#art the clown is a queer icon in this house

[deathby1000sluts]

my friend and i are seeing terrifier 2 in the theater tomorrow for its re-release

[technicolorfamiliar]

Technicolor Familiar Watches Too Many Conrad Veidt Movies Part 1 of ?

Apropos of nothing, I find myself wading around waist deep in Conrad Veidt's filmography, at least the titles I can easily find online.

I've been writing down my mostly brief impressions after each movie, mainly for my own entertainment since I know exactly zero other people who would care lol. I actually created a Mastodon account especially for this purpose, since my primary socials aren't really for this sort of thing. But the character limit on Mastodon is seriously cramping my style, so I'm going to be annoying about this on Tumblr, my self-imposed blog expectations be damned.

I'm not doing plot summaries, but there are spoilers. I'm not watching these movies in any particular order other than what I'm in the mood for on any given day. I'm half trying to keep the thirst levels to a minimum, but no promises; all bets were off after watching A Woman's Face. And tbh, this whole thing has turned into an Emotional Support / Coping Mechanism / Escapism Tactic because hoo boy is my brain bad these days. But be forewarned, I'm not a writer, I'm not a film critic. I just like movies and turns out I like Conrad Veidt a lot too. I'd probably have more and better things to say about a lot of these upon a second or third watch.

So as of late November, I'm 15 films deep with a lot more to go. I'm thinking about splitting this up into multiple posts, maybe like 5ish films/post. Originally I was going to see how many of these movies can I watch before the end of 2023. But I'm just going to keep going until I run out of available titles or I get sick of Connie's face (unlikely).

The Man Who Laughs, 1928 Dir. Paul Leni ⭐4.5/5 Watched mid-Oct, Archive.org Nothing could have prepared me for this. Of course I was aware of TMWL, but more vaguely than I guess I realized. It's really ahead of its time. The production quality is astounding, it's an absolutely beautiful film. The whole cast is pretty great, too. The Duchess? Total smoke show. Homo the Dog? Queer icon. And Connie really swings for the fences emotionally and physically as Gwynplaine. Bear in mind, this is literally only the third Conrad Veidt movie I've ever seen (other than the basic, intro level Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Casablanca), so I was really floored by what he's able to do in this role with the use of really only half his face. There are several wonderfully haunting and heartbreaking visuals and moments throughout the nearly 2 hour runtime that will stay with me long after watching. Half a star got knocked off because the score was a little bombastic and there were one too many clowns for me personally. But those are small complaints for what may otherwise be a pretty perfect film.

Unheimliche Geschichten (Eerie Tales), 1919 Dir. Richard Oswald ⭐3/5 Watched mid-Oct, Archive.org A romp. The version I watched had no soundtrack at all, making for a totally silent viewing experience. The vignette structure and old school effects are fun. I enjoyed seeing Anita Berber in action although maybe I was expecting more because of all the hype surrounding her/her image. But Connie, Anita, and Reinhold Schünzel seem like they had a good time working on this project. "The Black Cat" and "The Suicide Club" were my favorite sections (and I actually watched this when I was in the middle of Netflix's The Fall of the House of Usher, so yay for extra Poe content in the spookiest month). As for Connie Content, what can I say, he's stunning.

The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, 1920 Dir. Robert Wiene ⭐3.5/5 Watched Oct 17, Archive.org I went hard with the silent era when I started this journey. Caligari was my intro to Conrad Veidt almost 15 years ago, and as a lapsed goth art student, I remember being bewitched by his strange and off-putting presence on screen. My rating for this one is kind of low compared to how undoubtedly iconic and important of a film it is. It could have been my mood but upon rewatching, but the story fell a little flat for me. I did like the updated score in the version I watched, and I would love to see this one on the big screen maybe with a live orchestra some day.

Orlacs Hände (The Hands of Orlac), 1924 Dir. Robert Wiene ⭐4/5 Watched Oct 17, Archive.org Loved. It's so horny and bizarre (the scene with the maid crawling on the floor? same, girl, same). And visually the most pre-David Lynch Lynchian-looking movie I've ever seen. The shots that linger on highly stylized, cavernous, empty rooms before a character enters? So David Lynch. I'm also a big fan of the psychological body horror and crime thriller genre mashup. It's got twists, it's got turns. Conrad Veidt's your man if you ever needed a Hand Actor. Like the handsiest Hand Actor who ever had a pair of hands. Someone who could really work those mitts.

A Woman's Face, 1941 Dir. George Cukor ⭐4.5/5 Watched Oct 18, Vudu & TCM Jumping way forward in Connie's career. This movie did things to me. This was, I think, the point of no return. It's extremely underrated, I'm legitimately surprised I'd not heard of it before diving down this rabbit hole. That said, it is strange and pretty spicy for a Hays Code era picture. It's so good, I actually watched it twice (it aired on TCM as a part of their creepy cinema series). Visually beautiful and narratively interesting, if maybe a little long despite the rushed ending. Shout out to Joan Crawford for giving what's probably the best performance of hers, at least that I've seen (Mildred Pierce who?). And then there's nasty, nasty Conrad Veidt. He very nearly steals the movie from Joan, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He's beautiful, he's TALL, he's scary. Genuinely shocked he doesn't have second billing. But what else can I say about his Torsten Barring that hasn't already been said more eloquently by others? It's such a great character, and I believe he said it was one of his favorites during his entire 100+ film career. A Woman's Face is the only title on this list so far where immediately after watching I wanted to buy the dvd. Ugh, we deserved several more decades of Connie in roles like this.

I'll probably post the next few one day soon, where I finally get into some titles from the 1930s.

[nevermordor]

Hi ! Just saw your tags in the women in horror movies post, would you mind, when you have time, giving me your recommendation in horror movies ? It's a genre i'm learning to appreciate and i'll be curious to know what your favorite are ! Hope you're having a good day !

Oh nooooooo, you’ve activated one of my trap cards.

So the fun thing about horror is that it’s truly a diverse genre with many different places to start. I hardly feel qualified to make a rec list, because I feel like there’s still so much I haven’t seen??? So the below is by no means comprehensive, but hopefully it helps get you started! Also please feel free to talk to me about horror anytime, haha, I would love to know what you think if you get around to watching any of these.

The Classics: -The Blair Witch Project. The inception of found footage horror. -Halloween. The first slasher I ever watched. John Carpenter made this on a shoestring budget and the behind-the-scenes story is so fun. Plus, Jamie Lee Curtis’s breakout role. -Candyman (1992). Tony Todd is so sexy in this, but also it’s a great horror story about the power of myth, and an exploration of racial dynamics in Chicago. -Poltergeist. Has its issues but ultimately a very fun movie about a family working together to try and rescue their daughter from evil spirits. There’s a very famous scene with a clown doll. You’ll know it when you see it.

Women and horror: -The Perfection. Queer and deeply messy. An exploration of how art can still be used as a system for abuse. Tw: implied sexual assault, self-harm. -Ginger Snaps. Explores the struggles of two teenage sisters via werewolf metaphor. Love this one. -The Witch. Ominous and atmospheric. The horrors of being a girl raised in a religious fundamentalist family. -Jennifer’s Body. A cult classic that’s been validated/revisited in more recent years. Also queer and messy. Transplants the dynamics of teenage girl best friends into a horror movie setting. -The Babadook. Queer internet icon, but also an exploration of mental illness and the horrors of motherhood/the fear of being a bad mom. -The Descent. Do not watch this if you’re claustrophobic. A group of women go cave diving and discover creatures lurking beneath the earth. I think of certain shots/scenes from this movie often. -Black Christmas (1974). A sorority house is stalked by an unknown killer over the holiday season. Probably the one slasher that still scares the hell out of me, mainly because of how it chooses to depict its killer. Also more political than you’d think, featuring an abortion subplot in the 70s no less. -Us. Lupita Nyong'o should have won an Oscar for this one. -Hereditary. Ari Aster has his flaws as a filmmaker (who doesn’t) but this movie is like……really good. Toni Collette knocks it out of the park. Tw for GRAPHIC depiction of child death and suicide. Movies that personally scared the hell out of me: -Oculus. The fun thing about horror as a genre is that everyone has specific tropes that personally freak them the hell out. This movie dug its nails into one of mine and would not let go. -Parasite. People will probably argue that this is not a horror movie so much as a “thriller” but this movie felt like a borderline panic attack and filled me with despair, and if that ain’t horror, I don’t know what is. Sci-fish horror: -Nope. I really think this might be Jordan Peele’s best movie. Two fantastic lead actors, and dense with ideas, worth watching more than once. -Alien + Aliens. Sigourney Weaver should be enough of a selling point. The first two movies are famous, and they fully live up to the hype.

