Peter Mac as the legendary Judy Garland

Judy Garland– The legendary entertainer’s life has always been so tied to gay culture and the fight for LGBT equality that even today, forty years after her death, our celebrations and traditions are still influenced by the force of nature that was Judy Garland.

Gay men loved going to see Judy Garland's live show at Carnagie Hall in New York City. Her death helped to fuel the events surrounding the Stonewall riots and the birth of the modern gay rights movement.

Today we’re talking to Peter Mac, one of the best known Judy Garland tribute artists in the country. For over a decade Peter has been portraying the diva in his one man show “Judy and Me” and now he’s in L.A. for “Judy Takes Broadway” – a remarkable tribute to the diva’s love for the Great White Way.

Join us as we take a closer look at Judy Garland as a misunderstood artist, portrayed by the media as messy and tragic, when in fact she was a triumphant woman who used humor as way to cope with life’s enormous challenges.

Listen as we talk to Peter about why Lucille Ball called Judy the funniest woman she knew, Judy Garland’s podcast recorded on a Nazi Machine, how a gay scene developed around her Carnegie Hall show in New York and the influence her death had at the Stonewall riots.

[Originally posted on 06.16.11]

Featured Music:
Judy At Carnegie Hall – Judy Garland: iTunes

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One of the most beloved films featuring drag queens of all time is Girls Will Be Girls, where three actresses at various stages on the Hollywood food chain navigate the minefield of love, aging and ambition. The film features the raunchy ensemble of Coco Peru, Varla Jean Merman and Evie Harris, all drag queens who had separate careers but were brought together like Charlies Angels to create a dynamic comedy trifecta.

We heard that after this photo was taken, Evie Harris had a three way with Shields and Yarnell. Photo by Dennis Hensley.

Although Girls will be Girls was a hit with critics and audiences, the making of a sequel was cost prohibitive. Now, thanks to digital video cameras and fundraising tools like Kickstarter, fans raised the funds needed to create the apocalyptic sequel coming out next year: Girls Will be Girls 2012.

Today we are joined by Jack Plotnick, the man behind Evie Harris sharing with us the anguished journey of actors in Hollywood trying to find meaning in their lives and the origins of Evie Harris, a washed-up, alcoholic, aging C-List actress.

What Coco Peru and Varla Jean Merman have to say about their co-star when she’s not around.

How being a sloppy drag queen got him working with Sir Ian McKellen on the Oscar nominated film Gods and Monsters.

Learning how to love acting and auditions as an actor.

And daily affirmations actor and trans folks can say to find the joy and purpose in life.

Featured Music:
Girls Will Be Girls Theme Remix – Billy Brooks – the B2 Mix

1960s Hollywood sex symbol Mamie Van Doren can still kick it! Photos by Alan Mercer and others.

At one point in Hollywood, Mamie Van Doren, along with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, was considered one the most beautiful women on the silver screen. The three of the them were collectively known as the “Three Ms” and shared a special bond of sexy sisterhood.

Always at odds with the censors during one of America’s most conservative periods, Mamie Van Doren was known as the Bad Girl. Viewed as too darn hot, Maimie was sidelined to roles in B movies where she could show off her shapely feminine form.

Yeah he was that hot. Taken in 1954, Mamie Van Doren might have been one of the few women ever to get her groove on with gay actor Rock Hudson. Photo courtesy of Mamie Van Doren.

Today, Mamie Van Doren is as alive and kicking as ever and has a fantastic new Country music album “Still a Troublemaker.” The album features a trio with country music stars Lynn Anderson (I Never Promised You A Rose Garden) and Linda Davis.

Listen as we talk with Mamie about her amazing life and she gives us a rare look at dating many of Hollywood’s Golden age hunks, and even Henry Kissinger.

What was it like to be intimate with gay hunk Rock Hudson?

What did Joan Crawford really think about Marilyn Monroe?

Mamie shares it all on today’s show, you don’t want to miss it!

[Originally posted on 12.17.10]

Featured Music:
Mamie Van Doren – Still a Troublemaker: iTunes

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Joshua Devore in the Thrillpeddlers' Vice Palace - photos by David Wilson

Actor Joshua Devore is a jack of all trades, and by trade and jack, we really mean it. Better known as adult film star Tober Brandt, Joshua started out as a baptist minister, then turned into a muscle hunk who starred in Titan Media and Chi-Chi Larue’s films.

Before he became Tober Brandt, Joshua Devore was a Baptist Minister everyone would be happy to get on their knees for. -- Photo by Kent Taylor

He’s now taking a new turn in the San Fransisco based Thrillpeddlers theater company’s new play – Vice Palace, a modern update of the Cockette’s notorious show “There’s Blood on Your Face” that starred Divine and Mink Stole.

The play was based on Edgar Allan Poe’s “Mask of the Red Death” and was considered to have foreshadowed the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and early 90s.

Listen as Joshua talks in-depth about the Cockettes, the kooky drag queen hippie theater group from the 1960s and being a modern primitive, who not only has an affinity for body piercings and tattoos, but is also a hook enthusiast who likes to get pierced by metal hooks and transcend the pain into a meditative, sexual state of mind.

