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There’s little that amuses college students more than a good sex joke.
But try to have a serious conversation on the topic without getting into an argument.
Nevertheless, the Sex Signals Lecture Program, part of the UW-Oshkosh Speaker Series on Feb. 10, promises to bridge the gap between hilarious and serious.
Billed as “The Real Life Sort-of-Improv Show About Sex and Stuff,” Sex Signals is the most popular, and perhaps the most creative, approach to the topic of sex and relationships on college campuses across the country.
Sex Signals, created by Catharsis Productions in 2000, uses humor to address the serious topic of sexual assault.
The program focuses specifically on date rape and acquaintance rape, which often occur on college campuses.
David Rathsack, chairperson of the Speaker Series committee, said it was important to bring Sex Signals to Oshkosh because of the obvious relevance to the university’s students.
According to a 2007 study, 85 percent of rapes on college campuses were non-stranger or acquaintance rapes, which renders the focus of Sex Signals even more applicable to Oshkosh’s students.
The Sex Signals performers explore how social pressures affect the modern dating environment, and use a combination of improvisation and audience interaction to show how “unrealistic fantasies, power inequity and false preconceptions” contribute to the rising occurrence of non-stranger rape.
The shows are set up as a two-person play, part of which is pre-determined while the other part is improvised based on audience participation.
The performers present the particularly awkward situation of the first date and then give audience members the power to dictate which path the characters take on their journey.
As the show goes on, so does the date, and onlookers are also asked to discern where things go wrong.
By asking spectators to think and discuss the misconceptions that often lead to date rape, the Sex Signals performers can create a drastic change in the audience’s view of date rapists and their victims.
But with the use of copious amounts of physical humor and sarcasm, the show still has its lighthearted moments.
Christian Murphy and Gail Stern, founders of Catharsis Productions, created the Sex Signals program in an effort to bring a new approach to this serious topic.
“Many rape awareness programs lose students by being dry, somber, patronizing or pedantic,” the duo said on the Sex Signals Web site.
And with more than 1,000 performances at 400-plus universities nationwide under their belts, the Catharsis Productions team has certainly succeeded in overcoming that obstacle.
The show’s success can also be attributed to the high level of audience participation, which lets students think and learn, as well as listen.
At the end of each show, audience members are asked to contribute possible ways to protect against date rape and create a better dating environment on their own campuses.
“(Sex Signals will) open the door for students to think about what relationships in my life are healthy, and which are not,” Sara Ann Suwalski, faculty adviser to the Speaker Series committee said.
Suwalski said she also hopes the show will provide students with the resources tochangeunhealthy relationships in their lives and the lives of those around them.
The combination lecture and laugh riot, which will be held on campus in the Reeve Union Ballroom, promises to be both educational and enjoyable.
The show will begin at 7 p.m. and is free with a student ID.
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