oink

The music steers the mood, a mix of Alfonso de Vilallonga’s jazzy score and a track by Earth, Wind & Fire that’s heard in endless permutations from the full original to a stripped-down, jaunty whistle, like that gag about a butcher who uses everything but the oink.

The playwright and director did not shy away from his trademark expletives or controversy as he spoke about his tell-all memoir, “Everywhere an Oink Oink,” with Times deputy entertainment editor Matt Brennan at USC’s Newman Recital Hall.

Since its inception, the party has fought 76 by-elections and participated in every general election with candidates including R. U. Seerius, The Flying Brick, Bananaman Owen, Mad Cow-Girl, Sir Oink A-Lot and Lady Lily The Pink.

“You know, we sell everything except the oink, is the phrase. So the blood, the fat, the collagen, everything is sold, and it’s sold around the world in response to demand. Every piece of that pig is going to bear the cost, the significant cost, of raising pork the way that California demands.”

Oink, the piglet, makes an indelible mark in not always welcome ways — housebreaking is an issue — and Babs, his owner, has her hands full, especially with a visiting grandfather obsessed with a sausage-making contest.