Catapult is a platform founded in 2015 by Elizabeth Koch, with the mission of publishing “stories that celebrate life…Stories that reveal all the layers—the sinews and hairy knuckles, the iron and meat of history and influence…stories that land us squarely, concretely, in someone else’s shoes.” My first essay for the platform was a chance to… Continue reading “Do what you love…” and other canards.
Category: storytelling
Night of the Living Dean @ Bedlam NYC
I was on the bill for this celebration of the life and work of Dean Johnson, in support of an upcoming feature documentary from Lola Rocknrolla. I opened the second set by delivering the Living Dean Manifesto, and then reading excerpts from “Raunch Daddy,” the second story in Worker Names. From the manifesto: There was… Continue reading Night of the Living Dean @ Bedlam NYC
Off the Rocks #21 Reading in Chicago
The reading took place at the charming Charmers Cafe in the Jarvis Square neighborhood of Chicago. The excerpt I read ended with these lines: Something about seeing this aristocratic British man tied to his throne with his own silk had soothed him, like the synchronized click of jail door magnets on multiple strike plates. Behold my… Continue reading Off the Rocks #21 Reading in Chicago
Naked Reading for Filth
For this mash-up of two Club Cumming events, Reading for Filth got naked for Drink and Draw. Sketchpads out! I gave a read-aloud version of my essay on kink published by the Rumpus: …I act out a shadow play of a naked and fearless man confronting the reign of solitude. He wants to see it conquered, and… Continue reading Naked Reading for Filth
Reading for Filth – The Real Big Johnson 2017 – Full Text
(Read at Club Cumming, New York on September 20th, 2017) Our founder Dean Johnson died in Washington, D.C. ten years ago to the day. Some of you here knew him and some of you didn’t so let’s pay tribute! East Village legend. Dean and the Weenies–seminal queercore band. He rocked drag on his tall skinny… Continue reading Reading for Filth – The Real Big Johnson 2017 – Full Text
“Not that I know of” at R4F
On the night of the Summer Solstice, I filled in at the 🌈 PRIDE edition of Reading for Filth at Eastern Bloc. Told the story of being a gay sperm donor in my twenties: Nurse Stern, who was separated from me by a Lucite wall, just like in a money bank, slid a stack of… Continue reading “Not that I know of” at R4F
The Return of Reading for Filth!
Reading for Filth is back at a new venue–– the transitioning Eastern Bloc (soon to be Alan Cumming’s aptly-named venture, Club Cumming). For the 4/26 inaugural reading, I brought “Raunch Daddy” a short epistolary: All is illusion except for your odor, mi norteño. Let me also remind you that it’s quite inconvenient–given my populist and… Continue reading The Return of Reading for Filth!
RISK! Live show in Montreal 8/6
I was cast in the live storytelling event RISK! which is produced and hosted by the balls-out Kevin Allison. The show was at the Theatre Fairmount in Mile-End. Any excuse to visit MTL, NYC’s cooler sluttier older sister who speaks French. Told the story of smuggling my ex across the 49th parallel back in the… Continue reading RISK! Live show in Montreal 8/6
Dominick Reading for Filth
Dominick Reading for Filth is an illustrated chapbook with transcripts from live readings, published September 2013. Available in the US, UK and Europe from CreateSpace at the link. From: “R U Available?” p. 59: I’m willing to put it all out there, to own it, to be my whole self. I’m able to love this person… Continue reading Dominick Reading for Filth