Podcast appearances and mentions of Justin Vivian Bond

On this special episode, Little Kids, Big Hearts host Todd Loyd chats with award-winning composer, lyricist & performer Lance Horne

Jess is joined by “All I Want to Do Is Talk About Madonna” co-host Mark Snyder for a 2024 revue of our fave theater, films, concerts and cabaret. Topics: Broadway vs. Off / fringe, film adaptations of Wicked vs. Chicago, Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Sunset Blvd, Joni Mitchell, Justin Vivian Bond, Jill Sobule, London / West End, Natalie Joy Johnson, Gavin Creel, Fire Island, Tracy Bonham, Jonathan Larson RENT doc “No Day But Today” & more! Plus — most enticing happenings in 2025.  IG: @jessxnyc | @marksnyder2024 Jess' docu-series on the history, mystique & lore of Fire Island: Finding Fire Island

In this episode, Vangeline has a conversation with her collaborator Emmy-Award winner Machine Dazzle, discussing their new project "Venus Ex Machina", costumes for MAN WOMAN, life as an artist, and the importance of saying yes. For more information about this new project visit www.vangeline.com and Instagram Instagram: @machinedazzle @vangelinebutoh https://www.vangeline.com/news/2024/8/15/venus-ex-machina-machine-dazzle-and-vangeline Machine Dazzle. Emmy award winner and beloved downtown bon vivant and all-around creative provocateur Machine Dazzle has been dazzling stages via costumes, sets, and performances since his arrival in New York in 1994. An artist, costume designer, set designer, singer/songwriter, art director, and maker, Machine describes himself as a radical queer emotionally driven, instinct-based concept artist and thinker trapped in the role of costume designer, sometimes. Machine designs intricate, unconventional wearable art pieces and bespoke installations. As a stage designer, Machine has collaborated with artists from the New York downtown scene and beyond – including Julie Atlas Muz, Big Art Group, Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, Taylor Mac, Basil Twist, Godfrey Reggio, Jennifer Miller, The Dazzle dancers, Big Art Group, Mike Albo, Stanley Love, Soomi Kim, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Opera Philadelphia, the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, the Curran Theatre, and Spiegelworld; and has created bespoke looks for fashion icons including designer Diane von Furstenberg and model Cara Delevingne for the 2019 Metropolitan Museum of Art Gala. Machine's costumes and sets were featured in Taylor Mac's Pulitzer Prize-nominated A 24-Decade History of Popular Music. A documentary feature film directed by Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein and co-produced by Pomegranate Arts will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023. In 2019, Machine was commissioned by Guggenheim Works and Process and The Rockefeller Brothers to create Treasure, a rock-and-roll cabaret of original songs including a fashion show inspired by the content. Recent collaborations include the Catalyst Quartet on Bassline Fabulous – a reimagining of Bach's Goldberg Variations at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and his debut collaboration with Opera Lafayette, for the historic premiere of the never-before-seen Rameau comedic opéra-ballet, Io. Dazzle was a co-recipient the 2017 Bessie Award for Outstanding Visual Design, the winner of a 2017 Henry Hewes Design Award, and a 2022 United States Artists Fellow. He delivered a TED Talk at TED Vancouver in 2023. Machine Dazzle's work has been exhibited internationally. His first solo exhibition, Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle, was held at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City in 2022. https://www.vangeline.com/ https://www.pomegranatearts.com/projects-and-artists/machine-dazzle https://www.hbo.com/movies/taylor-macs-24-decade-history-of-popular-music

Topics: Catching up, The Meat Hook, Automattic office, Lambchop and Sloppy Heads at Mama Tried, The Cyclone, Totonno's Pizzeria, Liam Gallagher John Squire at Brooklyn Paramount, Fastball at the Mercury Lounge, Neil Young and Crazy Horse at Forest Hills Stadium, Justin Vivian Bond at St. Ann's Warehouse, The Helm Family Midnight Ramble at Levon Helm Studios, Pixies and Modest Mouse at Forest Hills Stadium, Trans Canada Highwaymen at City Winery, Bonny Light Horseman at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Wilco at the Beacon Theater, The Internet Con by Cory Doctorow, Extremely Hardcore by Zoe Schiffer, Burn Book by Kara Swisher, Feel Free by Zadie Smith, The Vanderbeekers series, Filterworld by Kyle Chayka, Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham

San Francisco in the 80s. If you know anything about queer history then you may already know that that wasn't the most joyous of times. And, yet, despite that... despite all that was happening in the world - heightened homophobia, and the really real fear of contracting HIV - people got on with their lives and they found and made joy. And that is exactly what happened for promoter and party producer Daniel Nardicio, who arrived there as a young man escaping small-town Ohio. For him San Francisco represents a period of self-discovery and self-actualisation, and there are lots of joyous memories from that time when he was finding his feet and his voice. We caught up to talk about his early days in the city, wiling away the hours at the lost space Cafe Flore with his best friend (who you may know as the cabaret superstar Justin Vivian Bond). It was a place where they could nurse a coffee, read books, and occasionally snoop through other people's diaries (but you'll have to listen to the episode to find out more about that). Follow me Instagram: www.instagram.com/lostspacespod Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.facebook.com/lostspacespod⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@lostspacespod⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support me Buy Me A Coffee: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lostspacespod⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow my guest Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/the_danielnardicio/ Website: ⁠https://www.danielsbigideas.com/

In the world of downtown cabaret and theater, Justin Vivian Bond is nothing less than an icon.  For more than 30 years, their performances have compelled audiences, initially in small performance spaces and eventually at Carnegie Hall and beyond.  They created their most memorable character while still in their 20's: a boozy, opinionated, aging lounge singer named Kiki Durane, one half (along with Kenny Mellman) of the beloved musical fictional duo Kiki and Herb.  Now known as Vivian, they have taught a lot of us about the trans world, through performance, activism, humor, anger, wisdom…all of it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a word first enters the language, it sounds weird to some, radical to others and comforting to just a few. Only later does it seem 'natural.' So it was with the honorific Ms in the 20th century. So it may be with the non-binary Mx. Today, British banks and utilities routinely give customers the option to use Mx. Will American companies follow suit? And what might Shakespeare have thought? His gender-neutral 'master-mistress,' is arguably more poetic than Mx, but it might be a bit of a mouthful for our times. This episode was reported by Leo Hornak and Nina Porzucki. Music by Stationary Sign, The Freeharmonic Orchestra, Podington Bear, Josef Falkensköld and Silver Maple. The photo of performer Justin Vivian Bond, who uses Mx, is by Rhododendrites via Creative Commons. Read a transcript of the episode here. Sign up for the Subtitle newsletter here.

When a word first enters the language, it sounds weird to some, radical to others and comforting to just a few. Only later does it seem 'natural.' So it was with the honorific Ms in the 20th century. So it may be with the non-binary Mx. Today, British banks and utilities routinely give customers the option to use Mx. Will American companies follow suit? And what might Shakespeare have thought? His gender-neutral 'master-mistress,' is arguably more poetic than Mx, but it might be a bit of a mouthful for our times. This episode was reported by Leo Hornak and Nina Porzucki. Music by Stationary Sign, The Freeharmonic Orchestra, Podington Bear, Josef Falkensköld and Silver Maple. The photo of performer Justin Vivian Bond, who uses Mx, is by Rhododendrites via Creative Commons. Read a transcript of the episode here. Sign up for the Subtitle newsletter here.

Jess is joined by downtown performance legend MX. JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND!  We discuss their origins of as one half of the subversive musical act Kiki and Herb, 90z gigs at Squeezebox and Cowgirl, officiating Rufus Wainwright's wedding and performing on Fire Island with Carol Channing. Plus: Marianne Faithfull, Murray Hill, the Hudson Valley and more! IG: @jessxnyc | @mxviv

I love the energy that Anthony brings to this interview. We talk about his days as a backup singer for Michael Jackson, his critically acclaimed show with Justin Vivian Bond, and he even sings a bit of the Gershwin brothers' “The Man I Love”. Not only am I a huge fan of Anthony, but he gives a great interview, here in the Front Row.Anthony Roth Costanzo is a grammy award winning countertenor who has led opera companies around the world. He has performed on Broadway, done backup for Michael Jackson, and performed alongside Luciano Pavarotti. Anthony is a graduate of Princeton, where he returns regularly to teach, as well as the Manhattan School of Music. He is a champion of new works and has collaborated with countless artists, most recently on the show “Only an Octave Apart” with NYC cabaret legend Justin Vivian Bond. Host: James Whiteside @jamesbwhitesideGuest: Anthony Roth Costanzo @arcostanzoProduced by: RedCircle @getredcircleEdited by: Nate Gwatney @nateleegArt by: Javier Rivets @rivets_artTheme: "A-Flat" by Black Violin @blackviolinAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tony, Grammy, and Olivier Award winning lyricist, director, writer, and conceiver, Scott Wittman co-wrote the lyrics for the hit musical Hairspray (Tony, Grammy, Olivier Award winner) with creative partner Marc Shaiman. Wittman also served as an executive producer on the hit film starring John Travolta.  Scott was nominated for a Golden Globe, Grammy, and two Emmy Awards for the original songs on NBC's musical drama Smash. While working on the show, he co-wrote songs for Jennifer Hudson, Uma Thurman, Bernadette Peters, and Liza Minnelli. Shaiman and Wittman's original score for the Marilyn Monroe musical Bombshell was released by Sony Records.  Scott & Marc's Broadway writing credits include Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, which Scott also directed, Catch Me If You Can (Tony nom. for Best Musical), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Broadway and the West End.  Scott has created and directed two Broadway shows, three studio recordings, and three sold-out Carnegie Hall concerts for Patti LuPone. He has created solo shows for Christine Ebersole and Nathan Lane, as well as writing for Bette Midler's 2015 Divine Intervention World Tour. Off-Broadway, he conceived and directed Jukebox Jackie starring Justin Vivian Bond, Cole Escola, and Bridget Everett at La Mama., and Bridget Everett's Rockbottom at the Public Theatre. His notorious and legendary Downtown shows are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York Marc and Scott also wrote the score to Disney's Mary Poppins Returns starring Emily Blunt, Lin Manuel Miranda, and Meryl Streep. Directed by Rob Marshall. Their song, “The Place Were Lost Things Go” was nominated for an Oscar. He recently joined the Marvel Universe with his song cowritten with Marc for “Rodgers:The Musical for “Hawkeye”. They have written a new musical version of “Some Like It Hot” to premiere on Broadway in the fall of 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://thecitylife.org/2022/12/04/get-in-the-holiday-spirit-at-joes-pub-with-murray-hill-justin-vivian-bond-bridget-everett-justin-hicks-and-more/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/support