Personal faves: -Trick ‘r Treat. I watch this every October. A ton of fun. -The Lost Boys. 80s vampire camp, and kinda gay tbh. -Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula. This film is darkly, gorgeously sumptuous. Just a spectacle of practical effects and costuming, and I highly recommend checking out the behind-the-scenes features. -The Silence of the Lambs and Manhunter. Lambs being my problematic fave for years. Manhunter is the best adaptation of Red Dragon hands down (no disrespect to NBC’s Hannibal.) -Rear Window. Because while Psycho is good, it’s also a problematic fave. Plus Rear Window was the first Alfred Hitchcock movie I ever saw, and it holds a special place in my heart for that alone. -The Invitation. The most uncomfortable dinner party in a film I’ve ever sat through. A slow burn for sure, with a terrifyingly good payoff. A movie about grief, unreliable narrators and primarily, the horror of no longer knowing people as well as you thought you did. Tw for suicide/self-harm. -Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight. I adore the first few seasons of the Tales from the Crypt TV series, but you don’t need to watch any of the show in order to enjoy this standalone movie. It’s silly. It’s gross. Billy Zane is having the time of his life as the villain, plus Jeryline is one my fave final girls in horror. -Hellraiser (1987). I adore Clive Barker as a writer (if you like to read horror too, please, PLEASE check him out) and I love that he got to direct his own feature film. This movie is gross, horny as hell, and unlike anything you’ve seen before. Misc recs: -Jacob’s Ladder. Surreal, nightmarish and tragic. Hard to talk about this one without giving too much away. Would recommend going in blind and letting it unfold. -Possession. This movie is Nuts. Even harder to talk about this one. Isabelle Adjani especially carries this film with her performance. -Barbarian. Probably my favorite new horror movie I watched last year. An examination of rape culture that didn’t feel exploitative (rare in horror.) Also some of the most bizarre plot twists I’ve seen. Go in blind. -American Psycho. Still my favorite role of Christian Bale’s to date. Funny: -Tremors. Horror is a fantastic space for practical effects, and it’s really, really hard not to love all the work that went into operating the giant worm puppets. Also hard not to love the queer platonic partnership between Kevin Bacon and Earl Bassett’s main characters. -What We Do in the Shadows. Also rec’ing the TV show, but the original film still holds up and is funny as shit. Animation: -Perfect Blue. Satoshi Kon is one my favorite creators of all time, and this was the first feature film he made. Tw for an implied/simulated rape scene. -Paranoia Agent. Not a movie but an 11 episode anime series, also from Satoshi Kon. A mixing of genres, but tied together with a horror-themed premise and tone. I fucking love this show.

I don’t know if they’re available internationally as a streaming service, so it might depend on what country you’re in? But if you’re looking to get into more horror, I would def recommend checking out Shudder. They’re strictly horror-focused, with a wide variety of film and TV, plus they’re only 5 dollars a month!

I would also suggest checking out a great book called, “It Came From The Closet”, a collection of essays on horror movies from queer and trans writers.

Happy viewing!!! Genuinely hope you enjoy and can't wait to hear what you think!

[pikminapplebloom]

Did you make your icon? It looks super cute!

@coldlikesummerlemonade made it!!! They make papa louie icons.

Mine is Ivy as Frankenstien's monster's queer sister.

Ivy sells travel brochures at Travel Trout.

HC Time!!!

She's Autistic, Queer, and in high school, she was a top student at art history and geography. She also claims that a good abstract painting can improve even the dingiest of houses, and her niece, Maggie, also has a "spice tooth" like her (will pass up chicken nuggets but will eat hot sauce marinated girlled zucchini given the chance).

@coldlikesummerlemonade made these icons during spooky season. which is where I got my icon

[ID: papa Louie characters as their halloween costumes.

First Column:

Papa Louie himself as a mummified chef. A bit Ancient Egyptian-inspired, and his hat and ascot are metallic gold and teal. He has a glowing red eye and a hand stretched out. He's gonna get you...Employed. That's pretty much how every game-eria starts.

Caleb as the titluar Candy Man from a horror film series. His costume depicts an African-American bee summoner with honey-based powers. Caleb himself is Blasian, and one of his Grandparents might be of South Asian ancestry. His right hand is a hook. I haven't seen that film, so my description may not be accurate if I got something wrong.

Quinn, Papa Louie's Lawyer and ex-wife of Timm, as a were-cat. She has claws and is scowling. In the games, you get a reward if you make her order ahead of time. She is a closer, and shows up at the end of the in-game day.

Trishna as an orange-themed magical fairy girl. She is a South Asian fashion designer and likes eating fruits, especially tangerines. She comes off as a bit rude, but means well. She has green eyeshadow here and has a wand. She is also Caleb's cousin.

Second Column:

Tohru, a gamer and manga fan dressed as a plumber and a homage to Mario. She is Japanese-American, and likes pink things. She loves playing video games, and her costume consists of overalls, a turtleneck, and a hat with her initial. She is quite jovial, and her pose reflects one mario is often depicted in.

Rudy, the Bassist for Sacrlett and the Shakers, a co-ed Ska-punk band in the papa louie series. He's usually depicted as an Asian-American human, but here he's a were-dinosaur. He has opalescent sunglasses and a color blocked shirt here. He is also smiling at the viewer. His spikes reflect the spiky hairdo as a human.

Xandra, a humanoid alien magical girl dressed as a clown. She and her fraternal twin brother, Xolo, are the rulers of the Kingdom of X and guard the Warp Coins. They landed near an elderly woman's house. The old lady, Edna, Adopted them both. Xandra has teal and hot pink hair with a rainbow top and yellow sleeves. She also is making a silly expression and her clown makeup has mismatched eyeshadow.

Rhonda is a truck driver from toastwood, and is dressed as a witch here. She's Afro-Latine, and likes churros. Her truck is named Josephine, though that name would fit the broomstick she's holding. In the Papa Louie Games, she met her lover, a biker named Rico, and they often travel together. She's laughing here, much often like a witch.

End of ID.]

If you haven't played a papa louie game, hopefully the image descriptions give you an other people who haven't played one a glimpse of what the lore would suggest.

[arsonistfriday]

Intro/Pinned Post

You guys can call me Arson and I use he/she/neos (feel free to ask).

I am a huge fan of the Dream SMP, Traffic SMP, Minecraft, Cult of the Lamb, The Owl House, Rainworld, Billie Bust Up, Identity V, and Studio Investigrave games. I am also a massive fan of clowns, the ocean, space and really any kind of science.

I may also reblog art from different fandoms, however I usually won’t be in them, I just like to support creators on this website.

Icon credit: 🪶

Banner credit: 🪶

Divider credit: 🪶

FAQ below:

Can I use your art? You may use my art in icons, banners, edits, etc. just please make sure to credit me and feel free to give me an @ too so that I can see it!

Do you have a DNI? Not necessarily, I’ll just block you if I don’t agree with you or just generally don’t like you/your content. But this blog is a safe space for queer people, ‘kin, systems, disabled people, jews, Palestinians, POC, and mentally ill people.

What are your opinions on [discourse]? I do not want discourse, I came here to vibe so leave me alone

[curious-minx]

Denis Leary is making an animated vignette series based on Dogs Playing Poker and 10 Other Pieces of Kitsch Art That Should Be Turned Into TV

KITSCH auction house tremors and stampedes.

Dennis Leary basically discovered sex, drugs and rock n’ roll with his 2015 two season FX series Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. Leary’s always been one of those guys that can’t be beaten down  in spite of how dopey and cynical his edgy working class personal brand is. He’s got an entire deal set up with Fox, the flailing broadcasting company has placed all of their chips on a Denis with only one lousy  “N” in his name. I can’t even with this fake Irish Bostonian droid. Relish in the delicate thought process of Leary and leftover former Daily Show producer, Jim Margolis,  bringing up a Pinterest screen grab of the Dogs Playing Poker by Grand Master of Kitsch Cassius Marcellus Coolidge and money signs popping out of both of their heads. Here is a dramatic retelling of this thought process:

“Yo, get this Big D,” salivates the recently fired from Netflix Jim Margolis to Leary over a Zoom, “Fox got this Bento Box Animation Studio sitting around doing nothing but churning out animated interstitials for the Masked Singer, Paradise PD, The Prince, The Blues Brothers animated series, animated Harold And Kumar, Housebroken, The Great North, and ugh..um..Hoops..”

