Being a nightlife promoter, I often find myself meeting very attractive guys who have one goal in mind: they want me to hire them to be a go-go boy. They are 100% sure of this, and they usually have the same things to say when they pitch me:
1. "I am SO much hotter than those other guys you have up there!"
2. "I am SUCH a better dancer than those guys! Look at them! They're not even dancing!"
3. "I'm looking for an easy job since I'm also a student, and I don't mind wearing tiny underwear!"
Sounds easy, right? Of course it isn't. As my stepfather likes to say "they wouldn't pay you if it wasn't work." The same goes for being a go-go boy. It's not all shits and giggles. It certainly isn't a cake walk to hundreds of dollars. No, my friends, those boys seemingly effortlessly dancing here and there on the bar are working a lot harder than you may think.
Here are some things you should know before you take a shot at being a go-go boy:
1. It's emotionally difficult: Let me put it this way, we're paying you to get up on a bar and dance in your underwear. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to be gorgeous. Now, you might say, gorgeous is relative, yes? Of course. But in this case, the relativity is what my partner Alan and I think, as well as how the crowd receives you. Now, you may defend and say "but YOU'RE not hot, Justin Luke!" Maybe I'm not. But guess what? I'm sitting behind the bar in my clothing. You'll be doing the opposite.
So do NOT try to become a go-go boy if you can't take us telling you that you aren't cute enough. Do NOT take a shot if you're going to be competitive with the other dancers. We may hire you and change our minds. We may bring you in for an unpaid audition and take you back down from the pole in 3 minutes. Them's the breaks.
2. It is physically difficult: Do not EVER think that being a go-go boy is easy. We expect you to be in tip-top shape, especially for our weekly Campus Thursdays party. That means you better eat right, go to the gym, or have one helluva metabolism. In addition, you should know that a standard go-go boy's hours are from 10pm til 3am. That's right. We expect you to stand on that bar in underwear and sneakers for 5 (or sometimes more) hours. Dancing. Smiling. Interacting. That takes a mighty constitution to be still dancing as you're drenched in sweat at 2:30 in the morning and STILL smiling.
3. It is mentally difficult: One thing a lot of people might not initially consider: it's a mindfuck in and of itself to dance by yourself for 5 hours. Sure there are breaks where you can interact, but we're basically expecting you to dance in place continuously for 300 minutes. To music you'll hear week in and week out. If you're one of our best go-go boys, we'll expect you to do that 3 days a week. That's 3,600 minutes a month of dancing in a single place, by yourself, feet above everyone else. Consider that. Make sure you can do it.
4. The money's in the tips: Sure you may have heard of go-gos who make hundreds of dollars a night in paychecks. They exist, it's true. We hire some of them. But they've been working with us for YEARS. When you start working with us, we don't pay you. And after a few weeks, we pay you a little. The lions share of money you take home with you will come from tips. And in order to get those tips, you need to be willing to smile, have conversations with party goers, and smile smile smile. The days of tipping a cocky go-go dancer who won't give you the time of day is long gone. If you want to leave with more than the equivalent of $4 an hour, you better be ready to work overtime on your attitude.
Okay, so that was the tough love portion. There's also much in the way of BENEFITS that come with being a go-go boy. They are:
1. Connections: You are forever dancing near-naked in plain sight of the New York City elite. It isn't rare that you will be approached for modeling work, catering work, dancing work, porn work, whatever. Plus, working hand in hand with the promoters and party runners guarantees you'll meet all of their high-powered friends. These connections can prove to be very very valuable.
2. Cardio: You can skip the gym on days that you dance. You will be a sweaty pile, guaranteed, by the time you make it out the door and back to the street at four am. Trust.