If These Walls Could Talk with Wendy Stuart & Tym MossHosts: WENDY STUART & TYM MOSSSpecial guest: JAMES GAVINWednesday, January 26th2pm EST LIVE from PANGEA Restaurant, NYCWatch LIVE on YouTube at Wendy Stuart TVManhattan-born and a graduate of Fordham University, Gavin is a much-published freelance journalist. Aside from the New York Times, he has written for Vanity Fair, Time Out New York, the Daily Beast, and JazzTimes. His subjects have included Annie Lennox, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, John Legend, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Miriam Makeba, Marilyn Monroe, Mae West, Ned Rorem, Edith Piaf, Karen Carpenter, and Jacques Brel. Gavin's 2015 feature for JazzTimes, “The Gates of the Underworld: Inside Slugs' Saloon, Jazz's Most Notorious Nightclub," earned him his second ASCAP Deems Taylor-Virgil Thomson Award. He has contributed liner notes to over 500 CDs; his essay for the GRP box set Ella Fitzgerald – The Legendary Decca Recordings was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 2016, the Metropolitan Room in New York honored Gavin for his contributions to cabaret at an evening programmed by the writer himself. In 2018, the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) gave him its Board of Directors Award.Gavin has appeared in several documentaries, including an E! True Hollywood Story on Doris Day and Anita O'Day: The Life and Times of a Jazz Singer. He wrote and narrated a French TV documentary, Chet by Claxton, on legendary jazz photographer William Claxton and his muse, Chet Baker. Gavin has made hundreds of radio appearances, including multiple interviews on NPR, the BBC, and Australia's ABC Network; he has been seen on the Today show, Good Morning America, and PBS NewsHour. From 2011 through 2017, Gavin toured as narrator, host, and author of Stormy Weather: The Life and Music of Lena Horne, a show that starred former Supreme Mary Wilson. Aside from his Stormy Weather show, he has created and hosted shows based on all his other books, featuring Blossom Dearie, Nellie McKay, Jane Monheit, Mark Murphy, Andy Bey, Mx. Justin Vivian Bond and Kenny Mellman (Kiki & Herb), Spider Saloff, Oscar Brown, Jr., The New Standards, Catherine Russell, Jonatha Brooke, and others. These evenings have been presented at such venues as the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (West Palm Beach, FL), the Miller Outdoor Theater (Houston, TX), the Castro Theater (San Francisco, CA), the Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, MN), and Joe's Pub (NYC).Who else but hosts Wendy Stuart and Tym Moss could “spill the tea” on their weekly show “If These Walls Could Talk” live from Pangea Restaurant on the Lower Eastside of NYC, with their unique style, of honest, and emotional interviews, sharing the fascinating backstories of celebrities, entertainers, recording artists, writers and artists and bringing their audience along for a fantastic ride.Wendy Stuart is an author, celebrity interviewer, model, filmmaker and hosts “Pandemic Cooking With Wendy,” a popular Youtube comedic cooking show born in the era of Covid-19, and TriVersity Talk, a weekly web series with featured guests discussing their lives, activism and pressing issues in the LGBTQ Community.Tym Moss is a popular NYC singer, actor, and radio/tv host who recently starred in the hit indie film “JUNK” to critical acclaim.

Grammy-winning countertenor Anthony Roth Constanzo talks about his unique style and gender-bending repertoire from Phillip Glass' Akhnaten to his collaboration with transgender singer-songwriter Justin Vivian Bond (interviewed by Brian DeShazor). Host Billy Eichner and winners Bad Bunny and Dove Cameron lead the queer contingent at the MTV Video Music Awards! And in NewsWrap: The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court finds the “sodomy” and “buggery” laws of Saint Kitts and Nevis unconstitutional, India's Supreme Court supports legal protections and social benefits for same-gender couples, Belgrade EuroPride organizers say Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had no right to cancel their upcoming event, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals favors religious healthcare professionals' right to refuse trans patients treatment, a Kansas teacher wins compensation for a suspension incurred for refusing to use a transgender student's correct name and pronouns, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro faces jail time on charges related to lies connecting COVID-19 vaccinations to HIV/AIDS, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Joe Boehnlein and MR Raquel (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the September 5, 2022 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

Actor and trans cabaret icon Justin Vivian Bond is in the house!   One of our most beloved icons, Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, is joining us today! They are here to talk about activism, career milestones, their cabaret career, and advice for all the up and coming starlets.    In this episode, Brigitte and Ella discuss wild and crazy hot topics like Music Midtown and the open carry laws in Atlanta, societal collapse, Beyonce's new album, cosplaying at the ball, and more   Good Judy is a podcast about queer art, news and pop culture hosted by two Atlanta queens, Ellasaurus Rex (@queen_ellarex) and Brigitte Bidet (@brigittebidet). Tune in every Tuesday with Brigitte and Ella as they discuss the latest news, chat with very special guests, and crown a Good Judy and Bad Judy of the week.   Good Judy is part of the WUSSY Podcast Network, hosted by WUSSY Mag (@wussymag)   Produced by Jon Dean @jondeanphoto   Podcast Art created by Nick Sheridan @glass.knuckles   Podcast Music by DJ Helix @1djhelix   Donate to our Patreon Page! http://www.patreon.com/goodjudypod   Follow Good Judy Podcast on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/goodjudypod/   Follow Good Judy Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/goodjudypod/

Poz Vibers of the world unite! It's that time of the week when we inject some poz-itivity into your ears. In this episode, we had the pleasure of spending time with, in their own words, ‘warbler, modell, actrice and visual artiste' - Mx Justin Vivian Bond and the unique, colourful and wonderful Timmy Spence. Btw, you can listen to Justin Vivian Bond's latest album ‘Only An Octave Apart' here. We hope you love this episode as much as we do - POZ UP YOUR LIFE! Love, Veda and Robbie. Poz Vibe Podcast is a Veda Lady and Robbie Lawlor production gratefully sponsored and supported again this season by Dublin Pride. Episodes are produced by Esther O'Moore Donohoe with artwork, social media assets and stunning merch all created by the fragrant and talented Lavender The Queen.

Four-time Tony Award-winner, actor, and playwright Harvey Fierstein will be onstage with Justin Vivian Bond in an Oblong Books Event on March 11 at Bard's Fisher Center in Annandale-on-Hudson to discuss his new memoir, “I Was Better Last Night.” The book is out today.

This week, the Virgin Radio Pridecast is back with another episode looking at the LGBTQ+ community's relationship with the music industry… Alex and Shivani will be hearing from legends LP and Adam Lambert on what it means to them to make music for the community, singer Conleth Kane on the reception to his song ‘Proud', and Justin Vivian Bond and Bright Light Bright Light are back, this time talking about the influence of the one and only Sir Elton John… You'll also hear from Alex and Shivani about some of their own musical icons, plus they'll be asking the question of whether non-LGBTQ+ artists can make music which resonates with the community… Finally - you'll hear from Virgin Radio's very own Graham Norton speaking to Steve Denyer about seeing Holly Johnson perform at Pride in Clapham in 1997 - one of the most moving pieces of audio from Virgin Radio Pride…Please note, some of the topics discussed in this episode might be sensitive and/or triggering. For help and support with any LGBTQ+ issues you might be facing, you can contact Switchboard on 0300 330 0630. Alternatively, the Samaritans are available twenty-four hours a day on 116 123. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the Virgin Radio Pridecast, with the BRIT Awards rapidly approaching, Alex and Shivani are delving into the world of music - asking why so many of our favourite music icons are from the LGBTQ+ community, as well as looking at the struggles which many queer artists have to make it in the industry.You'll hear from the legendary Skin from Skunk Anansie on her experiences of being black and gay in the music industry, as well as YouTuber, dancer and singer-songwriter Todrick Hall on his struggle to make his voice heard. There are also clips from singer Justin Vivian Bond on the drive that many LGBTQ+ people have to succeed, as well as Drag Race UK Royalty Bimini Bon Boulash on one of their absolute musical icons; Pete Burns. Finally, you'll also hear from country singer Brooke Eden, who was told she had to hide her sexuality in order to progress in her career…Please note, some of the topics discussed in this episode might be sensitive and/or triggering. For help and support with any LGBTQ+ issues you might be facing, you can contact Switchboard on 0300 330 0630. Alternatively, the Samaritans are available twenty-four hours a day on 116 123. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are back for a new season of Drag Time with Heklina! We have Monique Fauxnique!  Fauxnique is an artist, a performer, a choreographer and a writer. You might know her as the first cis-woman to win a major drag queen pageant. Justin Vivian Bond calls her ‘the Jane Goodall of drag' and you have never heard a Lady Bunny impression as good as Fauxnique's. She has a new book which literally will not stay on the shelves at City Lights Books, which examines a life of performance and recalls some of the more indelible moments of Trannyshack. It's called “Fauxqueen: A Life in Drag by Monique Jenkinson” available January 25th, 2022 from Amble press  or wherever you get fine books, and we love it!  Listen in to this episode to Drag Time to find out why! Support Drag Time with Heklina by contributing to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/drag-time-with-heklina

David Odyssey from  Nylon and the Luminaries podcast stops by to discuss the gay freedom narrative, his 2018 interview with Justin Vivian Bond, Drag Race's blindspots, Paglia's genius and faults, objectivity, identity and cruising, consent, Paris Hilton as America's greatest satirist, The Simple Life, Fran Lebowitz, Wendy Williams, Larry Kramer, money and creativity, Grace Jones, the contradiction of gay celebrity, Quentin Crisp, Dan Levy, Sandra Bernhard, and point of view and freedom. 

