Everybody celebrates the human body

August 22, 2015 9:12 PM

Conceived by Australian avant-garde theatre group Snuff Puppets, Everybody is a giant 26.5m human puppet with articulated, detachable and interactive body parts and organs. Everybody is all genders and multi-racial; it is also the largest human puppet on the planet. An immersive experience, audiences can walk around, sit on, lie against, get inside, and cuddle up to Everybody. [NSFW and yet...meant for kids. But really, NSFW.]

"Everybody‘s build is experimental; it’s kind of unimaginable, so big and complex but without high-tech design. Its creation is brute, rough, handmade.

Everybody lies down indoors in theatres, outdoors in parks and in open public spaces. In repose, Everybody sleeps, breaths and stirs. Everybody is not just one puppet but a multitude of independent, roaming human body parts and organs; they are characters in their own epic tale of human existence.

The piece begins with the death of the giant human puppet via a brick thrown at Everybody’s head. The head cracks and its brain oozes out. Everybody watches its life flash before its eyes, from birth through life and ultimately death. Everybody’s now independent body parts and organs perform the journey of its life stages. Everybody is in 4 Acts: Everybody’s Born, Everybody Cries, Everybody Shits, Everybody Dies.

Human performers play audience members or passers-by who find themselves transported into, then flung out of, the brain of Everybody. Everybody is made up of: Mouth, Eye, Poo, Foot, Ear, Nose, Brain, Lungs, Baby, Penis, Vagina, Bum, Skin, Heart, Hand, Guts, Breast and Hair. And with guests, Pig and Brick."

posted by Room 641-A (52 comments total)

WOW
posted by PigAlien at 9:23 PM on August 22, 2015

wow what the hell dude
posted by Juliet Banana at 9:29 PM on August 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

I.... what

what did I just watch?

was that a cohort of turds cavorting in the dance of the shitterplum fairies there?
posted by sciatrix at 9:37 PM on August 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

The organs mostly come out at night...mostly.
posted by prinado at 9:40 PM on August 22, 2015 [18 favorites]

This is the best thing.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:44 PM on August 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

Organic
posted by HuronBob at 9:49 PM on August 22, 2015

meant for kids

I am so glad I am not a kid
posted by aubilenon at 9:50 PM on August 22, 2015 [19 favorites]

I love it!! Reminds me of when I was a kid in the late 90s-early 2000s, and my absolute favorite show was What a Cartoon! There definitely needs to be more accessible funding to experimental art everywhere.

Kids need to see weird, gross, creepy interactive things, because it helps prime them for being more open and accepting of diverse stimuli that isn't packaged neatly.
posted by yueliang at 10:11 PM on August 22, 2015 [14 favorites]

This I will not soon forget
posted by Upon Further Review at 10:11 PM on August 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is like, life-punk.
posted by oceanjesse at 10:16 PM on August 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

It captures everything wonderful about the human body.
posted by idiopath at 10:50 PM on August 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Reminds me of that pornographic Mummenschanz bouncy castle.
posted by El Mariachi at 11:25 PM on August 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa
posted by flatluigi at 11:46 PM on August 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

LOVE IT. Also, this totally explains the person asking "Did anyone see two giant seagulls chasing each other at the Bulldogs football ground?" on a local Facebook community board last week. The Snuff Puppets headquarters are located just outside the football ground and about two minutes walk from my house. I'm tempted to sneak down tonight and peak in the window for the thrills but I'm suffering through my first ulcerative colitis flare up this week so I have enough dancing poo nightmares already.
posted by Wantok at 11:56 PM on August 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

Oh my god can you just imagine is someone tried this in the US I can't even
posted by gottabefunky at 12:12 AM on August 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

It captures everything wonderful about the human body.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR FACE
posted by Foci for Analysis at 12:18 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

what the helling drug-addled what was that

I had to nope out when the ... thing ... birthed the anus and started to poo
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:49 AM on August 23, 2015

I only have two questions:

1) What city and country is this located in?

and

2) What point on Earth has the maximum possible land and sea distance from that location?

I'm just curious.
posted by mmoncur at 1:24 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

1) What city and country is this located in?
Melbourne, Australia

2) What point on Earth has the maximum possible land and sea distance from that location?
St. John's, Canada

I would have loved the hell out of this as a kid.
posted by retrograde at 1:38 AM on August 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

Kids love this. You always have the criers but the majority embrace and challenge it.
posted by unliteral at 1:44 AM on August 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Also, this totally explains the person asking "Did anyone see two giant seagulls chasing each other at the Bulldogs football ground?" on a local Facebook community board last week.

