Feast Of Fun : Gay Talk Show

At the young age of 17, James Curry hoped to escape a hostile home by enlisting in the Marines, and ended up right in the middle of the terrible War in Iraq.James survived his tour of duty by hiding being gay under the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, but then after returning to civilian life, lost his first boyfriend and ended up homeless.Despite these setbacks, James was determined to make something of his life and after securing a great job as a news producer he was dealt the hardest blow of all: a medical diagnosis of cancer.Today, Peabody award winning journalist and writer James Curry joins us to talk about his new book Staying Alive: Surviving Abuse, Fighting a War and Beating Cancer- My First Twenty-Five Years which chronicles his abusive family, military service, forbidden lost love and the challenges of coming home to fight for your life.Featured Book:James Curry - Staying Alive: Surviving Abuse, Fighting a War and Beating Cancer: https://amzn.to/3sHlBil

In a move that undoubtedly made some folks’ heads explode like a potato in the microwave, Hasbro announced that the Potato Head toys are gender neutral and that everyone is “welcome in the Potato Head world.”The toys will let kids create their own type of potato family and they’ll be able to mix and match gender attachments like red lips, purses and moustaches.The announcement has us looking back at the toys we played with as kids, that made our parents wonder like the Transformers, is there more than meets the eye.Today comedian Jake Noll joins us to take a look at the all new Potato Head World, and all wonderfully weird toys we played with as kids that inspired us to become fabulous and queer.JAKE NOLL: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504629525Plus–➤ Boney M’s hit song Rasputin makes a comeback as the Rasputin Challenge decades later.➤ Lady Gaga’s dogs are returned.➤ Lurid Digs is making a comeback.

Television writer Russell T Davies, best known for his pioneering “Queer as Folk” and the “Dr. Who” reboot, says he’s seen just about every televised drama about gay men and AIDS. And now his new series “It’s A Sin,” which chronicles the lives of six friends living in London at the start of the AIDS crisis, has just become the most-watched drama ever on Britain’s Channel 4.The show is celebrated for capturing the youthful joy of being gay in an urban environment while showing the painful moments of the AIDS crisis, but “It’s a Sin” is also frought with sensationalism and harmful portrayals of HIV and AIDS tropes.As Dr. Frank N Furter would say “How SENTIMENTAL.”While watching the series, we were struck with how much the central character of Jill Baxter, who is overwhelmed helping her gay friends manage the AIDS crisis, reminded us of Victoria Noe who came on this podcast to talk about her book “Fag Hags, Divas and Moms: The Legacy of Straight Women in the AIDS Community.”Today writer Victoria Noe joins us to

Alison Arngrim is loved and feared by people all over the world for playing Nellie Oleson on one the most popular TV shows of all time, Little House on the Prairie.Although the series mostly focused on Laura Ingalls family’s struggle to make it on a farm in the late 1800s, one of the main reasons the show was so popular was the classic battle between good and evil that took place between the wholesome freckled faced Laura Ingalls and the lying, scheming, manipulative, mean little rich girl with blond locks, Nellie Oleson.It’s the intense scenes between the two child actresses, real-life best friends, that made the show such intense, campy and fun.Feast of Fun Winner 2010 Book of the YearAs an adult, Alison’s one woman show became such a hit and she got so many questions about Little House on the Prairie that, she decided to put it all in a book “Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated.”It’s our favorite book of the year, and we think you’ll love it too.As t

One of the unexpected surprises from “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” the documentary film on Mr. Rogers, was just how fierce and unapologetically gay in real life is Francois Clemmons, the actor who played Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.Francois joined the pioneering children’s TV show as a young man and spent decades playing Officer Clemmons. As one of the first African Americans to have a recurring role on children’s television, Francois was in a unique position to help Fred Rogers open his eyes to the struggles of disenfranchised people. In turn, Francois learned to take in the love that Fred had to give.Today we’re delighted to talk to Officer Clemmons, Francois Diva Man Scarborough Clemmons from his home in Vermont about coming out as gay to Mr. Rogers, his love of turquoise jewelry and is there any truth to the recently revealed rumor that Mr. Rogers was bisexual?[Originally posted as FOF #2726 – Being Mr. Rogers’ Gay Black Neighbor, Apr 3, 2019

