Shannon Noll wasn’t sure what to expect going into top surgery, partially because for so long they thought it would never be possible. But once they got a job with a tech company that offered insurance covering the procedure, they were surprised by some of the choices that had to be made. “They asked me where I want my nipples put back on, and I was like, ‘Does anyone want them not in the normal place?!’”
Ahiers directed and Noll starred as the titular Trash Baby, a mythical garbage-loving creature who appeared in a dumpster after a ray of sun hit a crusty old tampon (hey, she warned you). During the show Trash Baby recounts the filthiest parts of their journey to Chicago, and at one point starts painting pictures of people in the audience using ketchup. “It’s supergross—you can smell the ketchup,” Ahiers says. “They give them this soggy piece of paper of their portrait when they’re done. People were on board for it. It really takes a charming and smart person to make people have a good time during that.”
Adding another visual layer to the story is the use of pixelation, a stop-motion animation technique that combines live actors and, in this case, paper cutouts. Three days of the production’s nine-day shoot were spent on animation, led by pixelation designer Karly Bergmann. Actors lay on a concrete floor with a camera placed directly above them, and Ahiers and Bergmann would reposition their bodies and surrounding paper cutouts just a tiny bit at a time to achieve a stop- motion animation effect. Ripley is prone to fantasy, especially when it comes to her crush on the bagel shop handywoman (Becca Brown); the pixelation scenes are a glimpse into her imagination, where she and her crush swim together underwater and float through space.
Noll first started working on the script two years ago in Michael McCarthy’s writing class at Second City. They chose this particular story because it felt like one other folks could most easily connect to.
It was comedy that gave them the confidence to not just come out, but be out. Noll first started doing improv at 18—originally it started as something to do other than get drunk and watch Strangers With Candy. Once they started, they followed a gut feeling to stick with it; they didn’t know where it would take them, but they knew it felt right. But they soon grew tired of trying to compete with loud improv comedy men to have their voice heard. After coming out, they decided to pivot to stand-up. “My first jokes were about being gay,” Noll says. “My way of dealing with it was acting like I had always been out. I started to find my voice for the very first time.”
Photographer Jon Wes had long been a fan of Noll before they approached him with the idea for the project. He recalls first seeing them perform at Annoyance Theatre with the all-gay improv team Baby Wine and how he immediately appreciated their comedic voice. So when Noll wanted to collaborate, Wes was in without hesitation, even if the details surrounding the project weren’t fully fleshed out (pun not intended).
