Feast Of Fun : Gay Talk Show

Remember those tin cans you’d play with your friends as kids? Here’s a new podcasting experiment, where we tape a podcast live on location with queer Latinx studies professor Larry LaFountain, who’s best known to Feast of Fun listeners as Lola Von Miramar, the first drag queen to in our Cooking with Drag Queens video series. This fall marks the 10 year anniversary of Cooking with Drag Queens, the oddball cooking show that helped inspire so many wonderful videos and introduced many of the world’s top drag queens to the mainstream: Trixie Mattel, Kim Chi, Bob the Drag Queen, Katya Zamolodchikova, The Vixen, Cynthia Lee Fontaine, April Carrión, Milk, Kelly Mantle, and so many more.

One of the the most talked about and parodied costumes any pop star has ever sported is the meat dress worn by Lady Gaga at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Mother Monster wore it to draw attention to the U.S. military ban on lesbian and gay service members. Time Magazine named it the top fashion statement of the year.Today we’re serving up butcher shop realness, talking to Franc Fernandez, the remarkable man behind the amazing and delicious meat dress.Listen as we talk about how they made the meat dress, how the dress influenced the government’s lifting of the the anti-gay military ban, and discover where that mouth watering gown eventually wound up.

When you're a drag queen, you’re timeless, well at least until your wig starts to break down and your makeup starts to crack at the end of the night. But time comes for us all, even the most legendary drag queens, and that doesn't always have to be a scary thing.When you get older, you’re hopefully able to see things in a bigger perspective and conjure up a little magic to make things exciting.One of our favorite movies is The Witches of Eastwick, which pits three icons: Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfieffer against the devil himself as they turn to witchcraft to manage their mid-life crisis.PEACHES CHRIST: www.peacheschrist.comToday, San Francisco drag empresario Peaches Christ chats with us about opening up her vault of drag parodies for an internet viewing party of her show “The Witches of East Bay” where Peaches Christ, Coco Peru and Chad Michaels take a look at what happens when three drag legends get older in a world dominated by pesky young drag queens.Don’t miss the viewing party on Oct 1 at at 6

And now a public service announcement for public service announcements. Since World War II, the US government has been harnessing the power of the media to raise awareness about certain topics and to shape people’s behavior.Although some PSA’s are wildly ridiculous like trying to get people to eat healthy or to avoid using drugs, the reason these campaigns persist is because to some extent they are successful. So where are all the public service announcements for COVID?Today, Summer Nettles, TV news producer and former communications specialist for the City of Denver, Colorado, joins us to look at some of our favorite public service health TV ads, and why Republicans aren’t using what we’ve learned in the past 75 years of ads.Plus,➤ When Pee Wee Herman told kids not to use crack.➤ Don’t play inside of refrigerators.➤ Time for Timer-- did you try to make popsicles out of toothpicks and ice cube trays filled with juice?

Sometimes the urge to write is so strong that you can’t wait for a publisher to show the world the masterpiece in your mind.Thankfully in the digital age it’s easy to self publish but who exactly is going to read a book titled “This Hoe Got Roaches Up in Her Crib?”In the new podcast “The Hood Novel Book Club” comedian Rachel Hall looks at wonderfully weird books about the modern black experience that were written by self published authors with hilarious results.Today, Rachel Hall joins us to take a look at trashy books, morality tales and science fiction from the perspective of great and not so great black authors.RACHEL HALL'S PODCAST: https://apple.co/3kqN1FbPlus--➤ HBOMAX’s Lovecraft Country has us jumping out of our skin.➤ Captain America, Chris Evans, who has the world’s attention with his “accidentally” leaked dick pic, wants you to do one thing: vote.➤ Kanye West releases his own pee tape where he wizzes on his Grammy Award.➤ Lil’ Nas X is putting out a children’s book all about the C word.➤ Madonna is