You'll be hooked! - photo: Joe Ogulin, Suspendc.com

What happened between him and Tina Turner?

His appearance on Kathy Griffins’ my Life on the D-List and Sex and the City

and just how many hooks does it take to hang from the sky like an angel?

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Trey Green – The Gay Pirate Song:iTunes

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It’s impossible to talk about the hilarious cult films of John Waters without mentioning one of his greatest actresses, Mink Stole.

As a teenager Mink Stole met John Waters in Baltimore. Little did she know that her roles in such cult classics as “Pink Flamingos” and “Female Trouble” and then later on in “Hairspray” and “Serial Mom” would become some of the most beloved and twisted films of all time.

Mink Stole in All About Evil - photo by Austin Young

Although she’s appeared in every single one of his films, Mink still found the time to develop an acting career and even form her own band. This year Mink appears in Joshua Grannell’s film debut “All About Evil” as a nagging librarian who meets her untimely demise.

Join us as we talk with Mink about the origins of all those wonderful lines, her friendship with Divine, John Waters and Peaches Christ and why she gets butchered to death in so many movies, including All About Evil.

You can see Mink live in the flesh at the Chicago premier of “All About Evil” at the Music Box Theater on August 14th.

Featured Music:
Blue Hippos – Forty Forty: iTunes

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Usually when naked photos of celebrities are revealed to the public, it’s bad news for the star, because, lets face it- Americans can’t handle nudity.

But why does it have to be this way?

Supermodel Ronnie Kroell, whose steamy bromance with fellow contestant Ben DiChiara, on the reality TV competition “Make Me A Supermodel” is out to change the way we look at our own nude bodies.

Ronnie Kroell on the June Issue of Playgirl - photo: Lope Navo, courtesy of Playgirl.com

Listen as we talk with Ronnie about baring it all for Playgirl, why he knows that showing off his nakedness won’t hurt his modeling career and his new reality TV show project in the works.

We taped this on Friday night in front of a live internet audience and Blogger Michael Lehet joins us to moderate the chat room for a gay, fun, loud and proud show.

[Originally posted on 06.30.10]

Featured Music:
Deven Green – Look at My Face: iTunes

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James Duke Mason likes to scrunch up his hair. Photo by Sara Pine

Some say there’s a conspiracy in Hollywood to keep the closet door locked nice and tight.

Although there are great openly gay actors- Sir Ian McKellen, Neil Patrick Harris and Chris Colfer, they are few and far between. But, that’s about to change as a whole new generation of young folks stand up for who they are in their hearts.

Today we’re talking to James Duke Mason- son of 80s pop star Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go’s, and grandson of Hollywood actor James Mason.

The Duke is all grown up and now living in LA, where he’s pursing a career in acting and a college degree. James is working to make a big impact in Hollywood and has hopes to someday be known as “The Gay Sidney Poiter.”

Join us as The Duke shares with us important advice he got from Dustin Lance Black and stories of hanging with Elton John and David Furnish who invited him to see the new baby, but we think they just wanted to get him to babysit for free.

Plus the hot news:

France says no to gay marriage.

A father sues a drug company saying his Parkinson’s drug turned him into a gambling, gay, cross-dressing sex addict.

And what your rainbow colored hair says about you.

Featured Music:
Chameleon – Pixikill: iTunes

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 Year

It’s our favorite book of the year, and we think you’ll love it too.

As the daughter of eccentric Hollywood parents, Alison was left on her own and sexually abused by her brother the teen actor Stefan Arngrim.

Alison credits playing a fabulous villain on TV with saving her sanity and eventually coming to terms with her brother’s abuse and family’s neglect. She’s survived it all and has come out with a touching sense of humor and a fabulous outlook on life.

Join us as we talk with the extraordinary Alison Arngrim about: growing up in a crazy Hollywood home, Nellie Oleson as a verb, her father’s job managing Liberace, her parents friendship with the first famous transsexual Christine Jorgenson, and the performance group The Nellie Olesons.

Plus, everything about Little House on the Prairie- the Wheelchair Episode, why they drank so much on the set, and her TV husband Steve Tracy dying from AIDS in the 1980s.

[originally posted on 09.02.10]

Featured Book:
Alison Arngrim – Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated: Amazon

Featured Music:
Rachael Sage – Blistering Sun: Amazon | Site

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1960s Hollywood sex symbol Mamie Van Doren can still kick it! Photos by Alan Mercer and others.

At one point in Hollywood, Mamie Van Doren, along with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, was considered one the most beautiful women on the silver screen. The three of the them were collectively known as the “Three Ms” and shared a special bond of sexy sisterhood.

Always at odds with the censors during one of America’s most conservative periods, Mamie Van Doren was known as the Bad Girl. Viewed as too darn hot, Maimie was sidelined to roles in B movies where she could show off her shapely feminine form.

Yeah he was that hot. Taken in 1954, Mamie Van Doren might have been one of the few women ever to get her groove on with gay actor Rock Hudson. Photo courtesy of Mamie Van Doren.

Today, Mamie Van Doren is as alive and kicking as ever and has a fantastic new Country music album “Still a Troublemaker.” The album features a trio with country music stars Lynn Anderson (I Never Promised You A Rose Garden) and Linda Davis.

