Play time

Play time

CLUBS

NEO FETISH
Abode opens the door to the emerging under-30s alternative lifestyle community on Friday, April 9 for Neo Fetish, a night of avant-garde fetish in opulent and intimate surrounds. Neo Fetish is an environment where you can socialise, meet lifestyle friends, learn, play, explore and indulge in a safe and private space alongside Abode members and their personally invited guests/friends. Dress unique/fetish. From 10pm.
PEEL PARTY
Each weekend, the Peel proves why it’s one of Melbourne’s most popular gay venues and is still going strong after 21 years: no door charge, a mostly male crowd, a rocking dancefloor pumping current hits and pop classics, a huge outdoor smoking area plus beer on tap. From 9pm till past dawn, Thursday to Saturday nights. info: www.thepeel.com.au
LET’s get PHYSICAL
Get Physical Fridays at the Glasshouse Hotel, with hot DJs Kista (Nurse Betty, Blonde on the Rocks, Girl Bar) and Miss Beats (Lick, Alia) delivering uplifting funky house and electro. Bargain price of $5 on the door for two fantastic DJs. All welcome. info: www.myglasshouse.com.au
up on the roof
Every Sunday, Commercial Rd club the Xchange hosts a Rooftop Beach Party from 5pm, hosted by Barbra Quicksand and the Melbourne Rovers Soccer Club. There are great summer cocktails, cheap beer from 4pm-7pm ($2 pots, $8 jugs), a fundraising sausage sizzle for the Rovers and entertainment from Babs ‘Beachsand’ from 6pm. Free entry.
CLASSIC SATURDAYs
The Greyhound Hotel’s Classic Saturday night is so-named for a reason — it’s a classic, long-running night of drag and dancing, drawing a diverse mix looking for a fun Saturday night on the dancefloor. Doors open 8pm, $12 entry, with three shows at 10.30pm, midnight and 1am. info: www.ghhotel.com.au

PUBS&BARS

STIRFRIED
Join Dee Dee Dazzler every Wednesday night at the Glasshouse Hotel for Stirfried, a celebration of all things gay and Asian. Door entry is $7, with a free raffle ticket on entry for your chance to win some outstanding prizes. Starring Venus Envy, Camira Holden Shireen Sequin and different special guests each week. With music by DJ Tamara Kiti. info: www.myglasshouse.com.au
JELLY WRESTLING
Hosted by Wilma Fingerdoo, Thursday nights at Heaven’s Door on Commercial Rd are all about fun — and jelly. Join Wilma and her guests for a night out you’ll never forget with the jelly wrestling competition. Think you’ve got the goods to roll in goo? Register online for the competition by emailing [email protected] with your name and contact details. info: www.heavensdoor.com.au
KARAOKE KOCKTAILS
Warm up your vocal cords for a night of singing with your host Brecik at Priscilla’s @ 153 on Thursdays. At Karaoke & Kocktails, enjoy $8 cocktails while you sing along to some of the best, worst, and campest songs in the world. The doors open at 9pm, with singing from 10. Music from DJ Shawn King. Join the Priscilla’s Facebook group for more info.
VAUDA-VILE
Taking drag, cabaret and vaudeville in wonderfully vile new directions, drag queens Destiny Forbidden, Dee Dee Dazzler and Venus Enzy present Vauda-vile at the Johnston each Friday. The new weekly night (with different special guests each week) kicks off at 9pm. Free entry, and free champagne 9-10pm. 70 Johnston St, Fitzroy.
GROUSE FUN
Grouse Party’s relocation to the Bendigo Hotel last month was a huge success, and the indie/queer night is back again on April 9. With special guest DJs Always, Lowbrow, DJ Kerrie and Leather Locklear, it’ll be a diverse night of cool sounds. Come down early for free beer/wine on arrival between 9pm-10pm. $10 entry. info: www.myspace.com/grouseparty

BITCH FRIDAYS
Looking for a catch-up and a nice bitch session to end the working week? Head to the Greyhound Hotel for Bitch Fridays with Tabitha Turlington and Pussy Willow (pictured, by Alan Mayberry). The girls entertain the crowd in the front bar from 8pm each week. info: www.ghhotel.com.au