3. VIP Status: We are always giving our go-go boys free entry and drinks at our parties. Even ones that they don't work. This goes even farther in that we bring them to meet our performers and VIPs. You can rest assured that the go-gos will have photo ops and meet and greets with Countess Luann and Kelly Bensimon tonight. They were able to take photos with Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and Britney Spears when they performed with us. You never know who it is that you will meet, and what benefits you will get. Hell, we may pay for your trip to Fire Island and give you a free hotel room, or drag you to Gay Days in Orlando or Southern Decadence in New Orleans... the sky's the limit.
4. Easy money: Sure it takes work to make this money... but what would you RATHER do? Pull shots at Starbucks, hand out stuff in the baking heat, or dance and be desired by thousands in an air conditioned club? It's hard work, but it's FUN hard work. Usually.
And there you have it, readers. Does go-go sound like something you'd be interested in doing? We'd love to hear from you over at BoiParty.com. We're actually looking for some new dancers to join us this fall.
Drop me a line on my Facebook right here if you'd like to schedule an audition.
- Justin Luke
Leading NYC gay nightlife promoter/producer and internationally published author Justin Luke Zirilli has assembled a crack team of six gorgeous gays to create a brand new mind-blowing blog experience. Just think of this as Charlie's Angels. But gayer.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
So You Wanna Be A BoiParty.com Go-Go Boy?
Labels:
Alan Picus,
BoiParty.com,
gay bars,
gay clubs,
gay parties,
Go-go boys,
Justin Luke
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
EXCLUSIVE: Gorgeous Gay Identical Twin Rappers "Elephant" TEAR SHIT DOWN
![]() |
| Just wait til you get a load of their elephants ;) |
Let me tell you what I think: this is some legit rap! When I first heard about gay identical twins rapping, I sorta cringed. I shouldn't have. These fuckers are FIERCE. They TURN IT OUT. And they make an ELIZABETH TAYLOR REFERENCE.
Yes queen. Yes.
And to be honest, I'd go to bed with either or both of them with little-to-no resistance.
Give it a listen. For once it's awesome to hear hate coming FROM gays in rap, instead of being thrown AT gays through rap.
Become a fan of Elephant RIGHT NOW on Facebook.
They're not big yet. But, like the "Elephant Trunks" they brag about during this music video, you can bet they'll be getting bigger real fast ;)
Labels:
Elephant,
Gay Identical Twins,
Gay Rappers,
Justin Luke,
Justin Plus One
Friday, July 22, 2011
Sexy Shirtless Barbarians Come for Marcus Bachmann
I
LOVE
THIS.
There are no other words for this AWESOME video. Marcus Bachmann, the totes gay husband of that Looney Tune (and Presidential hopeful) Michele Bachmann was quoted as saying that gays are BARBARIANS that need to be treated and "fixed."
So a bunch of sexy shirtless gays and equally sexy shirted lesbians dressed up like the barbarians in the Capital One commercials and invaded Marcus' clinic, DEMANDING to be fixed. And when they were told he wasn't there? They GLITTER BOMBED the place and started a DANCE PARTY!
Thank God for YouTube and the Internet. It allows us to hear Marcus saying batshit crazy stuff, and then allows us to see this fuck-amazing protest. I hope this video goes even MORE viral. It certainly deserves to.
- Justin Luke
Labels:
Gay Protest,
Justin Luke,
Marcus Bachmann
Friday, July 15, 2011
I'm on the Edge of Gay Marriage
Didn't quite like the Edge of Glory video that Gaga put out? Well, I did. But most others did not.
Well, for those of you who weren't digging it, some folks have put out a NEW Edge of Glory video... one that deals with GAY MARRIAGE.
So. You know. I'll bet if Gaga discovers it, she'll blow it the fuck up anyway.
- Justin Luke
Labels:
Edge of Glory,
Gay Marriage,
Justin Luke,
Lady Gaga
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Faggots and Preacher-Teachers
Today I finally wrapped up reading Larry Kramer's novel "Faggots," which was a parody piece he wrote before his very-famous play, The Normal Heart. And what a wild ride it was. I witnessed an enema in the first ten pages. An orgy in the first 50. Another orgy 20 pages later. Fistings. Leather. Scat. Watersports.
