Uninhibited hormones of the most erotic variety are set to flow with abundance from the stage at Strange Matter this weekend. The unmatched barbaric comedy of Air Sex brings a promise of continuous and heartfelt laughter for the ones lucky enough to bear witness. This will be Richmond’s second visit from the national Air Sex Championship, and Chris Trew, host of the show, says that he wants to build on the success of last year. “We’re expecting 10 to 12 people to compete in Richmond this year. Strange Matter is a perfect venue for Air Sex, so we’re really looking forward to it,” Trew said.
The idea for competitive air sex came about when the owner of the Alamo Draft House, Tim League, decided that they needed to improve upon the air guitar competitions they were having in Austin. After Tim and Chris Trew saw a video of a Japanese air sex championship (Japan always has the best ideas, don’t they?) they knew the direction they were going to take the establishment’s evening entertainment. The event has since grown into a nationwide search for the best act of intensely simulated fornication.
If you plan on participating in the championship then limber up and spend the week working on your best O face. Last year's winner, Dustin Correale, had a meticulously planned out performance, from his checkerboard spandex outfit to having the tech guy go crazy with the lights at his songs climax. Dustin said his go to move was “during the second performance where we had to wing it, I ripped my invisible partner's heart out and squeezed her invisible blood all over myself.” This intense Saw-like sadomasochism is not necessary to come out a winner, but I suppose it shows an intensely resolute attitude towards your act.
Correal’s 2012 Air Sex Performance
Don’t worry if you’re a little nervous heading into your air sex performance--Chris Trew says that won't hold you back. “Some people aren’t nervous at all and get up there with the attitude, ‘I just wanna fuck something that no one else can see.’ Then there are some people that were talked into it by their friends, and they’re a little more nervous, but sometimes [the] most nervous person is the one that takes home the championship. Something happens when the flesh hits the fake flesh,” Trew said.
When you manage to overcome the frightening idea of getting up in front of a crowd and ferociously throwing your pelvis around in an attempt to pleasure your imaginary partner, Correale assures that the feeling of taking home the championship makes the nerves worth it. “[Winning was] super intense. I've never been cheered so hard in my life. When the audience was voting for which act would win, I thought for sure the second place act had it, because the cheers were so loud. I didn't think the cheering could get louder, then it got so much louder. Since I couldn't see out of the suit, I had a couple buddies carry me off the stage and back down into the crowd, and I could just feel people’s hands reaching out and touching me as I was carried off. It's a particularly unique experience to be carried blind in a cheering mass of people and suddenly feeling a bunch of unknown fingertips grazing along your body.”
One of the men responsible for bringing Air Sex to Richmond is David Pijor of the Richmond Comedy Coalition. He says that this is all an attempt to bring as many forms of comedy to Richmond as possible. “In addition to producing our own shows, we're always trying to look for awesome and unusual events to bring to Richmond. We did it with the Chris Gethard Show, Battledecks, and now, after a successful debut last year, Air Sex is back for round two. Fortunately, all of these events have been a great success, which says some impressive things about RVA's comedy scene and willingness to go out and watch something different,” Pijor said.
The winner of the championship will be rewarded with an all expenses paid trip to New Orleans, where they will compete in the National Championship show. At this show, the winners from all the cities come together to decide who is the best of the best. Local runners up will receive prizes from the Richmond Comedy Coalition and local sex shops. While Correale says he doesn’t put his win on his resume, he does enjoy the ability to use the phrase “my award winning sex.” So if you feel as though your skills in the sack have gone unnoticed all these years, now is your chance to show the world your “award winning” moves.
In order to compete, you must send your desired stage name and song to Chris Trew. Chris says that your stage name should really say something about who you are. “Let’s say, hypothetically, that you were to compete and you write for a local magazine, and you also have really big balls. In this case you’d want your stage name to be something like Shakespeare’s Ball Sack or Deadline the Ball Sack,” Chris suggested. Shoot your stage names and songs to Chris at christrew@gmail.com, and prepare for the show. It’s going to be held at Strange Matter, located at 929 W. Grace St, on Friday, June, 14th at 10pm. See you there!
For more info, check out the facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/499243000125205