DRAG Bingo
Get your balls rolling with drag bingo at the Greyhound Hotel every Thursday night. Hostesses with the most, Anita Beer and Slash Darling rule over proceedings from 8pm, and there are plenty of chances to win prizes. info: www.ghhotel.com.au

COMMUNITY

PROM QUEEN
Melbourne queer youth social group Minus18 will host a special formal night on April 17 for those 21 years and under. To be held from 5.30pm at the Reach Foundation in Collingwood, the evening includes live entertainment, a sit-down dinner and a chance to meet other young queer people. The event is drug- and alcohol-free and friendly enough for those wanting to arrive solo or as part of a group. info: www.minus18.org.au
DISCUSS LIBERATION
The Freedom Socialist Party is holding a study group in April to discuss the newly published anthology, Smash the Church, Smash the State! The Early Years of Gay Liberation. The work covers the radical social movement of sexual minorities in the ’60s and ’70s. First session, April 13. Contact the Solidarity Salon on 8060 0972.
CHANNEL 31
Community television station Channel 31, which hosts Bent TV, is on a subscriber drive. The station has to raise $350,000 to bridge the financial gap to switch from analog to digital. Channel 31 received a government grant to help ease the burden but still needs assistance. Subscribers will go into the draw to win prizes. For more information or to subscribe online, visit www.c31.org.au
CIRCUS CLASS
Twenty-one years have passed since Circus Oz started teaching circus skills to the public. Circus Oz still run public classes, ensuring anyone from age seven to 107 can learn new skills through circus. Term 2 Public Circus Classes commence April 12 and run to the end of June. Enrolments are now open (but get in quick, the Wednesday beginners trapeze class is already full!) info: www.circusoz.com/classes
YOUTH PARTY
Members of Warrnambool gay-straight alliance youth group YUMCHA will hit the dancefloor on April 10 in a bid to top up its coffers. Dress as your favourite gay icon/dykon at the Regal Cafe, Timor St, Warrnambool, 8pm-late. $15 at the door ($10 concession). Drinks available at the bar, coffee in the chillout zone. Raffles, prizes and icon karaoke included in a night of fun and dancing for this 18+ fundraising event.

GAY GAMES
May 31 is the last day to register as a participant in one of the 35 sports at the Gay Games VIII 2010 in Cologne, Germany. That’s just over two months away, so if you haven’t already signed up, now’s the time to think about competing in the weeklong sporting festival running from July 31 to August 7. Register online at www.games-cologne.com

SAME-SEX SURVEY
Who pushes your buttons? Are you attracted to people of the same sex? Aged between 14 and 21 years and living in Australia? Interested in having a say about issues affecting your life? Visit www.wti3.org.au to take part in the third national Writing Themselves In questionnaire, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Vic Health. It’s completely anonymous and takes about 20 minutes.

JOY APPEAL
It costs JOY 94.9 around $13,000 a week to provide 24-hour queer content, so the Rainbow of JOY campaign has been launched to help raise much-needed funds. A new rainbow sign is to be displayed at the station’s reception. People can donate by buying a pixel of the rainbow, which includes room for a message. One pixel costs $40 and comes in indigo. Seven pixels can be any colour and will set you back $250. info: 1300 569 949.

WRITING COMP
Independent Melbourne publishing house Clouds of Magellan Publishing is offering emerging GLBT writers ther chance to be published. They are looking for a literary novel manuscript by an unpublished writer. Manuscripts must be in the genre of ‘literary fiction’, writers must identify with the GLBT community, and the work must contain some GLBT content. You must submit your manuscript by Monday, May 31. Email submissions to [email protected]. info: www.cloudsofmagellan.net

