Laugh and learn with The Sex Lives of Puppets

The Sex Lives of Puppets took London by storm earlier this year and it is now at the Edinburgh Fringe. Deep dive under the covers of some sex-positive, open and frank puppets who discuss everything from partners, passion, and penises to penetration. It's a funny, candid and insightful look at the world of sex and how its discussed. We spoke to creator and performer Mark Down about the show, why he thinks it could be an aphrodisiac and how he wants the audience to feel after watching puppets bang on about banging for an hour.

Can you describe the show to audiences who may never have heard of it? Do we get a peep under the puppet sheets?

You don't just get a peep under the sheets; this show throws back the covers. The puppets talk dirty from the very beginning and get frisky later on. It takes the form of a series of monologues and dialogues, inspired by the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, with characters improvised by the cast and scenes written by me, Mark Down and Ben Keaton. Staged in a verbatim-like way, it's like a cross between Gogglebox and Sex Therapy, which reveals a snapshot of puppet sex in contemporary Britain. Expect a wide range of puppet characters that you'll recognise, some sexual positions that you won't, and plenty of fun. The stories are sometimes funny, sometimes filthy, often embarrassing, and occasionally moving. Just like sex.

Should we leave our inhibitions at the door before we enter the world of the puppets?

You can leave your inhibitions at the door but keep your clothes on! Actually, I hope the puppets will get you in the mood. They are very friendly and there's no desire to embarrass anyone. Although you should expect some puppet nudity and there may even be some puppet sex.

Actually I hope the show creates an atmosphere where everyone is comfortable to relax, laugh, and talk about sex. We were anxious about the subject when we started but we found that in reality in the right environment, puppets love talking about sex. In fact we found it difficult to stop them talking about it. The puppets have an "everyman" quality that makes them very relatable and audiences have really warmed to them. Everyone seems to have a favourite.

Come however you're feeling and expect to be disinhibited when you leave.

What is your absolute favourite part of the show?

I love all the things I do in the show, which is quite unusual, but I think my favourite moment as a performer is towards the end of a scene between puppets Katie and Helen where Helen starts to talk about God. I'm doing Katie and I am never quite sure what Helen is going to say. I don't think Izzy who is doing Helen knows either. The two puppets are very alive at that moment, and they sort of take over. That's when it's very exciting to do.

What's been the most surprising reaction, or comment from an audience member so far?

The most surprising reaction in the London run was two people making out in the back row of the theatre at the end of the show. When they realised the rest of the audience had left they weren't at all embarrassed. They just waved to us as they left and said, "great show guys!" Well they had a good show clearly. I loved that. Could this be the only puppet show that might get you laid?

Wow! That's a selling point! What do you hope the audiences take away from watching Sex Lives of Puppets? What emotions do you want to bring out of them?

I think we really hope that it will encourage people to talk about sex more. We hope they will feel empowered to talk about it more truthfully. I think it's good to laugh about it and be honest about it and enjoy talking about it. The thing I've learned from making and performing this show it is that people are very keen to talk about sex and that there is really no need not to.

Sex can be embarrassing and I think that is normal and fine, but that can also generate shame which is not good. Of course this means that we also need to listen more, and better as well. I hope that it makes people feel positive about sex in all its different forms. And by positive I think I mean kind. Because we need to be good at talking about it. Sex is exciting, it's important, it's fun, and it's ordinary.