Star Observer’s top comedy & community forum picks for Mardi Gras this weekend
SYDNEY loves beating Melbourne at anything and at this year’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival people can catch the debut of ventriloquist-turned-comedian BenT’s latest show Looking 4 Dick.
“Well the show’s called looking for dick, what do you think it’s about? It’s about me looking for dick,” BenT told Star Observer.
BenT described how comedians are constantly scribbling down funny ideas and notes for their shows on bits of papers or on their smart phones, but that’s not so easy to do when you’re in the middle of hooking up with a guy.
“You’re in a sauna you don’t have pen and paper on you, your phone’s probably in the locker, you’re in a pickup situation,” he said.
“There was one time I was having a conversation with a guy in a bar, he said something that was just so funny. I said to him: ‘Look I’m interested, but what you said was just so funny so I have to write it down’, so I did.”
The trans comedian describes himself as “phallically challenged” but BenT said his show is about the perils of the dating world are very relatable.
“Is my body different to a lot of the guys I’m hanging out with? Yes. But are my experiences picking up different? Not really,” he said.
BenT also promises he doesn’t pick on audience members, so make sure to sit right up the front when you go to the show.
Looking 4 Dick, February 26 and March 3&4, 8pm, El Rocco, 154 Brougham Lane, Potts Point 2011
Show your Looking 4 Dick ticket at Signal Men’s Cruise Club for free multiple entries from Feb 24 to Mar 6 (men only).
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TV host, writer and comedienne Gretel Killeen will make her first appearance at this year’s Mardi Gras festival moderating an important Queer Thinking panel on intersex and trans people.
Hosted by the Inner City Legal Centre, in conjunction with the Gender Centre, Slipping Through the Cracks will discuss the invisibility of trans, non-binary and intersex people in the Australian Census.
The panel speakers include Gender Centre Board Secretary Eloise Brook, ICLC Board Director Patrick Cort, sociologist and author Raewyn Connell, National LGBTI Health Alliance Manager of Research and Policy Gávi Ansara and intersex consultant Gina Wilson, and will draw attention to potential pitfalls of the upcoming 2016 Census.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has recently announced that census participants will have an option other than “male” or “female” to represent diverse gender identity, but still falls short of recognising trans children and other non-binary genders.
“I’m really happy to be invited to chair such a progressive discussion in the pursuit of the vital values of human rights, the power of voice and the importance of identity,” Killeen said.
“It’s conversations like the one we’ll be sharing that change lives and societies for the better. I’m very proud to be involved.”
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DOMESTIC violence is a harsh reality in the LGBTI community and ACON has teamed up with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Griffin theatre to have the critical talk on the impact of domestic and family violence on LGBTIQ people and communities.
One in three LGBTI people have experienced intimate partner violence and Queer Thinking: Out Loud About Domestic and Family Violence in LGBTIQ Communities will examine if violence in an epidemic, how it affects our community, what specific needs LGBTI people have and the barriers to getting help.
Moderated by Kai Noonan (Coordinator, Domestic and Family Violence, ACON) the panel includes Sergeant Kate Baker (LGBTIQ Liaison Officer, NSW Police), Moo Baulch (CEO, Domestic Violence NSW), Cedric Hassing (Solicitor, Safe Relationships Project, ICLC), Alana Valentine (Playwright, Ladies Day) and an ambassador who is speaking from personal experience.
Queer Thinking: Out Loud About Domestic and Family Violence in LGBTIQ Communities, Saturday February 27, 4.30pm–5.30pm, SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St Darlinghurst NSW TICKETS: $10 (All proceeds to ACON’s domestic and family violence prevention work)
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BALINESE artist Ash has paid tribute to some of history’s most infamous gay icons in their exhibition called Dead Queens which opens this weekend.
Dead Queens is a collection of abstract paintings and these clever puzzle paintings will open your mind and perhaps send you cross eyed.
Dead Queens, Saturday February 27 – March 5, Lootspace Gallery, 18 Little Oxford St, Darlinghurst.
The Star Observer is a proud media partner of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
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