BEST SEX OF THE XX CENTURY SALE
REVIEWED BY

PETER SHAUGHNESSY

The hysterical history of our nation’s sexual identity over the last 100 years is on the auction block. Going once, going twice, sold!—to one happy audience of “The Best Sex of the XX Century Sale…”

Lissa Moira and Richard West rework songs from popular entertainment to catalogue the items and the people behind them that comprise the century’s sexual highlights. An energetic, talented ensemble satirizes everyone and everything that turns us on.

Some of the items on display: Betty Boop’s garter belt, Marlon Brando’s motorcycle, and Marilyn Monroe’s lost diaries.

Following the lead of the Carnival Barker (David Salper), the cast offers up impersonations that quickly cross the lines of good taste, then zips offstage, leaving a rollicking audience in its wake. For example, Natasha Leggero displays the lollipop Shirley Temple licked, while singing on “The Good Ship Pedophile.” Leggero also gives a great Madonna, and Michael Vaccaro is almost too good as Kathleen Turner.

As well as co-authoring the show, Moira directs and performs. Her staging is at times cramped by the small stage of the Duplex Cabaret, but it moves the show forward with the speed it needs, never lingering after a joke has been made, never exhausting a bit of shtick.

While we love it for its raunch and pun humor, there’s more to “Best Sex” than cheap coital comedy. Its commentary on the evolution of sexual politics and identity is as true as any history lesson. From Gloria Steinem’s slightly singed bra to the evolution of birth control (“We had rhythem/We had condoms/Now we’ve got the pill/Who could ask for anything more?”), this show is well done and (im)pure fun.

Presented by Arthrob Productions, at the Duplex, 61 Christopher St., NYC, Saturdays through Nov. 22. (Future bookings set for Danny’s Skylight Lounge, The Triad, and Theater for the New City.)