The SLC Performance Lab is produced by ContemporaryPerformance.com and the Sarah Lawrence College MFA Theatre Program. During the course, visiting artists to the MFA Theatre Program's Grad Lab are interviewed after leading a workshop with the students. Grad Lab is one of the core components of the program where graduate students work with guest artists and develop group-generated performance experiments. Machine was interviewed by Andrew Del Vecchio (SLC22) and Alex Guhde (SLC23). MACHINE DAZZLE has been dazzling stages via costumes, sets, and performances since his arrival in New York in 1994. Credits include Julie Atlas Muz's I Am The Moon And and You Are The Man On Me (2004), Big Art Group's House Of No More (2006), Justin Vivian Bond's Lustre (2008) and Re:Galli Blonde (2011), Chris Tanner's Football Head (2014), Soomi Kim's Change (2015), Pig Iron Theater's I Promised Myself To Live Faster (2015), Bombay Ricky (Prototype Festival 2016), Opera Philadelphia's Dito and Aeneus (2017) and Spiegleworld's Opium (Las Vegas 2018). With Taylor Mac, Machine has collaborated on several projects including The Lily's Revenge (2009), Walk Across America For Mother Earth (2012) and the Pulitzer Prize-Nominated A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (2016-Present). Conceptualist-as-artist meets DIY meets “glitter rhymes with litter,” Machine was a co-recipient the 2017Bessie Award for Outstanding Visual Design and the winner of a 2017 Henry Hewes Design Award.

The legendary and loquacious DJ Sammy Jo came to my NYC headquarters in 2019 to talk the importance and history of queer NYC nightlife, Jackie 60, Daniel Nardicio, Michael Schmidt's Squeezebox, Johnny Dynell & Chi Chi Valenti, Justin Vivian Bond, joining the Scissor Sisters circus, the birth of Electroclash, Larry Tee, “Top Choppers”, hott garbage, getting banned from the Barcelona W, Click'N'Drag, Matt Dillon's evergreen hotness, bottle service bummers, DJ Nita's secret after hours bops, Mattachine, the brilliance and loveliness of Detox, Faye Dunaway's special beverage service, Club Cumming, and quite possibly Jake Shears

We don't use the term icon loosely. But if singer, actor, activist and author Mx. Justin Vivian Bond (Viv for short) aren't deserving, then no one we know is. As an NYC entertainment mainstay, their stage performances, sultry vocals and searing humor have kept a generation of New Yorkers in check. On this episode of Why Here, they explain what it was like trying to make people pay attention to pronouns decades ago, share how they intend to "sleigh" Christmas this year and respond to the trans-phobia that persists in the media around us. At the end, Viv's co-conspirator Herb joins the chat for a fact check. It's effing good ... and funny. Trust us. 

As this weekend marks the 20th anniversary of “Hedwig & The Angry Inch” hitting cinemas, here's my 2019 chat with John Cameron Mitchell. The Craig & Friends Hedwig Movie Club (featuring Mike Potter, Stephen Trask, Frank DeMarco & Tranna Wintour) is coming soon

Miguel Gutierrez lives in Brooklyn, NY. He creates dance based performances, music and poetry. His work has been presented at Centre National de Danse/Pantin, Centre Pompidou, Kampnagel, ImPulsTanz, Philly Live Arts, Walker Art Center, TBA/PICA, MCA Chicago, ICA Boston, New York Live Arts, Live Arts Bard, AMERICAN REALNESS, the 2014 Whitney Biennial and many other festivals and venues. He has received support from Creative Capital, MAP, National Dance Project, Jerome Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts and the Tides Foundation. He is a 2010 Guggenheim Fellow, United States Artist Fellow, and award recipient from Foundation for Contemporary Art. He is a 2016 Doris Duke Artist. He has received four New York Dance and Performance Bessie Awards. His recent work includes a commission for Ballet de Lorraine in Nancy, France, called Cela nous concerne tous (This concerns all of us), which was inspired by the events of May 1968 in France. He has created music for several of his works, for choreographer Antonio Ramos, and in collaboration with Colin Self for Jen Rosenblit and Simone Aughterlony's Everything Fits In The Room. He has performed as a singer with Anohni, Justin Vivian Bond, Vincent Segal, and Holcombe Waller, has a music duo with Nick Hallett called Nudity in Dance, and he recently launched a project called SADONNA, sad versions of Madonna songs. He invented DEEP AEROBICS and he is a Feldenkrais Method® practitioner. He is the program director for LANDING, a new educational initiative at Gibney Dance Center. His book WHEN YOU RISE UP is available from 53rd State Press. www.miguelgutierrez.org Ishmael Houston-Jones' improvised dance and text work has been performed world-wide. Drawn to collaboration as a way to move beyond boundaries and the known, Houston-Jones celebrates the political aspect of cooperation. Houston-Jones curated Platform 2012: Parallels at Danspace Project, an 8-week series of events that interrogated the intersection of dance makers from the African Diaspora with the aesthetics of Post-modern choreography. In 2016 he co-curated, with Will Rawls, Platform 2016: Lost and Found – Dance, New York, HIV/AIDS, Then and Now that queried the effects that the loss of a generation of artists to AIDS has had on current dance creation. As an author Ishmael Houston-Jones' writing has been anthologized in several books, recently in Saturation – Race, Art and the Circulation of Value, (2020) and Writers Who Love Too Much – New Narrative 1977 – 1997, (2017). Houston-Jones' first book FAT and Other Stories was published in 2018 The recipient of four New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Awards, Houston-Jones' work has received support from: The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2018; The Herb Alpert Awards in the Arts, 2016; The Doris Duke Charitable Trust, 2015; and The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, 2013. Ishmael Houston-Jones is an adjunct professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts' Experimental Theater Wing and a master lecturer at The University of the Arts (Philadelphia) School of Dance. www.batesdancefestival.org

Singer-songwriter extraordinaire Bright Light Bright Light sits down with actor and songwriter Justin Vivian Bond to take on Virgin Radio Pride's Queer Question Challenge! No topic is off-limits as the two chat about their personal soundtracks to coming out and the time Bright Light Bright Light went for dinner with none other than Kate Bush and Elton John!Please note, some of the topics discussed in this episode might be sensitive and/or triggering. For help and support with any LGBTQ+ issues you might be facing, you can contact Switchboard on 0300 330 0630. Alternatively, the Samaritans are available twenty-four hours a day on 116 123. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is a legend — the amazing Justin Vivian Bond, or just Vivian — an actor, singer, performer, icon. You may recognize their name from the act Kiki and Herb, or from performances ranging from La MaMa to Carnegie Hall, or from collaborations with Jake Shears, John Cameron Mitchell, and Rufus Wainwright. Vivian knew they wanted to be a performer from an early age, and their journey to the stage was an adventure that brought them from a small town to experimental theater in San Francisco and New York to international acclaim — and now, a new project about to debut.We'll have that conversation in a minute. First, I want to let you know that I've got a new video coming this weekend — join me Sunday June 6 for a livestream and brand new video about the John Waters and his Trinity of Trash, three early films that changed the face of film. That's at YouTube.com/mattbaume.And just a quick reminder that I've got a little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I'm working on. Sign up for that at mattbaume.com.Also a big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris on Patreon. And to everyone who's reviewed it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