Neil Patrick Harris won a Tony Award for starring in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, but we all know the real star is the spectacular wig design of Mike Potter.The task of styling these magnificent wigs for the show goes to legendary NY drag queen Perfidia, or as Facebook likes to call her, Steven Perfidia Kirkham, who you may know from the documentary Wigstock or the YouTube video we did with her titled “How to Style a Big Wig for Drag Queens in the Style of Lady Bunny” which is a hit with queens both new and old.Listen as Perfidia gives us a behind the scenes tour of what it’s like styling wigs for Hedwig, working with Neil Patrick Harris, Book of Mormon’s Andrew Rannells and Dexter’s Michael C. Hall. Did she ever solve Broadway’s biggest mystery- the case of the stolen Hedwig wig.Hedwigs through time. John Cameron Mitchell, Ally Sheedy, Jinkx Monsoon, Neil Patrick Harris, Andrew Rannells, Michael C Hall. Photos courtesy of Hedwig on Broadway.

It’s hard to imagine Disney without it’s iconic animated musicals, but in the 80s after several box office bombs, Disney considered never making animated musicals again.Thankfully, after playwright and lyricist Howard Ashman’s breakthrough success with his oddball musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors, Disney asked Ashman to work with them and The Little Mermaid, a film that became so successful that it kicked off what’s now known as the Disney Renaissance.In the new Disney+ documentary, “Howard,” we get a rare look at the amazing work and career of Howard Ashman, whose life was tragically cut short when he died from AIDS in 1991, midway through the production of Beauty and the Beast and Aladddin. Howard never saw either of these films finished and his surviving partner collected his Oscar for Best Original Song “Beauty and the Beast.”.Today musical theater enthusiast Jake Bellisimo from the YouTube channel Dreamsounds joins us to take a look at the amazing musical legacy of Howard Ashman, queer coding in Dis

Knock Knock! Who’s there? Phyllis. Phyillis who? Phyillis your Census form!Have you signed up for the 2020 Census? If you didn't, the Golden Girls reboot has a message for you- fill out the census and get counted for the government services your community deserves.In a Zoom Where it Happens virtual watch party, with openly queer Hollywood writer Lena Waithe as the host and narrator, legendary ladies of black theater performed a book reading of a classic Golden Girls episode centered around everyone being sick and going out anyway. How timely.Today, comedian Matt Brown joins us to take a look at the recast of Golden Girls with an all black cast starring Alfree Woodard, Tracee Ellis Ross and Regina King. Who would you cast in a dream team of all time legendary black women?MATT BROWN: http://mattbrowncomic.comPlus--➤ Mariah Carey lives up to all the wild rumors in her upcoming memoir.➤ A professor fesses us to pretending to be Black and Latinx.➤ The Kardashians call it kwits.➤ Paris Hilton comes out as a victim

I think I know what love is, it's DeAundra Peek! Yaaaaaaay. Before YouTube and the Internet, people used to record their favorite cable access shows onto VHS cassette tapes in order to pass them along to their friends in other cities. One show that thrived outside of its home market of Atlanta, GA was “DeAundra Peek’s Teenage Music Club” where a very special drag queen, DeAundra Peek, would enthusiastically cook Vienna sausages and sing along to karaoke versions of pop hits.DEAUNDRA PEEK'S VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL62A6D23BAA3B9ADDA contemporary of RuPaul and Lady Bunny, DeAundra continued her cable access show for years and although she was loved by so many, DeAundra mysteriously disappeared, never to be heard from again, until now.Today, we're talking to Rosser Shymanski, the person behind the fabulous DeAundra Peek about her early days in drag, her friendships with all these glorious drag queens and why after all these years she might be ready for a comeback.

RuPaul and DeAundra Peek back in the mid 80s in Atlanta Georgia. Photo: Rosser ShymanskiAfter our podcast with DeAundra Peek, remained on the line to continue talking about how she got her start on the Atlanta based cable access program “The American Music Show,” which also featured a very young RuPaul.Listen as we chat at about the incredible drag scene of Atlanta in the 80s that gave birth to such legends as RuPaul and Lady Bunny, and lots of juicy behind the scenes tea.{Originally posted as FOF #2386 - DeAundra Peek Spills the Tea - 09.07.16}

