Bernhard Victor Christoph Carl von Bülow, more commonly known under the pseudonym Loriot was a German humorist, cartoonist, film director, actor and writer. He was one of the most famous German comedian ever.

For the most part, his work (sketches, movies) dealt with problems of communication between individuals. He also portrayed perfectly the German obsession with accuracy and  correctness. His cartoons hinged on the contrast between the presented situation, the dignity displayed by his typically big nosed characters and the picture’s caption.The topics of his cartoons were mainly drawn from everyday life, scenes of the family and middle-class society.

He was so popular in Germany/Austria/Switzerland that his comedy led to the adoption of a large number of phrases and inventions from the series’s sketches into German common knowledge Among these are certainly the ‘yodel diploma’, the ‘stone louse’, but also sentences like “With that, you have something of your own!”, “, “Look, a piano! A piano, a piano!” or the laconic, hardly translatable “Ach!?” (basically meaning “Oh, is it?” in English).

Rest in Peace, Loriot!

Marc Felion, Bill Cruz and Fausto Fernos want you to use protection.

Comedian Bill Cruz is in hot water for his top ten list of Chicago male comedians he’d like to jiggy with.

Bill didn’t expect the reaction he’s getting when straight identified guys got mad, not because they are on the list, but because they didn’t make the cut!

Today we’re talking about our bromances with straight guys. What happens when a deep friendship develops between guys, and one of them may or may not want to have sex with the other guy, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Join us for this and all the hot news:

Lady Gaga's rubber outfits at the Grammys were made out of condoms after all.

RuPaul talks about how most celebrities are rotten and care only about themselves.

Wikileaks and Uganda- Do anti-gay churches deserve tax cuts when they advocate genocide in African countries?

Oprah wants to know how a trans gal hides her wiener.

And Facebook adds civil union and domestic partnership to their list of relationship status options but you still can’t identify as anything other than male or female.

Featured Music:
Tom Goss: CD Baby | Site | iTUNES

Bruce Vilanch put the F. U. in funny for a lot of folks. And boy does he on today’s podcast! He’s on today’s show to talk about why he’s coming to Chicago, why the Academy Awards blackballed Brokeback Mountain and where he keeps his enormous collection of t-shirts.

Although he started out wanting to be an actor, Bruce turned to journalism and writing for a career which really took off when comedy legend Bette Midler hired him to “punch up” her act. Hollywood soon called and he moved to Los Angeles to write for television shows like Cher’s post-Sonny TV variety hour titled “Cher” as well as provide material for comedians like Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin and Joan Rivers.

And of course, he is the man behind most of your favorite jokes that appear on the Oscars and the Tony award ceremonies. We think that next year he should hold his jokes hostage and demand that a gay man host the ceremonies- it’s the least we can do after the tragedy of having “Brokeback Mountain” lose to “Crash.”

When Harvey Fierstein left the the popular Broadway hit “Hairspray,” Bruce returned to his acting roots to take over the part of Edna Turnblad.

Listen as we chat with Bruce about John Travolta taking on the same role for the film adaptation of the Broadway musical adaptation of the original film.

Buy Bruce Vilanch’s 1999 definitive documentary “Get Bruce!” on DVD on Amazon.

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Dr. Oz made a bold statement. This New Year, why not try something new? Eat often, sleep as much as you can and have sex all the time. Has Oprah’s doctor lost his mind?

The very raunchy Mike David and Kyle Lane from Red Bar Radio join us to talk about their new years resolutions. And surprise, it’s a little off the wall.

We’re way into fermented foods- kombucha, yogurt and sauerkraut. If it’s rotten, we’re eating it!

The Darwin Award winners have been announced! Named after Charles Darwin to “commemorate those who improve our gene pool… by removing themselves from it,” the awards are given out annually to people who die in stupid ways without leaving any descendants.

Is Megan Mullally selling out to women with breast cancer with her tacky margarine ad?

And a publicity campaign that may backfire, a dating website for “Beautiful People” dumps 5,000 of its members for gaining weight over the holidays.

Make sure to check out Red Bar Comedy Night.

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

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Comedian Sabrina Matthews was scuba diving off the coast of Myanmar when she was attacked by a barracuda that sliced through her diving mask and slit her left eyeball wide open. A year and several operations later, Sabrina sees the world in a whole new way.

Being a comedian and having a disability is like being a superhero in a comic book with the heightened powers of keen observation. Sabrian’s noticed almost all eye injuries portrayed in movies involve the left eye while the right eye is the untouched or sacred eye of film?

Join us as Sabrina fill us in on her life and experience as a stand up comedian. Just because she’s gay doesn’t mean that she hasn’t noticed what men do with their own packages. Why do guys touch themselves so much? Why do comedians look down on dick jokes? We have the answers.

