What happened at Quickies

We had a huge number of readers (9!) on Friday night for Quickies, a Brazilian film crew, and a lot of fun! I have no idea if I have the time or energy for another quickies, so that may be the end (but In The Flesh is going strong), so pay attention/get a postcard/follow us on Facebook/Twitter (links at on In The Flesh page). If you liked Melissa Febos's pee-filled excerpt from her forthcoming memoir Whip Smart, make sure you come back for BDSM Night March 18th! And obviously, don't miss superstar night at In The Flesh September 17th with Susan Shapiro, Amy Sohn, Joshua Lyon, Julie Metz, Kerry Cohen and Diana Joseph! (Seriously, you will kick yourself hard if you miss this.) And postcards are now in! Send your US mailing address to rachelkramerbussel at gmail.com with "ITF Postcard" in the subject if you want one. There are plenty!

Of course there were the usual 100 FREE Baked by Melissa cupcakes which were very quickly devoured!

Sorry about photo quality/scarcity, we may get some more in, this is a lowkey, no budget affair so, no real photos save for my iPhone.


Whip Smart author Melissa Febos whipped the night into shape with an excerpt about her first day as a pro domme.


Michelle Robinson read a supernatural (I think that's the right word) that scared me but was also very hot that will be published next year.


Jackson West proved that Sarah Palin erotica (his story is called "Sarah Palin: The Agony and the Ecstasy") is still timely. And Sarah Palin impersonator extraordinaire Sara Benincasa was in the audience!


Jackson West shot this photo of me in my paparazzi moment. We should have video at some point from the Brazilian TV crew, who also interviewed several readers.


Said Brazilian TV crew who asked amazing questions (ummm...yes, I have gotten spanked in the downstairs of Happy Ending and had phone sex outside the bar, though I didn't reveal quite all those details because really, you should come for the crazy hot readers and free snacks, not to hook up).

That being said, I spied a couple making out in a booth and I know that at least one set of people met that night and left together, so...make of that what you will.

Thanks to everyone who read, the TV crew, and Frank at Happy Ending for another fabulous night of smut. I even had one newcomer who I've been trying to get to read who I just may have convinced with this Quickies, so that's a coup.

Quickies tonight, free cupcakes and very special erotica, be there!

September 4, 7:30-8:30
QUICKIES: SHORT EROTICA
Readers have six minutes to turn you on with erotica and true sex stories. Featuring Jackson West reading Sarah Palin erotica, Melissa Febos reading from her dominatrix memoir Whip Smart, Madlyn March reading from the classic Gail Parent novel Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York (see cover below), comedian Kelli Dunham, erotica writer Michelle Robinson, TheFrisky.com columnist John DeVore, and Rocco Ernest Privetera. Hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Bottoms Up, Spanked, The Mile High Club). Free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa.
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free, 21+ only
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676


Madlyn March will read two short scenes from this classic novel by Gail Parent, Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York.


plus 100 free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa

Kelli Dunham (www.kellidunham.com) is everyone's favorite ex nun dorky boi-girl comic. She is also the author of four books of humorous nonfiction and a contributor to numerous anthologies. Despite being almost middle-aged, she has never once waited for a bus at Port Authority without being challenged by the truancy police.

Melissa Febos is the author of the memoir Whip Smart, forthcoming from St. Martin’s Press in 2010. Her writing has been featured in The Southeast Review, Redivider, The Rambler, Storyscape Journal, Bitch Magazine, and Smut Magazine, among many others. She co-curates and hosts the Mixer Reading and Music Series at Cake Shop, and teaches at SUNY Purchase College and The Gotham Writers’ Workshop. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and lives in Brooklyn. More information about her can be found at melissafebos.com.

Madlyn March is the pseudonym of a Brooklyn journalist who has had articles published in The New York Post, Self, Time Out New York, Parenting, and AfterEllen, to name but a few. Erotica credits include First-Timers, Spanked, Ultimate Lesbian Erotica 2009, Do Not Disturb, and the e-book Love Notes.

Rocco Ernest Privetera started in NYC ten years ago doing comedy and theater, and now performs adult improv and tells his own ribald storytelling. He plays piano for friends comedy shows, enjoys scandalizing his siblings with filthy web videos and tells stories about the things that fascinate him: food, sex, science, and birds.