Yes, Kramer's novel took me through every piece and part of the gay sexual universe. Absent from the book? Condoms. Which makes sense. If everyone had been using condoms when this book was written, we never would have had the AIDS crisis in the 80s. Then again, back then people only used condoms to Not Get Pregnant... so it's not like anyone KNEW.
Regardless. I have to say that my biggest problem with Mr. Kramer is that he truly takes the piss out of the characters in his book. He happily slaps them around, holds them up, mocks and ridicules them and sets them up as a bunch of clueless morons who just drink, drug, party, fuck, and think they're looking for love, sometimes.
Is this true of all gay kind? No, no I don't think so. I take issue because Mr. Kramer is a teacher and a preacher in this novel. He screams "YOU SEE! YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF BLIND SLUTS LIVING FOR NOTHING! FOR SHAME!" And frankly, I don't think that really works.
In my novel, Gulliver Travels, I don't seek to Teach and Preach. I do my best (read it's certainly not perfect) job of reporting what I see and experience. Are we a sexually promiscuous lot, we gay men? Sure, but I think the same can be said for straight men and even women (remember those rainbow blow job parties with 10 girls and 2 lucky boys back a few years ago?)
No one needs to be screamed at. If we're fucking each other, so we're fucking each other. So long as it's safe, I take no issue. So long as we're trying our best to treat each other nicely, then bully for you.
But seriously, folks. For all the good that Kramer did, this book was a bit of a bitch slap. I understand he was angry and perhaps troubled by his romantic notions coming to a dead stop with most of the other gay men he knew. I get that. But still, let's withhold judgment, okay? Because when you scream YOU'RE ALL SLUTS! HAVE YOU NO SHAME! People tune you out. We're adults now. We're over being yelled at.
And furthermore, to you teachers and preachers who are the first to say that gay men flirting with and fucking each other are "damaging the view of homosexuals in the public eye," well you can go sit on a butt plug and spin for all I care. The heterosexuals have their own sex scandals, deceptions, perversions, and eroticism. We don't need to put on a smart suit and behave like trained monkeys.
Again, as a piece of fiction during this time, I support Larry Kramer for what he did. And the oversexed 70s had to hit a wall of some kind. Too much of a good thing always ends up being bad. And all of the blind fucking-sucking that happened during those color-coded hanky-panky times certainly came to bite the community back in the ass in the 80s. I'm not saying we deserved it. I'm just saying it's what happens.
Either way, if you don't want to be sexual, don't be sexual. If you do, do. But don't go screaming and judging those who behave differently from you. We have enough shame from others to deal with, we don't need it from potential friends and supporters as well.
Get off your soapbox, goddammit.
- Justin Luke
Yes, Kramer's novel took me through every piece and part of the gay sexual universe. Absent from the book? Condoms. Which makes sense. If everyone had been using condoms when this book was written, we never would have had the AIDS crisis in the 80s. Then again, back then people only used condoms to Not Get Pregnant... so it's not like anyone KNEW.
Regardless. I have to say that my biggest problem with Mr. Kramer is that he truly takes the piss out of the characters in his book. He happily slaps them around, holds them up, mocks and ridicules them and sets them up as a bunch of clueless morons who just drink, drug, party, fuck, and think they're looking for love, sometimes.
Is this true of all gay kind? No, no I don't think so. I take issue because Mr. Kramer is a teacher and a preacher in this novel. He screams "YOU SEE! YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF BLIND SLUTS LIVING FOR NOTHING! FOR SHAME!" And frankly, I don't think that really works.
In my novel, Gulliver Travels, I don't seek to Teach and Preach. I do my best (read it's certainly not perfect) job of reporting what I see and experience. Are we a sexually promiscuous lot, we gay men? Sure, but I think the same can be said for straight men and even women (remember those rainbow blow job parties with 10 girls and 2 lucky boys back a few years ago?)