“I fuckin love Hoops, Jimmy! Why aren’t we pitching this on Netflix again?”

“Because Dogs Playing Poker is going to work so much better as pregame filler for live Sporting Events...on Fox.”

“Oh yeah. All of those rotten good for nothing grease monkey and lunch pail people will probably be giving each other Budweiser flavored Covid at the local saloon with these damn dog pictures hanging up. It’s like when old drunks would stay out late and watch the Flinstones at the bar, did you know that actual human male adults would sit in a town like Boston and waste away in a bar watching Flintsones. Can you believe that Johny?”

“My name is Jimmy, err Jim, but yeah Denis we’ll send you the scripts over. Any idea who we should cast?”

“Get me the hot blonde from Inspector Gadget 2, God dammit I miss Louie..are we sure we can’t get Louie back on air?”

“Afraid after Patton Oswalt dognapped his role from him in Secret Life of Pets, Louie CK has been banned from ever appearing as a talking dog again.”

“So bogus. Bobby Kelly will have to do.” Denis gets a text. “Dammit, Adam is getting all thirsty for this juicy  delicious bone. Gotta throw a  big bone to my dog Ferrera. Who else?”

“Ok. I’ll get one of those sad Daily Show losers. Um picking one at random, Roy Wood Jr. They’ll pretty much jump into anything, because John Oliver was in Love Guru they start thinking they can fail their way up.”

“I said no politics at the table! Paws off the table! This is going to be so fucking lit!”

////

Kitsch Art deserves so much more. George Lucas, retired American filmmaker, robber baron of childhoods and all around  mensch has been heavily invested in the kitsch art of Norman Rockwell. There are a bounty of stories to tell. Too many of them are far too white and basic, but there are rich narratives to be found in his out of date even for his own time romanticism of The Old Masters. Hopelessly out of date could have been a failing of Rockwell, but his politics grew progressive as his career went on and fought against the system. Cassius Marcellus Coolidge is the man that operated the first bank in Antwerp, New York  had the astronaut-like grace to wonder, “what if dogs played poker like people played poker?” A painting that dates back to 1894 used as means to sell cigars. What strikes me most about this painting is that they aren’t wearing clothes, but I bet when you try to imagine the painting you imagine these dogs fully decked out in some sort of work coat. There is a further anthropromized version of the ad called “His Station and Four Aces” that depicts a glimpse at a look at an entire canine furry society. His ideas of putting an animal in clothes remains to this day one of the most novel and surefire commercially friendly means of artistic expression. The original cynical man laughing all the way to the bank, his own bank that he founded to boot.

Seen above: An example of a Comic Foreground that also demonstrates the failings of having too few people in your party to properly partake in the comic foreground experience. 

“Cash” Cassius wasn’t the first man to imagine a domestic pet in people clothes, but he’s probably one of the few to do so with such commercial finesse. The man also at one point filed the patent on the “Comic Foregrounds,” which is the technical name of one of those carnival boards with holes to stick your head in. In post Covid times how many more heads will be salivating and rushing towards those holes to pop their heads in to create a lasting memory, if only for a second. So when I start learning more about this remarkable weirdo Cassius Coolidge, a man according to his official website dogsplayingpoker.com’s Biography: “Trying to chase mischievous boys from an abandoned house, he fell from a window and hurt his knee, leaving him injured for the rest of his life.”

Flash forward back to 2021 and Denis Leary and his career a man with a wikipedia with fun entries about all the accusations of plagiarism and hate speech against autism I start to worry about the legacy of more Kitsch art falling into the hands of other greedy and desperate TV executives. That being said if you are a greedy TV executive who happens to be a maniac that likes reading rando’s tumblr pages do I have a list for you!

TOP TEN PIECES OF KITSCH ART THAT SHOULD BE TURNED INTO SOME KIND OF SOMETHING

“We Are Having a Heavenly Time” Columbian Bike Monkey and Parakeet by, once again, Cassius Coolidge

Coolidge’s anthropomorphic foresight strikes again! This time he effortlessly establishes a captivating duo that could be easily voiced by an endless combination of celebrity voice actors. PAUL RUDD as “Monkey” and ISSA RAE as “Parakeet” present “We Are Having a Heavenly Time” present a travel show. You could basically use whatever leftover footage you have lying around from the many Conan O’Brien segments and plug Monkey and Parakeet and their trusty bicycle anywhere for an irreverent glimpse into the foreign World around us.

2. “Clown and The Girl” by Haddon Sundblom  

Now I know what you’re thinking, that title is miserable! I agree, but with a little  reverse engineering you get The Girl and Clown, which could be a whole new addition to the Girl on a Train, Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, Girl with a Dangly Earpiece, the Girl-Verse! The girl appears to be quite fearless of this clown, which is good because we need someone to be brave for when the clown takes off his mask.

Sundblom is also the original artist for the Coke a cola Santa Claus and how is it that we have gone this many rotations around the sun without a single Coke a cola Santa Claus special is the real reason why Christmas will always be the saddest time of year.

3. “Clean Your Fornasetti” based around the artistic Plate collection of Pierro Fornasetti 

Muk bangs, videos of people eating are a huge cyber traffic boom. People love watching people eat. Why not add the element of surprise by what kind of playful Fornasetti chanteuse is hiding underneath this plate full of gruel? Fornasetti is an artist with over 11,000 items created in his name and over 500 of them are based around a variety of expressions of a single woman. Clean Your Fornasetti is a deep and poetic rumination of the romance between the act of someone cleaning their plate and the reveal that the plate contained a visual feast all its own.

4. “Mickey’s Kinkade Playhouse” by the one and only Thomas Kinkade

The Kinkade Studios features over 63 “narrative panoramas” featuring Disney characters, but largely Mickey and Minnie, simply vibing. It’s time we stop pretending that small children like Mickey Mouse and market him for wistful older audiences that want to radiate in a nice long warm bath of color and sound. I am not sure I am even pitching an actual series but more of a Narrative Panoply. One thing that is missing from Disney Plus, and streaming services in general, is a severe lack of programming frills and flourishing. The iconic Adult Swim bumps are something completely lost to the dustbins of programming history left to remain in youtube compilations. Thomas Kinkade is a lot like Enya. Art critics treated him like a comedic punching bag for so long, but I doubt there’s an artist that grasps the kind of sterile enchantment people want after a long day of opioid benders. We’re all trapped inside doing puzzles why not do the bare minimum of slightly animating a pleasant scene of Mickey and Minnie roasting marshmallows or enjoying a breath of fresh Alpine air?

5. “Dust Lickers” by Odd Nerdrum

Quick! Get me Trash Humpers’ Harmony Korine on the Line Show him Shit Rock! The world of Odd Nerdrum is a harsh and primeval one that would make for an astonishing animated landscape. Odd Nerdrum himself feels like a worthy subject of some kind of documentary based around his imagery and insistence on making his art in the most arcane and old fashioned methods possible. Once again, maybe the visual world of Odd Nerdrum may not make for a full on narrative series, but once again would make for one hell of an animated segment.

6. “Homemade Pasta” by John Currin 

A cozy Queer slice of life cooking drama based around the two charming fellows of John Currin’s Homemade Pasta scene. A series of vignettes based around the completely unfabulous and domestic version of bliss that was denied many people as a result of the AIDS crisis. You can’t tell me you don’t see those two nice guys getting cozy and making pasta together and you aren’t dying to see how they go about rolling out their own focaccia bread.

7. “The Velvet Elvis” by the Collective Conscious 

David Lynch at one point in time was trying to crack into making his own Elvis biopic. I think it’s pretty safe to say that the age of a public wanting a David Lynch directed Elvis biopic has probably passed, but that does not stop Velvet art enthusiasts. TheVelvetStore.com is featuring a remarkable promo that could really bump up what a David Lynch Elvis movie could be like and the horror of having one’s soul trapped inside of a Velvet Elvis rendition painting seems like a pretty fertile place to begin a proper story about Elvis in America. 

