Feast of Fun : Gay Talk Show

One of the gay liberation book Velvet Rage, despite all the great ideas presented, is that it misses out on the intersection of gender and sexual identity, and presents traditional, monogamous relationships as the ideal. Today therapist and relationship expert Damon L Jacobs joins us to take a look at why some gay men get angry when they are challenged and why it’s so hard to draw strength from understanding our weaknesses.

Nobody spills the scalding hot tea quite like Vivacious, the RuPaul’s Drag Race superstar who gets a front row position whenever Katy Perry or Miley Cyrus need some dazzling queens to add opulence to their shows. Today, mother has arrived, Vivacious, the girl underneath that floating head of Ornacia joins us to weigh in on the RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11 girls and help us decide who has what it takes to be America’s next drag superstar.

What’s fun about watching drag queens on reality TV shows and on the internet is how we struggle when it comes to comedy. Camp is an aesthetic style and sensibility that regards something as appealing because it’s bad, and when your favorite queen bombs on stage, it’s still funny as hell. Today, comedian and improv teacher Meg Grunewald joins us to take a look at the unique demands drag queens have for comedy and how they transform failure into something she-larious.

Comedian Carma Rae Gold just spent some vacation time visiting her family at their trailer parks in Florida and Alabama and boy was she surprised when they started quoting all the talking points from Fox news. Today the she-larious Carma joins us to take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of living in a trailer park.

From the day we we’re born, LGBTQ people are often at odds with a world that doesn’t understand or appreciate who we are. Like a phantom menace, this shame follows us even though as adults we are out and proud. Queer folks face significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety and drug and alcohol abuse. Therapist Alan Downs describes this toxic cocktail of anger and rejection in his book “The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man’s World, Second Edition.”

Today the Princess of Hollywood, the Divination Princess Farhanna, Pleasant Gehman joins us to give us a glimpse into her wild life living in the punk scene of the 80s and her witch themed occult burlesque show. Listen as Pleasant talks about taking Kurt Cobain to drag shows, stalking horror hostess Vampira, and why she wants to ride the Goodyear blimp and her hashtag: #blimpinainteasy

Long time listeners of Feast of Fun will remember Amanda Cohen as the squeaky voiced Amanda Steinstein who commented on all of the strange news. She is also hailed as the 3rd most challenging transformation on the reality TV show What Not to Wear. Today Amanda Cohen joins us to talk about the history of women in stand up comedy.

Like an episode of the prime time melodrama Empire, the case of Jussie Smollett has everyone hanging on the edge of their seat wondering was he or wasn’t he a victim of a hate crime? Today, comedian Matt Brown joins us to take a look at the complicated case of Jussie Smollett and how race, sexual identity, celebrity and fascism intertwine to make for one hell of a case.

We never thought we’d hear from scamvestite Lady Vera Parker again, then almost a decade later, she popped up and she was still scamming people but now as psychic Thomas John. Today, skeptic and psychic buster Susan Gerbic joins us to talk about how she and a group of colleagues created Operation Pizza Roll to prove that Thomas John lacks any supernatural powers, and his readings were based on information he gleaned from social media.

There's a new development coming shortly about Lady Vera Parker, now known as the Seatbelt Psychic, so to get you caught up with her story, check out this classic podcast form 2009. Drag queen Lady Vera Parker moved to Chicago with the hopes of making it big as an entertainer. Her dreams were dashed when she was pulled over in U-Haul truck she allegedly stole in Kentucky. When the police pulled up her record they found a laundry list of check fraud and deception warrants.

The queens mopped up at this year's Academy Awards with Olivia Coleman and Rami Malek both getting an Oscar for portraying outlandish queens. The 91st Academy Awards was also a celebration of Black and Latinx talent but some aren’t too happy with the white savior trope of Green Book which won best film and best supporting actor. And Carol Channing was left out of the in Memorium.

I love that Lady Gaga is singing "Just a Gigolo" in Vegas, a tune that will forever be associated with Sin City. Louis Prima made that song what it is today and it was his anthem in Vegas for years. ❤️ Listen as we take a look at the incredibly resilient song "Just a Gigolo" as it evolved from an Austrian tango to the megahit by David Lee Roth and beyond.

Since Valentina portrayed Eartha Kitt on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 4 we've been thinking about this lovely interview we did with Eartha Kitt's daughter Kitt Shapiro. Please enjoy this classic podcast where we talk with Kitt about growing up the daughter of the amazing artist Eartha Kitt.

For over 30 years of her life, Louisianna Purchase had never seen a live drag show, then she fell in love with drag queen Bulimianne Rhapsody and the rest is her-story. Weezie caught the sickening drag bug for which there is no known cure. Today Louisianna Purchase joins us from her cozy kitchen in Texas to talk about her journey from punk rock to drag.

For queer folks, Tina Fey’s film Mean Girls became an instant cult classic for the way it captures the complex dynamic between bullies and their victims. Today San Francisco based drag queen Peaches Christ joins us to take a look at bullying in the film Mean Girls and how it carries on the great tradition of teen movies like Heathers and Jawbreaker.