No one needs to be screamed at. If we're fucking each other, so we're fucking each other. So long as it's safe, I take no issue. So long as we're trying our best to treat each other nicely, then bully for you.
But seriously, folks. For all the good that Kramer did, this book was a bit of a bitch slap. I understand he was angry and perhaps troubled by his romantic notions coming to a dead stop with most of the other gay men he knew. I get that. But still, let's withhold judgment, okay? Because when you scream YOU'RE ALL SLUTS! HAVE YOU NO SHAME! People tune you out. We're adults now. We're over being yelled at.
And furthermore, to you teachers and preachers who are the first to say that gay men flirting with and fucking each other are "damaging the view of homosexuals in the public eye," well you can go sit on a butt plug and spin for all I care. The heterosexuals have their own sex scandals, deceptions, perversions, and eroticism. We don't need to put on a smart suit and behave like trained monkeys.
Again, as a piece of fiction during this time, I support Larry Kramer for what he did. And the oversexed 70s had to hit a wall of some kind. Too much of a good thing always ends up being bad. And all of the blind fucking-sucking that happened during those color-coded hanky-panky times certainly came to bite the community back in the ass in the 80s. I'm not saying we deserved it. I'm just saying it's what happens.
Either way, if you don't want to be sexual, don't be sexual. If you do, do. But don't go screaming and judging those who behave differently from you. We have enough shame from others to deal with, we don't need it from potential friends and supporters as well.
Get off your soapbox, goddammit.
- Justin Luke
Labels:
Faggots,
Justin Luke,
Larry Kramer,
The Normal Heart
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
A Weekend in the Woods with 2,000+ Gay Boys
Our parents had Woodstock... but that was gross, muddy, and smelly. From what I learned at the Woodstock Museum upstate, Woodstock was actually a nightmare with backed-up public toilets, crazy police, people dying from heat stroke and starvation and no food in sight.
Not fun.
But now we have our OWN Woodstock, my gay brothers. Gaystock if you will. Or Woodystock. Okay, none of those names are that good... which is fine because this 3-day gay event in Pennsylvania already HAS a name.
It's called CAMP 2011, and from what I understand, EVERY gay boy and his gay boyfriend will be in attendance. And I'm sure there will be plenty of... meat... to go around.
Seriously, I've never quite heard of something like this. Sure there's Gay Days in Florida, and Southern Decadence in New Orleans, but in those you're separated by a bunch of hotels, and in a large city full of other people. This, on the other hand, stands to be a sexy and sinful Never-Neverland. It's just you, 2,000+ gay boys from the East Coast, and the woods around you.
Boys will be in tents, in cabins, in trailers, or in hotels down the road. There will be foam parties, sex parties, fetish parties, dance parties, pool parties. Do you understand what I'm saying? This isn't a party. It's a 3-Day MEGA-EVENT. Don't get me started on the dozens and dozens of DJs and promoters that have their hand in this pleasure pie. I'll go blind and lose feeling in my fingers just typing them all here.
There are so many notorious (and notoriously notorious) logos on the flyer, that there's hardly enough room for the photo of the hot guy (which isn't accurate, because I'll bet you my ticket to Camp that he'll be running around that forest naked as soon as the weekend gets started).
Even better? Tickets are now discounted. But that's only for now. In a few hundred, they won't be any more.
Needless to say, if you're on the fence about Camp 2011 let this be my warning to you: get the fuck off that fence and get your ass to Camp. Fences are boring and your ass will start hurting if you stay on it.
Grab your tickets at the official website for camp right here.
And become a fan of them on Facebook as they continue making announcements of new parties, performers, guests, and offers.
It's kinda insane, really. The party is already something for the record books... and it just keeps on getting better.
I can tell you that all of BoiParty.com, from Alan and me down to all of our promoters, hosts, DJs, bartenders, and go-go boys will be getting on that bus and heading out to Pennsylvania. Why? Because after Camp is over there will be two groups of people: those who went to Camp, and those that will hate themselves for at least a year because they didn't.