Have you always wondered how a performer thinks? Or perhaps you have secretly considered yourself a performer looking for a place to happen! This episode we have the pleasure of chatting with Monique Jenkinson, aka the multifaceted, always complicated and definitely delightful Fauxnique, the first cisgender woman to win a drag queen pageant. She has toured the world with her many amazing shows including "The F Word." She chats with us about artistic expression, her process and how her winding path led her from ballet, to international recognition to her forthcoming memoir.  You can learn more about Fauxnique at www.Fauxnique.netView some of her performances here  or on Vimeo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I am an artist, performer, choreographer and writer. I made herstory as the first cis-woman to win a major drag queen pageant and subsequently my solo performance works have toured nationally and internationally in wide-ranging contexts from nightclubs to theaters to museums — from Joe's Pub, New Museum and the historic Stonewall in New York City, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, ODC Theater, The Stud, CounterPulse and de Young Museum in San Francisco, and in Seattle, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Provincetown, London, Edinburgh, Berlin, Zürich, Paris, Reykjavik, Rome, Catania and Cork.I have created space for kids to dress drag queens at a major museum and created college curricula. I played the DIRT (originated by Justin Vivian Bond) in Taylor Mac's Lily's Revenge and Eurydike in Anne Carson's ANTIGONICK. I engaged in public conversation with Gender Studies luminary Judith Butler and RuPaul bestie Michelle Visage within days of each other. I am currently writing a memoir.Honors include residencies at Headlands Center for the Arts, Tanzhaus Zürich and Atlantic Center for the Arts, an Irvine Fellowship and residency at the de Young Museum, GOLDIE and BESTIE awards and 7X7 Magazine's Hot 20. I have been nominated for the Theater Bay Area, Isadora Duncan Dance (IZZIE) and Herb Alpert Foundation awards and have received support from San Francisco Arts Commission, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, CHIME, Center for Cultural Innovation and the Kenneth Rainin and Zellerbach Family foundations.Artist StatementMy work exists at the crossroads of Cabaret and Contemporary Dance and considers the performance of femininity as a powerful, vulnerable and subversive act. I emerged out of a feminist, postmodern, improvisational dance and choreographic lineage, and grew toward a tradition of radical queer performance that uses decadence and drag both to entertain and transcend. My practice of feminism celebrates glamour as masterful artifice, and my intimacy with both the oppressive and empowering effects of feminine tropes allows me to create a zone of play from which I make my particular critique.Since 2003 I have been deeply engaged in an ongoing performance project, my drag queen persona Fauxnique. As a lens through which I magnify my artistic concerns, Fauxnique typifies and expands the evolution of drag-based performance and furthers the feminist line of inquiry in my work. As Fauxnique, I approach the established tradition of the drag lip-sync as a dance in its own right, and bring to it the rigor of my dance training. I am on the vanguard of what is now a common practice: museums and larger institutions embracing nightclub culture as queer history and contemporary art practice. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Julie and Casey sit down with legendary San Francisco dancer and drag performer, Monique Jenkinson, aka FAUXNIQUE to talk about performing femininity, both through drag and not, finding authenticity through practices of artifice, and the journey of a Good Dance Student to nightclub performer, and get some San Francisco Dragucation.  *Note- we use the “c***” word a LOT in this episode, so take care for sensitive ears. TOP TAKEAWAYS Drag is not (just) men in heels—it’s a rich, smart, funny, scrappy performance tradition that uses the body and artifice to access larger themes. Other kinds of drag performance of femininity include the good girl persona, and the world of ballet. Your curiosity is a prelude to discovering your wants- conditioning can make wants hard to identify, curiosity allows you to find them, lose them and find them again. Owning your curiosity, desires, and wants is crucial Practices of artifice can be a version of authenticity Balance is the answer to binaries—balance allows for dynamic movement and change between points. Your strut is the embodiment of your energy as you enter a space, whether that is virtual or physical, and being with your right to be seen with the willingness to contribute what you have. Please join us next week for a Strut Workshop with Monique 4/28 4pm PST/7pm EST.  Details are HERE:  https://vitalvoicetraining.com/labs Find Monique at fauxnique.net ODC June Performance:  https://www.odc.dance/festival Other People and Events Mentioned in the episode: Heklina:  https://www.dragtimewithheklina.com/ Juanita More https://juanitamore.com/ TrannyShack https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468563/ Prince “Cream” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468563/ PJ Harvey Sheela Na Gig: https://youtu.be/Sjxr_No-yuY Ana Matronic and Scissor Sisters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scissor_Sisters About Monique Jenkinson: "I am an artist, performer, choreographer and writer. I made herstory as the first cis-woman to win a major drag queen pageant and subsequently my solo performance works have toured nationally and internationally in wide-ranging contexts from nightclubs to theaters to museums — from Joe’s Pub, New Museum and the historic Stonewall in New York City, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, ODC Theater, The Stud, CounterPulse and de Young Museum in San Francisco, and in Seattle, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Provincetown, London, Edinburgh, Berlin, Zürich, Paris, Reykjavik, Rome, Catania and Cork. I have created space for kids to dress drag queens at a major museum and created college curricula. I played the DIRT (originated by Justin Vivian Bond) in Taylor Mac’s Lily’s Revenge and Eurydike in Anne Carson’s ANTIGONICK. I engaged in public conversation with Gender Studies luminary Judith Butler and RuPaul bestie Michelle Visage within days of each other. I am currently writing a memoir. Honors include residencies at Headlands Center for the Arts, Tanzhaus Zürich and Atlantic Center for the Arts, an Irvine Fellowship and residency at the de Young Museum, GOLDIE and BESTIE awards and 7X7 Magazine’s Hot 20. I have been nominated for the Theater Bay Area, Isadora Duncan Dance (IZZIE) and Herb Alpert Foundation awards and have received support from San Francisco Arts Commission, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, CHIME, Center for Cultural Innovation and the Kenneth Rainin and Zellerbach Family foundations."

Hello and Welcome to this weeks episode of The Queerience! This week I`m joined by Gabriel Harlan (he/him/she/her). Gabriel has spent the last three summers, on the gay beaches on the east coast. He's the only person of color, in recent history, to work full-time on fire island and in Provincetown, consecutively. What started as a survival strategy, after being fired from a restaurant, turned into an opportunity to work with gay icons like Lea Delaria, Justin Vivian Bond, and BenDelaCreme. As Chief Curator of Hospitality for a Provincetown based event production company, Gabriel is proud to use his position to elevate and employ fellow queer people of color. Follow him on Instagram: @gabegabrielgoeshard Bespoke Soirèes New England Follow Queerience! @thequeeriencepodcast thequeeriencepodcast@gmail.com Ways to support the AAPI Community Follow: @ihollagram, @advancingjustice_aajc @aapiwomenlead @stopaapihatenyc @aapiproogressiveaction --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-queerience/support

Jeffrey Whitty has written the books for several stage musicals including Tales From the City, Bring It On:The Musical, and the smash hit Avenue Q for which he won the 2004 Tony Award. He is also co-author of the screenplay for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. In addition to his writing, Jeffrey is an accomplished actor and appeared in the films Lisa Picard is Famous and Shortbus, written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell.

We have the legendary Kiki DuRane AKA Auntie Glam, that's right... it's Justin Vivian Bond! She tells us all about filming her holiday special "Oh, Mary" at the legendary Joe's Pub (sans audiences). Viv and Heklina recollect sharing stages in San Francisco and then Mx Viv gives us a pretty jarring (canning?) account of Heklina's first ever drag performance... Marc is not sure if we should include a trigger warning: it involves creamed corn. We remember the recently departed Bambi Lake. Then, Viv regales us with stories about Eartha Kitt and Bambi Lake. We find out about the Bambi-Lake-inspired San Francisco origin story of Kiki and Herb's Kiki DuRane and all about the masterclass Eartha Kitt gave Vivian Bond on being absolutely glamorous and perfectly political. "Golden Age of Hustlers" is written by Bambi Lake and performed by Justin Vivian Bond. The song is featured with permission from Justin Vivian Bond. Support Drag Time with Heklina by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/drag-time-with-heklina

This week we're continuing our Albums of 2020, and this time we're visiting Fun City with Bright Light Bright Light. Released in September, BLBL's fourth studio album saw him joined by a whole host of LGBTQ+ guests, including Andy Bell, Jake Shears, Justin Vivian Bond, The Illustrious Blacks, and so many more. Let us know your thoughts @trackbytrackuk

Mike visited Craig at his NYC AirBnB in July 2019 to talk creating the look of Hedwig, “Soapdish”, coat check at The Cock, Don Hill’s, the magic of Michael Schmidt & his legendary Squeezebox party, Miss Anna Gosley’s Beauty Emporium, gardening for Julie Andrews, making wigs for JT Leroy, working with John Cameron Mitchell & Stephen Trask, Asia Argento, shooting a John Waters fashion spread in Rikers Island, Justin Vivian Bond, making the film version of “Hedwig & The Angry Inch”, living in NYC, and MORE! This series is brought to you by https://www.patreon.com/CraigAndFriends  Sign up for hours and hours of exclusive content, Bonus Episodes, Movie Clubs, weekly Zoom meetups, and much more! And by doing so you support this show! https://www.instagram.com/craigandfriendspod For ways to help fight the fascists and support Black Lives Matter & Black Trans Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co https://blacktranslivesmatter.carrd.co