8. “Big Eye Bunch” by Margaret Keane 

Yes, it was only a matter of time before Ms. Big Eyes herself, Queen of Kitsch, Margaret Keane would come up on a list like this. Tim Burton tried and sort of kind of captured what it so endearing about Keane’s work, but I think a fully animated dive into an orphanage full of sad Big Eye kids that time travel and meet other Big Eyed children version of historical figures is a Big Idea that could make a whole new generation keen on Keane.

9. “Banality” by Jeff Koons

An animated series based around the artistic sensibilities of Jeff Koons would be a tricky affair, but just the kind of gaudy whimsy that someone like Michel Gondrey could use to proper effect. A series based around someone trying to steal the fifteen million dollar Michael Jackson statue would also be appropriate.

10. “Groovenians reboot” by Kenny Scharf

Scharf is the only artist on this list that actually was a kitsch artist that caught the attention of early aughts adult swim. A tv show that only features the artistic sensibilities of Scharf but also a voice acting cast that consisted of Paul Reubens, Rupaul, Vincent Gallo, and Dennis Hopper. There’s also a theme song performed by the B-52s and musical direction by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh. One of the only known published reviews of the pilot describe the show as needing mind altering substances to enjoy and that it is essentially like “watching a cartoon reflected off of a funhouse mirror. This is basically a description of the modern tik tok addled twitchy type content that makes a killing on the Internet for millenial and zoomer types. Basically the whole aesthetic of a warped and broken looking cartoon is the exact sort of thing weirdos deep diving at youtube at four in the morning are looking for and seeing that this gets a failed pilot and Denis Leary’s Dog Poker vignettes get greenlit is exactly what’s wrong with the world.

[captainninej]

RANT TIME: LOVER ERA

okay. so recently i’ve seen a heck of a lot of swifties shitting on the lover era. and that’s okay! we’re all entitled to our own opinions.

HOWEVER i will accept NO critiques on the fact that the lover era has given us SO MUCH AND MORE THAN POSSIBLY ANY OTHER ERA. has the promo been a bit all over the place? yes. is it strikingly different from rep? yes. have the singles been getting less chart success than other eras? yes.

BUT. taylor is SEVEN ALBUMS INTO HER CAREER. S E V E N. to even have this level of astronomical success into your SEVENTH album is mind-blowing in of itself. to still be able to capture the imagination and interest of the public SEVEN WHOLE ASS ALBUMS LATER. a lot of artists struggle to even keep that momentum going from their second to third albums. and our girl is on seven. also, taylor’s life and priorities are different now. she’s at the top of her game. she doesn’t really have to keep ascending from a logistics point of view. she’s made history so many times - i think her happiness and wellbeing is more important than constantly outdoing other artists! she’s also older, and has been here for a long time, which is INCREDIBLE to have that sort of longevity in your career. but naturally, other new artists are going to start to take up more public consciousness because that’s just how it works. taylor will always be around, but other artists are going to step in to be more present in the public eye and i think the lover era has started to show that a bit, and many swifties have taken that to be a sign of the era’s faults, but it’s kinda just how time works. society moves on. one person can’t be expected to hold public interest forever and ever - that’s a lot of pressure to put on a person. taylor’s a millionaire who’s made such an incredible legacy for herself - i think she’s allowed to relax a little at this point!!

on that note, the lover era has been SO LOVINGLY (excuse the pun) CRAFTED AND TAILORED (omg aNOTHER PUN i swear this was unintentional) for us, the fans. secret sessions. easter eggs EVERYWHERE so we can do what we do best - clowning over every little detail and coming up with crackhead theories. livestreams. the lover lounge. the FOUR DELUXE EDITIONS. taylor coming out politically and DEMANDING change - which means SO SO SO FUCKING MUCH to fans like me who are minorities. she’s returned to interviews. we’ve had like 17 magazine covers. incredible performances and collabs. taylor has worked her ASS OFF to make this era EVERYTHING AND MORE FOR US. so i will NOT ACCEPT ANY CRITIQUE OR WHINING THAT THIS ERA IS A ‘FLOP.’

to further prove my point, here are a list of only SOME of the things we’ve been blessed with this era (bc i have a shit memory and can’t remember everything):

- THE BUTTERFLY MURAL!!!!!!!!!!

- the incredible aesthetic switch up

- the instagram posts. five holes in the fence. y’all know what’s up

- ME! with Brendon Emo Powerhouse Icon Urie and an INSANE music video and loads of awesome performances (BBMAS was ICONIC)

- taylor talking about game of thrones??? life complete

- TIME 100 Gala 

- Elle (US and UK), Vogue, People, and a shit ton of other magazine covers and interviews and letters

- taylor publicly calling out politicians and fighting for change on a level she’s never done before

- YNTCD which was so positive and uplifting as well as promoting LGBTQ+ solidarity and basically drawing a line in the sand telling homophobes to fuck off, as well as an INCREDIBLE music video with queer icons that mean so much to people of the community, showing the world where she stands

- the Amazon Prime concert (LIARS and DIRTY DIRTY CHEATS OF THE WORLD)

- taylor publicly coming out and calling BS on scooby and scott and standing up for her legacy and her art that she should most definitely own, as well as raising awareness for artists around the world who have been similarly screwed over by their record labels who basically see them as cash cows, as well as calling out sexism and bullying in the industry

- the!! archer!! which she specifically released because we love track 5!! enough said

- LOVER. THE MUSIC VIDEO. THE AESTHETIC. 

- drunk taylor lol

- teen choice awards icon award!!! 

- the VMAs and her iconic performance and historic wins and CALLING OUT THE WHITE HOUSE ON LIVE TV I STILL HAVEN’T RECOVERED

- the album release! lover lounge! the lyrics everywhere!!

- the stella mccartney line!!

- loads of interviews and candids and performances!!

- AMAs ARTIST OF THE DECADE. THE CALLING OUT OF SCOOBY AND SCOTT. THE SOLIDARITY FROM OTHER FEMALE ARTISTS (still salty about the *crickets* from every man in music ever but ok) THE P E R F O R M A N C E.  CELEBRATING HER LEGACY. SWEEPING EVERY AWARD SHE WAS NOMINATED FOR AND BECOMING THE MOST LAUDED ARTIST IN AMA HISTORY, BEATING MICHAEL FUCKING JACKSON. 

- how her outfits this era match the aesthetic of lover!! the pastel colours!! the softness!! 

- cats (ok the movie was a mess but i will fite and say taylor’s song is the best bit and the only bit i was invested in) and her beautiful premiere dress! her friendship with the cast and andrew lloyd webber!! the promo!! BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS SHE DID NOT HAVE TO POP OFF LIKE THAT BUT SHE DID

- MISS. AMERICANA. GUYS. she gave us a WHOLE DOCUMENTARY about her life, her insecurities, her struggles, her battles, her music, and gave us all hope and light that we can be strong like she was during her darkest times. do y’all realise how BRAVE someone has to be to put themselves out there like that?? did 1989 (not shitting on it but just bc some swifties think 1989 is the elite era and i kinda disagree bc of how it affected taylor’s physical and mental health) give us a documentary?? no

- THE MAN. ok on this one i kinda understand the gripes about the promo and the delay with the music video, the single release, etc. but she DELIVERED. it’s her first self-directed music video and CALLS OUT TOXIC MASCULINITY SO WELL. ICONIC.