Don't get on the wrong side of THAT fence. Trust.
OH. And if you've read this far, I've got a treat for you. Leave a comment on this post and I'll pick one lucky reader to get a FREE GENERAL ADMISSION PASS to Camp. That's a $225 value, bitches. Huzzah!
<3 Justin Luke
Labels:
BoiParty.com,
Camp 2011,
Gay Events
Monday, July 11, 2011
I Don't Wait for SHIT!
Today I came across an article about a group of ladies who have been waiting outside in the disgusting summer armpit weather in order to catch the premiere of Harry Potter. To some this spells fan-dom and commitment and passion. To me it spells idiocy.
I'm sorry, readers. I've always been an impatient fellow. It works both ways, though. I am almost immediately responsive to emails, IMs, texts (unless I'm avoiding you, or sleeping, or sleeping in order to avoid you). But from that I have zero to negative zero patience for things.
This extends into the art of Waiting. I just don't do it. Boyfriend Joe and I often play a game called "How long would you wait for..." and the ellipses becomes anything from Dinner with Lady Gaga to Sex with Brents Everett and Corrigan. And, in each case, I end up losing. Because even waiting over an hour for anything is more than I am willing to wait for anything.
This used to upset me. Was I just not passionate about anything? I've met Gaga Nuts who will wait days and days to see her sing a single song live. People who get up at 5 am and tent out to see Justin Timberlake when he makes one of his one hundred Saturday Night Live appearances. They bring their food and chairs and sleeping bags and commence to waiting.
And I'm sorry, I don't care if Jesus was handing out winning lottery tickets - I wouldn't wait for it. Every minute I spend waiting for something feels like an hour.
Luckily, I rarely care about anything enough to wait for it. The Harry Potter premiere? Well fuck a duck, I guess I'll see it in a week or two. A Lady Gaga concert? Well shit, she'll clearly NEVER come back to New York again (let alone three times on the SAME tour). A free ticket to Shakespeare in the Park? I'll just pay the $90 and walk past the people who have been getting drenched in the rain sitting on the dirt in Central Park to claim my ticketed seat.
Why? Do I have better things I could be doing? Well, yes, yes I do. And those better things are ANYTHING. I don't care if I'm clipping my nails and playing Super Smash Brothers. In my mind, this is a more fruitful use of my time than sitting in a line somewhere for an indefinite period of time. Let everyone else wait, I'll either see whatever they're going to see later, or skip it and check out the videos later on YouTube.
I guess the only exception to this rule is rides at theme parks. I did actually wait 2 hours to ride the Harry Potter Experience at Universal Studios. Was it worth it? Not on your life. Because, as we left the ride (our minds thoroughly blown, mind you) we learned that our wait would have been only twenty minutes if we had gone on as single riders.
I haven't even been able to sit for the entire production of Waiting for Godot, or the film Waiting for Guffman. That's how serious this is. I'll walk into Duane Reade or American Eagle or the pizzeria and see a line at the registers and turn right around and walk right back out. Most people see a line and think: "oooh that must be a HOT event." I see a line and think: "ooooh their feet must be KILLING them."
I will repeat this: NOTHING and again ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is worth waiting longer than 30 minutes for. Not for me, at least. If you are unbelievably passionate about someone or something, I'm not about to tell you you're wasting your time. Especially considering how many Facebook statuses I see every day where people lament how bored they are when they have nothing to do. I am ONLY bored when I'm waiting for something. Otherwise, I will fill my free time quicker than a martini glass at a party, and have a lot more fun doing it.
What about you. What would YOU wait days and days for? I'm curious to find out.
- Justin Luke
Labels:
BoiParty.com,
Justin Luke
Friday, July 8, 2011
Can't Land a Gay Boyfriend? Go Mini!
Do you have a gay boyfriend? No? Well, do you have an iPhone? Yes? Well then, for a buck, you can now have a MINI GAY BOYFRIEND!