Thanks for listening! Visit the deluxe show notes with links to Rod's music and his artist recommendations at http://penfriend.rocks/brightlightbrightlight and get two free Penfriend tracks when you sign up.-Bright Light Bright Light is the moniker of Welsh-born, NYC living Rod Thomas, a singer, songwriter, producer, DJ and fully independent artist. A pop culture geek, his songs are inspired by 80's/90's cinema (hence the name), video games, TV moments and dance sequences. He's worked with Sir Elton John, Scissor Sisters, Alan Cumming and Erasure, and toured with Cher. His forthcoming album "Fun City" is a love letter to the LGBTQ+ community and features a long list of incredible LGBTQ+ collaborators including Andy Bell, Jake Shears, Justin Vivian Bond and Madonna's iconic backing singers Niki Haris and Donna De Lory.-This podcast is supported by Arts Council England and The National Lottery and powered by my Correspondent’s Club http://penfriend.rocks. Grab two months of free Skillshare classes on me - visit http://penfriend.rocks/skillshare for more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Neil discusses the pleasure of medical touch. Designer/entertainer Isaac Mizrahi consoles us that at least Stephen Sondheim isn't the best bridge player. ABOUT THE GUEST Isaac Mizrahi has worked extensively in the entertainment industry as an actor, host, writer, designer, and producer for over 30 years. He is the subject and co-creator of Unzipped, a documentary following the making of his Fall 1994 collection which received an award at the Sundance Film Festival. He hosted his own television talk show The Isaac Mizrahi Show for seven years, has written two books, and has made countless appearances in movies and on television. Mizrahi has directed productions of A Little Night Music and The Magic Flute for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and has also performed cabaret at Café Carlyle, Joe’s Pub, West Bank Café, and City Winery locations across the country. He currently serves as a judge on Project Runway: All-Stars and his memoir, I.M., was published in February 2019. ABOUT THE HOST Neil Goldberg is an artist in NYC who makes work that The New York Times has described as “tender, moving and sad but also deeply funny.” His work is in the permanent collection of MoMA, he’s a Guggenheim Fellow, and teaches at the Yale School of Art. More information at neilgoldberg.com. ABOUT THE TITLE SHE’S A TALKER was the name of Neil’s first video project. “One night in the early 90s I was combing my roommate’s cat and found myself saying the words ‘She’s a talker.’ I wondered how many other gay men in NYC might be doing the exact same thing at that very moment. With that, I set out on a project in which I videotaped over 80 gay men in their living room all over NYC, combing their cats and saying ‘She’s a talker.’” A similar spirit of NYC-centric curiosity and absurdity animates the podcast. CREDITS This series is made possible with generous support from Stillpoint Fund, Western Bridge, and the David Shaw and Beth Kobliner Family Fund Producer: Devon Guinn Creative Consultants: Aaron Dalton, Molly Donahue Mixer: Fraser McCulloch Visuals and Sounds: Joshua Graver Theme Song: Jeff Hiller Website: Itai Almor & Jesse Kimotho Social Media: Lourdes Rohan Digital Strategy: Ziv Steinberg Thanks: Jennifer Callahan, Larry Krone, Tod Lippy, Sue Simon, Jonathan Taylor TRANSCRIPTION NEIL: Isaac Mizrahi, thank you so much for being on She's A Talker. I really appreciate it. ISAAC: So happy to do it. NEIL: I'm curious, today, May 15th, what is something that you find yourself thinking about? ISAAC: May 15th. I think about, of course, I think what everybody else is thinking about at the moment. Like, what the hell is going on? Really! What the hell is going on? It's so scary. Like, I was looking at Instagram, I follow this one dancer, this one beautiful dancer called David Hallberg. I love him, he's an old friend of mine. Anyway, so I was following him and I was looking at pictures of him dancing on stage in a costume with other dancers thinking like, “Excuse me? Will we ever get to go to a theater again?” I know that's really what I'm thinking. A lot about theater and how much I love theater, opera, ballet. So that's what I'm thinking about. I'm thinking about David Hallberg in tights. NEIL: That's inspiring. ISAAC: I know. Never will I ever see David Hallberg in tights again. NEIL: May it be soon. May it be soon. ISAAC: I know, may it be soon! Exactly. NEIL: So that's what you're thinking about on May 15th. Do you have kind of like a recurring thought that seems to return to you? ISAAC: You know, I gotta say the recurring thing that I think about, especially in May, is my dog who died on May 12th, 2016, right? Since May 12th, I've been thinking about my first dog called Harry. My screen saver on my phone is still Harry and Dean, who we got, I don't know, six or seven years later. We got a second dog called Dean. And Dean is still with us. And he's aging now. I'd say he's like 14 or 15, and we have a younger dog named kitty. (dogs barking) Oh, there they are on cue! That's funny. All right, Dean, relax. He's a beagle mix so he’s very talkative. NEIL: I love it! Well, it's perfect for the podcast called She's A Talker. ISAAC: I know! She's A Talker! She's A Talker! And it's so funny because kitty, the bitch, is not a talker at all. She rarely opens her mouth. I was going to say that I was thinking about my screensaver and then I was thinking about, Jesus, when he goes, right, I don't know when that's going to happen, five years from now or seven years from now. When he goes, what would my screensaver be? To me, that screensaver is the truth of my life. It's those two dogs together in this house, in Bridgehampton. I have to say, like, I don't have a big fabulous mansion in Bridgehampton. I have a shack that I love! That's my home! And I've been here since the middle of March thinking, “Do I care if I ever see my apartment again?” Which is fabulous, the third-best apartment in the whole city or something, you know? And I keep thinking like, “Do I need to see that place again?” No, I would rather just be here now. But I think a lot about the dog situation! Like, when Dean goes does that mean that my screensaver has to change? Right? Because the truth of my life, the truest moment of my life is being here with Dean and Harry, even though he's still not here. Isn't that weird? His ashes are here. Harry’s ashes are on my shelf, in the den. I know it's a little morbid. Did we expect for She's A Talker to get so morbid today? NEIL: Oh, I'm fully prepared to go there, and also that doesn't feel morbid at all! That feels comforting. And it's interesting, you know, the show is based on these index cards I've been writing down over the years and one of the cards, I can't remember it exactly, is something about the different durations of our pets lives and our own lives. It creates a kind of musical counterpoint in that, you know, my partner is 12 years younger than I am, my husband, and my cat is five years and together we're all operating on these different lifespans. It feels somehow musical to me. ISAAC: Right. You know, I often think, especially, like, I've been writing more and more— I know this sounds insane to you probably. (dog barking) It sounds insane to Dean, but I've been writing a novel. I finished at the Carlyle February 8th or something like that. Then I had like four days off and I felt like, “Okay, what am I going to do?” I feel I’m in postpartum depression, I have to start something. So I started writing this novel that I've been taking notes about and thinking about for 30 years or something. And the more I think about writing, the more I think about what you're saying, which is if you stories going on, if you have simultaneous stories going on, you know the characters affect each other in this way. So the timeline you're talking about, I often think about that. And especially now. Like, you know, my husband and I are not cohabitating through this. My husband is in the city. He preferred to shelter in the city. I couldn't face it. I couldn't do it. NEIL: Yeah. ISAAC: Anytime I talked to him on the phone, I think to myself this thought that you're saying. This timeline thing, this emotional timeline of what's going on in his life. Because he has this whole other 90% of something else that's going on. You know what I mean? Like we think that's going along in parallel lines, but it isn't, and yet it works. My husband and I, we have separate bedrooms and I feel like we need that for a lot of different reasons. And we're comfortable. Like, I always kind of spoke about the fact that I was an insomniac and that's what kind of prescribed the separate bedroom thing. But it's not so much about that as much as, like, really sort of standing for the fact that we have separate lives, you know? I mean that. That's a really, really important part of our partnering. NEIL: Next card is— I'm going to mention this person's name and maybe bleep them out. It's really within the context of adoring their work, but— How the third story in ****’s latest collection is a little bit disappointing, but that feels like a relief from the relentless virtuosity. Do you ever have that feeling about like where something is so masterful, where it falters a little bit it's almost like— ISAAC: And you go like “phew,” yes. Thank goodness they're human. I have, but I can't think of any real examples of it. I will tell you I'm sort of friends with Steve Sondheim, right? Literally, he has never written anything bad. Like you can't find anything bad. But I played Bridge with him a long time ago. We used to play bridge and he wasn't the best bridge player. And that made me feel a little bit better. NEIL: Another card says: The technical differences between a performer being naked versus wearing a bodysuit; How that probably gives rise to a lot of fetishes. ISAAC: What a hilarious question on so many levels. That is a hilarious thing to ask. Dance belts, thongs, sports bras... Talk amongst yourselves, right? That's basically what you're doing. I think that people go to see dance shows not merely because it's an incredible art form or it's beautiful, but also because they're horny and it's like a sexy thing. NEIL: Of course, yeah. ISAAC: It's a really sexy thing to watch people dance. You see like body parts jiggling, you see butts, you see titties, you see, like, baskets on men. The weights of these things. I do. Of course, you can scream, you can laugh at me, but I swear, like, a large percent of what I have been doing all these years is that. You know, when I see a woman with beautiful legs and a tutu, I go like, “what?” You know, your legs just can't look any better than if you're wearing a tutu and pointe shoes. It just doesn't get better. Sometimes I design short short short tunics for boys so that when they fly up you get to see the flesh color dance. I mean, like, I just do because I'm a pervert and also because it’s beautiful! NEIL: Oh absolutely. ISAAC: It’s beautiful. But, by the way, you know, there've been times where I go like, “Oh, wouldn't it be great if this was naked?” You know? And, you know, it wouldn’t because then it's not about anything but the bodies, you know what I mean? Like, yes it’s all about the body, but it's not just about-— it's not only about a body. I rarely like naked dancing. There was one show I saw when I was a kid that I loved that was, oh, what's her name? It was Garden of Earthly Delights. That wonderful choreographer I can't remember. But they were all naked and I loved it. It was a great show. Cause it was set in the Garden of Earthly Delights! But yeah, I don't love nudity on stage. I never think it really has a place except to shock people, you know? NEIL: Mhm. But your talking makes me realize that something about— in a way it's about abstraction. You know, the bodysuit creates almost an abstraction of the body. Is that it? So you're not getting, like, balls and cock and ass and tits or et cetera, but you are— ISAAC: Yeah, maybe so! To me, the figurative is stronger than the literal. I don't know. I always feel like it's kind of a let down when you see someone without their clothes. NEIL: Absolutely. ISAAC: And I don't think it's an abstraction of a body. I think it's a kind of leveling of the body, and it's the best way to see the body. Sometimes I think the only great costume is a leotard. And the more I work as a costume designer, which I don't really do that much, I work with Mark Morris. Still, it's really interesting to me because we're really, really close friends. We're best friends. So it's really interesting for me to do that. I always love rehearsal clothes better than any costume you could possibly come up with anymore. It makes me focus better. Does that make sense? NEIL: Did you see that recent Cunningham documentary? ISAAC: Yes, I did. NEIL: The balance so many of those costumes struck between— You know, they were often bodysuits, but adorned and decorated. ISAAC: I was actually gonna bring up Merce because, you know, usually it was some kind of a bodysuit. I'm a huge Merce Cunningham fan. I loved that stuff so much growing up. I was there so often and, by the way, not liking it and not understanding it a lot too. It never stopped me from going. I kind of went so as not to