Listen as we talk with Mamie about her amazing life and she gives us a rare look at dating many of Hollywood’s Golden age hunks, and even Henry Kissinger.

What was it like to be intimate with gay hunk Rock Hudson?

What did Joan Crawford really think about Marilyn Monroe?

Mamie shares it all on today’s show, you don’t want to miss it!

Featured Music:
Mamie Van Doren – Still a Troublemaker: iTunes

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Christopher Kidder & Kevin Alves as Klingons in "A Klingon Christmas Carol." No you're not hallucinating.

Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is credited with restoring the holidays in Britain to joy and celebration after a period of somberness in the early 1800s. Today the classic tale is keeping the spirit of Star Trek alive in “A Klingon Christmas Carol” – the first play to ever be produced entirely in Klingon. No joke.

Are Klingon klingon bat'leths as awkward to use as they look?

Listen as the show’s writer and director Christopher Kidder and their Klingon Scrooge, actor Kevin Alves share with us how they created this holiday classic mash-up that audiences say is “out of this world.”

Join us we talk about Shakespeare as Klingon, Bat’leths- are they useful as weapons or just a big joke? And what do Klingons tell their young ones about being gay? What kind of message would a Klingon warrior deliver in an “It Gets Better” video?

Plus all the hot news:

Our drag queens cooking show debuts on YouTube.

Crush videos banned by Congress

A man wants to chop off his fingers just to look a little bit different.

And a German zoo splits up a long-term gay vulture couple to hopefully make some babies.

Featured Music:
Klingon Christmas Song:Site

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In 1995, writer Will Clark took his acting career in a new direction by starring in the gay adult leather film “Dr. Goodglove.”

Will Clark in the 1990s. Will says he did it for the sex and it was a huge boost to his self-esteem.

When films were first marketed as condomless or bare-back gay as the key selling point, Will raised concerns whether or not film companies that create bareback films should be eligible for winning awards like the Gay Erotic Video Awards.

Will leveraged his adult film career into blogging on gay sex and politics and he joins us today to share the story of his long, hard slippery road into porn and life as an HIV/AIDS advocate.

Listen as Will talks about the hard times he faced as a teenager growing up in Wisconsin, the debate over the impact of condom-less films has on HIV infections and how gay men’s complex relationship with barriers and condoms fuels the Rubber Fetish which eroticizes tight fitting rubber suits made out of polyvinyl chloride.

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Featured Music:
Justin Utley – Stand For Something: iTunes

Tired of playing junkies, maids and ice cream vendors, comedians Hugo Rosado and Michael Villarreal joined Salsation, a Latino sketch comedy troupe to take some juicer roles that better portray the complexities of the Latino experience.

Boldly going where many cholos fear to tread, Salsation is going gay in their new show “It Takes a Village People” to explore the Latino experience in the Village of Gay Life.

Today the fellas from Salsation join us to talk about why its harder for Latinos, Blacks and Asians to embrace the rainbow flag, trashy Latino gay bars in Chicago’s South Side and why so many gay men’s coming out stories are as melodramatic as a Spanish telenovela.

Oh yes Maria, yo soy un gay.

Plus all the hot news:

Talk about stupid: two men try to mug and beat up a gay man in the bathroom of the Stonewall Inn, the site of the legendary rebellion that helped spark the modern gay rights movement. The thugs got caught and are now facing hate crime assault charges.

An Abercrombie & Fitch Model gets fired for eating delicious but fattening croissant.

Lions turn on their trainer at a Ukranian circus, in front of hundreds of spectators and screaming children seperated by only a thin net

There may be little pink houses for you and me, but not for haters. John Cougar Mellencamp sent a cease and desist letter to the National Organization for Marriage asking them to not to use his music for their anti-marriage equality rallies.

And the European Beard And Mustache Championship kicks off In Austria.

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Featured Music:
La Casa Azul – La Revolución Sexual: iTunes

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We had a fabulous weekend at our Lady Gaga Yard Sale as folks from all walks of life came to shop for wigs, costumes and memorabilia that we’ve collected from doing shows for over a decade.

Today we’re taking you behind the scenes of our yard sale- the cute Mexican kids we dressed up in drag, our kooky neighbors and the hot guys who sifted through our stuff.

Thanks to Jason Smith for taking the awesome main pic of us!

Ian Benardo, best known for being one of the freaky contestants on American Idol

Plus other hot news:

A grieving mother claims Lady Gaga is possessed by the fashion-savvy, music-conscience ghost of her dead daughter.

The Video Music Awards goes on without a hitch with an opening number by Chelsea Handler as Lady Gaga.

Taylor Swift kind of forgives Kayne, but won’t let him forget his antics at last year’s awards.

And Lady Gaga is escorted to the ceremony by American soldiers discharged under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. We don’t know what possessed her do it, but we like it! Visit www.ladygaga.com/sldn/ to find out what you can do to help.

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Featured Music:
Connie Vannett – The Pussy Cat Song: Tunes

Horse Meat Disco, Vol. 2 – Various Artists: iTunes

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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 Year

It’s our favorite book of the year, and we think you’ll love it too.

