Sex education can still make you giggle well after puberty ends.
On Feb. 19, funny lady and porn site CEO Lux Alptraum will team up with a band of comedians at Union Hall for a one-night celebration of those poorly-acted, awkwardly-funny sex ed videos we all remember from middle school.
“A lot of these movies are made by people with a small budget who do not have good acting ability and educate,” said Alptraum, who runs the popular porn blog Fleshbot. “They are trying to reach out to the youth and speak their language, but their terminology is dated really quickly.”
“The Wonderful World of Boning,” which will also feature stand-up comedian Liam McEneaney and Brooklyn Heights-based comedy writer Kelly Hudson, will highlight videos such as “Seriously Fresh,” in which a group of ’90s teenagers freak out after they discover that their friend is HIV-positive. The kids learn to overcome their homophobia and realize that anyone, even their stand-up buddy, can contract the disease. Also slated for mockery is a Planned Parenthood video about a guy who similarly flips his lid when his girlfriend tells him that she has chlamydia.
“It is always this predictable arc where the person, who is convinced they can’t possibly get HIV or chlamydia, has this learning experience,” Alptraum said. “At the end, they are all like — let’s tell all my friends!”
But despite the rich humor to be drawn from the likes of “Molly Grows Up,” Alptraum — who previously worked as a sex educator for middle and high school students — appreciates how challenging reproductive tutelage can be.
“I understand the process that’s going on, and I appreciate they are trying to do the best that they can on a limited budget,” she said. “It’s so sad that we are not putting money into this.”
Of course, this will not prevent the comedians from ripping on the videos and recalling their own cringe-inducing memories of sex schooling on the small screen. Alptraum said the films make such easy targets because the creators’ efforts to stay hip with teen music, fashion, and lingo means they date very quickly.
“There is an intent to capitalize on youth culture, which makes for videos that get really, really funny, really quickly,” Alptraum said.
“The Wonderful World of Boning: Sex Ed With a Sense of Humor” at Union Hall [702 Union St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues in Park Slope, (718) 638–4400, www.unionhallny.com]. Feb. 19 at 8 pm, $8.
