Jewels and Gold and Butts (Ep. 8: Pink Narcissus)

Photo: Evans Vestal Ward 

When my guest Ian was growing up in the midwest, he couldn't even picture what life as a gay man even looked like. And he certainly couldn't have pictured what his life would become: parading up on stages as a performance artist, covered in brightly-colored phallic objects, to shout triumphantly in one-man shows about the pride he takes in being a sexual gay being.

When he came out of the closet in college, Ian felt like he'd just been dropped off alone at a gay bar, left to find his own way all by himself. Coming out was just the first step to becoming whatever a gay man is. His next step: exploring homosexuality in full view of the public, on stage.

We talked a lot about Pink Narcissus in this episode, and it's hard to find clips of it online. Here's a little bit: 

A reflection on the work of Peter Berlin:

The mortifying Doing Time on Maple Drive:

There's a brief clip of "Make it Gay" in this week's show:

And here's my recommendation: In Their Room.

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/