QUEER NOT COOL Explores Gay Authors, Featuring Christopher Bram Tonight

This month, QUEER NOT COOL explores gay authors and gay authors that inspired them.

QUEER NOT COOL is hosted by Rob Ribar and this month will feature CHRISTOPHER BRAM, author of "Father of Frankenstein" which was adapted into the Oscar winning film "Gods and Monsters" starring Ian McKellen, reading from his new book "Emminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers That Changed America", comic, writer and ex-nun KELLI DUNHAM ("Why is the Fat One Always Angry"), poet JASON SCHNEIDERMAN ("Sublimation Point" and 2009 Richard Snyder Prize winner "Striking Surface"), music by singer-songwriter and piano pounder JANA FISHER and a performance by THEATER IN ASYLUM of their upcoming play "OLE!" exploring the possible love affair between Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia Lorca culled from the writing of Dali and Lorca. Plus trivia, give aways and more!

Queer nerds and their fanboys and girls unite in this monthly late night series as comedians, musicians, dancers, and performance artists share their geeky obsessions, ranging from sci-fi to Sondheim. Forget the closet, get out of your mother's basement! Past performer credits include "The Tonight Show", "Today", "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon", "NBC Nightly News with BrIan Williams", "Comedy Central Presents", Logo's "The Click List" and the critically acclaimed web shows "The Outs" and "It Gets Betterish" and two members of this years Out 100 list. Recently, QUEER NOT COOL was a #1 Critics Pick in "Time Out New York" and was featured this October at New York Comic Con 2012.

QUEER NOT COOL will take place TONIGHT, JANUARY 12th at 10:30pm at THE SECRET THEATRE (44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City, Queens). For transportation, take the G, 7, E, or M trains to Court Square or the NR trains to Queensboro Plaza. Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door. Cheap drinks and snacks will also be available for purchase.

QUEER NOT COOL is produced by STEPHEN GRIBBIN and ROBERT RIBAR for FEMME FATALE THEATER.

Questions? Contact Robert Ribar at femmefataletheater@gmail.com or for more information, visit http://secrettheatre.com/LateNight.html.

CHRISTOPHER BRAM: Bram grew up in Kempsville, Virginia (outside Norfolk), where he was a paperboy and an Eagle Scout. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1974 (B.A. in English). He moved to New York City in 1978.

His nine novels range in subject matter from gay life in the 1970s to the career of a Victorian musicAl Clairvoyant to the frantic world of theater people in contemporary New York. Fellow novelist Philip Gambone wrote of his work, "What is most impressive in Bram's fiction is the psychological and emotional accuracy with which he portrays his characters. . . His novels are about ordinary gay people trying to be decent and good in a morally compromised world. He focuses on the often conflicting claims of friendship, family, love and desire; the ways good intentions can become confused and thwarted; and the ways we learn to be vulnerable and human." Bram has written numerous articles and essays (a selection is included in Mapping the Territory). He has also written or co-written several screenplays, including two shorts directed by his partner, Draper Shreeve.

His novel Father of Frankenstein, about film director James Whale, was made into the movie Gods and Monsters starring Ian McKellen, Lynn Redgrave, and Brendan Fraser. Bill Condon adapted the screenplay and directed. (Condon won an Academy Award for his adaptation.) Bram was a Guggenheim Fellow in 2001. In May 2003, he received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement. He lives in Greenwich Village and teaches at New York University. http://www.christopherbram.com/

KELLI DUNHAM: Everyone's favorite ex-nun genderqueer nerd comic. Kelli was one of Velvet Park Magazine's 25 Significant Queer Women of 2011 and was named to the 2012 Campus Pride Hotlist. Kelli was also given the The Fresh Fruit Festival Award for Distinction in stand-up comedy, although Kelli has never before or since been called distinguished. Kelli is a registered nurse and the author of four books of humorous non-fiction, including two children's books being used by Sonlight conservative home schooling association in their science curriculum. Her fifth book, Freak of Nurture, a collection is humorous essays is being released by Topside Press in Spring 2013. http://www.kellidunham.com/

Kelli has three comedy CDs to her credit "I am NOT a 12 Year Old Boy" "Almost Pretty" and "Why Is the Fat One Always Angry" all which are on regular rotation on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's Rawdog Comedy Station and Pandora's Margaret Cho Comedy Station. For a limited time, you can download "Why Is the Fat One Always Angry" for pay whatever you want (even nothing) on Kelli's website.

Kelli was recently the expert on "What Is Normal" in Twist Magazine (known as Tiger Beat's little sister magazine), on a page facing a full color poster of Justin Beiber. There isn't even a ironic statement to match that, it's just strangely true.

JANA FISHER: The children of ministers are known be angels or troublemakers. Jana Fisher is a good girl everywhere but the piano where she says, "Music is my rebellion." Jana began performing as a child in church in rural Ohio. When the family business uprooted her Florida, she confessed her anguish to the piano, eventually writing, producing, recording, and self-releasing her first album, A History of Sleepwalking. Ideals & Deals is her first EP since relocating to New York City, an intimate yet lively release constructed around piano, guitar, and light percussion. From obsessing over the "30k" that makes or breaks a big city transplant, to purposely undermining a relationship in "You Deserve Better," to recording new love for a woman in "If I Ever Break Your Heart"- all three songs confess what we'll do for our ideals, the shocking compromises of survival, and the rewards reaped from a life richly lived.

JASON SCHNEIDERMAN: Jason Schneiderman is the author of Sublimation Point, a Stahlecker Selection from Four Way Books, and Striking Surface, winner of the 2009 Richard Snyder Prize from Ashland Poetry Press. His poetry and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including American Poetry Review, The Best American Poetry, Poetry London, The Penguin Book of the Sonnet, and Tin House. He has received fellowships from Yaddo, The Fine Arts Work Center, and The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. He holds an MFA from NYU and a PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He directs the Writing Center at Borough of Manhattan Community College. http://Jasonschneiderman.net/

THEATER IN ASYLUM: A New York-based dance-theater company founded in 2010 to provide asylum to highly-charged subjects and characters. With thrilling performance, we suspend preconceptions, analyze a subject's origins and leave audiences with newfound understanding and empathy. http://www.theaterinasylum.com/

Their piece OLE! explores heir tumultuous love affair between FREDRICO GARCIA LORCA and SALVADOR DALI which began in college and ended with Dalí's flight to Paris as Spain descended into civil war. ¡Olé! takes you into the bullring as these two matadors pit magic against science through paint, poetry, and flamenco dance.

To post a comment, you must register and login.