Grab your children before they do!
posted by effbot at 2:14 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

I found that quite affecting. I just had a child, and seeing that giant baby come out and open its eyes brought forth a rush of happiness.
posted by Kattullus at 2:48 AM on August 23, 2015 [6 favorites]

Man, that was amazing! Kind of overwhelming and terrifying due to the physical scale and yet weirdly familiar, strangely sensual, and simultaneously comforting. Wow.
posted by Knicke at 3:30 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

I found that quite affecting. I just had a child
That's awesome mate, congrats.
posted by unliteral at 3:39 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

I hope that this will teach children valuable lessons, like the human body is mysterious and wonderful and that throwing bricks at sleeping giants is wrong.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:53 AM on August 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

So, some questions:

they have a crowd of people inside this puppet, some in turd suits, some in eye suits, some in kidney suits, and then at some part they just start busting out and dancing?

also, was that an intestine spitting goo at the watchers?

am i a prudish American for finding this completely disturbing, even stone cold sober?
posted by angrycat at 3:58 AM on August 23, 2015

okay, sorry, read the post more carefully and my first question is answered

but i now have a next question: why the hell would they kill the puppet with a brick? and then have a post-mortem baby come out? i get the whole 'circle of life thing' but it somehow is upsetting that the puppet is not, you know, having a nice poo but is instead defecating at death.

i guess the baby is supposed to make up for that.
posted by angrycat at 4:01 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I like the baby and dancing organs and all but find the death-by-brick idea intensely creepy. Why not, y'know, a living giant puppet?
posted by thetortoise at 4:08 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

The baby coming out after the brick is not a post-mortem baby. It is the dying giant puppet dude remembering its OWN birth.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:15 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

was that an intestine spitting goo at the watchers?

Nope, it was a penis (the balls were the feet)
posted by coleboptera at 4:16 AM on August 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

am i a prudish American for finding this completely disturbing, even stone cold sober?

Possibly :-)

Or I don't know, the only data point I have is that I'm sober and not American and I found it more hilarious than disturbing. Maybe I'm a child. After all, "Poos and wees, penises and vaginas, bums and boobs, we deal with these human body parts and functions multiple times daily and children in particular think it’s hilarious."
posted by effbot at 4:25 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

FOR KIDS
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 5:12 AM on August 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

This would be fun to see live. If they ever brought it here I would love to attend.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:19 AM on August 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

So at the beginning I was wondering how on earth this phantasmagoric nightmare was intended for kids. And then I saw the nipple squirting kids with goo and I was like, "oh, wait, never mind, this is okay." That one You Can't Do That on Television-esque touch was all I needed to reset my expectations.
posted by chrominance at 5:20 AM on August 23, 2015

We saw it last night in Melbourne. My 4yo was briefly scared of the disembodied parts (particularly the hand, which was running around and spooking teenagers), but a young woman comforted her.

Then the young woman ran to the detached mouth, and offered the seat of her jeans for the mouth to lick, which the mouth did, much to the delight of my 4yo, who shouted "MUUM! The mouth licked her BUM!". Then it was late, and we had to go.

Fun pics were taken, and I'm now lamenting my oversight in neglecting to ask this woman's friend for her Instagram account. In summary, The Aristocrats!
posted by kandinski at 6:05 AM on August 23, 2015 [20 favorites]

I had to nope out when the ... thing ... birthed the anus and started to poo
-- feckless fecal fear mongering

eponysterical
posted by flyingsquirrel at 6:18 AM on August 23, 2015 [12 favorites]

I think the death by brick thing is essential. It's a celebration of the organic; You might also want to bind that to limits of the organic as well, ya know' for kids.
posted by mrdaneri at 6:31 AM on August 23, 2015

Burn it with fire? It's the only way to be sure.
posted by blue_beetle at 6:33 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

This is fantastic.
posted by deadwax at 6:41 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

2) What point on Earth has the maximum possible land and sea distance from that location?
St. John's, Canada

Well, mark up one more advantage to living in Newfoundland.
posted by Paladin1138 at 6:42 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Are they available for birthday parties? Because this is genius.
posted by ColdChef at 7:08 AM on August 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

and offered the seat of her jeans for the mouth to lick, which the mouth did, much to the delight of my 4yo, who shouted "MUUM! The mouth licked her BUM!". Then it was late, and we had to go.

Not disparaging your parental abilities. I just want to note perhaps the time to go was sooner.
posted by adept256 at 7:09 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

I would love to see the whole thing in person. Absolutely love this. When I was a kid I probably would have been terrified and/or hated this, but now I feel like it would be my favourite thing. I don't have kids but I would definitely take them to this even if they were terrified.
posted by dogwalker at 7:43 AM on August 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Thanks a lot, Room 641-A. Now I feel that my life has been wasted and I want to run off to Melbourne and join the Snuff Puppets.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:52 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

MetaFilter: Then it was late, and we had to go.
posted by Bruce H. at 8:03 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's like the Community episode where the Dean and Pierce make the Greendale Human Being.
posted by rossination at 8:50 AM on August 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

MetaFilter: Dancing Poo Nightmares
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 9:57 AM on August 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Finally, something worth masturbating to.
posted by dr_dank at 10:15 AM on August 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

The stars are right
posted by The Whelk at 10:20 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Clearly, there an insufficient amount of avant left in my garde. And I grew up on a farm.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 5:53 PM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

but i now have a next question: why the hell would they kill the puppet with a brick?

One of the most beloved Australian films of the past decade is Red Dog, which, framed by the eponymous dog's slow painful death (by intentional poison, it's implied), shows how the dog became central to an otherwise loosely structured Outback community. It could be a deliberate nod, or it could just be that Australian storytelling doesn't flinch at using death to frame life.
posted by gingerest at 7:23 PM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

am i a prudish American for finding this completely disturbing, even stone cold sober?

Speaking as an Australian born and raised in Melbourne: Yes. Yes you are.

Now off you pop and search out some broadcast network TV that shows the occasional nipple on purpose.
posted by flabdablet at 12:33 AM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]