BOYS

OUTWEST BACK
Reports on the demise of OutWest Men have turned out to be premature — the social group for men in the Western suburbs has a new home. The group now meets on the third Saturday of the month at the Commercial Hotel in Yarraville at around 8.30pm for a night of pub grub, drag shows and fun. The next event is on Saturday, April 17. info: www.hotelcommercial.com.au
MELBOURNE LEATHER
Head to the Laird Hotel on Saturday, April 10 from 10pm for the Melbourne Leather Men’s monthly pub night. Pub nights are an opportunity for leather men, their partners, friends and admirers, to socialise with other men who share a similar interest in leather and the leather lifestyle. Visitors to Melbourne are welcome.
FUNNY BONER
Gasworks Arts Park presents Funny Boner, a comedic exploration of the gay man’s mind, on April 14. Raw Comedy national champion Anthony Menchetti hosts an evening of unpredictable hilarity when Scott Brennan, Toby Sullivan and Adam Richard get to ‘Talking Poofy’ in the Comedy Festival’s queerest night of nights. info: www.gasworks.org.au
HIV AGEING
A new booklet, Ahead of Time: A Practical Guide for Growing Older with HIV, has been released by the National Association of People Living with HIV/ AIDS and the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations to give advice on the complex medical issues older people living with HIV face. Download it from www.afao.org.au
ANZAC TROUGH
Sexy, masculine and just a little bit dirty, Trough Faggot Party returns to Melbourne on Sunday, April 25 for an ANZAC Day special — Trough X. With DJs Ben Drayton, Philvester Mezzatesta and special guests, the event takes over men-only cruise venue Club 80 for a mammoth, day and night event where anything goes. From 4pm-3am. info: www.troughfaggotparty.com

EAGLE LEATHER
Learn safe and effective flogging, spanking and other practices at Eagle Leather’s next discipline workshop on April 7. Call 9417 2100 for more details, or visit www.eagleleather.com.au to check out the store’s entire range of leather, fetish and BDSM products.

BROOKES TRUST
The Brookes Trust is seeking 200 founding supporters. For $59, your support will be permanently recorded on the Brookes Trust website, and you’ll also receive a uniquely numbered embossed leather belt clip. The Founding Supporters program aims to create a travel fund for the reigning Mr Leather Australia and NZ and his 2010 successor. info: www.thebrookestrust.com.au

GIRLS

HEALTH HELP
A new list helping lesbian and bisexual women find lesbian-friendly doctors and medical specialists is operating online. Set up by the Australian Lesbian Medical Association, Doclist was developed to provide a one-stop resource for women to seek out doctors recommended by other lesbian and bisexual women. Check it out — or nominate a doctor yourself — at www.doclist.com.au
SHEBAR GRRRLZ
Shebar’s had a change of location — from the Bendigo Hotel to the Glasshouse — and a change of name, to Shebar Grrrlz. The next event is on April 10, with DJ Trish spinning everything from retro favourites to today’s hits. 9.30pm-late, drinks at pub prices, $10 on the door. www.shebar.org
THE ORGASM
La Petite Mort is a raunchy cabaret romp through sex and sexuality, performed by Isabel Hetaeg, which sets about differentiating between love and sex. Did you know scientific research has associated true love with obsessive compulsive disorder? Or that the vibrator was invented as a medical instrument and preceded the vacuum cleaner as a household appliance by nine years? Find out all that and more at Footscray’s Dog Theatre until April 10. info: www.ladieswholounge.com.au
KING VIC CONTINUES
Head to the Greyhound Hotel from 8pm this Friday for another instalment of King Victoria, with a diverse and ever-changing cast of talented, testosterone-fuelled drag kings. This week, enjoy shows from Bust Herr, Scott Twat and pals, plus music from live five-piece band Neon Ink. info: www.facebook.com/kingvictoria.dragkings
HANNAH GADSBY
Tassie lezzie comedian Hannah Gadsby was one of the breakout stars of last year’s Comedy Festival with her sardonic wit. Her new show, The Cliff Young Shuffle, is a hilarious true story about Hannah attempting to cross the UK on foot while going cold turkey on anti-depressants. It’s on at the Melbourne Town Hall until April 18. info: www.comedyfestival.com.au

STAGE

SEX CHANGES
When The Sex Is Gone is a hilarious portrait of eroticism as told by a broken-hearted hermaphrodite. Charlie Martini and Alastair Estaire, a stripper and a boxer, inhabiting the one body, muse over a life lived in the dark belly of desire. A unique story with original songs, this comic cabaret show is ‘guaranteed to shock and amaze’. It’s playing at the Butterfly Club, Thurs-Sat until April 17. info: www.thebutterflyclub.com
TINA DEL TWIST
The wonderful Tina Del Twist (aka cabaret comedian Wes Snelling) returns to the Comedy Festival this year, supported by guitarist Stephen Weir for a run of shows at the Victoria Hotel on Little Collins St. Catch this vision in crushed velvet as she sings, charms and entertains adoring audiences until April 11. info: Visit www.comedyfestival.com.au
ENTER THE SANDMAN
Blurring the lines of the performer/audience relationship far beyond the expectations of interactive theatre, Roberta Bosetti and Renato Cuocolo are strangers invited into a home, transforming and challenging the spectator’s sense of their everyday space. Their show, The Persistence of Dreams: The Sandman runs until May 7 at the home of each host audience member. To become a part of the experience, visit www.iraatheatre.com.au
HISTORY OF EVIL
You can be a good person, a ‘nice’ person, or have tonnes of sexy bad guy fun with John Robertson and his puppet companions in the world premiere of A Nifty History of Evil, playing at Tony Starr’s Kitten Club until April 18 for the Comedy Festival. Robertson follows up his four-star 2009 Edinburgh Fringe appearance with a new surreal comic romp through history’s icky, shifty and weird bits. info: www.thejohnrobertson.com

