{"id":23531,"date":"2025-02-14T15:36:03","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T22:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/clown-sex-ed-comes-to-sunflower-theater-in-cortez\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:37:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:37:44","slug":"clown-sex-ed-comes-to-sunflower-theater-in-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/clown-sex-ed-comes-to-sunflower-theater-in-cortez\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Clown Sex Ed\u2019 comes to Sunflower Theater in Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=69f535ee-48f2-54a3-a136-71b322b6bf00&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1415\" height=\"1070\" alt=\"Co-writers of the show, Zachary Chiero (left) and Tara Demmy, performing. (Sarah Syverson\/Courtesy photo)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Co-writers of the show, Zachary Chiero (left) and Tara Demmy, performing. (Sarah Syverson\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>Six years ago, two friends were reflecting on sex education and realized something: Their teachings \u2013 and teachers \u2013 were incredibly inadequate.<\/p>\n<p>From there, conversation compounded.<\/p>\n<p>They spoke of sex, relationships, pleasure, intimacy. The kinds of things \u201cI wish I could have told my early 20s self or teenage self\u201d to not feel shame around, specifically in regards to \u201csexual expression and pleasure,\u201d said Tara Demmy, a co-writer and actor in the show.<\/p>\n<p>Demmy and Zachary Chiero, who acts and co-wrote the show with Demmy, were in Philadelphia at the time, in theater together, and brainstorming a new show idea.<\/p>\n<p>It was there that \u201cClown Sex Ed\u201d was born.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an exploration of the very broken sex education system in America and all the hilarious and cringey moments that is provided through the lens of these very naive clowns,\u201d Chiero said.<\/p>\n<p>The clowns are not only naive, they\u2019re innocent. Purposefully innocent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was studying the red-nose theatrical clown. and it\u2019s \u2026 very deeply connected to childhood,\u201d Demmy said. \u201cSo wouldn\u2019t it be great to have these clowns, these really innocent forms, interacting with four sets of teachers during the show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Plus, the clowns resonate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTara and I are both clowns,\u201d Chiero said. \u201cHalf the show is kind of a clown show, with these two clowns kind of exploring their sexuality. The other half of the show is sketches where we play different sex educators.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pair plays parents, gym teachers, a couple of nine and even nuns.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/x237VDklR7w\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Chiero remembered how, in a past show, they were performing as nuns while a thunderstorm roared outside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe nuns are speaking about sex and then suddenly thunder comes in,\u201d Chiero said. \u201cIt was the kind of thing you couldn\u2019t plan, and it stopped the show for two minutes because people were laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Over time, the show has changed and progressed. There\u2019s updated ideas from \u201csexperts\u201d and live music by Conor Sheehan, said Dallas Padoven, the rehearsal director and producer.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, \u201cClown Sex Ed\u201d was in Durango, where all the actors now live.<\/p>\n<p>The show is coming to Cortez\u2019s Sunflower Theater on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. It\u2019s 75 minutes long, and tickets are $20. You can purchase tickets <a href=\"https:\/\/sunflowertheatre.org\/events\/clown-sex-ed\/\" id=\"link-62397efbee4dbaa950c169db1eede9e4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The recommended audience is 18 years and older, but it\u2019s \u201cprobably OK\u201d for a high school student to go with a parent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is sex ed meets circus meets sketch comedy meets live concert,\u201d Demmy said. \u201cIt has a bunch of different elements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going to spoil anything,\u201d Chiero said. \u201cBut there are moments in the show that are actually really going to touch you, and it\u2019s going to make you a bit more introspective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the show, the audience can talk with the \u201csexperts\u201d and\/or submit anonymous questions about sex, intimacy and the like.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image naviga-align-left alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=5b3f0398-3841-58db-91c6-11be46b6a58f&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"752\" height=\"1156\" alt=\"The \u201cClown Sex Ed\u201d flyer posted around town.\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">The \u201cClown Sex Ed\u201d flyer posted around town.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018It\u2019s an exploration of the very broken sex education system in America,\u2019 actor says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78165,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23531\/revisions\/78165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23531"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}