As the daughter of eccentric Hollywood parents, Alison was left on her own and sexually abused by her brother the teen actor Stefan Arngrim.

Alison credits playing a fabulous villain on TV with saving her sanity and eventually coming to terms with her brother’s abuse and family’s neglect. She’s survived it all and has come out with a touching sense of humor and a fabulous outlook on life.

Join us as we talk with the extraordinary Alison Arngrim about: growing up in a crazy Hollywood home, Nellie Oleson as a verb, her father’s job managing Liberace, her parents friendship with the first famous transsexual Christine Jorgenson, and the performance group The Nellie Olesons.

Plus, everything about Little House on the Prairie- the Wheelchair Episode, why they drank so much on the set, and her TV husband Steve Tracy dying from AIDS in the 1980s.

You can see Alison’s one woman show in Chicago Sept. 9 & 10, Davenports Piano Bar and Sept. 11, 2pm for a book signing at Borders on Clark Street. Check out her events page on Facebook to see if she’s coming near you on her tour.

Featured Book:
Alison Arngrim – Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated: Amazon

Featured Music:
Rachael Sage – Blistering Sun: Amazon | Site

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Audiences were horrified when the movie Showgirls came out in 1995. Critics hated director Paul Verhoven’s misguided attempt to capture the seedy show business world of Las Vegas, and it bombed in theaters.

Today Showgirls is a celebrated cult classic and one of MGM’s top selling DVD’s of all time. In fact, the film’s fan base is larger than ever and even the characters from the film enjoy a second life in the virtual world of Facebook as if the movie never ended.

You think you can do my nails for me now sugar?

The film centers on a sexy blond drifter Nomi Malone who hustles her way from pole dancing at a strip club to becoming the top showgirl at a casino in Las Vegas.

Although, many of the actors regret doing the film and will seldom speak of it, one actress, Rena Riffel, like all the fans has embraced the film’s campy plot, freaky sexual encounters and outlandish scenes.

Today Rena Riffel, who plays the tragic stripper Penny Hope, joins us over the phone from California to dish the dirt on Showgirls and talk about her upcoming projects which includes a musical version of Showgirls!

Rena’s working on her own soon to be released film “Trasharella: Ultra Vixen” about a starlet who becomes a super vixen to kill the evil Vampire of Hollywood.

Listen as Rena talks about working on Showgirls, watching it in the theater with Demi Moore and the cast of Striptease, how it was reborn as camp classic and what was the plot of the show within the show “Goddess” supposed to be?

We could have had anyone on this show: Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul. Rena Riffel is what Feast of Fun is all about! She’s dazzling, she’s exciting, and she’s very, very sexy!

[Originally posted in January 2010]

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Visit Steamwork’s website and register to get a discount
on your next visit. Enter “Feast of Fun” on the promo
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Featured Music:
Rena Riffel – Trasharella (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack): iTunes

Featured Movie:
Paul Verhoven – Showgirls: Amazon

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Raspberries!

For over seven decades, Carol Channing has delighted audiences with her bubbly personality and unique voice to become one of the most beloved entertainers of all time.

In 1949, the musical “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” opened on Broadway featuring Carol Channing as Lorelei, the role that would shape her career for the rest of her life.

Who can forget her Oscar nominated performance as “Jazz Baby” Muzzy Van Hossmere in the film Thoroughly Modern Millie? Or her role as Dolly Levi in the stage version of Hello Dolly and her countless television appearances.

Today we’re delighted to talk to Carol Channing about her upcoming performance at “Help is on the Way,” Northern California’s largest annual AIDS benefit concert in San Francisco on Aug 15th at the Herbst Theater.

Listen as we chat with Carol Channing about fighting for arts education in public schools through her charity, Channing Arts, why everyone loves to imitate her, especially drag queens, the Carol Channing Ventriloquist doll, and which President had her on his enemies list.

Plus questions from you, the listeners and even one from Tony Award winning playwright Terrence McNally.

Featured Music:
Carol Channing – For Heaven’s Sake: iTunes

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It’s impossible to talk about the hilarious cult films of John Waters without mentioning one of his greatest actresses, Mink Stole.

As a teenager Mink Stole met John Waters in Baltimore. Little did she know that her roles in such cult classics as “Pink Flamingos” and “Female Trouble” and then later on in “Hairspray” and “Serial Mom” would become some of the most beloved and twisted films of all time.

Mink Stole in All About Evil - photo by Austin Young

Although she’s appeared in every single one of his films, Mink still found the time to develop an acting career and even form her own band. This year Mink appears in Joshua Grannell’s film debut “All About Evil” as a nagging librarian who meets her untimely demise.

Join us as we talk with Mink about the origins of all those wonderful lines, her friendship with Divine, John Waters and Peaches Christ and why she gets butchered to death in so many movies, including All About Evil.

You can see Mink live in the flesh at the Chicago premier of “All About Evil” at the Music Box Theater on August 14th.

Featured Music:
Blue Hippos – Forty Forty: iTunes

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Actress Carole Cook was bound for Broadway when she got a call from Lucille Ball to audition for a part in her stage revue.