SONGS

BK IS COMING
The most prolific hard dance producer of all time, BK (aka Ben Keen) is hitting the Australia in April. BK is known for reinventing the genre of hard house with worldwide dance chart hits like Music Is Moving and Revolution and breathing new life into the style. It’s a long-awaited return and now he’ll be back blowing up the dancefloor with trance, techno and hard house. Catch him at Chasers Nightclub on April 17.
JACKSON JACKSON
During April, Jackson Jackson — aka Harry Angus (The Cat Empire) and Jan Skubiszewski — bring it all back home to Melbourne for a residency at The Evelyn. Showcasing a different guest each week, Jackson Jackson will deliver a series of shows to blow the mind with their musical mayhem. Expect to be surprised. Check them out on April 16 with The Genie, April 23 with Wren and April 30 with The Melodics.
CAT STEVENS
Starring multi-award winning performer Darren Coggan backed by the high-energy live band Fire Cats, Peace Train is a celebration of one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century — Cat Stevens — and traces the path of a man who never stopped wondering about how to make the world a better place. The musical journey comes to the Arts Centre on Friday, April 23. info: www.theartscentre.com.au
ALCHEMY
The fundamentals of electronic dance music will return from dance music past, the essence of dance music at its most perfect and most pure, a night to come together for a gold class event, simply titled Alchemy. The alchemists have been passionately preparing an event that will ignite your senses and unite music purists and electronic devotees. Featuring Derrick May, Groove Assassin and more, Alchemy hits the Prince bandroom on Saturday, April 17. info: www.princebandroom.com.au

ON SCREEN

Bulgari-bejewelled film divas Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida light up the silver screen in a spotlight film program at ACMI to coincide with Bulgari’s exhibition Between History and Eternity: 1884-2009. Timeless Glamour: Bulgari on Film has assembled a program that pays tribute to Bulgari and its association with the glamour of cinema and its on-screen icons. It’s running from April 13-18. info: www.acmi.net.au
DISC ISLAND
Australian journalist and author Chris Masters retains the record of the longest-serving reporter on Four Corners. Between 1983 and 2008 he made over 100 reports for the national broadcaster’s flagship program and along the way, he collected three Walkley Awards and a Logie. So what programs would Chris take to his desert island? Find out when he presents Desert Island Discs at 7pm on Thursday, April 15 at ACMI. info: www.acmi.net.au
TV PREMIERES
Channel Nine is screening a host of big-ticket shows this week, starting with the premiere of the new season of Underbelly: The Golden Mile at 8.30pm on Sunday, April 11. This new series features Sigrid Thornton, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and even a cameo from drag queen Miss Man. Then, on Wednesday, April 14, the return season of Hey, Hey It’s Saturday screens at 7.30pm. Will Daryl and co. live up to the hype?
BENDIGO QUEERS
Rural queer film lovers are getting set for the Bendigo Queer Film Festival from April 9–11. Curated in partnership with the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, the event will include an art exhibition, party night and recovery breakfast, plus great international flicks like Redwoods, Hollywood Je T’aime and And Then Came Lola. Visit www.bendigoqueerfilmfestival.com.au

CHRIS ROCKS
When his daughter poses the question, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?”, black US comedian Chris Rock embarks on a hilarious quest to explore the ways in which having and wanting so-called good hair affects the everyday lives of the African American community and ultimately seeks a way to address the conundrum as a father of two girls. Good Hair plays at ACMI until April 21. info: www.acmi.net.au

TRANS ON SCREEN
Underground transgender filmmaker Kim Miles has launched her new website and three volumes of her unique films which have been described by John Polson in a TropFest documentary as “unwatchable”. They have also been described as unlike anything else in Australian cinema and likened to David Lynch and Fellini. Go to www.kimmilesfilms.com for more information.