Michelle Janine Robinson is the author of three novels being published by Simon & Schuster; Color Me Grey, More Than Meets The Eye and Serial Typical. Michelle's short story "Mi Destino" was included in Zane's New York Times Bestseller Caramel Flava and her short story contribution "The Quiet Room" was the first featured story in the Times Bestseller Succulent: Chocolate Flava II. Michelle has contributed to other anthologies, such as Purple Panties, with the story she wrote titled “Hailey's Orgasmic Splendor” and Honey Flava with the story "The Flow of Qi. "Michelle is also a contributor to the oral sex-themed anthology, Tasting Him, with her story “A Tongue Is Just A Tongue,” edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel.

Jackson West is trying to get over himself and write more fiction. Until then, his non-fiction work and attempts at oversharing can be found on jacksonwest.com, a veritable firehose of online nonsense.

And look what you can win - so appropriately, we'll have a copy of Wicked Quickies to give away!

McCain-Palin t-shirt in Levi's ad in subway station: What does it mean?

I saw this last night as part of several Levi's ads right next to each other in the 14th/8th subway station. What does it mean? Odd that I saw it right as Palin was resigning. "All I Need Is All I Got"? Losing candidates? Seriously, I'm perplexed.

You haven't lived until your Tweets are live on a screen in front of a room full of people

The beautiful, smart, Sarah Palin-mocking Sara Benincasa, just because I think it's a gorgeous photo

So last night I went to the ECNY Awards to celebrate the local comedy community. It was a lot of fun, but I hadn't read this part of the evening's festivities:

"Use Twitter to lifestream your thoughts @ecnyawards during the show for a chance to have them read to the crowd"

So when, um, I Tweeted that Michael Musto was sitting next to me (we chatted briefly about cupcakes), well, everyone saw it.

Congratulations to all the winners, and kudos to all the organizers (I was part of the elusive "Industry Committee," which my friend Claudia Cogan was surprised to hear,perhaps because I am way too out of the comedy loop these days), and to host Jon Friedman. All I can say is it made me want to get back into going to comedy shows!


Here's me with Drink at Work's Carol Hartsell, who was doing tech last night and was pretty funny when she didn't win. The photo is by Keith Huang. See many more gorgeous photos at The Apiary.

Okay, and I'm just gonna go all gushing fangirl on Sara Benincasa (@SaraJBenincasa on Twitter) cause I think she's awesome. I was SO happy she and Diana Saez won for best short comedic film for the Sarah Palin vlogs. I'm posting one below along with a gorgeous photo of her. She also hosts the Cosmo Radio show Get in Bed on Sirius that I was on last week, among a bazillion other things.



Watch more of her videos on her site and on YouTube.

Sarah Palin Erotica site outlasts its 15 minutes of fame

Just like its namesake!

They're doing a Daily Palin segment at Washington City Paper's sex blog, oddly called The Sexist. So if you want your Palin fix, bookmark them.

I've just gotta love the press my little site got on such a smidgen of content and a good idea that I'd have fleshed out more if given more time and different circumstances. Still, it was fun. I had good instincts and still adore the stories there. From a very odd moment in our political history, one I'm oh-so-glad we left behind.

ECNY Awards nominees

I used to be a rabid comedygoer. Now I'm more of an interested observer, but still, congratulations to all the nominees! Go to ECNY for the fancy version, with links. I heart many performers here, especially Adira Amram, Claudia Cogan, Giulia Rozzi and Sara Benincasa.

Extra special shoutouts from me to The Sarah Palin Vlogs, The Rejection Show and The Comics Comic.

The ECNY Awards are produced by Alex Goldberg (Fearsome), Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show), Carol Hartsell (Drink at Work), Nate Sloan (The Apiary), and Alexander Zalben (Elephant Larry).

For more information, please visit the awards website at ECNYAwards.com.

WHAT: The ECNY Awards

WHEN: March 9, 2009 @ 8:00pm

WHERE: Comix NY; 353 W. 14th St.; Just east of 9th Ave.

ONLINE: WWW.ECNYAWARDS.COM

Best Host
Leo Allen – Whiplash
Sara Benincasa – Family Hour, Ultimate Gossip Girl Sumit
Gabe Liedman, Jenny Slate, and Max Silvestri – Big Terrific
Seth Herzog - Sweet
Eliza Skinner/ Shockwave – The BEATdown

Best Sketch Comedy Group
BriTANick - www.britanick.com
Derrick - www.derrickcomedy.com
Elephant Larry - www.elephantlarry.com
Murderfist - www.murderfist.com
Pangea 3000 - www.pangea3000.com

Best Improv Group
Bastian - newyork.ucbtheatre.com/shows/5
Centralia
Death By Roo Roo - myspace.com/deathbyrooroo
4Track - 4track.tumblr.com
Mother - motherimprov.com

Best Musical Comedy Act (Solo or Group)
Adira Amram
Baby Wants Candy
Shayna Ferm
I Eat Pandas
Reggie Watts