Carole was so impressive that Lucille took her under her wing, and gave Carole her stage name in honor of her dearly departed friend, actress Carol Lombard because she felt they both shared “the same healthy disrespect for everything in general.”

It was the start of a lifelong friendship and working relationship between the two with Carole appearing in many of Lucy’s television shows.

She would also appear in several cult movies, like Sixteen Candles and The Incredible Mister Limpet, and such popular TV dramas like Greys Anatomy and Dynasty.

Today we talk to the legendary Carole Cook about her work and friendships with many of comedy’s leading ladies, including Carol Channing, Ethel Merman, JoAnne Worley and of course Lucille Ball.

What was it like living and working with Lucy? What happened between Carole and Molly Ringwald in the film Sixteen Candles? And did Lucille Ball ever get over her divorce from Desi Arnaz?

Plus questions from you, the listeners–

You can see Carol on Sunday, August 15 at the Herbst Theater in San Francsico at Northern California’s largest annual AIDS benefit, “Help is on the Way.”

Featured Music:
Carole Cook- Before the Parade Passes By:

Featured Movie:
The Incredible Mr. Limpet: iTunes | Amazon

Sixteen Candles: Amazon

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Everybody loves Cassandra Peterson’s alter-ego Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

Cassandra began her career as Las Vegas showgirl and later went on to being a horror movie hostess. As Elvira she is a Halloween icon and sex symbol for all things campy and spooky.

The “gal in the wig whose talents are big” takes a surprising new turn in Joshua Grannell’s directorial debut film “All About Evil” by playing a mommy, not a mummy.

Listen as we talk in-depth with the brilliant Cassandra Peterson about taking off her character for the directing drag queen Peaches Christ, the origins of her beloved character Elvira and her thoughts on the movie “Showgirls.”

Cassandra announces Elvira is also coming back big time this fall with the return of her fabulous TV show “Elvira’s Movie Macabre.”

Plus-
Did you know she dated Elvis Presley as a Showgirl in Las Vegas?

The Eastern origins of Elvira’s unsual eye makeup.

Discover the final resting place of her famous red victorian couch. Believe it or not, it’s not in the Smithsonian!

And questions from you! Don’t miss this show, it’s scary good.

Featured Music:
Elvira’s Gravest Hits – Elvira: iTunes

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The word “Hello” was championed as the preferred phone greeting by Thomas Edison, it was a hit song for the Beatles, the Doors and later on Lionel Ritchie, and now it has now become associated with comedian Deven Green.

With the viral success of her parody videos on 80s soap opera stars where she proclaims “Why Hello” and her recent re-dubbing of Lionel Ritchie’s ridiculous video “Hello,” the greeting has become so closely associated with Deven Green that she practically owns it on the internet.

Brace yourselves, Deven Green and her hunky husband Joel Bryant join us today to give us a sneak peek at their upcoming projects which include a cooking reality TV show on TLC, a vampire and zombie web series and a song on the ukulele written just for us.

Happy IDAHO, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. But shouldn’t that be IDA-HOT? Oh no, the “T” is silent yet again!

YouTube celebrates their 5 year anniversary with professionally made videos on people whose lives were changed by the video sharing site.

Horror of horrors, Wikipedia replaces a Klingon character from its logo with a character from the Amharic language, which may or may not be spoken more widely than the artificial language created for the Star Trek film and tv series.

And a cute little robot called the I-Fairy conducts a straight wedding ceremony in Japan even though same-sex marriage is not legal in that country.

Shoutout to Austin Young (for his fabulous Nagel-inspired photo of Deven) and Pandora Boxx for turning us on to Shayna Ferm’s music.

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Join us at Pridefest Milwaukee
Over over a hundred and fifty acts including Kathy Griffin,
Patti LaBelle, and Joan Rivers! Visit Pridefest.com today
to get your tickets and book your hotel room.

Featured Music:
Shayna Ferm And The Upper Deckers – Blonde: iTunes | Amazon

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Writer and oral historian E Patrick Johnson spent two years traveling the South to interview almost a hundred men for his extraordinary book Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South.

E. Patrick Johnson put a lot of love into the project and now he’s bringing these men’s stories to life with a theatrical adaptation of the book- Sweet Tea: The Play, produced by About Face Theater now playing in Chicago at the Viaduct Theater until May 29.

Listen as E. Patrick tells us about the responsibility of performing these men’s stories and he weighs in on the unnerving use of slur words in books, films and theater.

What is the best way for writers and artists to handle taboo slur words? Do we avoid them, embrace them or look to them for a deeper understanding of who we are and why people hate?

Hot news:
The Illinois Department of Public Health runs a bizarre ad campaign demonizing gay men as disease ridden Frankenstein monsters in of all places, the back page of a gay newspaper. Who was sleeping on the job when they ran such a hateful ad?

Due to the success of the Betty White Saturday night live Facebook group, new groups are popping up all across the social network begging for their favorite celebrity to become the next host of the show.

Updates on Obama’s Supreme Court Nominee Kagan and more on George Rekers, the boy hungry, anti-gay Baptist preacher.