SPANISH FILM
Melbourne audiences can feast on a dazzling collection of contemporary and timeless films from Spain and Latin America at La Mirada Film Festival 2010. Australia’s most dynamic niche film festival returns to ACMI from April 1 to 11, presenting a rich and diverse program of features and documentaries. info: www.lamirada.org.au

HIDDEN GEMS
Dedicated to screening rare and significant films from the history of international cinema, the Melbourne Cinematheque presents hidden gems on a regular basis. Until April 7, Cinematheque screens a series of docos and experimental films under the title Figuring Landscapes, all dealing with artists’ representations of the relationship between Australia and the UK. info: www.melbournecinematheque.org

FREE

CHOICE FASHIONS
Bringing together a selection of work from the past 12 years, Together Alone highlights the dynamic practices of eight leading Australian and New Zealand fashion houses — Akira Isogawa, Toni Maticevski, MaterialByProduct, Romance Was Born, Doris de Pont, World, Nom*D and Zambesi. Together Alone is a free exhibition running until April 18 at Ian Potter Gallery. info: www.ngv.vic.gov.au
FREE CIRCUS
Head to the Jam Factory on Friday April 9 or 16 at 6pm and view the hilarious circus techniques that clown-inspired character Leo Cartouche blends with physical theatre as he works his difficult way through hilarious failures and even more glamorous recoveries. You’ll see amazing unicycle tricks, a wild flying broom that’s tamed with two manipulating sticks and spectacular rope-skipping and fire-breathing — all on top of a two-metre high unicycle.
JAPANESE SHOWCASE
From April 8-18, Lonsdale St bar 1000 Pound Bend will host Asahi Silver + Black, a unique combination of art, photography, fashion and design culture. info: www.asahibeer.com.au
ADAM’s artworks
Oscar-winning director and writer Adam Elliot has developed a unique exhibition from the plasticine world of Mary and Max, the chronicle of an unlikely penpal friendship between lonely eight-year-old Mary and Max, who has Asperger’s syndrome. Items on display at ACMI include character models, costumes, sketches, sets, storyboards, props and footage of the animators at work. It’s free and open from 10am-6pm daily until June 6.
HAVE A READ
Fed Square Book Market is Melbourne’s largest weekly book market, held in the Atrium every Saturday. You can browse a range of pre-loved, new and specialised books, and with over 5000 titles on display, you are sure to find something you can’t wait to get home and read. Around 15 stallholders collectively share almost 200 years experience specialising in fields of literature, gardening, history, photography and art.


FUTURE

SHEILA E
Sheila E is one of the world’s most recognisable drummer/percussionists whose own career as a recording artist includes hits like The Glamorous Life and Love Bizarre. Sheila is touring Australia next month alongside keyboard virtuoso Ricky Peterson and The Peterson Brothers. Catch her at the Corner Hotel on May 19. info: www.cornerhotel.com
PAM ANN
The world’s most glamorous air hostess, Pam Ann, will embark on her first Australian tour this August. The glamour girl of the skies recently made the announcement on her Facebook page: “I may be coming downunder for my first Aussie Tour in August….watch this space!” Southern Star will bring you more as information comes to hand. info: www.pamann.com
HAIRSPRAY’S COMING
John Waters’ camp delight Hairspray hits Australia later this year. The musical, based on John Waters’
1988 feelgood flick of the same name, comes to Melbourne’s Princess Theatre in October with stints in other states rumoured to follow. No cast members have been announced as yet, but you can bet Australia’s plus-size drag queens will be fighting it out in the auditions for Edna Turnblad, the part made famous by drag icon Divine.
ABBA WORLD
Fully approved and supported by ABBA, the ABBAWORLD exhibition is infused with state-of-the-art technology. The highly interactive experience takes visitors on a mind-blowing journey through ABBAWORLD’S 25 rooms, bursting with exclusive footage, stage costumes, images and never-before-displayed memorabilia from the personal collections of the world’s most cherished pop icons. Arrival at Federation Square is June 12. info: www.abbaworld.com
GET LISTED
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