in the show for an audience participation “lesson”. But really– were you expecting the depth of Chekhov here? Sex Tips is set at the Midtown Manhattan Community College where Robyn (Lindsay Nicole Chambers) is hosting a “Meet the Authors” forum. Robyn is filling in for the professor who usually hosts the talk, but who has mysteriously died earlier in the afternoon. Could it be that Robyn has 86-ed the professor in order to catch the eye of Stefan (Andrew Brewer) , the hunky stage manager slash would be scientist who just might be talked removing his clothes. You just know where this is headed, don’t you? Leading this talk is guest author Dan (Jason Michael Snow), a fabulously gay Tony Robbins type. One can almost see the gleaming reflection and hear the “ding” when he smiles- and he does smile often. It’s no surprise that Snow has stepped into this role after having just been seen in The Book of Mormon. His squeaky-clean persona is on display once again, this time with impish delight. Chambers is endearing as the nerdy girl pining for her long time crush. With the look of a young Kathy Griffin and mannerisms of Kristen Wiig, her comic timing is flawless. Brewer rounds out this trio by simply being sexy, which was most likely the only character description in the script.
Sex Tips is rife with stereotypes by assuming that straight women are clueless in the sack, straight men are mere objects of lust, and flaming homosexuals wrote the book on sex. I suppose part of the latter is true given the fact the source material is derived from the 1997 best-selling work of the same name from Dan Anderson and Maggie Berman. Yet all is forgiven by the cartoonish cast of characters. Can we really analyze the sexual and gender politics of a play that includes a striptease starting in an astronaut suit with the song lyrics “I Am Scientist?” Exactly. Murphy is well aware of his audience and is rightfully banking on bounties of bachelorettes and gaggles of gays to fill the seats. Overall, Sex Tips is fun, but not nearly as naughty as the title suggests. The talented cast and sitcom-like pace will keep audiences blushing, smiling, and laughing for its’ intermission-less 80 minute running time. How you’ll practice and on whom is up to you. _________________________________________________
Sex Tips for Straight Women From a Gay Man now playing off-Broadway at the 777 Theater, 777 Eighth Avenue, at 47th Street, NY NY. For tickets, call: 866-811-4111 or visit the website www.sextipsplay.com