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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Worship Me, Pigs!

Judy Tenuta

Showtime · 1991

An accordion-wielding cult leader demands total submission from her audience.

A self-proclaimed “Love Goddess” armed with an accordion and a Grecian gown demands total obedience. Judy Tenuta operates as a deranged cult leader, using her instrument as both a prop and a threat while making crowds pledge allegiance to her personal religion of “Judyism”. Her crowd work skips polite banter entirely. She singles out male attendees to label them “stud puppets” and “love slaves,” eventually forcing one onto all fours so she can mount him and brandish a whip.

Airing on Showtime in May 1991, the broadcast captured Tenuta transitioning from fourteen years of club work into a distinct tier of cult fame. She leverages her theatrical hostility to turn the audience from passive spectators into active supplicants, demanding they chant their promises to serve as her personal sex donkeys.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Possessions by celebrity figures

    Tenuta is possessed mid-show by personalities including Roseanne Barr, Barbra Streisand, Dr. Ruth, Cher, and Andrew Dice Clay.

  2. Sister Blambo

    Joking about her sister Blambo still learning how to walk on dry land.

  3. Dan Quayle and George Bush

    Riffing that if President Bush wants to see a thousand points of light, he should stick a candle into Dan Quayle's head.

  4. A creepy 'nonvisual' blind date

    Recounting an encounter with an unsettling date who looked like Yoda, only not as tall.

  5. Network censorship battles

    Recalling her contentious experiences dealing with a television network censor.

How it plays

Tone
Outrageous, campy, irreverent, and bawdy.
On stage
The brash, flamboyant 'Love Goddess' and 'Petite Flower', mixing mock-regal arrogance, feminist male-bashing, and over-the-top performance art.
Pace
Erratic, manic, and volatile, shifting rapidly between sweet sing-song cadences, growling delivery, and chaotic 'possessions'.
About
Judyism, celebrity parody, dating and men, family, political satire, censorship

What the critics said

Positively highlighted in The Morning Call, noting that Tenuta makes a strong impression especially when losing control during her celebrity possession sequences.

In the room: Addressed and treated by Tenuta as her 'faithful flock' of devotees and subjects.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: dead-frog.com, mcall.com, vs-uc.com, en.wikipedia.org, bancodeprofissionais.com, latimes.com, en.m.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Built around Tenuta's established comedic mythology and faux religion 'Judyism', in which audiences are devotees and men are treated as subservient 'pigs' or 'stud puppets'.

Details

Released
Where
Showtime
Topics
After
Attention Butt Pirates and Lesbetarians (1994)

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