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LifeLube Your Field Guide to Gay Men’s Health
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Get a FREE audio book at Audible.com
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Featured Book:
E. Patrick Johnson- Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South: Amazon

Featured Music:
Antony & The Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now: iTunes

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Being born into a famous family is never easy, so it’s refreshing to hear that James Duke Mason, the son of 80s pop star Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go’s, and grandson of Hollywood actor James Mason is not only well adjusted, he’s fabulously gay.

Duke (as he likes to be called) came out at the age of 14 when he pitched a fit because his mom said she was too busy to take him to see the iconic gay film, Brokeback Mountain. Since then, he’s gotten politically active by working for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and video blogging on YouTube where he enthusiastically spreads a message of pride.

Here is a photo of Duke taken at a pool party with actor Ryan Phillippe. Want to know what transpired during this party? Listen to the show and find out.

This fall, Duke is moving to Los Angeles where he plans on studying film-making and politics with the hopes of bringing a new energy to the gay rights movement.

Today Duke talks with us over the Internet from his home in the south of France. Listen as we talk to Duke about his film debut in You Can’t Have it All, his mom’s new autobiography, “Lips Unsealed: A Memoir,”where she admits it was cool in the 80s to kiss girls, and why he took down most of his YouTube videos.

Duke has some strong words for closeted gay celebrities and politicians and addresses head-on why some young people must embrace the label of being gay.

Check out today’s sponsor:

Join us at Pridefest Milwaukee
Over over a hundred and fifty acts including Kathy Griffin,
Patti LaBelle, and Joan Rivers! Visit Pridefest.com today
to get your tickets and book your hotel room.

Featured Book:
Belinda Carlisle – Lips Unsealed: A Memoir: Amazon

Featured Music:
Belinda Carlisle – Voilà : iTunes | Amazon

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Tired of just having a one night stand with Jesus and he doesn’t call you back? Well, maybe it’s because you’re not praying hard and long enough! There’s no escaping God’s massive love, so get ready to fill that cavernous hole inside you with fabulous music from the Best Church of God, the only church God goes to, ever!

The church’s choir director Mike Descoteaux brought over two of his most dedicated parishioners, sister Lindsay Goldapp and brother Scott Levy to help us find the true meaning of the Bible and boost our self-esteem with the knowledge that, thankfully, not everybody will go to Heaven.

A comedy group 6,000 years in the making, the Best Church of God is relocating to Donnie’s Sky Box, a fabulous comedy venue located deep inside the Second City Compound, where all comedy firearms are licensed by God and the only deaths are from laughter. We just wonder how many Xenu points you have to accumulate before you reach the top of the Tina Fey pyramid.

Plus hot news:
An Israeli man is sent to prison for 10 years for tricking women into having sex with him by saying his semen was holy and had healing powers.

A Muslim American journalist speaks out against the radical website “Revolution Muslim” that directed veiled threats against the creators of the TV show South Park for depicting Mohamed in a recent episode.

Janice Dickinson attacks pop star Mick Jagger, saying she couldn’t get no satisfaction from the modest size of his manhood.

And congratulations again Israel, the iPad is now approved for sale in the Holy Land, after weeks of banning the tablet computer over concerns its wireless signal could disrupt other devices and block signals from heaven.

Check out today’s sponsors:

Join us at Pridefest Milwaukee
Over over a hundred and fifty acts including Kathy Griffin,
Patti LaBelle, and Joan Rivers! Visit Pridefest.com today
to get your tickets and book your hotel room.

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We had a blast talking all things Madonna with Melissa in September 2009 that we thought might enjoy hearing it again-

For almost three decades, Madonna has captured the imagination of the public by identifying where we needed to be pushed and ooh ooh, taking us there like a prayer.

Whether you’re crazy for her or annoyed by her expressing herself, you can’t deny the impact this beautiful stranger has had on all of us.

Today we dedicate the first part of our show to Madonna- the woman, the iconoclast, the musician.

Cabaret singer and Madonna expert Melissa Young joins us before she sets off on her own “Lucky Star” tour- a one woman show dedicated to the life and music of Madonna.

Madonna’s new video for her song “Celebration” does it right, featuring her die-hard fans videotaped at her concerts dancing to the beat. But the big highlight is the pop diva’s baby girl, Lourdes, all grown up and wearing the wedding dress big momma wore in her 80s video “Like a Virgin.”

Plus, Madonna’s gay brother Christopher Ciconne insults her latest hairstyle on TV- is he keeping it real or is he just really jealous?

Also in the news-

Terrible Patrick Swayze, Kanye West joke that’s involves Michael Jackson that’s making the rounds online

The touching and colorful promise to a dead solider.

True Blood Hunk for gay marriage.

Hollywood gay gossip from the 1950s.[via]

Nicole Kidman set to play a transsexual artist.

And we mourn the loss of musician Mary Travers and comedian Henry Gibson.

Comment on today’s show using twitter- Include #fof1058 in your update for it to appear on the site. Learn more about hashtag searches in the Twitter Fan Wiki.

Visit out our sponsor:

Steamworks Gym, Sauna and Baths.
Visit Steamwork’s website and register to get a discount
on your next visit. Enter “Feast of Fools” on the promo
code field to get the special discount.