Also:
Australians up in arms that over emu and kangaroo flavored potato chips because the animals are the national symbols of Oz.

Safe and sustainable fish to eat.

Santas in Estonia give up their whips so they won’t frighten the children.

And a statue of Michelangelo’s David on Texas lawn is dressed up as a sexy St. Nick which leaves children asking “Why is Santa naked?”

Featured Music:
Kristine W – The Power of Music: iTunes | Amazon
Kristine W – Be Alright (single): iTunes | Amazon

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Getting a hold of celebrities is difficult, especially when you call the wrong number. It’s very nice when the person on the other end of the line is polite though. Leave it to the Canadians to be like that. They’re just happy to get a phone call, even if it’s a wrong one.

When we finally get out and proud comedian Elvira Kurt on the phone, we are surprised that she has become a lesbian dad to a real live human baby. We never find out the name of the baby but we are glad that Elvira gets to experience the joy of parenthood since so much of her act is based on her growing up. That’s the best thing about parenting, you get to put your kid through all the things your parents put you through.

In her act, Elvira channels the spirit of her mother, Irene, a bleak Hungarian immigrant. Elvira practically becomes Irene who has a think accent and always sees the dark side of things. For Irene, life is hard, bleak and everything you love will break you heart and disappoint you. Elvira claims that the Eastern European stereotype of despair and gloom is based on her mother.

We chat with Ms Kurt about Girls School, an all-girl comedy movement. It seems that girls in girls schools perform better than girls in co-ed schools so they figure that girls on an all girl comedy tour would perform better without men. It’s sort of an comedy version of the Michigan Womyn’s Festival.

Our lovely Gem Sweater Diva and a FoF favorite guest Leslie Hall performed in the review. She even stayed at Elvira’s house. Did you know Leslie has a tail? She doesn’t really but Elvira says that she leads a “marsupial” lifestyle. We think she means “nocturnal,” but you never know, so don’t be surprised if you see Leslie hanging from a tree someday.

Elvira is a widely successful Canadian comedian both north and south of the border. She’s made many TV appearances and even hosted her own talk show in Canada. You can find out more about Elvira at her website.

A big thanks to Nick for tirelessly working to bring celebrities like Elvira Kurt on the show!

[Originally posted on 05.02.07]

Make a comment on today’s show using twitter- Include #fofa525 in your update for it to magically appear on the site. To learn more about Twitter hashtags and how the work, please visit the Twitter Fan Wiki.

Featured Music:
Actor Slash Model – Cheap Date: Site
Zrazy – Dream On: iTunes | Amazon | Site

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE VIA iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE VIA: YAHOO | ODEO | PODZINGER

CONTACT US DIRECTLY

Comedian Jessica Halem appears on the Feast of Fun podcast to promote her upcoming appearance at the Center on Halsted on Friday, March 20. Listen to the entire podcast here.

For a high-quality version of the video, subscribe with : RSS | iTunes | YouTube | Blip.tv

On today’s show the very likable, big gay Mexican Bill Cruz joins us to talk about what it’s like to be a pioneer in the comedy scene here in Chicago.

Everyone loves his work, but in his early days he struggled to entertain audiences and even connect with his own. Once while performing in front of a Latino college fraternity, he was booed when he came out as a gay man.

One crowd that’s always loved him is the fans of the Feast of Fools. Yes, Bill shared a stage with us on one of our live shows six years ago! So where’s he been all this time?

Bill has been performing as a professional comic across the country and he’s recently been featured in Mike Player’s book Out on the Edge: America’s Rebel Comics a book that details the true lives stories of gay comedians.

Is it the downturn in the economy or the warmer weather that heating things up in Chicago? Several of our friends have been mugged lately, including me two days ago in front of the ghetto Jewel grocery store in Andersonville. Listen to today’s show for the scary details.

An Elementary school in Massachusetts sent a note home to parents explaining why the male janitor is now a lady.

A new painting titled “The Funeral of Mona Lisa” being showed at the Loov, the same museum where the original Mona Lisa is held is causing quite a commotion. Could the exhibition be an attempt by the museum to tone down the celebrity of the great masterpiece?

An article on the science of orgasms is disappointing to men because all it talks about is why woman have a hard time getting off. Why can’t the women get off as easily as men do?

And did Donny Osmond stick his foot in his mouth when talking about the possibility of going on the TV show Dancing with the Stars?

Please vote for Feast of Fools in the Chicago Reader's Best of Chicago 2009 for “Best Gay News Source.”

Between the funny and informative shows and these forums to which you contribute, Feast of Fools deserves a shot at the honorific.

Your vote will help raise our public profile and ensure the longevity of the show.

