So you’ve just finished your turkey (or your tofurkey, or your anti-turkey-slaughter protest fast), and now all of a sudden a national recession-denial panic is hitting you in the face with obscene retail sales, even more obscenely low gas prices, and people yelling “Ho ho ho!” at you from street corners like they know something about you that you don’t. You’re confused, you’re not quite sure if you want to celebrate or counter-celebrate, and you’re thinking maybe it would just be safer if you ditched everything for the next month and hid under a rock.
We have a better idea. Come to Queer Open Mic instead! It’s right in the middle of the month — just after you finish digesting all that tryptophan, and slightly before you have to meet Aunt Sue for the annual Cheek-Pinching Extravaganza.
And by the way… that whole cold weather thing? Seriously not a problem. Cuz our feature this month is HOT.
About Aimee Suzara…
Filipino-American writer/performer and educator Aimee Suzara uses poetry, theatre and movement to explore themes of home, migration and the body. She was a member of the queer Pin@y arts collective, Kreatibo, whose 2004 play, Dalagas and Tomboys: A Family Affair was awarded a Best Theatre award from Curve Magazine. Her multidisciplinary production, Pagbabalik (Return), was awarded the Zellerbach Community Arts Grant in 2006 and 2007 and she has been published in the NAACP-nominated Check the Rhyme: an Anthology of Female Poets and Emcees(Lit Noire, 2007) and in several journals. Her poetry chapbook, the space between, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2008. She coaches youth and adults in poetry and performance and teaches English at City College of San Francisco and Laney College. Check her out at www.aimeesuzara.net.
So come on down to Modern Times and bring a draft. We’ll warm those cockles right up for ya.
Queer Open Mic
Friday, December 12, 2008
7pm sign-ups, show at 7:30
Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia Street (at 20th) in San Francisco
Due to unforeseen and inarguably significant events, Baruch’s not gonna be able to feature this Friday. But we’ll have him back at the microphone really soon.
And we’ve decided to bring you something EXTRA SUPER DUPER SPECIAL this Friday, to make up for it. All of Queer Open Mic’s hosts, past and present, are coming together to fill your brains with brilliant writing all at once!
Witness the Great Emchy as she dazzles you with nonconsensual heart palpitations and gut-wrenching funhouse mirrors of truth!
Hang onto your hats as the Dark and Mysterious Sherilyn Connelly tosses you about with twisted plots in deviant dimensions!
Try not to blink as the Wicked Sarah Doppmonster contorts tense tales into restraining devices that reach out and grab your feet!
And cackle along as Mollena the Vehement juggles rants and impressions with the skill of a tiger attacking its prey!
Yes, that’s right! This Friday, we’re bringing it all together! A new place, a new time, and all the things you’ve ever loved about QOM but were afraid to write about.
Bring a sharp pen.
Queer Open Mic
Friday, November 14, 2008
7pm sign-ups, show at 7:30
Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia Street (at 20th) in San Francisco
Hey Queercats! Did you miss us? Have you been pining for a good dose of counterculture brilliance and beauty for the last month and a half? Are you longing with deep gutteral moans at night for that ripe dose of good old fashioned sexydeviant spoken word, like mom used to write?
Well put on your combat boots and glitter bracelets, cuz Queer Open Mic is THIS FRIDAY!!!
(I know, I can hardly believe it myself. But it’s true!)
Here’s the skinny:
The feature is Baruch. Baruch is amazing. Seriously.
The venue has changed. We’re now at Modern Times Bookstore. That’s 888 Valencia St (at 20th) in SF.
The time changed, too. Sign-ups are at 7pm with the show at 7:30. GET THERE EARLY if you wanna read. We’re expecting a packed house.
Please bring a $3-5 donation (or don’t, if you’re broke. We understand.)