The club scene in New York City in the 80s was an incredible time for live music:Punk, Pop, the second British Invasion, and Heavy Metal bands dominated a scene where people had plenty of free time and lots of great drugs to take it all in.At the center of this incredible world was Michael Alago, a music superfan who became one of the biggest names in music, despite being a young queer Puerto Rican from Brooklyn.Michael started out booking acts like Duran Duran, U2 and Tina Turner for her big comeback and then as the A&R guy for Electra Records signed Metallica and changed the world.In his new autobiography “I am Michael Alago” Michael takes us on a fabulous journey from sneaking out of his parents house at the age 16 to becoming one of the top A&R reps in music. Michael's stories will have you hooked, from his role in shaping the music industry, to his personal struggles with drugs and alcohol, to fighting HIV and finding a second career as a photographer of hot muscular men.MICHAEL ALAGO: https://ww

Listen to the sound of my voice. You are getting very, very excited. We are in total control of the horizontal, the vertical, but especially the horizontal. We can make things boring, or fabulously exciting.When people think of hypnotism, a lot of them conjure up the idea of a malevolent force like Dracula trying to get them to do their bidding.But in reality people turn to hypnotism to live better lives, from quitting smoking to forced feminization: the art of transforming yourself into a beautiful creation of your dominatrix’s imagination.It seems like hypnosis could unlock the limitless potential of the mind, but is it possible to go too far?Today comedian Chelsea Myers joins us to look at all the wild things people turn to hypnotism for help. Besides being a fabulous queer comedian in Chicago, as a teenager Chelsea was hypnotized at a party and wasnt able to break the spell.CHELSEA K MYERS: https://www.chelseakmyers.comPlus--➤ Cher wants to volunteer at the post office. Rain, sleet or snow won't hold Cher

It’s Madonna’s birthday and it’s also the anniversary of the day Elvis Presley died. But does their connection go deeper than that?Making the rounds again on the internet is an old archive image of a young woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to the queen of pop, trying to get close to Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll.The black and white photo taken in 1970 in front of the Olympia Theater is hotly contested as to whether the young woman is or isn’t Madonna. Madame X isn’t speaking about it and perhaps she’s enjoying the mystery of it all and the wild speculation that the photo might be an artifact from a parallel universe.Today we take a look at the mysterious photo of a young woman trying to meet Elvis. Is this an example of the Mandela effect: the phenomena where large groups of people can recall something that did not happen or remember it very differently from the way it actually occurred.Plus–➤ Dolly Parton says Black Lives Matter, you sexist egotistical lying hypocritical bigot.➤ A woman named Faerie Ar

James St. James next to photos of his club kid days in NYC. Photos courtesy of James St. James.Youth gay culture is exploding online and in high schools everywhere. Just take a look at our community forums here at Feast of Fools. Youth gay culture, GLBT teens, or whatever words you want to use to use to describe it: teenagers all over the United States are speaking up, talking about their sexual identity with the support of their parents and schools.You've come a long way, gay baby! Just PLEASE wait until you're old enough to understand the ramifications of your actions before you do "it," and when you do, please PLEASE use a condom.{Originally posted as FOF #527 - High School is Such a Drag - 05.04.07}Freak Show is now a movie on Amazon Prime! Gay culture folks like us or writer James St. James are thrilled to welcome these fresh faces into the fold and share our stories, experiences and ideas. Today we're delighted to bring legendary NYC nightclub performer (or club-kid) James St. James on the show to talk

It’s been a huge year for drag queens and their fans, not just with RuPaul’s Drag Race’s move to a major cable channel, but also with the many web series and reality TV shows featuring drag artists- Dragula, Celebrity Big Brother, Trixie and Katya Show and of course Cooking with Drag Queens are all serving up piping hot drag goodness.So why are people saying drag is not the shiny happy party it promised to be? As Morgan McMichael says “why you mad girl?”{Originally posted as FOF #2577 – Miz Cracker and Cheese – 02.14.18}Today, one of New York’s hottest drag queens, Miz Cracker, joins us to talk about the way drag queens have taken over media and what that means for the goils who grew up pounding the pavement in heels to perform at the local queer watering holes.Plus--➤ RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3– who does she think will snatch the crown?➤ The gayest openly gay Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon sends a love letter to his haters.➤ The controversy over Kehinde Wiley’s verdant portrait of President Obama.