- redirecting the reveal that she was telling the truth the WHOLE TIME IN 2016 and that kanye west has always been and will always be a piece of shit (like we knew all along) to help with the pandemic and being the bigger person while kim kinda humiliated herself with a dumbass rant on twitter but kardashians are a whole different breed of stupid so what can ya do

- voicing so much!! for the pandemic!! donating to fans personally, telling people to get the fuck inside and social distance properly, cancelling lover fest which we were ALL looking forward to but she was looking forward to more than ANY OF US, constantly donating and telling us to donate to charities, being a part of the global citizen thing and performing SYGB live when she said she’d never sing it because it was too hard for her, but she did it for the world and for our situation...guys

- also, reminder, WE’RE IN A FUCKING PANDEMIC. has taylor’s promo gone down? yes. did the man get the run it deserved? no. is cruel summer likely to come out soon as a single? probably not. BECAUSE AGAIN WE’RE IN A FUCKING PANDEMIC. PEOPLE ARE DYING AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION IS ABOUT TO LOOK LIKE A PIECE OF CAKE COMPARED TO WHAT’S COMING. TAYLOR KNOWS SHE ISN’T THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW AND THE LOVER ERA CAN BE ON PAUSE UNTIL THIS UNPRECEDENTED GLOBAL CATASTROPHE HAS PASSED. AND Y’ALL SHOULD TOO.

in conclusion, the lover era was EVERYTHING AND BY FAR THE MOST GIVING AND FAN-BASED ERA WE’VE GOTTEN YET. TAYLOR WORKED SO HARD AND IS CLEARLY SO PROUD OF THIS ERA AND HER GROWTH AND I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY BITCHING OR MOANING THAT IT WASN’T ENOUGH. Y’ALL DO THIS EVERY ERA AND THEN ONCE THE NEXT ONE COMES ALONG YOU DO A WHOLE 180 AND WHINE ABOUT HOW THE LAST ERA WAS GOLDEN AND AWESOME AND HOW THE CURRENT ONE SUCKS. Y’ALL SUCK. TAYLOR GIVES US SO MUCH MORE THAN ANY OTHER ARTIST GIVES THEIR FANS AND ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME Y’ALL REMEMBER THAT.

ok thanks for coming to my ted talk i’ve got three assignments due tomorrow lol gtg

[youngbradford]

Xmas Message For 2019

And here we go, my 19th annual year-end love letter online …Georgi Balinov and I rang in the new year at a giant party in Bangkok, halfway around the world. That foreign location, its beauty and tastes, set the tone for my 2019, a year of seeing the world, while stabilizing my life. Though often in flux or movement, 2019 was a year many things normalized over the year.

In January, almost immediately after arriving stateside, I crossed the pond and saw Michelle Visage perform in the West End with Peter Wish. Afterward, I played with her wigs backstage and walked her towards the queer kids lining up for selfies and autographs. I am very lucky to have Peter and Michelle in my life, kindred spirits both. One reminding me that fame, fortune, ebb, and flow, but that being real is what matters most. The other, a reminder to stay forever young. I visited Berlin yet again and did the usual, working, and playing, hard.

February appeared and I traveled to Philadelphia with Sandra Hansel, Georgi, George Sapio, and Anthony DeFilippis. We toured Lisa Roberts’ house, saw a Dieter Rams exhibit, dined with George Alley. In Lambertville, that Sunday, I bought vinyl and vintage hats. Later that month, I got a swallow tattooed on my hand, a symbol of flight and travel, and Warhol’s knives, blackened into my shin. An Eames exhibit in Oakland was a sweet way to end the month.

In March with my crew, Georgi, Khadyon Reid, Luis Urribarri, Anthony, and George, descended upon Salvador for Carnival. It was insane! I watched Anitta live, and danced in a sea of pushing, fighting, kissing Brazilians for days upon days. I felt unsafe and alive, threatened and excited. It was intense. Back home I got my other hand tattooed, again honoring my love of seeing the world. I traveled to Portland, came back to NYC at the end of the month, finally moving into our apartment, the one we bought 1.5 years before, that I designed, and had renovated head to toe. Finally, we had our dream home. The weekend we moved in, the place was still not ready, but we were sick of living without our things and in other people’s beds. Peg Kendall and Georgi’s mom came, and we worked our asses off unpacking and starting to make the 2800 square foot loft on west 13th street a home. We’d lived in Airbnbs and friends’ places for 19 months and it was tiring not having a home, not having most of our things. My art! My toys! My shoes!. Those months taught me how important a home, a safe place, and the oasis of my collections is to my mental health. From March on I felt more on solid ground and dedicated more energy to my career and friendships as a result.

In April we went to Coachella, seeing Ian and Jose Seronni, JJ and Andrey Lunin, and dancing in the desert of California. Multiple trips to San Francisco, catching glimpse of old friends, scaling my team at work, as I took on more and more responsibility.

In May, George Sapio and I celebrated (me a little early) a shared, fun birthday weekend at Soho Farmhouse. Joined by Matthew Kelleher, Mark Silver, Jaime Tanner, Matt Lynch, and others, we went shooting and feasted on pheasant in the English countryside.June was really busy, insanely so. 

For my 43rd in early June, I had a 30-person dinner party in our new place! We ended up at Club Cumming after, but before friends, new, and old, showered me with a vinyl record, the admission fee I’d set for my party. Lauren Foster, who has shared her home with us, was, appropriately, our first overnight guest. London, again, Berlin, too. Then home for Pride. Willam Ralphie hosted Bingo at eBay, Zach Augustine, David Mason Chlopecki, other loves attended. That weekend danced to both Madonna and Grace Jones on the pier and danced with 15K others at Javitz, where my favorite singer, Cyndi Lauper, belted “I Drove All Night,” her best song, at midnight. I stayed until the sun came up. NYC was electric that weekend. Parties, icons, friends from the world over … the city has an energy you could literally see and taste. I caught a few moments of the parade, overtaking lower Manhattan, and I smiled really big. God, it can feel good being gay! God, the world has improved for gay people (and yes, I know, we still have ways to go, especially for more marginalized LGBTQ groups). But I still took a moment to acknowledge the things that are better, that I have seen in my very gay lifetime. NYC that weekend was the ultimate place to reflect.

July 4th I went to Hamptons, with Ricardo, Brian, Felipe L. Mollica, others, guests of Anthony. Hosted Fab.com reunion, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, and took my team to Korea (where I shared a traditional Korean meal with Jae Hah), China (where I ate bird’s nests, jellyfish, sea snails, saw a Yves Klein show with Adnan Abbasi, and danced to 90s pop in a packed gay club), and Moscow (where I was amazed at how clean the city was and where I went to a traditional sauna and was whipped, naked, with tree leaves in front of dozens of Russian dudes in the nude). While in Russia a protest erupted, literally below the rooftop bar I dined in. Russia seemed freer than I’d expected, way more Western, up until this moment. I ended the weekend at a club at 3 AM, Russian women in high, high heels, dancing on the bar, vodka flowing like water. 2020 saw me traveling to places I romanticized as a child. Russia, one such place. I thoroughly enjoyed the friendships formed in Moscow, the food, and history. I want to return.

August, I was back in San Jose and Portland for work, then off again to Europe for vacation. We started our trip in Croatia, where Georgi and I kayaked around Dbruvnik’s harbor. Croatia’s cliffs and turquoise water did not disappoint, as we boated to islands and swam in caves. Driving south into Montenegro, the architecture reminded me more of Polish, Bulgarian trips, the water, greener. At the Amman we laid out next to The Beckhams, watching David kick a soccer ball with workers of the hotel, and watching Victoria read a book. Georgi and I then ventured to Mykonos, sunning til sunset and dancing til sunrise. A weekend trip upstate with our besties (including a guest appearance by Eric Lee, riding rides at the Colombia County fair, cooking pies, and grilling meats, ended our summer.

In September I went to Berlin and did Folsom and a speaking gig in front of 1K eBay sellers. I went again to Tel Aviv, meeting gay Israeli technology workers and a bevy fo Israeli start-ups. In Jerusalem, I returned to the wonderful Machneyuda with Gilad Ayalon, where they remembered me from my birthday the year before.

October saw us hosting my mother and my niece for a visit. We fell in love with Company XVI, a dance/burlesque/performance art troupe in Brooklyn. I took my mother to see Madonna, a night I will cherish forever. And we saw Dear Evan Hanson. A weekend in Miami with Lauren Foster and K was needed warmth. I took Georgi to see both acts of The Inheritance (so good!).  Then off to Berlin, again, and Paris, where I looked at art and went shopping for fall clothes. Halloween, in NYC, was brilliant and over the top; I went as white Pierrot clown. In Brooklyn, to Honey Dijon, we danced all night. Ralph Rucci, the American couturier reposted our photo on Instagram, calling it high-fashion, however, it was Georgi who won the night as Spock.

November I was in NYC early on, shopping with Thomas Cawson (who hooked me up with pink denim Helmut Lang), eating Christmas cookies, and being interviewed by Buzzfeed, a segment on 90s toys. I imitated a Furby. Then a week in Portland (I glow-in-the-dark-miniature-golfed), and off to Helsinki, catching up with former friends from Fab, One Nordic, Hem. Then to Lapland, with Georgi, George, and Anthony, lapping up wine, winter wonderlands, and dining on reindeer and elk. Dog sledding, snowmobiling, Northen lights! Another childhood desire checked from the list. Dinner with Michelle Case in London closed the month.

