From Sebastian Milla, a second-year UCLA Sex Squad member:
Someday the UCLA Sex Squad will have a motorcade of seven all fuchsia Escalades that roars down the 405 South blaring “Let’s Talk About Sex” out of roof-mounted subwoofers. Wednesday, however, saw us pack our team into two GMC eight-person vans, painted the colors of swamp and concrete respectively, and shove off to our first performance of the year at King Drew High School. I assure you that the level of enthusiasm, passion, and excitement endured despite the lameness of our rides. Three months of hard work in the writer’s room and the improv stage developing the 2013 Sex Squad Tour had us completely jazzed to show what we had been cooking up.
When we got to King Drew we set about getting our props together and placing custom fliers on the seats of the auditorium. These fliers are a key part of the show because we have designed them to have information on the nearest testing center and various online resources (such as our website and projectula.org). From there is was just a matter of warming up our voices and our bodies before the students walked in and we began the performance.
We opened with a bang, a hip-hop number that showcased the dancers in our group while also spoofing Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” with lyrics describing how we created the tour. From there we built the energy with an electrifying rendition of the Sexophonic Choir’s “The Five Fluids of HIV Transmission” that got the students yelling “SEMEN” and “VAGINAL FLUID” at the top of their lungs. It was awesome. Our piece about a Time Traveling girlfriend that teaches her boyfriend about appreciating his body, his confidence, and even how to put on a condom. We capped the show off with a dynamite parody of One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” called “How to Put A Condom On” and showcased static tableaus that we created to make it seem like the entire bit was a music video. After the show was over we got to meet the students, answer their questions, and just talk to them about their interests.
I really don’t think we could have asked for a better way to kick off our tour and the reaction that we got from King Drew has us pumped for how we will be received for the rest of the tour!
— Sebastian
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The UCLA Sex Squad is part of AMP! — an Arts-based, Multiple-intervention, Peer-education HIV & STI prevention program for Los Angeles high school youth run by the UCLA Art & Global Health Center.
