Review: Getting in Bed With the Pizza Man

Katie Folger in Getting in Bed With the Pizza Man (Photo by Patrick Rusk)

If pheromones could talk and were given a public forum to express themselves, it would take the form of Katie Folger’s Getting in Bed With the Pizza Man – a lusty, self-written, one-woman oration on female sexual discovery, exploration, and empowerment.

It’s a one-act play and not a lecture, per se. At least not the kind I remember when matriculating at UT, particularly when the speaker invites – no, insists – that the audience stare at her ass and, later, strips down to a pink bikini bra and shiny hot pants. To make a point, of course, for there are important lessons to be learned and what Folger has to say is smart, introspective, and revealing.

Here she is describing seeing an old crush across a room, which is a hybrid of a Penthouse letter and a Scientific American submission: “I feel something deep, deep in my loins; a skip of glee unseen by the naked eye, perhaps only perceived by high-frequency sonic detection technology accustomed to identifying something as mysterious and cunning as the discovery of the Higgs boson particle itself. The subtle and rather magical clenching of my kegels.”

Getting in Bed With the Pizza Man is an entertaining celebration of sex and transcendent, plague-free orgasms. Lots of them. With plenty of partners. And what Folger has to say is funny as well, for she is an award-winning actress and comedian. She has been a staple in the Austin film scene for years, with credits ranging from Rooster Teeth’s postapocalyptic Day 5 to the El Rey Network series From Dusk Till Dawn. She was seen in indie films Grow Up, Tony Phillips and The Honor Farm, which premiered at South by Southwest in 2017, and recently she was part of a six-month-long sketch comedy season at the Magnet Theater in NYC.

This show originated as a 30-page short story, led to a backyard performance for select guests, and became the focus of a Kickstarter campaign to bring it to the stage. Onstage, Folger is a fierce, confident, engaging storyteller with superb, effortless comic timing and a liking for descriptive detail and heightened prose. Under Matrex Kilgore’s direction, she roams from one plush seat to another – there are three – as she provides the fluid, nonstop narrative for her sexual odyssey. Designers Eric Gerzymisch (lighting) and Lacy Strong (sound) discreetly pave the way.

More randy than raunchy and only occasionally gratuitous, this show is an enjoyable evening out. It’s not family-friendly fare, but on the night of my attendance, Folger’s mom and dad were in the house. As testimony to their good parenting and appreciation for their daughter’s art – not a tssk of disapproval, moan of regret, or sigh of embarrassment could be heard in the audience. Only laughter and applause.

Getting in Bed With the Pizza Man