Best Female Standup Comedian
Michelle Buteau
Claudia Cogan
Michelle Collins
Jackie Monahan
Giulia Rozzi

Best Male Standup Comedian
Hannibal Burress
Pete Holmes
Joe Mande
Matt McCarthy
Kumail Nanjiani

Best Website
The Comics Comic - thecomicscomic.com
Drink at Work - drinkatwork.com/
Improv Everywhere - improveverywhere.com/
Improv is Good For You - improvisgoodforyou.com/
Jake and Amir - jakeandamir.com/
UCB Comedy - ucbcomedy.com

Best One Person Show
Kurt Braunohler – Kurt Braunohler's One Man Show: A Meditation on Dum Dums and B-holes
Chris Gethard - Chris Gethard's Magic Box of Stories
Kumail Nanjiani – Unpronouncable
Lennon Parham – She Tried to Be Normal
Charlie Sanders – Minnesota Muslim

Best Performance in a Commercial or Episode of Law and Order
Brett Gelman – NY Lottery (Little Bit O' Luck)
John Gemberling – Boost Mobile
Matt McCarthy – Verizon
Matt Oberg – Ritz Crackers
Ptolemy Slocum – NY Lotto

Best Short Comedic Film
Governor Palin Vlogs - Sara Benincasa & Diana Saez http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEW12XLUM7A
Green Screen - Eugene Cordero http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6d205ba6c4/fun-with-editing-from-eugene-cordero#player
It's Just Business - BOF http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=47908886
The Phelps Minute - Rob Lathan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXlk-FMei6o&feature=channel_page
Val Verde - Elephant Larry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_d-nN7HvEs&feature=channel_page

Best Technician
Pat Baer
Jon Gutierrez
Carol Hartsell
Richard Jones
Jasper Ream

Best Variety Show
Big Terrific
The Dave Hill Explosion
High School Talent Show
The Rejection Show
Whiplash

Outstanding Achievement in Flyer or Postcard Design
Steve Dressler – High School Talent Show
Dyna Moe - Gavin Speiller Needs Your Approval
Anya Garrett – Jar Full of Roaches
Keith Huang & Ariel Estrada – Kevin Allison's 'F*** Up'
Stefan Lawrence – Sketchfest NYC

Emerging Comic Award
Sara Benincasa
Joselyn Hughes
Mark Normand
Lennon Parham
Sean Patton
Brooke Van Poppelen

More Sarah Palin Erotica press

I didn't get back from New Jersey until too late for ramen last night, and took a personal day today to chill at home for my birthday (I just turned 33). Much I want to post but my friend Brownie of Blondie and Brownie made me cupcakes I'm off to pick up before eating Ethiopian food with some of my favorite people.

I will share this link, and much more later, like how Marcelle Manhattan made me believe in myself and my little reading series In The Flesh again by immortalizing it, and the sex she had at it, in her story "Second Date" in Susie Bright's new must-have anthology X: The Erotic Treasury.

For now, check out this interview with me about my site SarahPalinErotica.com at The Frisky, done by the wonderful Susannah Breslin, who also linked to the site on BoingBoing last week! And yes, I'm well, well aware that the Palin site is in dire need of updating - it's all coming, I promise, I'm just doing one thing at a time.

Sarah Palin Erotica is now live!

I know it's so late I may as well not even bother, but I'm super proud of the site and there's gonna be more soon...

http://sarahpalinerotica.com/

Sexualizing Sarah Palin

Since I'm poised to do just that (soon! I promise, just working out the technical kinks), I read these pieces very eagerly, both very smart critiques:

Violet Blue's latest San Francisco Chronicle column is called "No More Palin Porn, Please:"

But the unending tide of Palin porn seems to me to be much more than pointing at a candidate and saying, heh, I saw her play flute in a bikini. Sexist? Too simple an answer -- Palin's platforms are sex-negative, and they were made for walking all over your rape kits, gay marriage and science-based sex education in public schools. She hunts and makes a lot of babies; this bitch is a fertile dominatrix. She's a powerful woman because of her virility, so you can't take it away by making her more sexual. The porning of Palin is more than attempts to strip a female politician of power by sexualizing her; in fact, it's had the opposite effect and her party hasn't backed away from the oozing MILFiness, something we noticed when watching the debates at The
Hat Factory and everyone remarked that Palin was indeed showing some cleavage for the first time as a nominee. I think, perhaps, that we are a nation as depressed as our economy. Everyone knows that in chronic depression, one of the first things to go is the sex drive. We must not let it destroy us. As Americans, we deserve better porn. If a MILF shall lead us, it will be to the dry desert of celibacy. Trust me. I've seen Palin porn.

