Friday, June 18, 2010 | 5:50 p.m.
A doctor walks into a bathroom...
This is the start of a joke. It's the start of a lot of jokes, actually — a bathroom full of them.
When Dr. Laura Henkel opened the Erotic Heritage Museum, she wasn't content with the more than 17,000 square feet of exhibit space dedicated to art and artifacts about sex and love. She walked into the museum's unisex bathroom and, armed with a marker, wrote two dirty jokes — one with her right hand, the other with her left. The mission: Make it look like two different people had written on the wall and encourage others to start doing the same. Museum staff placed a cup of markers and a sign: "Leave your mark, but no scat please."
To their dismay, participation was sparse. Soon, Henkel began finding jokes and asking people to write them on the walls for her. The museum curator is nothing if not determined.
Critical mass was reached. The writing on the wall skyrocketed, which is to say the walls got so crowded participants began taking to the bathroom's ceiling... and the vents... and the mirror... and the doorframe. Different languages began appearing, as did drawings from international artists. Soon, museum staff took to reminding people to check out the comedic commode during their visit. It is known as the Toilet Humor Exhibit.
When it gets too raunchy (or when phone numbers begin popping up) the staff paints the wall white again and starts over. The current incarnation began around October.
"So much of the museum is about expression," says Amanda Morgan, the museum's events and programs coordinator. The bathroom is the one place where visitors can express themselves in a semi-permanent manner. "We encourage everyone to check it out and find an inch for their own dirty joke."
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