In December I went back to Berlin (my second home) and hosted a fundraiser for Single Step in our home. In one night Georgi and I helped raise $50K to help build Bulgaria’s first LGBTI center. It was also an impromptu holiday party: so many old friends together again in one room. And now Georgi and I sit in an airport lounge, awaiting our flight to Baltra, in the Galapagos. Once we land, we’ll board a 7-day cruise on a mega-yacht/small cruise ship. This, I feel, I have been waiting my entire life for.

I often write about how I was lonely as a kid. I was gay, I had a drug-addicted father, I grew up very poor. I oftentimes say music saved my life. But, I don’t write enough about the joy animals gave me too. I had so many pets: newts, turtles, tortoises, tree frogs, geckos, crabs, salamanders, etc. Caring for them, feeding them, gave me peace and allowed me to love. One turtle I had had a cracked shell. He lived in my room for many, many years. I always preferred him, with his defects, to the others. I think I feel the same about people.

As a child, I became obsessed with the Galapagos Islands, and mostly the tortoises. I would read about them in encyclopedias and race to see them at zoos. I always felt connected to turtles. They were my spirit animal. Later in life, I’d bloom, my feathers growing, my pride, alive. I’d no longer consider myself a turtle, my spirit animal changed. I told this story to my colleague Eben Sermon, who runs eBay’s German business: I always wanted to be a turtle. But I ended up a cockatoo. Eben brought this up last week in Berlin and it made me think a bit more about affinities for animals and how I have not had that connection as often as I probably should.

So this week, before we ring in New Years in Rio, I will honor the old me, the kid, the quieter Bradford, the sadder Bradford, by visiting those turtles, finally.

And I’ll marvel at the wonder of nature and evolution, both the evolution of animals and this world, and also the very real and dramatic evolution of my spirit and happiness.

Happy Holidays, Peace & Big Love

[nervousruinscreation]

This might be a bit self indulgent - but I have been really excited for the session with Heather Croall because The Adelaide Fringe has been an important arts festival for my career.

I grew up in regional South Australia, and I was really lucky that we had one of the few regional arts companies nearby. I did a few after school drama classes, and i fell in love. It wasn’t so much the idea of wanting to be an actor and dreaming to be famous, like many kids. But having a connection to the arts, beyond the curriculum arts and crafts projects you do in school as a means to develop fine motor skills. 

When I was 14 someone dropped out of the senior ensemble because they got into a very prestigious acting program at a university interstate, and they asked if I would join the project. This was ground breaking because it felt very special and i knew that the show was going to tour to Adelaide for something called the fringe festival. At this point in my life I hadn’t spent much time in the ‘city’ and I was quite naive. This sounds silly but in a way thinking about Adelaide was mostly based on ideas of what it meant. Like it seemed so huge it may as well had been New York.

Traveling to Adelaide with a cast of people older than me, seeing shows, pop up venues (this was when the garden of unearthly delights was essentially just one tent). I just had no idea that there was the whole other world out there and the fringe just seemed like this big electric playground.

I also felt like many of the skills that i had finally made sense. And i had so much drive to learn about all things related to the arts. visual arts. theatre lighting. photography. 

Pictured above: myself to the left and the cast of LANDED.

Our show LANDED, ended up winning a fringe award - back in the day when its wasn’t weekly awards but just one big awards night.

That experience led me to my first job out of highschool, working as an arts administation trainee at that youth arts company. I was learning how to apply for grants, attending arts conferencing, organising art exhibitions and programming. 

Looking back I felt like i was very brave, or braver than how i feel now.

Me at 18, shooting photos for a big collaborative art project, taking photos in iconic places in my home down but making them larger than life. This is the ruins of a house that I used to drive past every-time i made the commute to Adelaide and back. The CFS assisted with the lighting and the giant coloured smoke. The young people involved in the shoot aged 8-16 were all dressed like  clowns.

So i feel like i have been on this search back to my roots, and i feel like i am myself most when I am being creative, working collaboratively with others and building community. 

I went on to study visual arts, encouraged by all of my experiences until that point, I enjoyed developing my owns practise but noticed that I wasn’t as driven in comparison to working with other curious, excited and enthusiastic others. 

My career pathway took a weird turn, as i got very involved with activist spaces and Australian politics. And I even spent 5 years working in Australian federal politics as an electoral staffer for a Senator, with one of the highlights being meeting Julia Gillard in her office the week before she got rolled.

I think eventually i got burnt out, the time i stopped working in that area just just as the Australian postal plebisite was finishing. I was really over getting letters and emails from constituents that included homophobic rhetoric. As a queer person i felt like this effected my mental health, and I felt like i needed to re centre myself. 

I started focusing on writing again.  

trying to meet other people who were interested in working on projects together.

We produced, wrote and made performance based work for the Adelaide Fringe, I took on a lot of the PR/social media marketing/producing parts of it. because at this point I hard started the double degree that I’m doing now and thought that I should try to develop more skills.

Eventually we got to the point of producing a show that was going to tour internationally, to the Edinburgh Fringe.

I wasn’t planning on going at all, but after 6 months of job hunting while studying, i wasn’t getting anywhere. I figuired that I could continue studying if i brought a laptop with me. So in one day i decided that I wanted to go too, bought a plane ticket for the next day, and rushed off to go and buy a suitcase.

Exploring the Ed Fringe as an adult, I felt like the 14 year old discovering the Adelaide fringe all over again. The trip was a massive risk for me, because i only has a limited amount of savings, and no job lined up, i had never been overseas and i am not the kind of the person to take massive risks like that or so i thought.

And i see this theme of how when you’re chasing things that you’re really passionate about the scary what if parts, can have a bigger pay off, even if the success or result you find at the end wasn’t the one that you thought that you were going to get. 

Every day i had a new office, working on essays in the foyer of our venue, a standing desk in the tiny room we were renting on drop of a dresser, or any cafe that looked like it wouldn’t mind me using their wifi for a few hours.

Obviously there were lots of decisions that led me to this point, but I feel like there is a really solid thread between all of these experiences. 

And so i guess thats like part of my origin story about why I was very stoked to listen and talk to one of the cultural leaders who is CEO of a festival that had so much influence over my life.

[living-dead-grrl]

Horror Bites (Feb. 11, 2020)

Bong Hive rejoice! Hearty congratulations are in order for Bong Joon Ho and the entire Parasite team for making history at the 92nd Academy Awards. Celebrate the 4-time Oscar winner (IN ONE NIGHT!) by checking out some of the maestro’s favorite films of all time, from classics like The Wages Of Fear to contemporary gem Midsommar.

And if you haven’t yet checked out Parasite, here’s your guide to the Oscar-winning thriller everyone’s been talking about.

Joe Hill spoke about Locke & Key, Hill House Comics, his new horror imprint under DC, and the boom of horror comics.

Men’s Health Magazine gives a crash course in Tom Savini’s career by way of Locke And Key’s Kingsian “Savini Squad”.

Explore Mexican horror in this deeply personal essay from Kate Sánchez.

Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s iconic song “Monster Mash” is being made into a feature-length musical. Get excited by reliving this Horror Noire outtake.

The Chris Rock-produced Saw entry, Spiral: From The Book Of Saw, got its first trailer and franchise fans are stoked.

A Mount Royal University sociologist is setting his skepticism aside to gather information for a book about belief in ghosts.

These 20 iconic movie moments were completely ad-libbed, including gems from JAWS, Aliens, and The Shining.

Sam Raimi is reportedly in talks to direct the upcoming Doctor Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness, and The Hollywood Reporter is here to weigh in on what he can bring to the project.

Rotten Tomatoes sings the praises of these 10 horror films out of Sundance you should definitely keep on your radar.

The Campus Magazine shared two outstanding articles on queer representation in horror…

… and horror literature throughout history.

Watch Art The Clown do mental math to figure out the death toll in Terrifier 2 in this interview from Astronomicon.

A young boy in the UK was granted his ultimate birthday wish … to be picked up from school by Jason Voorhees.

The Tribune’s Dear Diary Didi columnist can’t quite stomach horror movies, so they came up with an easy guide to help others sift through their ghostly tropes.

Outbreak thriller Contagion has seen a surge of popularity in recent weeks, and you can probably guess why.

[thotyssey]

The tHOTlist # 200 - 151

200)   Bubbles D'Boob

Giving the children raucous numbers and leading them in some racy games in between voluminous clips of Broadway musicals is the key to Showtune Sundays’ success. Bubbles gleefully floated the show this year between REBAR and the Fire Island Pines Pavilion. 