And she links to something I have no idea how I missed:

Susie Bright on "Why Palin's Sex Life Matters:"

We simply haven't had an overtly fecund, butch, straight-woman sex symbol in so long. She's like Annie Oakley with her six-shooters and her polar bears, her caribou dressing and her moose stew. She's got five kids hanging off of her, and you're like "Hells bells, that woman can fuck in the morning, go out for a long hike on the Arctic tundra, take down a polar bear or two, and be back in time to pass some new creationist legislation." She just kicks ass. I mean, she's just so — mmm. So like a powerful woman. It's exciting, isn't it? I think for every woman who's been appalled at her politics and the platform she's been running on — and this certainly includes me — well, there's this little part of me that's thinking "Oh, If only she was on my side. If only I could kidnap Sarah Palin and just lick her pussy for a few hours, I think we could just work this whole thing out." Do you know how many lesbians are discussing this? My friend Marga Gomez, who's a fantastic dyke comedian, has this line where she says "Sarah Palin? She's having my baby. And we've already named her Drill." If only we could move her political viewpoint around just a little.

image via Violet Blue on Flickr

"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE" - brilliant Sarah Palin spoof

Simply brilliant!



"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" by Eliza Jane Schneider and Eric Schwartz (who did the brilliant "Clinton Got a Blowjob" song/video).

Alaska Woman Reject Palin rally

A bunch of photos were forwarded to me via Barbara L. Franklin from an Alaska Women Reject Palin rally last weekend. I need to track down the name of the woman who passed these on, but her note was included at the end:

[The] Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage. Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect.

The rally was organized by a small group of women, talking over coffee. It made me wonder what other things have started with small groups of women talking over coffee. It's probably an impressive list. These women hatched the plan, printed up flyers, posted them around town, and sent notices to local media outlets. One of those media outlets was KBYR radio, home of Eddie Burke, a long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host. Turns out that Eddie Burke not only announced the rally, but called the people who planned to attend the rally "a bunch of socialist baby-killing maggots," and read the home phone numbers of the organizers aloud over the air, urging listeners to call and tell them what they thought. The women, of course, received some nasty, harassing and threatening messages.

I felt a bit apprehensive. I'd been disappointed before by the turnout at other rallies. Basically, in Anchorage, if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it's a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren't sent by Eddie Burke, we'll be doing good. A real statement will have been made. I confess, I still had a mental image of 15 demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing "socialist baby-killing maggot" haters.

It's a good thing I wasn't tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody's trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.

Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn't happen here.

Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn't be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.

So, if you've been doing the math yes, The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin's rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska, who know her best, have things to say.

Planned Parenthood gets donations in Palin's name

More Palin coverage on my Tumblr.

Love it! from Rocky Mountain News:

Planned Parenthood is suddenly a lot richer because of Sarah Palin.

And the Republican vice presidential nominee will soon be receiving tens of thousands of thank-you notes.

A three-week-old Internet campaign is asking abortion-rights activists to send donations to Planned Parenthood in honor of the Alaska governor.

The origin of the campaign is unknown and Planned Parenthood officials insist it is not their doing.

Palin is a staunch abortion- rights opponent. The campaign is meant to translate anger at her position into money for an agency that provides sex education, women's health care and abortion services.

One e-mail making the rounds on the Internet says: "Instead of (actually, in addition to) all of us all sending more e-mails about how absolutely horrible she is, let's all make a donation to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin's name."

Katie Groke Ellis, field manager for the Planned Parenthood of the Rockies Action Fund, predicts that the five-state chapter of the group alone could draw $100,000 in donations.

"We are so excited to see that people are writing checks to us instead of just complaining about it," Ellis said Tuesday.

See also:

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Planned Parenthood of NYC

Sara Benincasa as Sarah Palin

The awesome Sara Benincasa (co-host of Cosmo Radio's Get in Bed show, which I was on last night) as Sarah Palin, the first of many vlogs, which were recently featured in Newsweek. Also check out her blog and her comedy show Family Hour with Auntie Sara. I did it and have been in the audience; it's a one-of-a-kind comedy show because it's not just comedy, it's for all kinds of family stories.



EVERY SATURDAY @ 9:00 PM
Ochi's Lounge - Downstairs at Comix
353 W. 14th Street
www.comixny.com | 212.524.2500

Sarah Palin cupcake

See more political (and other kinds) cupcakes at Cupcakes Take the Cake

Sarah Palin cupcake by The Haphazard Gourmet Girls