I am not making this up. And between OutspokenNYC and Best Week Ever, it seems that this (6 month old) game on Apple devices is coming gradually into the public eye. (Well, not literally, I heard that getting cum in your eye burns).
Mini Gay Boyfriend is like the Tamagotchis of yore. Except, instead of cleaning up its poo and throwing a ball around, you give it attention, take it out on dates, and get it into bed! You have 18 boyfriends to choose from presently, including a drag queen. I'm sure that the smart programmers will find a way to add more mini gay boyfriends into the mix soon enough. They owe it to their fan base.
I, however, am bitter. I am a Droid owner, and mini gay boyfriend is not available in the Android Market. Which, I guess, makes sense. What self-respecting gay would date someone who doesn't have an iPhone?
I suggest you each pick up this game, and report back to me on your progress. Much like how your parents forced you to care for a plant or goldfish before getting you that Dachshund you always wanted, it's probably best to master the various needs of a digital, speechless pocket gay before going after the real deal.
Grab the game here.
- Justin Luke
I am not making this up. And between OutspokenNYC and Best Week Ever, it seems that this (6 month old) game on Apple devices is coming gradually into the public eye. (Well, not literally, I heard that getting cum in your eye burns).
Mini Gay Boyfriend is like the Tamagotchis of yore. Except, instead of cleaning up its poo and throwing a ball around, you give it attention, take it out on dates, and get it into bed! You have 18 boyfriends to choose from presently, including a drag queen. I'm sure that the smart programmers will find a way to add more mini gay boyfriends into the mix soon enough. They owe it to their fan base.
I, however, am bitter. I am a Droid owner, and mini gay boyfriend is not available in the Android Market. Which, I guess, makes sense. What self-respecting gay would date someone who doesn't have an iPhone?
I suggest you each pick up this game, and report back to me on your progress. Much like how your parents forced you to care for a plant or goldfish before getting you that Dachshund you always wanted, it's probably best to master the various needs of a digital, speechless pocket gay before going after the real deal.
Grab the game here.
- Justin Luke
Labels:
Gay Games,
iphone,
Justin Luke,
Mini Gay Boyfriend
Thursday, July 7, 2011
You don't NEED a boyfriend!
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being a guest on Showbiz Spitfire Paige Turner's weekly Sunday night show, SLURP SUNDAYS at Vlada to promote my novel. During the interview, she took me to an interesting place: she asked me for relationship advice for her audience. What I said was short, succinct, and something I tell anyone when they seek my counsel:
If the words "I Need a Boyfriend" come out of your mouth,
then you really REALLY don't deserve a boyfriend.
Before you start flinging tomatoes, let me explain my position. (Seriously, please hold up, I HATE tomatoes. Unless they're sundried or part of the sauce on a pizza. In which case, fling away.)
Every day I see the same posts in Twitter, in Facebook groups, in my newsfeed. Tons of very attractive (and often quite young) gay boys saying "I NEED A BOYFRIEND!" or something to that extent. Allow me to repeat myself: if you say these words, you need anything BUT a boyfriend.
Here's why:
1. You NEED to be okay being on your own. In all ways. Work on your job. Your education. Your personalities and flaws you're not happy with. Whether it's your body, your mind, your emotions, WHATEVER, it's really, really hard to work on these things when another boy is in the picture. Me time is FAR more constructive than We time. You can take all the minutes, hours, days, WEEKS you need to improve yourself. Take advantage of being single to soup up every dangling part of you and your personality.
2. NEEDING is a sign of early dependency. When you NEED something, chances are you are going to cling to it desperately if you somehow attain it. Nothing scares away a potential mate quicker than dependency. Beyond even that, what if the guy you land is a shit face? What if he's mean, abusive, not quite your type? You are far more likely to hang on despite all good reasoning to the contrary if you're petrified to return to being single (solve this by going back to tip number 1). You will cling on because you are so scared of going back to that horrible, lonely single land. Whereas, if you're OKAY with being single, you can more easily cut ties and try again.
