The Purple Onion is a great comedy venue, and has been an SF institution for decades. But only in the last week has it had a mascot: a young man dressed as an actual purple onion, walking through North Beach and passing out flyers for the show.
The costume is at once magnificent and completely ridiculous. According to both young men who have donned the costume, it is surprisingly lightweight and comfortable. In addition, it is surprisingly appealing to bachelorette partiers and strippers on their breaks. Tonight, a bride-to-be posed for a photo “licking his bulb” as she put it, while at least one stripper touched at least one testicle while groping under the costume.
I can see how strippers are drawn to the onion. It’s garish, somewhat degrading, and inadequately warm for the chilly San Francisco summer. Like the onion, they consider themselves to have many layers, but in practice those layers consist mostly of flimsy silk. I’m sure the man in the costume often fights the urge to declare, “Hey, my eyes are up here!”.
Both guys enjoyed their shifts in the onion costume, but stressed that they’re only doing it to earn money for school.
