[ Arts Index | Metro Santa Cruz | MetroActive Central | Archives ]

Night Howl
By Karen Reardanz

Benham Studio Gallery Go Figure: Peggy Platt (left) and Lisa Koch, better known as the comic duo Dos Fallopia, put their tongues in their cheeks for a Saturday night show of comedic subversion and lesbian antics. Totally Tubular: Comedic sketch duo blends lesbian politics with satiric shtick AS IF NAMING YOUR COMIC TEAM Dos Fallopia doesn't make enough of a statement, then perhaps giving birth to characters like Sister Mary Agnes Labia or the sex-toy Recycling Craft Lady will get the entertainment hounds standing at attention. With offbeat characters like Our Lady of Perpetual Repression's sadistic nun, who punishes "bad girls" in her room, and the public-access TV hostess who makes gifts out of condoms and recycled sex toys that would make even a harlot blush, Dos Fallopia puts out more than enough brash and bawdy comedy. Lisa Koch and Peggy Platt, dubbed the long-lost love child of Doris Day and Divine, may have a collective name that sounds like a gynecological clinic, and while they've had to wrestle with misidentification as Dos Fellatio, none of that really matters. The Seattle pair has been blowing away audiences from festival stages, colleges and coffeehouses across North America and doesn't really care what you think of their name. Together they mesh humor both gay and straight with political and social satire for kitschy shows that leave audiences in stitches. Koch and Platt fill their vignettes with risky jokes and wacky characters that would make the current cast of Saturday Night Live lavender with envy. Whether they're posing as the Colonel and Shenille (an airport lounge duo that sings songs like "50 Ways to Leave Your Luggage") or poking fun at mainstream media with "The Spudds," a skit featuring a dysfunctional, vinyl-clad country singer and her talented lesbian daughter Wynotta, the ladies break sexual and political barriers with finesse. There are no limits for these two--no double entendre left unturned, no sexual preference left unexplored. Dos Fallopia performs at 8pm on Saturday night--Valentine's Day, no less--at Kuumbwa, 320-2 Cedar St, SC. Tickets cost $14.50 and are available at Herland, Aptos Bike Trail and 21st Century CDs. For more info on the dynamic duo, call 426-7828. Compositional Conga Line New Music Works highlighted new aspects of modern classical music on Sunday night at UCSC, showing off works by a host of composers. Its Night of the Living Composers concert is a yearly ode to music made by living artists, and this year's offering featured the world premieres of pieces by Michael McGushin, Allen Strange and UCSC student Wesley M. Frederick, among others. William Trimble and Daniel Wyman's innovative work Meadowstars was on the evocative side, pairing computer-generated nature sounds with Trimble's syncopated saxophone. Esoteric, yes, but intriguing. Party Favors for Lou, the musical roundabout featuring a host of composers writing vignettes using the last few notes of the previous composer's contribution, was fittingly whimsical and entertaining. The shorts pieced together surprisingly well and came off as a spirited thank-you to composer Lou Harrison for a lifetime of musical contributions. One of Harrison's works was also performed, and it was one of the standouts. Simple, haunting and delicate, In Memory of Victor Jowers exemplified some of the best of modern classical composition. [ Santa Cruz | MetroActive Central | Archives ]