understand everything. I didn't want this feeling of understanding when I went to see Merce. I wanted to be immersed in something. Almost like being immersed in your own organs or something. It's like the insides of your own body that you're looking at. NEIL: For me, Merce— I have such a similar relationship to the whole cognitive experience of watching Merce and not getting it. I almost feel like it's about a type of productive spacing out. Like, the ways in which I don't connect or the way it throws me back into my mind by virtue of not getting it is a productive space. Is that part of what you're saying, perhaps? ISAAC: Absolutely! Yes, 100%. One of the things I don't think a lot of choreographers answer is the question: Why the hell are we here? You know what I mean? Why are we here? Right. A lot of choreographers don't do that. Some of the best. And it bugs me. I can't work with them unless they can answer that question. And with Merce, the question doesn't even arise. You are there because you are there. To me, it transcended everything. I mean, that music, that idea about what art is, I mean, to me, it's what it is. And you know, for a long time, my favorite movie was 2001: A Space Odyssey because of the attraction and because of the wonderful coming together of this kind of futuristic look at something and this ancient look at something. Monoliths and space people and ape-men, et cetera. I thought it was this incredible thing. And then I saw it again and you know what? It didn't really age that well. I have to say it didn't stay with me. And if you look at Merce it not only ages well, it's just the most beautiful damn thing. It's as beautiful as anything you will ever look at. NEIL: I so agree. ISAAC: Graham doesn't age that well, does it? It's like a little drama. It looks great out of costume. If you ever get a look at Graham in rehearsal out of the costumes, it looks so beautiful. It looks so beautiful. NEIL: That makes sense because it adds to the melodrama, the costumes. ISAAC: Merce was just doing it all without costuming. You know, you look at some of the pivots, and some of the flexing, and some of the arched back, and that kind of deep, deep plié, and the relevé, everything on the relevé never touched. It's Martha Graham only without costumes and on steroids and an abstract— no subject matter, no story, nothing. You know? NEIL: Yeah. Yeah. Product placements: the kind of psychic work you have to do to get past them. How do you connect to that, if at all? Like when you're watching a TV show or a movie and you see— “Okay, there's that Coke.” ISAAC: Yeah, exactly. Right. You know, I think they're doing a really good job because I notice it less. You know? I notice it less. You know when I notice it? Is on, like, Ellen or something. Like talk shows? NEIL: Interesting. Uh-huh. ISAAC: I notice it a lot. You know, it's like, “Oh, who made that deal to use that spatula on the cooking segment?” You know what I mean? That's when I think about it. In the movie, I don't exactly think about it unless there's a giant product name. I don't know why, but it doesn't bother me. And I feel like they're doing a good job or something. They're doing a good job. NEIL: Well you know they're measuring it. God knows. ISAAC: I know. Or else I'm getting callous and I don't care or something. I don't judge a show by its ability to place a product without notice. But at a talk show, it's like, well, of course it's about— that's all it's about. Why else are you watching the talk show right now? It's to plug someone's new movie and someone's new spatula. Right? That's the only reason to have a talk show. NEIL: Do you have a favorite spatula? ISAAC: I do actually. My favorite spatula is an OXO Good Grips spatula. NEIL: Absolutely know what you're talking about. ISAAC: I love it. NEIL: I know you're into astrology and see, for me, I feel like, as a hardcore four planets in Virgo, that the spatula is the Virgo tool. ISAAC: Yes it is. You know I have a Virgo ascendant. Yes, NEIL: Yes. you're a Libra. Right? If I remember correctly? ISAAC: Yes, a Libra with a Virgo ascendant. NEIL: As a Libra, does your choice in kitchen tools connect at all to your— ISAAC: A few things. A few things that I adore. I have the best ice cream maker in the fucking world, it’s huge! And it makes basically a cup of ice cream, but it does— It's so great. When you turn it on the whole house vibrates and you know this ice cream is being churned. And I loved it so much I got another one for the city. So now I have two of these babies and I feel so rich. I feel like I’m a rich person because I could afford two ice cream makers, you know, like, of such quality. And then the other thing I have, which is so special and I love it: if you go on my Instagram page— speaking of product placement, Isaac Mizrahi! Hello? Hello!— So the thing is that I did this cooking segment. I made this really good pasta with— NEIL: With pork! I saw it! ISAAC: Yeah, exactly. And I have this wonderful sausage smasher. It smashes the sausage really effectively NEIL: Sausage smasher sounds like a euphemism somehow. ISAAC: Doesn't it? It sounds like something you would— like a terrible thing you call someone. NEIL: Okay. Another card is: I always feel the gesture of holding something away from my eyes to read it because I'm not wearing reading glasses somehow looks cool. Like I do it in front of students, but of course, it looks just the opposite, but I still haven't let go of it. ISAAC: No, you mustn't do that. You mustn’t. That ages you so much. You know what else ages you? If you wear glasses and, at some point, you look over your glasses to see something. NEIL: Oh, don’t do it. Don't do it. ISAAC: I remember, I'm not gonna mention any names, but I worked for an older designer at a time and he used to look over his glasses and I was like, “You're so old.” I came close to saying it to his face once. Like, you gotta stop doing that because it's just so aging, you know? Don't do it! Do not do it. NEIL: I'm thinking of your life in cabaret, this other world that you occupy. So how I wrote it down on the card is: The connection between camp and paying the check while performers are still singing at Joe's pub. And I know it's the cafe Carlisle as well. I remember seeing Justin Vivian Bond breaking my heart with a song, but, at the same time, the server is coming or I'm doing that tip. And somehow navigating that mental space between being moved by something on stage, but also having to negotiate this transaction feels like the essence of camp. ISAAC: You know, I honestly, and especially after that exhibit, shall we call it, last year at the Met called Camp, I don't know what the hell camp is. I always thought I knew what camp was and I always kind of understood that people associated a certain amount of camp with me because I embrace it. I do love camp but I don't know what it means anymore. You know? NEIL: Yeah. ISAAC: And so all I can say to you is I would never associate the word camp with the confluence of those two things happening at once. Like, you know, on stage singing a heartbreaking song with the fries coming and paying a bill. That's not, to me, campy. To me, that's ironic. And it doesn't detract because that's the understanding that you have as a performer in a nightclub. That’s the understanding that you have. The irony kind of adds to it. It makes it better in a certain way because all artists are there to be appreciated. Right? So if this person came and is sitting there and the agreement is that he can order food and he can pay his bills while you're doing what you're doing, then I say, “Bring it, bring it, bring it on.” I mean that. I never— I don't flinch when that happens because I think, you know, I'll tell you this one thing: I used to kind of be friends with Azzedine Alaïa a little bit, a little bit. Like, we had dinner three times. I said to him, “Oh, you know, this person was wearing the dress and she was wearing it with this bra—” and he was like, “Darling, I don't care if she's wearing it with a flower pot on her head, she bought the dress, bless her.” You know? And I was like, well, thank you Azzedine. You know, I thought that was a great piece of advice. Like as I age, I get less and less precious about certain things and more and more precious about other things that I didn't. One of them is not people paying attention to me on stage because if they already paid, they can do— I count the sleepers sometimes. I’m not kidding you, it’s like, “Oh she’s sleeping, he's sleeping…” And I'm counting people who are asleep. If you play a big room, you're going to have some sleepers. You know? And I go, “Hurray!” Because darling, some of the best sleep I ever got was at ballet or the opera or the theater. And I love the show, by the way. I come out thinking “That's the best show I ever saw in my life.” A) Because it was great. And B) because I got like a 10-minute nap and it was my favorite thing. NEIL: Yeah. And sleeping is a form of interactivity too. It's like an edit. ISAAC: Exactly. This is true. It's like a way of making it your own, shall we say? NEIL: Yes, yeah. ISAAC: Hooray! I'm glad we got that straight because I mean that. NEIL: I love that idea of the things that you become more precious about and less precious about. Does anything immediately come to mind as something else you've gotten less precious about or more precious about with age? ISAAC: I've got less precious about meet and greets and autograph signing. I’m much less precious about that. And I’ve gotten more precious about, like, what happens to me before a show, because I feel like I have to be in a certain space to do a show. NEIL: Mhm. ISAAC: I'm more precious now. Like I beg people to get me this or not offer me with that. You know, make sure that something is set up properly so that I can make my entrance because I feel like doing that thing that I do at the Carlyle or whatever I'm playing, you have to show up exactly right. Because if you don't show up exactly right they'll eat you alive. You have to really believe that you're not nervous. And in order to do that, you know, there's a lot of preparation. But now afterward, I can meet people, I can do meet and greets, I can sign autographs, I can do all that. In the fashion business, I hated doing meet and greets. I hated— I couldn't do trunk shows. God. I mean, like, really? I have to now sell the shit? Like I designed the shit, I showed the shit, I taught the shit, and now I have to sell the shit. I don't know why, but I feel like this is just on more of a personal level. Like, I guess I just like theater better. I like the theater better than I like fashion. It’s just better— Sorry. I'm old enough. I can judge. It's probably sour grapes. NEIL: Well, that's for you to decide. It doesn't sound like that. That sounds more like what artists do, which is that they have an evolving relationship to the forms that they engage with. Two last questions. What's a bad— I mean, it relates to this “what's precious, what's not anymore.” Fill in the blank for an X and Y: What's a bad X you would take over a good Y? ISAAC: I would take a bad episode of Mary Tyler Moore over, hm, oh, I shouldn't say this, over, a really, really good fashion show. NEIL: Cheers. Cheers. ISAAC: I mean it. I shouldn't say that, but I did. I said it. You got it. But could I tell you something apropos of Mary Tyler Moore? NEIL: Please. Anything. ISAAC: I have been inspired by Mary Tyler Moore before in my life and everyone knows that. So people think that that's all I think about and I live for or whatever, but, I mean, I watched the show when I was a kid a lot, whenever it was on. And then here and there, because it really wasn't one of those shows they reran to ad nauseum, you know? Anyway, I've been here since the middle of March. I swear to you, one of the first things I started doing was watching that show every single night. I watched like two or three episodes of the Mary Tyler Moore show starting from season one. By the way, it’s seven seasons of literally like 24 shows or 26 shows. So it's like 175 shows. NEIL: Wow. ISAAC: It is the most brilliant, heartbreaking, beautiful shit in the world. The writing is so unbelievable. The grasp on, like, the quality of comedy, but it's not really— I mean, comedy, yes, but it's so melancholy and it's so— it's like Peanuts, but adult Peanuts. You know, like, Charlie Brown or whatever. They're all kind of hapless and just, they're all bordering on depressed, and they're all so fucked up, and, like, so three dimensional, and they deliver you three jokes on every page. I mean, it is unbelievable. That's been getting me through. I watch whatever I'm supposed to watch on Netflix or whatever. You know, I get through all that, and then I put on Mary Tyler Moore right before I'm going to go to bed and I just watch the two or three episodes and I eat ice cream while I'm doing that. NEIL: Heaven. ISAAC: It’s heaven. Ice cream and the Mary Tyler Moore show, darling. I'm serious. NEIL: Finally: What's something you're looking forward to when this is over? ISAAC: Here's what I'm really looking forward to: David Hallberg or any male dancer in tights. Like, seeing that on stage. That's what I'm looking for. NEIL: I love it. May you have it soon. On that note, Isaac Mizrahi, thank you so much for being on She's A Talker.  

