Wickedly Funny Westenhoefer
Legendary comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer made a rare appearance in Orlando on Thursday, Aug. 16. The concert, presented by Phish Phest as a fundraiser for the Human Rights Campaign, was held at The Abbey in downtown Orlando. Westenhoefer was the first openly gay comedian to appear on television, including gigs on Letterman, HBO, Bravo and Logo. Local favorite Jeff Jones introduced her as “the reason I’m an out gay comedian.” And the 200-or-so in attendance roared at hilarious stories about a recent break-up, menopause, her cats and her love of gay male porn. “Lesbian porn is two women walking on the beach in matching blazers,” Westenhoefer lamented. Organizer Sue-Bee Laginess said Westenhoefer was a stitch from the moment she arrived in town. “Everything she said was hilarious,” Laginess said. “I’m so proud that Phish Phest can put her on our resume of events.” Westenhoefer returns to Florida on Sept. 8 when she performs at St. Petersburg’s Palladium Theater.
OUT of This World
A straight boy falls into an all-gay universe and discovers he's their Messiah. Nopeâ┚¬â€Âit's not a Syfy movie of the week but the debut novel from local playwright, Apollo, who also authors After Dark, a Sims-like video series on his website TheVirginsGuideToAQueerProphecy.com. Pure science-fiction fantasy, the plot is based on his series; a virgin male crosses over to a parallel universe that is exclusively gay, his heterosexual life is never the same. The naive accountant quickly learns he is an integral part of a 10,000-year-old prophecy. Armed only with his messenger bag filled with emergency items, the virgin experiences a hilarious series of madcap adventures. Apollo announced on his website that the book will be available on Amazon beginning next week. â┚¬Å”Currently I am just finishing up with the editor and am in talks with the cover artist,â┚¬Â he posted. â┚¬Å”I met with the model who will be featured on the cover.â┚¬Â A teaser video of the novel is available on his site along with a few promotional pieces.
Honey Badger 2012
Randall, the part-bitchy, part-disgusted and all-fabulous host of a series of narrated wildlife and pop culture videos, more notably about a certain honey badger who doesn’t give a you-know-what was in town. Not for the RNC but to announce and promote the Honey Badger party’s official entry into the 2012 presidential campaign. (See HoneyBadger2012.com.) While not many media outlets were in attendance for his Aug. 27 press conference at the Roosevelt 2.0, the “media” that was there included The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Randall, said his message about preserving the environment is no joke. Randall told the Tampa Bay Times that he’s finding a receptive audience among the conservatives he has met here for this week’s Republican National Convention.”The more we keep destroying this planet, we’re destroying ourselves,” he said. “I take it very seriously but I’m going to do it with humor because people will laugh and then they’ll realize, â┚¬ËœHe’s making sense! We have to do better for this world.'”
