Tonight: Karen Finley At Rapture

Tonight at Rapture Cafe & Book's closing party: a rare opportunity to see legendary performance artist Karen Finley. 8PM, 200 Avenue A. Free admission!

Karen Finley performs a work-in-progress: Impulse To Suck. Rapture celebrates its final "transition" tonight beginning with a performance of a work-in-progress by the highly acclaimed and controversial performance artist Karen Finley. One of the legendary NEA Four, Finley's work has often been called "obscene" due to its graphic depiction of sexuality, abuse and disenfranchisement. Tonight's piece, is entitled IMPULSE to SUCK, and highlights the recent dramatic descent of our former governor, Elliot Spitzer. Please bear in mind that there is limited seating for this event, so please come early.

Karen Finley was in Albany, New York on March 10 in the Capital for a conference waiting to hear a speech from Governor Eliot Spitzer on Reproductive Health. Instead later that day, Spitzer performed an apology with his supportive, devastated wife standing next to him. Finley will speak about the performance of the apology, the erotic transference of the media’s fixation on Spitzer’s frown and the emotional starring role for Silda. Finley will perform her latest spoken word text which examines the confession, the apology, the imagining of the sexual encounter, the travel of the escort, the compulsion, the immigrant father’s plan for his son to succeed, and to the couples imagined therapy sessions. Looking at the psychodrama in the intimacy of our political leaders, Finley poses to see the agony of the son’s need for approval from the father and the ancient wrestling of the feminine archetypes of mother and whore.

More about Karen Finley. My 2005 Karen Finley story here.

Following Finley at 9PM will be Glenn Marla's Heavy. Free admission!

Each month, during the past year at Rapture, Transqueer performer, writer and artist, Glenn Marla, has been presenting what is, in our humble opinion, simply the best showcase of young, fresh and vibrantly talented performance artists to be found anywhere in this city. It's called "Heavy," and this edition is aptly titled, "Heavy Heart," since this will be Glenn's last appearance at Rapture, and indeed, our final closing night!

Expect stellar performances by: La John Joseph, Dan Fishback, Bryan Heyboer, Max Steele, Sequinette, & much more. We will be drinking up all the liquor in the house during the course of the night, so if you are a drinker, prepare to get toasted. After all, we can't take it with us! Groove to DJ baby K! Glenn Marla was Miss LES 2006, and IS NYC's hottest fat go-go dancer! Onstage Glenn explores, celebrates, and plays with gender, fat, and sex.

More about Glenn Marla.

Final Filth Recap

Big hugs to all my sweet peeps who came out for last night's final installment of Reading For Filth at Rapture Books: Little David, Dr. Jeff, Eddie, George, Chris, Craig, Wolf and everybody else. Thanks to the lesbian performers last night was easily the filthiest Filth that every filthed. (And usually it's the men who talk about fisting and watersports.)

I read The Mommy Box, a story that appeared on JMG in five episodes in late 2004, but was later taken down for another project. It's a story that is very uncharacteristic of my previous shows: tough material, grim resolution. And while it had a moment or two of comic relief, I had a hard time getting through some of it and my performance suffered for it, dammit.

However dark my piece was, the rest of the performers were a riot and I think the audience had a blast. Kudos to Joe Birdsong and his staff for a great run and here's hoping their plans to move Reading For Filth to a larger venue come to fruition. Rapture is having some great events before their April 24th "transition" (closing), so please drop by while you still can. They've got some major performers lined up over the next week or so.

BELOW: I'm throwing the other photo from the night out to tattooed love boy Jonny Tingle (his real name), who opened the show with his hilarious and erotic story Peter & The Wolf. I know you want a pic of Eric Leven too, but he's feeling overexposed on JMG these days. I kid, I kid.

Final Filth: April 16th

Next Wednesday, April 16th, I'll be performing again at Rapture Book's Dean Johnson's Reading For Filth: Queer Writers Read About Queer Sex series. Joining me will be your favorite hairy hottie Eric Leven (left) in our fourth show together.

Sadly, this will be the last installment in the series for now, as Rapture Books will be closing on April 24th. Owner Joe Birdsong has promised to seek other venues for the unique shows that made Rapture a vibrant community space in its mere two years of existence. I'll announce the rest of the show's bill when I know it. Please consider attending.

Filthy Fun

Last night's Reading For Filth show at Rapture was extra fun. Chadwick Moore opened with a strangely compelling story about a disabled boy having gay sex for the first time, Sam J. Miller followed with his tale (NSFW) about a runaway and his much older lover crashing a fancy party, then Eric Leven (pictured below) read his affecting tale of an encounter with a married man.

I opened the second set with an IML story that I'll post this weekend. Next up was Jonny "The Gay Pimp" McGovern of LOGO's The Big Gay Sketch Show, who told of his adolescent hunt for gay porn in the barrens of Sun City, Arizona. The show closed with a couple of bawdy numbers from the hilarious Sherry Vine.

Big props to Rapture Books owner Joe Birdsong for creating (in one year, no less) such a vibrant hub for NYC's queer creatives. Thanks to my JMG'ers for showing up as always. Hey, Justin Bond (of Kiki & Herb) was even there!

More Filth

Wednesday, January 30th, I'll be appearing again at Rapture Books' Reading For Filth: Queer Writers Look At Queer Sex series. Also on the bill that night is Eric Leven and Sherry Vine, with more to be added later. I'll be reading an X-tra filthy new story and will post a reminder next week once the ad comes out.

Next week's Filth (Jan.23rd) features queer rapper Cazwell, Wayne Hoffman, and Mark Sam Rosenthal. Here's Cazwell's latest single with porn star Colton Ford, That's Me. Probably NSFW.

Reading For Filth: December 5th

Next Wednesday, December 5th, I'll be appearing again at Reading For Filth at Rapture Books in the East Village. Other performers will be D-List Radio diva Robbyne Kaamil, Eric Leven, Our Lady J and a "surprise guest". I'm especially excited to have Robbyne on the bill with me, she and I worked together for years at our "real" job, when she put out her hilariously filthy book of poetry, Get Off The Titty. And check at Robbyne's hot dance tracks on her MySpace page. Special note: reading at tonight's show is Edmund White!