199)  DJ OhRicky

From Pieces in the West Village to its sister bar Hardware in Hell’s Kitchen, Ricky provides the soundtracks to some of the biggest drag names in the city while giving you healthy(-ish) doses of Kylie Minogue and Eurovision in between the shows.

198)  Pepto Dismal

From Cali comes this aesthetically outrageous drag queen and DJ, and Brooklyn has not been quite the same since. Catch her on stages or in DJ booths wherever drag goes wild, notably the monthly party Scrunch at The Dreamhouse.

197)  Chandilier

New York’s tallest drag queen’s dry wit has been refined through years of performing for bachelorette parties at Lips. She also hosts “Shut Up, Chandi,” a cult favorite Monday night show at The Duplex.

196)  West Dakota

A classy supermodel one night and an avant garde monster the next, here is the perfect addition to The Rosemont’s Wednesday show OOPS’ lineup.

195)  John-John Punki

Perhaps the best known gogo boy of this city’s bear events, John-John also produces popular nights in the scene like Rockbar’s Purgatory and a monthly Latin party at The Eagle, Piel.

194)  Jen Urban

This year saw a Brooklyn Nightlife Award nom for Jen Urban & The Box, a powerhouse dance rock duo fronted by this colorful musician. Between recording new songs for the The Box, Jen DJs karaoke at Macri Park (she was additionally BNA-nominated as a DJ this year) and dance parties at Lady Stardust. There, she also hosts a monthly live music event called Torch.

193)  Linux

Sporting lewks that beholders can’t help but wonder how the hell anyone can move let alone walk in, club kid Linux is the true definition of how an artist can be their own work of art. Susanne Bartsch, Ladyfag and Kayvon Zand have spawned colossal kikis where brilliant scene queens like Aquaria and Ryan Burke rule the realm... but if you’re not seeing Linux at these events (and even in that crowd, Linux is pretty hard to miss), it can’t be that great of a party. When Linux recently fell into a bit of undeserved legal trouble, their superstar nightlife friends came forward with a benefit kiki for the ages.

192) Julius’

The ancient gay bar has obviously played an important role in the long history of queer civil rights and culture. A neighborhood dive with tasty bar food on the surface, it actually hosts a pretty unique array of old school queer thinkers and artists. It’s also the home of John Cameron Mitchell’s monthly vinyl dance party Mattachine and its rabid cult following. Julius’ medieval interior appeared memorably in a scene from POSE, as well as the the film Can You Ever Forgive Me?.

191)  Mother Juan Aviance

The House of Aviance’s founder focused a lot on the House’s record label this year, producing releases from ball scene legends Coby Koehl and Jade Elektra. But Mother’s out with the children often enough, particularly while hosting Hex Hector’s monthly JUHLA at The Ritz, Christina Visca’s Birdcage at LeBain, or Ladyfag’s Battle Hymn.

190)  Bobby Duron & Steve Cunningham

The dynamic DJ duo keep the beat going for the city’s best cruisy bear and muscle queen dance parties. Catch them together spinning disco, rock or deep house at Rockbar and Nowhere, or separately at The Cock and The Eagle.

189)  Harajuku

Known as much now for her daring onstage stunts--live douching, drinking her own piss--as for her amazingly elaborate drag looks and electric dance performances--the Rosemont’s OOPS cast member has come to embody so much of what we expect, and don’t expect, from Brooklyn drag. 

188)  Black Widow

After months of making her name in the weekly competition circuit, this energetic dance queen ultimately hooked up with two large ensemble shows--The Bad Bitch Review at REBAR and TURNt at The Ritz--before ditching drag for a cruise ship dance gig.

187)  Henrietta Hudson

Manhattan’s last standing lesbian bar is more of an institution then it ever was. With its deft DJs, sexy gogo girls and rockstar bar staff, Henrietta has found and made work that rare cultural niche: lesbian nightlife, every day of the week. [Photo: Grace Chu}

186)  Vanna Deux

An exceptional performer who hosted her own show at The West End for several months, Vanna left the city for a stretch to star in a Woodstock production of La Cage. Since her recent return, she’s hosted her second Stonewall Invasion and made several other appearances.

185)  Bella Noche

New York’s number one nautical queen is a good time gal and all around sweetie, hosting Game Night at Rockbar (where she made finals for 2018′s Miss Rockbar pageant) and her own web interview show courtesy of Facebook Live and Spoiled NYC, “Cocktails & Contours.” These days she’s also making a name for herself as part of Long Island’s blossoming drag scene.

184)  Misty Mountains Davenport

A cheerful performer and funny mix maker, the newly christened Davenport (and our current reigning Miss Cherry Grove) gives you your best life monthly at Icon. Meanwhile, she’s also cocktail waitressing / guest performing for the Stonewall Invasions most Sundays.

183)  Nicky Boom Box

Therapy, Hardware and Pieces’ old school pop DJ is known to vogue his way across the late night dance floor after he’s done dropping the soundtrack to that night’s drag shows. He recently joined Holly Box-Springs as her Sunday brunch DJ at Gallo Nero.

182)  Crystal Mesh

In a scene where sometimes drag performers can take themselves a tad too seriously, The Rosemont’s Crystal is a trailer park rodeo clown. Her cute song “My Cabana” earned her a Brooklyn Nightlife Award nomination, and she makes the audiences for her OOPS ensemble show chuckle with just a look. Crystal was also the perfect choice to host the monthly prelims of the Mx. Mont Rose comedy queen pageant this year.

 181)  House of Yes

The queer friendly Brooklyn nightclub owned by two young women continues to attract top DJ talent and offer some interesting alternatives to the routine: light shows, circus acts, live music, outlandish themes and more. 

180)  Dezi 5

The soulful, charming and fashionable singer played dozens of gigs throughout the city and beyond this year (including a return tour to his hometown of Texas) and proved himself to be a natural host with his own party at Rockbar, Teaze.

179)  Deryck Todd

The hat mogul continues to keep Acme’s Tuesday night STRUT one of the hippest weekly soirees in the East Village, while making stuff happen at Bedlam as well.

178)  Jasmin Van Wales

Patti LaBelle’s biggest fan and a legend in her own right (Zalika Parsons even honored her with a full installment of her “Legendary” show this year at Bizarre), this classy ball scene veteran and trans beauty is the current reigning (and possibly final) Miss Monster as of late 2017. Lady Jasmin stays doing shows with The Monster despite their recent difficulties, sits as a permanent judge in Stonewall’s weekly drag competition Polish The Queen, and continues to occasionally produce her own showcases at the WOW Cafe.

177)  Angelica Sundae

Equal parts gothy and goofy, this Brooklyn queen and former House of Umpteen Corpses co-member Mini Horrorwitz make for an unbeatable onstage funny frightfest. Catch them together hosting a Sunday game night at Pizza Party or at various kikis across the borough, and see solo Angelica host bingo at Boobie Trap.

176)  John Marto

A longtime favorite DJ at the Ritz (and other bars like Atlas), this year John along with Marti Gould Cummings were able to bring a new successful monthly back home to Jersey City--Talde’s Fortune Thursday. And for the adventurous, get in the know of his super secret, super sexy dark room affair SCUM that he produces with Steve Senobyte.

175)  Ritzy Bitz

Hilarious in a recent all-drag, all-lip synched tribute to the TV show Scream Queens at Lps, New York’s most gymnastic queen (and the only one allowed to wear sneakers) is mostly a Brunch Bitch these days courtesy of La Pulperia: she hosts at the restaurant’s Midtown East location on Saturdays, and the HK version on Sundays. Oh, and how excited are we to hear Ritzy’s first single drop?

174)  Lucy Balls

The popular TNT queen nearly quit drag in frustration with the P.C. police, but this year rose from the dead to host a fun new monthly at The Rosemont, “It’s My Party” where every month is her birthday.

173)  Peppermint

When RuPaul said in an interview that she likely wouldn’t allow Pep to return to Drag Race for an All-Star season because Boobs--even though Peppermint was the first competing queen to come out as trans during the show--fans across the world went “Um...” But the OG New York entertainer gave us the best “thank u, next” in the history of that show’s legacy, becoming the first trans person to originate a role on Broadway courtesy of the medieval Go-Go’s romp Head Over Heels.