In this first episode of our brand new podcast, we take a peak behind the curtain and talk to the brilliant New York based cabaret performer, activist, actor and all round glamazon Justin Vivian Bond about life as a performer during lockdown.Viv has been doing a series of online shows as their alter ego Aunty Glam during lockdown, in this excerpt from our chat they tell us why they bother with this business called show…

Justin Vivian Bond checks in with us from her cozy Covid pod in Upstate NY.

Pride may be postponed this year, but rainbows aren’t going anywhere. Besides being a symbol for celebrating sexual and gender diversity, rainbows are all about hope, and right now we sure could use it.One of the most timeless songs about rainbows is the Rainbow Connection, originally written for the Muppet Movie by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher, which over the years became a huge cover song by people like Justin Vivian Bond, Willy Nelson,Jason Mraz, Deborah Harry and even The Carpenters.And now, Kermit the Frog is singing it again, socially distanced and unplugged from his lily pad in the Okefenokee Swamp.Today we take a look at the song Rainbow Connection plus all the sizzling hot news:➤ The Girl Scouts get some of that bail out money.➤ Fox News gives Trump’s favorite sister act Diamond and Silk the boot.➤ The library is open! 80s hunk Rob Lowe throws some shade towards his Outsiders co-star Tom Cruise.➤ Russians capture an alleged cannibal after finding a penis in his yard.

Robert & Russell meet the one-and-only legend that is Princess Julia!!!! We discuss her endless creativity across different worlds of music, fashion and art, life-drawing and her weekly trip to ‘Sketch Sesh’, her friendship with DJ Jeffry Hinton, and how she started DJing herself at queer spaces in London. We find out what it’s like to be photographed by Wolfgang Tillmans, her memories of being the coat check girl at Blitz & Taboo nightclubs, Leigh Bowery, Boy George, Jordan (a Malcolm McLaren protégé who featured in Derek Jarman’s film Jubilee) and the long lasting influence & legacy of that era. We discuss being shy, her love for Old Master paintings, emerging artists like Richard Porter and Lydia Blakley, her passion for Fashion East, modelling for Kylie Minogue, our mutual admiration for Pet Shop Boys plus her favourite performance artists including David Hoyle, Justin Vivian Bond and Christeene!! Finally discover how Robert first met Julia almost 20 years ago at the early 2000s clubs Kashpoint, Nag Nag Nag and Electrogogo resulting in a duet for Rob’s then electropop-band Temposhark. Follow @HRHPrincessJulia on Instagram and @TalkArt for photos of artworks discussed in this episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Check out a brand new episode of This Is Happening! This week Eric and special guest co-host Georgie Leahy are on the road in New York and have the pleasure of sitting down with mega-talented multi-hyphenate Julian Fleisher. Julian is a prodigiously talented singer-songwriter-bandleader-actor-writer who lives and creates in New York. Julian leads an aptly named ensemble Rather Big Band, with whom he performs at venues large and small around the world - especially in NYC where he is a regular at Joe's Pub, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Symphony Space, and more. Julian also hosts popular podcasts The Naked American Songbook and Julian Fleisher's Guilty Pleasures. Julian also regularly produces for and/or performs with such cabaret luminaries as Molly Ringwald, Martha Plimpton, Isaac Mizrahi, Jennifer Holiday, Lauren Graham, Rufus Wainwright, Bridget Everett, Paul Schaefer, and Justin Vivian Bond. In his NYC apartment, with the sounds of the city perceptible, Julian tells us about his journey from Baltimore to NYC and how he has forged a varied and multifaceted career following his talents and passions where they lead. Presently working on a new musical, Julian recently announced new shows: Aug 30-Sep 1: Three For Nothing: Julian Fleisher with Pete Smith on Guitar, Franklin Stage Company, Franklin, NY (reservations are free) https://franklinstagecompany.org/events/julian-fleisher-and-friends/ Oct 1: Julian Fleisher and his Rather Big Band: Love On Top, Joe's Pub, NYC: https://joespub.publictheater.org/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/Joes-Pub/2019/Julian-Fleisher/?SiteTheme=JoesPub For all things Julian Fleisher: Website: https://www.julianfleisher.com Podcast: The Naked American Songbook by WNYC Studios: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-naked-american-songbook/id1047686759?mt=2 Twitter: @JulianFlei Instagram: @julianflei Facebook: @Julian Fleisher And stay up to date with This Is Happening!: Facebook: @thisishappeningpod Instagram: @thisishappeningthepodcast Twitter: @TIHthePodcast

In this episode the Unflopped crew are joined by multi-award-winning artist (and one half of Kiki & Herb) Mx Justin Vivian Bond to discuss the music of pop legend Kate Bush. Stuart and Sean each pitch a Kate Bush flop that they think deserved to be a hit and Judge Joe gives his verdict. This week’s songs are ‘This Woman's Work' and 'Cloudbusting'. This episode was edited by Ben Goodstein.

To celebrate America's independence and the freedoms we enjoy and many that we still have to fight for, This Is Happening! brings you an extra special episode. During a recent whirlwind road trip, Eric and special guest cohost Georgie Leahy sat down with legendary singer-songwriter and performance artist Justin Vivian Bond. A trans-genre artist, Mx Bond has performed all over the world from San Francisco to East Village Bars to Carnegie Hall to Paris, London and beyond. V grew up in Maryland and began performing in DC before making a mark in the San Francisco cabaret scene, where V met longtime collaborator Kenny Mellman with whom V developed Kiki and Herb, a durable, hilarious, and transgressive act which they took to New York and all over the world, winning and Obie, a Tony nomination for their Broadway run, and more. Mx Bond has appeared in CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? with Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant, John Cameron Mitchell's SHORTBUS, Hulu's DIFFICULT PEOPLE, Netflix's THE GET DOWN, ABC's UGLY BETTY, and more. Albums include Kiki and Herb Will Die For You at Carnegie Hall, Dendrophile, and Silver Wells. Mx Bond regularly performs at Joe's Pub in New York, most recently in Justin Vivian Bond Is Your Auntie Glam in Gay for the Gods! In December, V will appear in Olga Neuwirth's new opera ORLANDO at the renowned Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna. Join us for a super fun kiki (if you will) with this brilliant and fascinating artist blazing a beautiful trail. For everything Justin Vivian Bond, go to website: www.justinvivianbond.com Instagram: @mxviv Facebook: @Justin Vivian Bond Twitter: @mxjustinVbond Stay up to date with the podcast: Instagram: @thisishappeningthepodcast Facebook: @thisishappeningpod Twitter: @TIHthePodcast

Craig welcomes John Cameron Mitchell to his NYC AirBnb to talk Dr. Gunt, John Cassavetes, Squeezebox, the art of self-creation, Robert Altman, the binarachy, “All That Jazz”, angles on appropriation, Michael Schmidt, heterosexual competence, David Bowie, finding hope in the bleakest of situations, “Hedwig & The Angry Inch”, Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, “Yuri On Ice”, Radical Faeries, queer representation in the media, Jake Shears, The Origin Of Love Tour, Harry Hay & The Mattachine Society, living with Alzheimer's, Lady Bunny, addiction, New York City, “Shortbus”, the true nature of the military, Ayahuasca, Karis Wilde, family matters, American healthcare, Dunkaroos, “Band Of The Hand”, Amber Martin, and John’s new narrative musical podcast “Anthem: Homunculus”.   Get John’s new podcast “Anthem: Homunculus” HERE: https://luminarypodcasts.com/listen/john-cameron-mitchell-and-bryan-weller-topic/anthem-homunculus-luminary-exclusive/ab4fffb8-7835-4482-8b48-c9898818768f   John on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johncameronmitchell   Sign up at https://patreon.com/katyaandcraig to hear hours and hours of exclusive content, including buckets of  guest-free, full-length bonus episodes, our Movie Club episodes with Trixie Mattel, Laganja Estranja, Deven Green and more -  as well as Listener Questions episodes featuring Alaska, Courtney Act, Willam, Miss Jasmine Masters, and others!   We’re doing our first LIVE podcast at LA Drag Con!! Tickets: https://rupaulsdragcon.com/#   Snatch up our Hott “Are You Gay?” merch exclusively at https://www.dragqueenmerch.com/collections/whimsically-volatile https://twitter.com/katya_zamo https://twitter.com/videodromedisco https://twitter.com/katyaandcraig https://www.instagram.com/katya_zamo https://www.instagram.com/katyaandcraig https://www.instagram.com/videodromedisco

For our first attempt at a remote recording we are joined by anthropologist and queer sexologist Dr Jamie Lawson of the University of Bristol. First up is the Wachowski’s debut film Bound (1996) with Jennifer Tilly seducing Gina Gershon in a neo-noir crime drama. Next up is a mostly-improvised exploration of queer characters and safe spaces in John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus (2006). We finish with the emotionally-brutal made-for-TV HBO movie The Normal Heart (2014) with Mark Ruffalo portraying a gay activist during the early years of the HIV-AIDS crisis.Also: Jamie likes Speed Racer (2008)? Assassins (1995). Susie Bright. Labrys. The C word. Rope (1948). Unexpected autofellatio. Justin Vivian Bond. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001). Sex Education (2019). Larry Kramer. Boys in the Sand (1971). ACT UP. BPM (Beats per Minute) (2017). Angels in America (2003). Dr Linda Laubenstein. Behind the Candelabra (2013). Direct casting. Joe takes a big step and deserves cake. We play a game of “Is it Safe?”

