“THE HOUSE OF VENUS”– gay sketch comedy series

“The House of Venus Show”

Gay Sketch Comedy Series

Amos Lassen

New from Alluvial Filmworks is “The House of Venus Show” which is a DVD that is pure fun.

“The House of Venus Show” is a film of the entire first season of a half-hour variety show created by a Vancouver collective of the same name. It is all parody, all laughs as it takes a queer look on political, social and cultural issues. “The House of Venus Show” is something of a combination of sketch comedy, interviews and guest appearances that highlights Vancouver and makes us both laugh and think. It is not like anything you have seen before in that it welds queer theory to comedy with lots of camp as it breaks down gender boundaries. It pokes fun at sacred cows such as the conservative right in American politics and George W. and the members of the troupe who all identify themselves as gay, queer or something close take a very close look at exactly what gender is…and isn’t.

There is plenty political humor with lots of queer references. The characters are what make the shows and they are caricatures that are carefully drawn and played with gusto by Mark Kenneth Woods, Cotton, Michael Venus and Dickey Doo and they are joined by guest artists such as Lady Bunny, Amanda Lapore, Lady Miss Keir (Dee-Lite) and many others.

The idea for the show is the brainchild of Mark Kenneth Woods and Michael Venus and together they give us sketches with no apologies.

The House of Venus is a group in Vancouver that created a multi-media collective which has become famous for gender bending, extravaganza and performance art.

Looking at the six episodes included on the DVD we see such craziness as a face off with Big Daddy and a sketch entitled “Camel Toe” in episode one. Episode two centers on Deb and Sisi’s adventures shopping on a home shopping network and ten years in the art of “head”. Dr. Normal tries to get rid of all of the queers in the world in episode three and episode four has one  of the funniest parodies I have ever seen, “Designer Gays” in which the troupe satirizes “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”. The religious right and “Queer Fashion Crime Models” are the subjects of episode five and in episode six Lady Bunny performs and The House of Venus takes on horror films.

Never has being gay been so much fun! The House of Venus guys leave no stone unturned and considers no issue above its satire. I understand that Alluvial is going to release all of the episodes as they become available so we are in for a great deal of fun.