3. A boyfriend is an addition, not a substitution. As much as you would like to believe the opposite, a boyfriend is not going to make your problems go away. Never has, never will. Take it from someone who tried that approach in the past. You should be able to stop and say "Wow, everything in my life is in pretty ship shape. It's all fabulous really. Hey, you know what would make everything awesome even awesomer? A mate!"
4. You're more marketable when you're not desperate. Dudes LOVE guys who don't need them. They may not announce this publicly, but it's true. If you're able to see a guy, not get him that night, and not make a big deal about it, if you're able to walk away when the time isn't right, if you're not going crazy trying to land someone, there's a far better chance they'll take interest in you. Fierce independence and comfort in yourself is hella sexy. It says I Have My Shit Together. It says I Don't Need You, But We Could Be Pretty Happy Together, Maybe, Possibly. These are attractive qualities.
5. It Doesn't Have to Happen Today. A few years ago I went home with a guy. While we didn't end up in a relationship, we did have a pretty awesome and wild night. For me it was quadruply amazing because I had been lusting after him for a decade. Yes. Literally. We were cast alongside each other in a community theater production of Grease and I would stare at him fondly from the wings while he crooned "Magic Changes". I would go home and cry that he didn't seem the least bit interested in me. Cut to a decade later, and there he was in the cab with me on the way back to my former Upper East Side studio. I wish I could've borrowed a time machine to go back and tell young Justin not to waste all that time crying, but I couldn't. Point is: tomorrow is another day. So what if the guy goes home with someone else? That's fine. And the next week too. Whatever. You NEVER know what the future holds.
So take a deep breath, readers. And baby steps. The first step is a difficult, but important one. You must truly TRULY believe that you don't NEED anyone. Because guess what? You don't need them. You can breathe. You can walk. You can digest and egest. You don't NEED anyone else. A boyfriend is a lovely thing to have. They can give you a lot and take a lot from you in the best ways you never imagined. But do not put yourself in a losing position from the get-go. You certainly don't need that.
- Justin Luke
Labels:
Gay Dating Advice,
Justin Luke
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Sleep When You're Dead
Most theater is a passive event, yes? You sit down amidst the stuffy and impossible-to-please theatrical elite, M&Ms munching and too-easy-to-please tourists in fanny packs, and a few normal people, and take in a play or musical for two hours. You can buy an overpriced CD or program on your way out as you bitch and/or laud what you just experienced. Ta-da! Acting! Theater! What an event!
Or you can go see Sleep No More. No. Wait. Scratch that. YOU MUST GO SEE SLEEP NO MORE. Well, not SEE Sleep No More. That's not entirely accurate. Because you'll be doing a lot of running, ducking, stair-climbing, drinking, peeking, drawer opening, and blood-wiping.
What is it? Oh that's a tricky question. Think of a giant haunted house, constructed from three side-by-side factories, made to look like a noir-era hotel. Inside are over a dozen cast members sometimes acting out Macbeth, sometimes acting out Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca. Sometimes naked and having sex. Sometimes naked and killing each other. All of it done in relative silence.
This is a show you make. The cast members don't care about you. Their job is to run, dance, kill, and fuck in all of the 100-plus rooms and 100,000 square feet that make up the hotel (also in the building: a London street complete with stores, a cemetary, a garden, a hospital, a ball room, three hundred bedrooms, a ton of baths and abandoned baby carriages). And you can follow one of them, all of them, or none of them. You have the liberty to do whatever you like for your 3 hours at Sleep No More.
I, myself, spent an hour exploring every room, rifling through drawers, reading diaries, and wandering cemeteries. Then I started chasing down actors and trying to follow story lines. It was here I discovered something even cooler: if you're lucky, an actor may pull you aside into a room or shack or corner and deliver to you your own personal monologue that no one else gets to hear. This link is an exact moment I was lucky enough to experience. The tea, by the way, was terrible.