172)  Gilda Wabbit

Whether she was giving us opera in ball gowns or bangee in ripped fishnets, there is no doubt that this fan favorite queen left her mark on the city. Beginning with shows in Astoria sister bars Albatross and Icon and ever-increasing her visibility throughout Manhattan, starring in a subway meme, hosting cabarets, performing in Nightgowns with Sasha Velour... it was all a star-making formula. Since getting hitched and returning to her native Kentucky (and quickly becoming an important queer drag presence there), Gilda’s been back here with such surprising frequency it’s almost like she never left, thankfully.

171)  Zarria Van Wales Powell

Knowing her to be a true professional and likable person, nightlife immediately rallied to her side when Zarria released a Facebook Live video condemning Vodka Soda Bottoms Up owner Richie Friendley for allegedly calling her a racial slur while accusing her of drink theft (a charge she denied). VSBU still hasn’t quite recovered from that bad publicity, but Zarria has gone on to slay guest spots and competitions while landing her first weekly hosting gig at the new Boxers Washington Heights on Saturday nights.

170)  Greg Scarnici

The SNL associate producer has been letting his rainbow flag fly for a few years now--both on screen with some hilarious YouTube videos, and in the DJ booth for parties at the Fire Island Pines and a seasonal monthly tea dance at The Monster. This year, one of his hilarious YouTube creations became a star in her own right... Levonia Jenkins premiered her very own stage show Gender Fluids that opened at the Beechman and spread like herpes to stages across the land.

169)  Antonio Cedeno

This long-time nightlifer and uber-tatted ex-gogo boy promotes / hosts a lot of huge events in the city, and produces his own hit thotfest Male Room at REBAR.

168)  Blvck Laé D

The artist formerly known as Laé D. Boi performs almost entirely in self-penned, live performed rap, and has made a name for themselves hosting two polar opposite events: Reparations, a roving revue celebrating Brooklyn’s diverse POC queens, and The Rosemont’s Annie Mae, a geeky kiki paying homage to anime and related nerdosity. The stylish Blvck has also taken the reins of Macri Park’s monthly benefit show Wallbreaker and a monthly spoopfest there called Ghoul School, while hosting monthly parties at Dromedary Urban Tiki Bar.

167)  Linda Simpson

Thank Goddess Linda liked taking photos during the Manhattan drag boom of the late 80s-early 90s. Today she’s one of the main amateur historians of that scene, and her recent slideshow The Drag Explosion compiled from that collection made for a fun and informative night at WILD Project. And while choosing to distance herself from the fray of bar lip synching and sticking to what she does best--hosting and storytelling at Le Poisson Rouge’s Friday and Saturday bingo nights--she did join her legendary drag sisters on stage for Lady Bunny’s Woodstock reunion.

166)  Octavia Anyae

The longtime hostess of Suite’s Saturday night party and several Jersey gigs had a Moment in 2018. She won the Miss Latinissima crown at Club Mandala, and the first season finale of Polish The Queen at Stonewall. She also got a fun new gig at POSH doing Wednesday night pop-up shows with her drag sister Kristy Blaze, and several other Manhattan gigs followed.

165)  Viva Vidalia

This voluptuous queen’s got it all: she’s funny, she dances up a storm, she’s got mad fashionz and designs for many other queens, and she’s equal parts warm and savage. And it now seems that the world’s is finally figuring this all out. RIght now Viva hosts Friday nights at Rockbar, a new Thotyssey-produced Tuesday night variety show at Bedlam, and a karaoke hosting gig Wednesdays at Boxers HK. She’s also a regular guest for Shuga Cain’s Hardware show, and no doubt more milestones are coming her way in 2019.

164)  Eugene Edo

One of Manhattan’s busiest DJs (he worked 30 straight nights this year!), you can catch Eugene throughout the week at The Ritz, Barrage, Atlas, REBAR, Therapy, and God knows where else!

163)  Sasha Velour

First of all, how burned-in-your-brain-forever was Diego Montoya’s alien stepdown gown she rocked for the Drag Race Season 10 finale? Yeah. The renown queen helped trailblaze the Brooklyn drag-as-art movement before showing the world how far the form can be taken with her Drag Race win, and she returned to NYC for several key performances this year--most notably for installments of her multimedia concert series Nightgowns. And did you see that crazy old-timey video she made at Bizarre Bushwick with Peppermint and her Brooklyn sisters? Yeah!

162)  Jasmine Kennedie

Clearly a rising star of the scene, Mancie Mandell’s drag daughter and FIT’s latest pageant winner is supermodel gorgeous, dance-tastic and already Insta-famous. For now, catch her making all the children live and die on late Wednesday nights at The Ritz with the bitchin’ drag revue TURNt.

161)  Zenobia

One of Brooklyn’s most exciting dance queens has also found recent success with DJing various shows and parties in that borough. By day, Zenobia’s a high profile supporter of Drag Queen Story Hour.

160)  Michael Magnan

The veteran club DJ remains a favorite beatmaster of Ladyfag for parties like her monthly Battle Hymn. Lately he also joins forces with JT Almon as the DJ duo FNV (Fruits-N-Vegetables) for nights at Glendale’s Nowadays, and spins the monthly party Nookie (with its fun B-Movie retro posters) alongside Cameron Cooper.

159) Rise Bar

John Blair, Beto Sutter and Ted Arenas’ thot factory still Brings the Bougie, but also boasts some great DJs, two killer drag shows (Piss Myles & Jasmine Rice for Messy Mondays, Marti Gould Cummings with Brenda Dharling & Bootsie LeFaris on Legend Wednesdays), and a seasonal singing competition that many people love (Rising Star). Also, bae bartenders of course.

158)  Golden Delicious

This tall and cheery queen from the Apple Farm co-hosts a brunch in Astoria’s Fresco’s Cantina with Gloria Swansong on Sundays, and has her own monthly show at The West End. For several months she appeared with friend Tucker Murray as cabaret duo Two Tuckers at The Duplex, and a Golden solo cabaret premieres there in December.

157)  Crimson Kitty

One of the world’s original and best AFAB queens, Crimson taught us that technically anyone could “do” drag, but a true queen puts in the work and the werk. After disbanding her troupe Ladyqueen, Miss Kitty made the world her litterbox with shows all over the country, and fun hometown gigs like the recent “Villains” revue at Stonewall. And on top of all that, she finally received her very first pageant crown: Miss Nerd!

156)  Andora Tetee

A self-taught sorceress of costumes and makeup who can give you the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen, or the dead ringer of your favorite celebrity diva, or a detailed monster from your worst nightmares, Andora’s been something of cherished NYC secret. That is, until she went and became our city’s first ever winner of the national Miss Gay America pageant in 2018. Now we must share her superstardom with the world!

155)  Haus of Sterling

Three fourths (along with DJ P_A_T) of what makes The Rosemont’s “Fake Nudes” a Brooklyn Nightlife Award-winning kiki, Tiffany Jones, Candy and Sookie Sterling are a flashy, flirty threesome that bring some heedless fun to BK nightlife. In late November they began hosting what will likely be the Next Big Blowout, “Studio” at 3 Dollar Bill.

154)  POSH

The bar with an older crowd for happy hour that morphs into a younger dance party with top DJs each night remains a favorite destination for HK locals, who get into the 11pm free food (on some nights) and the hot-as-fuck bar staff (all nights). Wednesdays in 2018 featured a return of drag to the venue, currently featuring pop-up performances by Kristy Blaze and Octavia Onyae.

153)  Annie Manildoo

This campy queen is nearly solely responsible for the current Long Island drag boom, with her careful selection of venues across the counties like Off Key Tikki, The Living Room and One Eye Jacks. Her well-curated show rosters include both budding local talent and borrowed girls from the city. Other busy queens emerging from LI include LaBelle, Ivy Stalls and Syn.

152)  Morgan Royel

The longtime performer originated in the ball scene, and is now a fan favorite among the Lips Restaurant roster of drag queens. She also currently hosts “Do The Right Thing,” a hip hop party at The Ritz originated by her gurl Peppermint.

151)  Shay D'Pines & Angel Elektra  

Really, does any queen have as much infectious fun performing as these two? Keeping drag alive in their hometown of Yonkers with gigs at Guapo and The Alamo, the on-and-offstage pair can be found Acting The Fools in local venues as well: Rockbar, Queen Vic and Brooklyn’s Sycamore Bar this December they also debut as pageant hosts with the premiere Miss Q Train.

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