Check out today’s sponsor:

Gay, Sexy, Healthy- Lifelube.org
A blog on sex, drugs, physical, mental and
emotional health, spirituality and more.

Featured Music:
Jeffery Straker – Step Right Up: iTunes | Amazon

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Before Ellen, Before Rosie and even before Lily Tomlin, there was Kate Clinton.

A self-described Stonehenge lesbian, feminist humorist or fumerist, Clinton paved the way for many queer people in the world of comedy at a time when being gay was the butt of the joke, not the person telling them.

Because of people like Kate, we can do what we do today on our talk show. Thank you!

Kate just participated in the ancient ritual of sage burning to clear the bad mojo at the White House left by the Bushes and she got into trouble

But not with the Feds, but with Native Americans. Find out what happened on today’s show.

Listen as Kate joins us to talk about video blogging, her hopes for the new president, her long career as a comedian and the future of the gay rights moment.

Thanks to Paula who put us in contact with Kate. Listeners like you make a real difference.

Featured Music:
Rachael Sage – Blistering Sun: Amazon | Site
Melissa Ferrick – Goodbye Youth: iTunes

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE | PODZINGER
CONTACT US DIRECTLY

Writer and comedian Keith Ecker just broke up with his boyfriend six months ago and has worked hard to get in shape and pursue his dreams of becoming a professional comedian. And let me tell you, the guy looks goodand he’s funny.

On today’s show we dive into fitness and comedy as we examine our fascination with athletic men, exercise magazines and gym culture. Keith joins us in sharing some real-life dating horror stories and his plans on video blogging shirtless. Will he do it? (He did.)

Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO takes a five month leave of absence due to complex medical issues. The charismatic computer pioneer was instrumental re-ignighting the digital media revolution with its ITunes Music Store adoption of podcasts and the portable media players, the iPod.

Obama’s Speech may be a virus. Spammers are taking advantage of the President-Elect’s popularity by sending out e-mail messages disguising links to computer viruses as newsworthy sites.

Photographer Theirry Bouet is striking a chord with people’s fear of children with his new photo gallery of freaky, ugly babies.

Klingon computer keyboards now for sale, shivering kittens iPhone game and authorities have taken baby Hitler and his sister Aryan from their crazy family.

Check out today’s sponsors:

Get a FREE audio book at Audible.com
Go ahead and get one- it’s free!
Follow the link at www.audiblepodcast.com/feastoffools
to get that free download.

Featured Music:
QBoy – Oh Yeah!: iTunes | CD Baby | Amazon

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE

Cameron Esposito is not into Plushies even though she spent four years as her high school mascot in a red wing costume.

She even dated the captain of her high school football team and this got us so excited we just had to look him on Facebook. He was hot and it’s lucky for the ladies though that Cameron came out as a lesbian comedian.

Cameron Esposito started her comedy career as a cast member at the ImprovBoston and Improv Asylum theaters in Massachusetts. She returned home to Chicago and is currently a cast member at the Lincoln Lodge, Chicago’s premier standup and variety showcase. Cameron was even nominated for Best Female Comic 2007 by the Chicago Comedy Awards and recently won Chicago’s Last Snob Standing competition which earns her a spot in the 2009 Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival.

Cameron shares with us her passion for comedy and believe it or not, she was a theology student in college. In this modern age this just about as close you can get to being a nun, although it seems she decided to turn in her habit for fez.

Finally! The Feast of Fools has made it into the Library of Congress.

Scott Sherman’s new book, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery, portrays his main character as a fan of the Feast of Fools podcast. We met Scott at the new Media Expo last year and he’ll be coming on the show soon to talk about his first book which is murder mystery where a hustler becomes a detective to find his best friend’s killer.

Usher explains why he thinks there are so many women coming out of the closet as lesbians. His reason? Starvation. It seems that there is such a lack of available men that women, in desperation, have started to turn to each other for sexual fulfillment. So, Usher thinks it’s like men in prison who seek out sex with men because there are no women around.

Will black plastic balls save the environment? Maybe not all the environment but they hope that it will be enough to shade the LA reservoir. The water needs to be protected by shade because if exposed to large amounts of sunlight, the bromate and chlorine in the water could cause a chemical reaction and lead to high levels can cause cancer. But what do you think? Somehow we get the feeling that adding more carcinogenic products to that chemical soup can’t be good.

The podcast that just may save your life- Feast of Fools.

Check out today’s sponsor:

Gay, Sexy, Health- Lifelube.org
Your “big tent” guide to gay men’s health,
from sex and drugs to Faeries and Bears
Your friendly concierge for all that’s gay, sexy and healthy.

Featured Music:
The Shaker Sisters – All Night Through: iTunes | CD Baby | Site

RSS FEED | SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE ON: GOOGLE