Roger Prick is a feminist. Roger Prick loves women. Why else would his bestselling, 1970s erotic Guy Blokeman novels feature thoughtful lines such as, “Twelve gorgeous vixens hunger for his cock”? Twelve! You could call him many things: a horny bastard, a Casanova, a sex pest banned from coming within a 500-mile-radius of Gloucestershire, but you couldn’t say he’s not generous.
Wearing Sharpied-on sideburns, a half-untucked shirt, and aviator frames popular amongst perverts and non-binary people, Han Whyte’s drag persona Roger Prick meets us inside his erotic bookshop, where he’s about to launch his tell-all memoir. There’s a gag a minute – Roger would approve – as Whyte’s terrifically fun writing charts our ’70s pornographer’s journey from precocious leery youngin to sleazy Soho entrepreneur, all while bearing the burden of having a massive penis. Yet, a true role model for other aging men accused of misogyny, Roger knows that times have changed. Reading Judith Butler has taught him that “women can be butlers” – and he also understands the Bechdel test so well now that he’ll gladly interrupt a woman in the audience to explain what it is.
Hilariously performed with drawings that strike a perfect balance between smutty and silly, Whyte’s immaculately penned hour feels like a graphic novel in motion; Roger becomes a 3D character making his seedy way through a sexual revolution rendered in simple, gloriously evocative marker pen. With plenty of opportunity to get interactive with Whyte’s illustrations, it’s like we’ve stepped inside a pop-up book – just watch that aforementioned long penis doesn’t poke you in the eye. Roger Prick: Sexopolis is an irresistible invitation to get down and dirty with this lovable, literary lech – and like the many women with humongous breasts he’s pleased in his time, we can’t get enough of Prick.
Roger Prick: Sexopolis, Underbelly Cowgate, until 30 Aug (not 18. 25), 6.55pm