Sorry for that blip on your entertainment radar. We lost our venue, and it was sad. So sad. But now we’ve scored a fantastic NEW venue! Modern Times Bookstore! ::wild applause and whooping cheers::
Modern Times Bookstore is one of the queerest bookstores in the world. They’re a collectively owned and operated community oasis for books that matter, and their space is delightful. If you haven’t already checked them out, you’ll be blown away when you show up at our next show, which is….
Queer Open Mic featuring Baruch
Friday, November 14, 2008
7pm sign-ups, show at 7:30
Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia Street (at 20th) in San Francisco
NOTE THE TIME CHANGE! Modern Times Closes at 9pm, so we’ll start a little earlier, finish with time to spare, give you some time to buy books, and then shuffle you out to the rest of your delicious Friday evening in San Francisco.
Also note that we’re skipping October, and we’re only having one show per month in November and December (go ahead and write down “December 12th” as our next show, while you’re thinking about it). Depending on how things go, we may keep it to just once a month in 2009, too. If you’ve got some thoughts about this shift, please leave them in a comment below.
If you haven’t already heard, we’re sorry to be the bearers of bad news. The Three Dollar Bill Cafe has closed its doors — suddenly and forever — and now QOM is without a performance space. The 3DB has been a wonderfully generous home for us for four years. We love them dearly, and we’re extremely sad to see them go.
So, first, if you were looking forward to seeing Baruch perform on Friday (like I was), just stay tuned to this space. We’ll keep you posted on the plan.
And second: if you know of a space that would like to start hosting the Queer Open Mic, please leave a comment below or contact me:
sarah at queeropenmic dot com
We’re looking for an easy-to-get-to place in San Francisco where we can give anywhere between 10 and 100 people a good view of a microphone twice a month, preferably 2nd and 4th Fridays. We’re not currently set up to pay any rent or fees for space, but our audience pretty reliably buys food and drink and brings a nice, friendly, sexyqueer crowd.
Help us figure this out!! Help save the Queer Open Mic!!!
This Friday, kick off your kinkyqueer Folsom Street Fair weekend right with the kind of spoken word talent that puts your brain and heart in separate vise clamps and twists them in opposite directions until you cackle out your safeword from a place in your gut so deep it sounds more like a yodel than a cry for help. That’s right. You guessed it. We’ve got Baruch.
About Baruch
Baruch Porras-Hernandez writes poetry that delves deep into the ancestral guilt he feels when feeding his addiction to Taco Bell, his obsession with wanting to be Clive Owen and be in all of his movies and his inability to find a date in the gayest city in the world. Though he’s been writing poetry since the age of 12, he began performing poetry at Open Mics while at Sonoma State University where he received his B.A. in Theater Arts/Drama in 2004. He competes weekly at the Berkeley Poetry Slam on Wednesdays where he’s won second place several times and hopes to win first place very soon, or DIE TRYING! He was born in Toluca, Mexico and grew up in the East Bay.
He recites poetry, does a dance, or a monologue for food, and Martinis. Preferably Martinis.
Come see him perform and join him at the mic!
September 26, 8pm
Sign-ups at 7:30pm
Three Dollar Bill Cafe at SF’s LGBT Center
Edit: The date, time, and location for this show have CHANGED!
Queer Open Mic featuring Baruch
Friday, November 14, 2008
7pm sign-ups, show at 7:30
Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia Street (at 20th) in San Francisco
The Queer Open Mic is turning FOUR! That’s right, we’ve survived our rambunctious touch-everything-and-scream-like-we’re-on-fire toddler years, and are transforming full-throttle into precocious loud-mouth know-it-alls. But first, let’s have a birthday party! And how better to celebrate than to have Vagabondage — a band spearheaded by our venue’s founder Cindy Emch — as our feature?
About Vagabondage
Walking the dirty streets of the big city and the farm towns, Vagabondage sings you tales of lonely alleyways, late night busrides and unfortunate incidents with spicy spicy food. Comprised of a poet, an actor, a storyteller, a ham, a vaudevillian, an accordion player, two guitar players, a kazoo player, and two singers, this duo will sing songs to make you laugh, cry, and raise your glass and sing along.