In the world of female impersonation pageants there is no title more coveted than being crowned Miss Continental.Founded in 1980, The Miss Continental Pageant attracts contestants from all around the world and even some of the most beloved Ru Girls had their eye on the crown first before they went on to Drag Race.But with so many other pageants in the world, what is it that makes contestants so willing to sacrifice everything and return year after year in hopes of snatching the Miss Continental crown?The new documentary film, The Queens, looks at the allure of the decades old Miss Continental contest and what it takes to win the one crown that rules them all.GET THE QUEENS DOCUMENTARY:https://www.thereporters.orgToday, The Queens’ filmmaker, Mark Saxenmayer, joins us to talk about how the documentary showcases the Continental Pageant system with a behind the scenes look at the run up to the competition and interviews with the legends who run the prestigious contest.MARK SAXENMEYER:https://www.facebook.com/mar

Callooh! Callay! Kamala Harris has been selected by Joe Biden as his running mate for the 2020 U.S. presidential election.Harris makes history as the first Black woman and the first Asian American woman to run as a vice presidential candidate on a major US party ticket.Although she wasn’t most progressives' first choice as VP, Harris strikes a delicate balance between the desire for representation and candidates who will aggressively pursue reform while calming down the more conservaitve factions of the party.Today comedian Lindsay Shaw joins us to take a look at the announcement of Kamala Harrris as Vice President and how Republicans are already sharpening their knives.LINDSAY SHAW: https://www.instagram.com/linsasha/Plus--➤ RuPaul is back in the tabloids as folks scrutinize why the host of Drag Race unexpectedly deleted her social media accounts.➤ Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion have a new hit song WAP about the power of the wet vajayjay.➤ Madonna’s masterpiece performance of Vogue at the 1990s MTV Video Mu

One of the hardest gigs on reality television is to be the first queen sent home on RuPaul’s Drag Race. For many drag queens, getting on the program is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to show an international audience what they got.[Originally posted as FOF #2307 – Naysha Lopez Won Our Hearts – 03.16.16]Unfortunately, for the gals who go home early, it’s tough because they invest so much into their costumes they never get to show on TV.Today Naysha Lopez, the first gal to go home from Season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race joins us to talk about winning the prestigious Miss Continental 2013, and how it compares with being on Drag Race.NayshaLopez-group-IMG_5929-2Plus– Is there any truth to the urban legend of pageant girls poisoning each other’s makeup? The challenges of being Miss Continental. Who is she rooting to win this season 8?

One of the most influential LGBT documentaries of all time is The Queen, Frank Simon and Flawless Sabrina’s 1968 film that takes the viewer behind the scenes of a tumultuous drag pageant held in New York City two years before the Stonewall riots.The landmark film, which has now been remastered and is available on Netflix, inspired the likes of Paris is Burning, Wigstock, Pose and RuPaul’s Drag Race.[Originally posted as FOF #2824 – Pageant Queen Aurora Sexton Looks at the 1968 Documentary The Queen]Today, Miss Gay U.S. of A pageant winner, Aurora Sexton, joins us to look at drag pageants over the decades and what it takes for a gal to make it big in the pageant circuit.Aurora Sexton painted for the gods.Aurora Sexton snatches the crown.Aurora Sexton as Melania Trump in her solo show “Let Them Eat Cake!”Plus–➤ RuPaul brings queer and drag culture to Saturday Night Live and gives Pete Davison a drag makeover.➤ Aurora’s “LET THEM EAT CAKE! Diary Of A First Lady” A one woman show about the excitement, stress and

With the weekend coming up, we thought today we’d kick back, put a pizza in the oven and take a look at the goodies from the week and all the hot news--➤ A medical miracle: doctors grow a dong on a man’s arm to replace it.➤ Jennifer Hudson wows the internet with her powerful and dizzying musical tribute to the late Civil Rights Leader John Lewis.➤ As if Ellen didn’t have enough troubles, the ratings to her TV show are plummeting.➤ Lilly Wachowski says she likes that "The Matrix" is seen as a trans allegory.➤ Good News- all Chicago Public Schools will go fully remote to start the fall 2020