A lot has happened since author Dr. E Patrick Johhnson first came on the podcast a decade ago to talk about his groundbreaking book “Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South” – a collection of more than sixty life stories from black gay men who were born, raised and continue to live in the South.Johnson’s book won various literary awards, got turned into a solo stage show which he performed and now it’s taken up a new life as documentary film: “Making Sweet Tea” which shows some of the book’s subjects as they brew up a fresh pot of sweet tea and chat about their lives.Today Dr. E Patrick Johnson joins us to talk about his new documentary film “Making Sweet Tea” which is currently making the rounds at film festivals.Listen as E Patrick shares with us stories of resiliancy among queer men of color in the south and he kicks off the podcast with an excert of Mean Little Sissy, the true story of artist Freddy Styles who sliced a bully with a razor blade when he was just a kid.

Southern Hip Hop music is legendary for its drum machine beats, a thunderous bassline, and shouting vocals that bring you into the moment in all its glory. It’s a fun and uproarious art form that draws inspiration from big celebrations like Mardi Gras parades and relies on the audience for call and response participation.Yoohoo we have a call on the line!Who is it?It’s KC Ortiz, the Queen of Southern Luxury Rap who’s been on an amazing journey. Kaycee came to Chicago from Alabama, courtesy of the United States Air Force, to lay down some fierce tracks about her experience as Black trans woman, and folks are loving it.In many of the singles she released this past year, KC bares her soul about worrying about her boyfriend running off with her friends, accepting loss when dreams don’t come true and the luxuriousness of a thirty dollar coat.Listen as we play some of KC’s hottest songs, and chat about her music, the Black Lives Matter movement and the ever changing face of the entertainment industry.Featured Music

With the premiere of Russell T Davies’ new series “Its a Sin” about the the lives of a group of gay men and their friends who lived during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United Kingdom during the early 80s, we thought it would be great to repost our interview with writer Victoria Noe.Victoria Noe’s book “Fag Hags, Divas and Moms” looks at the extraordinary women who helped people survive and handle the AIDS crisis, much like Russell T Davies’ series.{Best of Feast of Fun, originally posted as FOF #2723 – The Wonder Women of AIDS on Mar 27, 2019}---------- Although many moms, sisters, healthcare workers, scientists, friends and Hollywood stars like Liz Taylor played an important role in the fight against AIDS, these incredible women are often forgotten by history.That is until now- in the new book “Fag Hags, Divas and Moms: The Legacy of Straight Women in the AIDS Community” author Victoria Noe takes a first look at the women whose indespensible contributions continue to help people survive the AIDS crisis.Today w

One of the great treasures (diamonds in the rough) on Disney’s streaming service is the reality TV show Encore, which reunites the cast members from musicals they originally performed in high school and then has them recreate the big show, sometimes decades later, in front of a live audience.Created and hosted by Broadway legend Kristen Bell, each episode of Encore forces former high school thespians, now well into adulthood, to come face to face with their unresolved trauma as they restage their musical spectacle in just 5 days.Brittany Kay Taylor, who played Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast in high school, reprises her role as the world’s favorite piece of crockery for episode two of the series. She’s won fans over for her unabashed love of musicals and for making out in high school with the hottest guy in the cast, who of course, played Gaston!Today Brittany Kay Taylor from the reality TV series Encore serves up some piping hot tea on getting her high school theater gang back together a decade later and

It’s Fat Tuesday! The streets of New Orleans are spookily empty as folks wisely stay home to help to bring an end to the Rona pandemic, but it doesn't mean we can’t safely celebrate from our home with our good gal pals like Mystique Summers, from Season 2 of RuPauls’ Drag Race.Mystique’s been part of an intense discussion last week when she and her sister in RuPaulia,Nina Bonina Brown, had a conversation about trans bodies, the art of drag and Nina’s comments on Gotmik’s scantily clad runway look on Drag Race.Today Mystique Summers joins us on Fat Tuesday to take a look at the heated conversation taking place about trans drag queens, Gotmik’s showing off that body ody ody and how Texas is freezing this Mardi Gras.MYSTIQUE SUMMERS: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMystiqueSummers1/Plus--➤ Is it on? TS Madison is getting a new reality TV show on We TV.➤ Folks beg Tamron Hall not to give Sherry Pie an opportunity to rehab her image.➤ Are high heel shoes going extinct?THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ➤ Uniform Teethhttps:

