SOCK IT TO YA!
If you think you wont get all the jokes in Harvey Finkelsteins Sock Puppet Showgirls without having seen the cult hit film Showgirls on which its based, youre probably right. But it doesnt make that much of a difference. In fact, any audience members who is unfamiliar with the original is probably better off considering that the topless, googly-eyed hand puppet that portrays drifter turned stripper, Nomi Malone is, in many ways, a marked improvement on the acting talent of the movies star and ex-Saved by the Bell-er, Elizabeth Berkeley. Despite its heavily abridged plot, the sleazy, trashy tale of an overly-ambitious, emotionally erratic girl clawing her way to the top of the sin-steeped Vegas showgirl ladder is an offensively accurate tribute to the appeal of the original movie. A lot is packed into its 45-minute duration, and the limitations of its cotton and dralon acrylic blend cast is used to every comedic advantage. While it appears to have forgotten some of its routine halfway through, like a determined pole dancer, its swaggeringly, gutsy bravado will keep you happily engrossed through the final act.
Ace of Clubs, 9 Great Jones (at Lafayette St.), 212-352-3101; Saturdays at 8, $15.