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It was such a delight talking to Debbie Reynolds in August of 2009 we just had to share it again-

As star of Singing In the Rain, one of the most loved Holllywood musicals of all time, Debbie Reynolds made a name for herself with her sparkling voice and uninhibited sense of humor. Dick Cavett called her “one of the first ladies of Hollywood.”

With over 30 films, two Broadway shows and several TV series under her belt, Debbie Reynolds still continues to captivate audiences with her one woman show.

Today we’re talking to Hollywood’s Golden Age diva — Debbie Reynolds on her conservative roots, her divorce from Eddie Fisher and being the mother of the Princess of Sci Fi- Carrie Fisher.

What was it like to rehearse the dance sequences with Gene Kelly? Is it true he made her feet bleed? What’s it like living next door to her daughter?

Listen as Debbie shares with us her stories of dating closeted gay men in Hollywood, being a mother to all her fans and she dishes on drag queens making it big in show business.

In the photo on the right is Debbie Reynolds with Hollywood hunk Tab Hunter, who later came out as a gay man in the late 80s. What was it like dating him?

Featured Music:
Debbie Reynolds – Aba Daba Honeymoon: iTunes | Amazon

Featured Movies:
Singin’ in the Rain: iTunes | Amazon
The Unsinkable Molly Brown: iTunes | Amazon

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Audiences were horrified when the movie Showgirls came out in 1995. Critics hated director Paul Verhoven’s misguided attempt to capture the seedy show business world of Las Vegas, and it bombed in theaters.

Today Showgirls is a celebrated cult classic and one of MGM’s top selling DVD’s of all time. In fact, the film’s fan base is larger than ever and even the characters from the film enjoy a second life in the virtual world of Facebook as if the movie never ended.

You think you can do my nails for me now sugar?

The film centers on a sexy blond drifter Nomi Malone who hustles her way from pole dancing at a strip club to becoming the top showgirl at a casino in Las Vegas.

Although, many of the actors regret doing the film and will seldom speak of it, one actress, Rena Riffel, like all the fans has embraced the film’s campy plot, freaky sexual encounters and outlandish scenes.

Today Rena Riffel, who plays the tragic stripper Penny Hope, joins us over the phone from California to dish the dirt on Showgirls and talk about her upcoming projects which includes a musical version of Showgirls!

Rena’s working on her own soon to be released film “Trasharella: Ultra Vixen” about a starlet who becomes a super vixen to kill the evil Vampire of Hollywood.

Listen as Rena talks about working on Showgirls, watching it in the theater with Demi Moore and the cast of Striptease, how it was reborn as camp classic and what was the plot of the show within the show “Goddess” supposed to be?

We could have had anyone on this show: Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul. Rena Riffel is what Feast of Fun is all about! She’s dazzling, she’s exciting, and she’s very, very sexy!

Check out today’s sponsors:

Steamworks Gym, Sauna and Baths.
Visit Steamwork’s website and register to get a discount
on your next visit. Enter “Feast of Fun” on the promo
code field to get the special discount.

Featured Music:
Rena Riffel – Trasharella (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack): iTunes

Featured Movie:
Paul Verhoven – Showgirls: Amazon

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It’s World AIDS Day, the international day of remembrance which raises awareness about the AIDS pandemic and honors the struggles and triumphs of people living with HIV.

Today we’re talking to groundbreaking actor and activist Michael Kearns.

In the mid 70s, long before coming out of the closet was considered a career move in Hollywood, Michael Kearns was famous for becoming the out gay model and spokesperson for the popular book, “The Happy Hustler” even though he didn’t write it.

Prompted by the AIDS-related death of “Midnight Express” star Brad Davis in 1991, Michael made history when came forward on television as being HIV positive at a time when so many people were afraid to divulge their status.

He later appeared on the TV shows Life Goes On and Beverly Hills 90210 as a man living with HIV.

Today Michael is re-staging his one man show “Intimacies’” for a 20 year anniversary tour. The show features six characters identified by the placement of a red scarf to tell six diferent monolouges on the AIDS crisis of the early 80s. Never in the history of theater has a red scarf meant so much!

Listen as Michael Kearns talks with us about why he came forward back then, why Hollywood still has a long way to go when embracing gay men and he reveals the juicy details of an affair he had with a major music celebrity.

Who was it? Listen to today’s show and find out. And we mean out.

Visit out our sponsors:

Steamworks Gym, Sauna and Baths.
Visit Steamwork’s website and register to get a discount
on your next visit. Enter “Feast of Fun” on the promo
code field to get the special discount.

Featured Books:
Grant Tracy Saxon- The Happy Hustler: My Own Story: Amazon
Michael Kearns- The Solo Performer’s Journey: From the Page to the Stage: Amazon
Michael Kearns- T-Cells & Sympathy: Monologues in the Age of Aids: Amazon

Featured Music:
Baby Teeth- Hustle Beach: iTunes | Amazon

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Billy Clift and Heklina - photo by Fausto Fernós

Who can forget that classic lines delivered between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford? Joan Crawford as Blanche says “You wouldn’t be able to do these awful things to me if I weren’t still in this chair” to which Bette Davis as Baby Jane Hudson creepily replies “But you ARE, Blanche! You ARE in that chair!”