Oh, and you're instructed to wear a white ghost mask like something out of Eyes Wide Shut, and told not to talk at ALL for your entire stay. Which is cool. Most people followed that rule. And you get to be a creepy voyeur, watching all sorts of madness and dance unfold in front of you.
Each of the rooms is equal parts gorgeous and creepy. Temperature controlled, and with changing soundtracks and SMELLS it truly is the definition of transporting. Even entering the show requires you to fumble around many completely dark hallways, which certainly helps to disorient you. And you never know when the cemetary that was empty twenty minutes ago suddenly will be the setting for a dance featuring three witches, or a grave digger who carelessly flings dirt all over you. That bar may have a bar fight one minute, and a bunch of blood stained World War II nurses aborting a baby and dumping it into a mop bucket another minute. It's true chaos, all completely organized and choreographed. It's an experience you have NEVER had before (but hopefully will have again).
My one problem: lazy and old people. When the actors finish a scene in a room, they often spin 180 degrees and SPRINT out of the room, down flights of stairs, etc. to their next scene. Unfortunately for you, spry theater-goer, there are tons of Sleep No Morons (my term, feel free to use it) who are sort of idling and not sure what to do. By the end of my night, when I was DETERMINED to follow this hot gay character I caught fucking another hot gay man, I found myself LITERALLY flinging Sleep No Morons out of my way to keep up with the action.
When my party of four reconvened after the show, we had each seen completely different things in completely different rooms. There were few, if any, overlaps. Which is awesome. In video game land, we call that replay value. And this "show" has a buttload of that.
I must go again. You must go either for your first time, or again.
My friends plan on reprising our experience in a few weeks during an 11PM weekend show (this show goes til 2AM). I hope that most of the Sleep No Morons will be home and in bed by then. If not, I plan to petition the showrunners to have a "fit and active audience only" night, where you must show you are able and willing to RUN to follow a scene. If that fails, I plan on sending Sleep No Morons into walls and down flights of stairs in my pursuit of the drama.
Either way. Go see Sleep No More before it goes away some time in September. Just... don't order a drink at the bar. As scary as the show can get, nothing is more frightening than the price tag on their vodka cranberry.
- Justin Luke
Labels:
New York City,
Sleep No More,
Theater Review
Friday, July 1, 2011
Web Celebrities: Go Red With DJ JoeRedHead!
YouTube celebrities may come and go, but this particular celebrity will probably be with me for a long while. Mostly because he's also my boyfriend, and we live together. But that doesn't stop plain fact: the astoundingly talented, hilariously witty, bookishly smart, and stunningly sexy DJ JoeRedHead is a gay that everyone needs to pay some attention to.
Besides putting out a ton of gorgeous and unexpected mashups on his Soundcloud page, spinning monthly at the RIOT party at Stonewall, and running crazy around the city making people fall in love with him, DJ JRH also puts out a weekly video series known as "Red All Over" (I'm avoiding a smarmy joke about how I can confirm that he is indeed red all over). Whoops. I did it anyway. Sorry Joey!
Anyway, less talking, more watching. Here are Joey's current episodes, all on one page for your enjoyment. Get to watching!
Oh, and "Like" him on Facebook, while you're at it.
<3 JL
Besides putting out a ton of gorgeous and unexpected mashups on his Soundcloud page, spinning monthly at the RIOT party at Stonewall, and running crazy around the city making people fall in love with him, DJ JRH also puts out a weekly video series known as "Red All Over" (I'm avoiding a smarmy joke about how I can confirm that he is indeed red all over). Whoops. I did it anyway. Sorry Joey!
Anyway, less talking, more watching. Here are Joey's current episodes, all on one page for your enjoyment. Get to watching!
Oh, and "Like" him on Facebook, while you're at it.
<3 JL
Labels:
DJ JoeRedHead,
Red All Over
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)