Since graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Brian A. Kates has edited many acclaimed films, with 14 films selected to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and 5 films in Cannes. He has been honored with an Emmy Award for his work on Taking Chance, and an Emmy nomination for editing the pilot episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. He also won two ACE Eddie Awards for his work on Bessie and Lackawanna Blues, in addition to two other Eddie Award nominations. His collaborators have included Andrew Dominik (Killing Them Softly), Dee Rees (Bessie), Joseph Cedar (Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer), Michael Cuesta (Kill the Messenger), Tamara Jenkins (Private Life and The Savages), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Jack Goes Boating), John Cameron Mitchell (How to Talk to Girls at Parties and Shortbus), Lee Daniels (Shadowboxer and The Butler), Nicole Kassell (The Woodsman), George C. Wolfe (Lackawanna Blues and Nights in Rodanthe), Moisés Kaufman (The Laramie Project), Ross Katz (Taking Chance), John Krokidas (Kill Your Darlings), and Jeremiah Zagar (We the Animals). In addition to his work in fiction, he was Jonathan Caouette's co-editor on the groundbreaking documentary Tarnation. His television work has included collaborations with Alfonso Cuarón (Believe), Bill Condon (The Big C), David Simon and Eric Overmeyer (Treme), and Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). He is currently finishing his third collaboration with John Cameron Mitchell, a 10-episode original audio musical, featuring the music of Bryan Weller and Mr. Mitchell, and a cast including Glenn Close, Patti LuPone, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Foster, Nakhane, Bridget Everett, Justin Vivian Bond, and Laurie Anderson, entitled Homunculus. I had the pleasure of chatting with Brian this week about his Emmy nomination for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, his summer camp background that got him into film and his collaborations with Lee Daniels and John Cameron Mitchell. By the end it turns a bit into an impromptu gushing about his work on NBC's Kings and a promo for his new film We the Animals, which is in theaters now. GO SEE IT. You can see Brian's work next in the upcoming Tamara Jenkins film Private Life, which will world premiere at the New York Film Festival next month. There also might be a bit of tea spilled on an upcoming sequel to a gay classic.  This interview runs just shy of 37m with music. Opening: "A Wonderful Day Like Today" from The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd (Original 1965 Broadway Cast)  Closing: "Girls Talk" by Dave Edmonds

Kenny Mellman - one of the minds behind Kiki & Herb and Our Hit Parade - shares tales of recording and touring with his band The Julie Ruin, opposite punk icon Kathleen Hanna. Their latest album is "Hit Reset." Kenny describes how he and Justin Vivian Bond met and developed characters for their famous duo, plus discusses his upcoming solo record and Taylor Swift project. Also, Justin shares personal stories of how Kenny's various projects influenced his own life and work.

Transgender performance artist Justin Vivian Bond talks gender nonconformity, creative inspiration, and the art of becoming the person one has always dreamed of being.

Justin Vivian Bond is a Tony nominated, Obie, GLAAD and Essie winning cabaret star and trans-genre artist. Vocal about being transgender, Justin uses V as a preferred prefix. The first time Bond took the stage was as a wee babe in a Christmas show at V.'s family’s local Church of the Brethren in sleepy Hagerstown, Maryland, but the rest of the word would have to wait decades before hearing from the sumptuous voice and acerbic wit which made Bond a legend. After high school and a stint as a counselor at church camp, Bond knocked around New York and studied theater, but didn’t find a niche until moving to San Francisco in 1989. Out West, Bond took a day job at A Different Light bookstore and performed in plays, most notably in Hidden A: Gender by Kate Bornstein, the renowned performance artist and gender theorist. Like Bornstein, Bond spoke shattered simplistic theories, like the idea that everyone who transgender feels trapped in the wrong body. Justin also met the musician Kenny Mellman, and the duo...

The singer, songwriter, author and painter comes to I.O.S. headquarters to talk about the birth of Kiki & Herb, v's award winning memoir and summer season at Bard College.

Barbara Maier Gustern is an 80-year-old classically trained singer in New York City. She teaches singing lessons out of her two-bedroom apartment in Chelsea. For decades, she's taught a wide range of singers: Argentinian and opera singers, aspiring cantors, the Grammy-nominated vocalist Roseanna Vitro. But she's become a favorite among the edgy and powerful voices of New York's downtown queer, performance and rock scenes: Her students include Debbie Harry, Taylor Mac, Justin Vivian Bond, John Kelly, Lady Rizo, Penny Arcade, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Miss Guy and Kathleen Hanna. Barbra Maier Gustern A shared love of dirty jokes and wild performances made her an unlikely matriarch to this talented and raunchy family of artists. The avant-garde composer and musician Diamanda Galas called Barbara, “the baddest bitch in New York City." Machine Dazzle Reported by Nicole Pasulka. Produced by Nicole Pasulka and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Photo: Michael Blase

We're in New York chatting with brilliant performer and activist Justin Vivian Bond

This week Joey is joined by his MOM as they discuss their adventures in New York City celebrating the 50th Anniversay of Hello, Dolly! on Broadway including the one night only performance of Justin Vivian Bond and Broadway Legend CAROL CHANNING! www.cocktailsandcreampuffs.com

Sister Spit: Writings, Rants and Reminiscence from the Road (City Lights Books) Michelle Tea (Valencia, Rose of No Man's Land) presents readings from her new anthology of writing and artwork from the irreverent, flagrantly queer, hilariously feminist, tough-talking, genre-busting ruffians who have toured with the legendary Sister Spit. This event features Tara Jepsen, Myriam Gurba, Blake Nelson, Harriet "Harry"Dodge, Tamara Llosa-Sandor, Sara Seinberg, and Cassie J. Sneider. Praise for Sister Spit: "Heartbreakingly beautiful writing; sometimes funny, sometimes shattering—always revolutionary. Truly amazing collection!"—Margaret Cho "Sister Spit is like the underground railroad for burgeoning queer writers. Not only in the van, but in the audiences trapped in the hinterlands of America and looking to escape. Sister Spit saves lives."—Justin Vivian Bond, author of Tango: My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels Michelle Tea is the author of four memoirs, a novel, a book of poetry and the young adult fantasy tale A Mermaid in Chelsea Creek. She has edited anthologies about class, fashion and literature, and is editor of Sister Spit Books, a City Lights imprint. Michelle is founder and Executive Director of RADAR Productions, a literary non-profit that oversees the Sister Spit international performance tours, the monthly RADAR Reading Series, the annual Radar LAB Retreat, and other programs. Tara Jepsen is a writer and performer from San Francisco, now living in Los Angeles. Her short stories have been published in the anthologies Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache and It's So You. Myriam Gurba is the author of Dahlia Season and Wish You Were Me, and was included in the anthologies Life As We Show It and Ambientes. She lives in Los Angeles. Blake Nelson is the author of many books for teenagers and adults who act like teenagers.   His novel Paranoid Park was made into a film by Gus Van Sant. Harriet "Harry" Dodge is a Los Angeles-based visual artist, filmmaker, writer, and performer whose work has shown in national galleries including Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, P.S. 122, and The Getty. Tamara Llosa-Sandor is a former news reporter now exploring the murky terrain between memoir and fiction. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. Her first book, As Filipino As Fruitcake, may or may not be published by 2018. Sara Seinberg is a writer and a photographer that makes up one half of Robinberg Photography with Ginger Robinson. In addition to her novel featuring Pandora, she is writing a book about finishing a graceless marathon and how sometimes failure is the best prize of all. Cassie J. Sneider is the author of the life-changingly hilarious book Fine Fine Music. She shares a birthday with Ted Nugent, Steve Buscemi, and Beth Lisick. She toured with Sister Spit in 2012. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS OCTOBER 18, 2012. Copies of the book from this event can be purchased here: http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9780872865662

Scott Wittman talks with the "Cabaret Messiah," Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, about his new album "Silver Wells" and his recurring 54Below show that comes to a close this Monday July 9th, 2012.

This week Libby Purves is joined by Justin Vivian Bond, Ruth Leon, Kenneth Cranham and Noel Tovey. Justin Vivian Bond is the American actor, singer and performance artist, formerly of the cabaret duo, Kiki & Herb. A Tony Award nominee, he returns to London to perform his solo show as part of the Soho Theatre's Comedy and Cabaret season. His new album is titled 'Dendrophile'. Ruth Leon is a writer and broadcaster specialising in all performing arts. She is also the widow of the theatre critic Sheridan Morley and has written a memoir, 'But What Comes Next?' about their life together. 'But What Comes Next?' is published by Constable. Kenneth Cranham is one of our best known stage, film and TV character actors, currently in the National Theatre production of 'The Cherry Orchard'. After becoming a household name in the eighties in television's 'Shine on Harvey Moon', he has gone on to star on stage and screen, most recently in films including 'Made in Dagenham' and 'Layer Cake'. 'The Cherry Orchard' is at the National Theatre. Noel Tovey is an internationally successful actor, dancer, choreographer and campaigner and was director of the indigenous welcoming at the Sydney Olympics. His life story , 'Little Black Bastard', is at Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1, part of the Origins - Festival of First Nations 2011.

From the East Village to touring the world with the Scissor Sisters, guest DJ Sammy Jo dishes on his romances with Justin Vivian Bond, Joey Arias and the city of Barcelona, where he now spends half his year. Find the full tracklist at twerking.com