For 13 seasons RuPaul’s Drag Race has been bringing underground artists into the mainstream, and sometimes the world is just not ready for the gag. This time, the latest greatest gasp for air is a t shirt designed by drag queen Gotmik which prominently displays the scars from their top surgery.Oooh, you got controversy!Gotmik's t shirt alludes to the famous “boobs on a t-shirt” design that Viviennne Westwood made for the Sex Pistols which celebrated the feminist anti-bra movement of the 70s, but this new design featuring Gotmik’s chest scars essentially has the same message - ditch what’s bothering you and fly free!Today NYC drag personality Kareem McJagger joins us to take a look at Gotmik’s controversial new t shirt design and what exactly was Tessica Brown trying to do with that Gorilla Glue Spray to lay an edge. What does it mean to lay an edge?KAREEM MCJAGGER: https://www.facebook.com/KareemMcJaggerrPlus--➤ Is it too late to accept Justin Timberlake’s apology to Janet Jackson and Britney Spears 17 years

Farwell to queer musician Ari Gold, New York night life personality, star in Starbooty and child singer in the My Buddy doll commercial that later became the inspiration for Chucky in the horror film Child’s Play. He died on February 12, 2021. This podcast was originally posted on 01.31.08All systems are go! Pop musician Ari Gold joins us on todays show to “drop” his new album Transport Systems, a futuristic military themed album featuring some catchy riffs and sharp vocals set to a energetic beat and live instrumentation. It’s hot, YO! Or is that OY?Growing up in a Orthodox Jewish family in the Bronx, Ari Gold was discovered at the age of 5 by a record producer singing at his brother’s bar-mitzvah.Ari Gold’s childhood singing experience reads like entries from some 1980s kitsch bloggers website- with over 400 colorful gigs including singing on the album Pot Belly Bear: Sons and Stories, the Cabbage Patch Kids Album, the Jem and the Holograms TV show and singing with Diana Ross on her Swept Away album.But m

Love is hell! Valentine’s Day is almost upon us and while we are happily in love- it wasn’t always the case. We had to go on some really bad dates and kiss a lot of frogs before finally catching a prince.Today, comedian and former Korean talk show celebrity Vickie Eisenstein, joins us to talk about the weird dates she had while living in Korea. Vickie now performs in the acclaimed Improvised Jane Austen and she loves to bathe in pumpkin spice lattes and french fries on YouTube.Plus— Beyoncé goes full mother Mary pregnant gorgeousness at the Grammy’s.Beyoncé gets tipsy at the 2017 Grammys in her fierce and fabulous pregnant glory. Beyoncé gets tipsy at the 2017 Grammys in her fierce and fabulous pregnant glory. A newspaper in the Dominican Republic mistakes Alec Baldwin’s Trump for President Bannon’s Cheetoh snowflake. The world’s first transgender doll.

With Britney in the news again and the Netflix documentary "Framing Britney Spears" captivating audiences we thought we'd give an encore presentation of one of Britney's biggest fans, Chris Crocker, who went viral in 2007 for his "Leave Britney Alone" video. ___________Chris Crocker turned to the internet to escape the torment of being chased by gangs of boys at the mall.The internet helped him connect with the greater world around him when he couldn’t create a gay-straight alliance in his school and he left to be home schooled. To grow up a gay, eccentric and flamboyant teen has never been easy especially in a small conservative town in Tennessee.If it weren’t for the internet where would Chris Crocker be?Today Chris is one of the most watched and imitated video bloggers online. His iconic video of himself weeping and imploring the public to “Leave Britney Alone” made him a household name. Chris’ videos represent the dramatic change we’re seeing in how we create and consume media. Chris’ videos are just as

A common criticism of self help gurus like Oprah Winfrey and The Secret’s Rhonda Byrne is that their advice typically not only overlooks systemic inequality, it justifies it by laying blame on the person suffering. If you didn’t have those gloomy thoughts, you’d be sleeping on a bed of diamonds!But studies show that the best thing people can do to make their dreams come true is to fall in love with doing things, anything, like the ultimate self help guru Dr. Frank N Furter says: “don't dream it, be it.”Today writer Britt East, author of A Gay Man’s Guide to Life, joins us to look at how LGBTQ people can improve their lives by setting intentions but also by letting it go.Listen as we chat with Britt about;➤ All those sexy men on your Instagram feed may be keeping you from getting in shape.➤ Why you probably shouldn't tell your friends about your goals.➤ How violence can happen when you run out of ideas.FEATURED BOOK:Britt East - A Gay Man’s Guide to Life: https://amzn.to/2Z5rR6I