Check out their last performance at QOM…
Yep! Ain’t no doubt, this night’s gonna make San Francisco one proud momma of an open mic.
So bring your cupcakes and raise your glass!
credits:
Photo: Vagabondage @ 515 Orchard Street - by Katrina James 2008
Video: “Raise Your Glass” by Vagabondage - by Guy Gayle 2008
Join us for a scrumdiddlyumptious Queer Open Mic on August 22, where we welcome Nico Dacumos to the stage!
Nico Dacumos??? THE Nico Dacumos?! Oh, yes, the one and only…..
Nico teaches Special Education in Oakland, California, and is a performer, poet, and writer. He most recently performed for the National Queer Arts Festival in 2007 & 2008 in “Insurgency: Queer Mixed Bodies,” “El cuerpo habla y ensegna,” “Representaciòn,” “Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots, and “Transforming Community.” He has performed at venues such as the Writer’s Village stage at San Francisco PRIDE, Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library, City Lights Books, Galerìa de la Raza, and Highways Performance Space in Los Angeles. Nico also develops workshops exploring race, queerness, sex, and love, which have been presented for UC Davis, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, Sistersong, Georgians for Choice, Body Positive Atlanta, and Femme Conference 2006. This coming October he will tour with the Mangos with Chilis QTPOC Traveling Cabaret. His written work appears in the anthology Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity.
If you feel the urge to wet your purple-glitter-painted whistle even more before the show, you can stalk him at http://nicoelrico.blogspot.com.
Friday, August 8th we’ve got a special treat for you… A Queer Open Mic regular (and certified sexy crowd-pleasing ham)… MARLO GAYLE!!
Ever since he slid out from between his mother’s nether lips 40 years ago in Cincinnati, Marlo Gayle has been obsessed with the ol’ in and out.
He loves to write little smart ass bios that never mention his actual publications because he’s not a sell out.
He also likes to cover his very real vulnerability and sensitivity about his work with smart ass comments like the previous line.
So for this very special first time ever solo feature he’ll expose himself just a little for this very special time.
You can find his stories in Sex Toy Tales (the book and the website), 5 Minute Erotica, Suspect Thoughts, and Fucking Daphne. His photos have appeared on his Flickr.
As Guy, he can be seen in Familiar Men, and Orgasm: Faces of Ecstasy.
As Marlo Davis he can be seen performing in Cubbyholes: Transmen in Action, and the upcoming Couchsurfers 2.
This show will feature special guest host Steven Schwartz and may also include rowdy birthday spankings. You’ve been warned.
August 8, 8pm
Sign-ups at 7:30pm
Three Dollar Bill Cafe at SF’s LGBT Center
This Friday, July 25, the Queer Open Mic is super excited to bring you Natasha Champney, the Purple Cow Poet*!
Natasha is a performance poet who commands attention before the words fall out of her mouth. At 5′11″ with a pink mohawk, this gal/boi scorpio dyke poet is hard to miss. She’s read her social justice and sexual poetry at SF City Hall’s Poems Under the Dome show, and has been published in Sinister Wisdom and The Vinyl Elephant. Natasha writes about visions of chaos, cunts, cocks, bliss, buddhism, injustice, the environment, and other things that go bump in the night.
(She’s also shooting a lesbian vampire film next week and needs goth punk women as extras. If you’re interested, please comment below and we’ll send you her way.)
Come see Natasha Champney, the Purple Cow Poet live this Friday at the Queer Open Mic!
July 22, 8-10pm
Sign-ups at 7:30pm
Three Dollar Bill Cafe at SF’s LGBT Center
*what’s a purple cow poet, you ask? well, there’s really only one way to find out, isn’t there?
And by the way… that whole cold weather thing? Seriously not a problem. Cuz our feature this month is HOT.
Ever since he slid out from between his mother’s nether lips 40 years ago in Cincinnati, Marlo Gayle has been obsessed with the ol’ in and out.