Everybody loves the 1962 campy horror film, “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane,” directed by Robert Aldrich. The character of Baby Jane Hudson is considered by many to be one of the top movie villains of all time and is especially loved by gay men.

Today we’re talking to writer and director, Billy Clift about his debut film “Baby Jane?” a loving parody of the Hollywood classic.

Billy’s loved the movie all his life, and when he had the opportunity to make a revision his favorite film, he cast it with some of the best drag queens and performers in San Francisco. The film features Matthew Martin as Baby Jane and Katya Smirnoff Skye as Blanche.

And guess who plays the nosy neighbor-Trannyshack founder Heklina!

They’re both on today’s show talking about the making of the movie and whether the drag queens battled it out behind the scenes as much as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford did during the making of the original film.

Also – Heklina fills us in on her recent appearance on the TV series “Trauma” with hunky actor Taylor Kinney.

Are you more a Bette Davis or a Joan Crawford?

Female trouble in the news,

Carrie Prejean’s tragic sex tape was viewed by her mother.

and the wife who discovered she was allergic to her husband’s sperm on her wedding night.

Visit out our sponsors:

Steamworks Gym, Sauna and Baths.
Visit Steamwork’s website and register to get a discount
on your next visit. Enter “Feast of Fun” on the promo
code field to get the special discount.

Featured Music:
Telling on Trixie- Telling on Trixie: iTunes | Amazon

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In 1926, Mae West and the entire cast of her play “Sex” were arrested for “corrupting the morals of youth and others.”

Mae West aroused the wrath of the New York City moralists because her bedroom farce features a brazen unapologetic sex worker, who after a series of misadventures, falls in love and lives happily ever after. Mae West wrote the play for herself because she was no longer content with playing the good little girl mistaken for a hooker or the working girl that ends up dead in the gutter. She wanted to be the woman that had a good time and wound up with the man in the end, if you know what I mean.

Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.

As an early supporter of the women’s liberation movement and gay rights, Mae portrayed people seeking both romance and sexy fun in spite of the restrictive standards of the time.

Mae West’s play, Sex was so outrageous that it has never been staged in Chicago until now, some 84 years later. The Prologue Theater Company has brought “Sex” back to life, staging the comedy in a series of rooms located in an old historical mansion on the edge of Lake Michigan.

The play’s bawdy dialogue lends itself well to the enthusiasm of the young theater company and actress Jes Bedwineck does a lovely job playing Mae’s character of Margy LaMont without turning Mae into a cartoon, even though she was quite a bit of character herself.

We’re joined today by Jes and her love interest in the play, actor Sean Patrick Ward, to exchange our favorite Mae West quotes and talk about talk about sexuality and morality of the 1920s. Have we come a long way baby or is the best yet to come?

In the News:

The Chicago Cubs say hello to the first lesbian major league baseball team owner!

The USS New York, a naval warship built from steel salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center arrives in New York City.

and If you’re in Maine, please vote today NO on Proposition 1.

Visit out our sponsors:

Steamworks Gym, Sauna and Baths.
Visit Steamwork’s website and register to get a discount
on your next visit. Enter “Feast of Fun” on the promo
code field to get the special discount.

Featured Music:
Telling on Trixie- Telling on Trixie: iTunes | Amazon

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Today we continue our series of interviews with internet celebrities from Los Angeles with Matt Riddlehoover. Matt found success on one of the first big social media sites- MySpace. Remember MySpace?

In the summer of 2006, Matt Riddlehoover became famous on MySpace for the video trailer for his short film “To a Tee,” a dark romantic comedy about a guy who falls for the same type of man over and over again.

For Matt, being prominently featured on the social media site led to the lead role in “Watch Out,” a dark film about an irresistible narcissist who could only make love to himself. The film’s campy narrative and graphic portrayals of self-love and violence has audiences divided over the film’s merits.

“Watch Out” comes out on DVD November 24.

Listen as Matt talks about the controversy, what it took to get ready for those sexy scenes and how his mother reacted to the movie.

Matt’s also working on a unusual documentary “Gaze,” a collection of audio interviews with 20 artists talking about how they redefine beauty and how these ideas of beauty affect everyone.

We’re also joined by his kooky friend, Champagne!! Champagne!!, a visual artist who combs Los Angeles in search of unusual garbage to turn into works of art. By the end of the show, she changes her name. Will it stick?

In the news:
A gay hit-man for the mob comes out of the closet during a trial.

A cat goes for a wild ride in the engine of an SUV in New York City.

Visit out our sponsors:

Steamworks Gym, Sauna and Baths.
Visit Steamwork’s website and register to get a discount
on your next visit. Enter “Feast of Fun” on the promo
code field to get the special discount.

LifeLube Your Field Guide to Gay Men’s Health
Delivering daily news and commentary on sexuality, cutting edge research, and fresh thinking on health & wellness.
2009 GLAAD Media Award Nominee for “How Are You Healthy” ad campaign.

Featured Music:
Eric Lindell – Gulf Coast Highway: iTunes | Amazon

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