In the late 1970s radio stations were in revolt, declaring Disco music dead, culminating in the notorious Disco Demolition night at Comiskey Park, a promotional event that backfired into a full-on riot.“Disco Sucks” became the battle cry against the decadence of the club scene, its association with gay culture and because the music genre was overexposed- people got sick of the disco beat in bubble gum ads and celebrity vanity records- even the gay robots from Star Wars had a Disco Album.Out of the ashes of Disco’s demise, DJs in Chicago developed a new sound for a new generation which became known as House Music. This style became a hit in clubs catering to black, latino and gay folks, and is now what most electronic music is based on.Today we’re talking to one of the pioneering DJs of House Music, Ralphi Rosario. Recently, the City of Chicago named a street after his DJ group “The Hot Mix Five” for their contribution to the international House Music scene.Join us as Ralphi Rosario gives us some amazing stori

It’s the 16th anniversary of Feast of Fun- one of the first shows to kick off the podcast revolution.But honey, just because you’re revolting, does not make it a revolution!What started out as an experiment to capture some of the magic of our live musical variety shows where drag queens and kings, musicians, performance artists and comedians came together to let their freak flags fly freely went on to become one of the the longest running podcasts in “theirstory.”Our first podcast episode featured our live show’s musical director Taylor E Ross, who joined us on February 8, 2005 to take a look at how Janet Jackson’s costume malfunction at the Super Bowl Halftime show inspired people to take to the internet and create podcasts and other kinds of media that would be free from conservative oversight at the FCC.Taylor E Ross has dedicated most of his music career to working with some of Chicago’s top drag talent- from Joan Jett Blakk’s campaign to Lick Bush in ‘92 where she ran for the Presidency of the US, to Dav

The early 90s was an exciting but difficult time to be a queer person in the United States. The AIDS crisis was still claiming so many lives and after 8 years of President Regan not even mentioning the word AIDS and 4 years of President Bush’s inaction, LGBTQ folks felt invisible, and our visibility was a matter of life and death.In the spirit of making a political statement, and shocking the squares, Joan Jett Blakk, backed by Queer Nation, launched her bid to become President of United States with the catchy slogan “Lick Bush in ’92.”This bold political performance art would had been just a delightful footnote in the history of queer activism until this year when Broadway director Tina Landau and Moonlight Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney presented their new play, “Ms Blakk for President,” now playing at the Steppenwolf Theater.Today Terence Alan Smith, the artist behind the drag personage of Joan Jett Blakk joins us to talk about that amazing time when a black drag queen ran for President of the United S

Some names are just begging to be adopted by drag queens, kings and other colorful shape shifters: Robin Banks, Poo Ping, Ima Hogg, Peter Gozinya or Izzy Hung.So what happens when two drag queens in the same city come up with the same name at the same time? Who gets to keep the exclusive rights to the name?Today San Francisco drag queen Nicki J!zz, that’s Jazz with I, joins us to tell us how a queen came for her drag name while performing in one of Peaches Christ’s shows and how black drag queens and their allies are organizing to put pressure on gay bars to fight racism and undo years of harmful people and policies.NICKI J!ZZ: https://www.instagram.com/nicki_jizz/Plus--➤ Is Lady Gaga trying to kill us all?➤ Trans television and film pioneer Jen Richards gets cast as a detective in the new CBS series Clarice, based on Silence of the Lambs.THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: ➤ Uniform Teethhttps://www.uniformteeth.comBook your free consultation, get $150 off with code FEAST150➤ SpanxSpanx is offering Feast of Fun listene

What they didn’t tell us in grade school about George Washington Carver is that he came across as unapologetically queer-Carver spoke to the flowers every morning, he shared a bed with his male lover and he rubbed out the sore muscles of college athletes with his therapeutic hot peanut oil massage.Today comedian Matt Brown joins us to look at the scientist and mystic, George Washington Carver- his pen pal friendships with married women, his romance with Tuskegee scientist Austin Curtis Jr and working as a nutritional advisor to Gandhi.Plus-➤ BLM, Stacy Abrams and Jared Kushner all get nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.➤ A team of social media influencers get arrested for turning the Hollywood sign into Hollyboob to raise awareness for breast cancer and themselves.➤ Dolly Parton turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Trump twice.