Had a blast wandering the night and checking out the Nuit Blanche Parade exhibits and others with my good pal Lizzie Violet. I’ve included some highlights of the evening below.

What turned you on at Nuit Blanche this year?

Cabaret Noir kicked off its residency at its new location The Central with a take-no-prisoner’s line up that shows Lizzie Violet means business. As much as I like The Central, enjoy the great food & service I don’t understand why they insist on playing the house music so loud one has to shout to carry on a conversation – the louder people talked the louder the music became. At least one member of the audience put in ear plugs till the show started.

But that didn’t keep me from enjoying first feature Andrea Thompson who gave us what she called an ‘estrogen set.’ ‘Speaking in tongues of her own making’ she gave a juicy set of uplifting, self-affirming work that used ‘word possibilities that teased our lips like raspberries.’ Clever, funny, deeply emotional. Who hasn’t dealt with ‘guys with ex-girlfriends who still do their laundry.’

Frenchie Fatale, who graced…

It was some big fun, not to mention a great pleasure, as I worked the door at Lizzie Violet’s Cabaret Noir (LVCN) last night, with feature artists Andrea Thompson, Frenchie Fatale and Hugh Wilson. It was LVCN’s first night at its new home at The Central – and the place was packed, with an incredibly engaged audience.

There’s still all kinds of awesome goodness coming up in T.O. this month, my friends. Here is just a small sample of what’s happening on the small stage and indie scene:

David Hustler & the Trustworthy EP release – Wed, Sept 11 @ Horseshoe Tavern @ 8:30 p.m. – $5 cover

Songwriters Circle of Jerks – Thurs, Sept 12 @ 8:30 p.m. @ Free Times Café, featuring Hugh Wilson and Nick Verona from Big Name Actors (among others), Nelson Sobral from Melting Pot and I Hate Todd, and David Hustler of…

Freely offering the audience manual sexual gratification Cathy Petch hosted another wild night at Plasticine Poetry. After a rapid-fire onslaught of open stagers (I got into that initial rush with my shark week piece) we were ready for the first feature.

John Oughton (who recently took a picture of me undressing at Lizzie’s birthday) is a poet I’ve never heard before. He read some great short fiction from his recent chap book. One story was of an artist’s dream in which  ‘lonely she sketches a dog’ which comes to life – she wakes to find a broken pencil on the pillow beside her. His fluid writing takes simple, direct images and skews them ever so slightly: ‘she wanted him, but didn’t want to talk to him’ ‘a friend becomes a lover but not yours.’

He was followed by Lizzie Violet, a poet I have heard many times and…

The August Noir hosted by Lizzie Violet, was her Cabaret’s farewell to Q Space, which is sadly closing at the end of the month. Noir is moving to The Central in September.

After a round of open stagers (including myself), dancer Andraya hit the stage with the first of her three numbers. Her performances were scattered throughout the show. It was refreshing to watch dance that was from the body, dance didn’t feel compelled to tell a story (as seen on So You Think You Can Dance.) Andraya didn’t overwhelm with flashy physical prowess but invited us in with a vocabulary of small shoulder gestures, sharp arm movements and emotional longing. She went from stillness to fluidity with appealing intensity, leaving the stage in a flurry of glitter.

I Feel Free: Belinda Carlisle: one of the pieces Andraya danced to:

Second feature knot rivals brought a handful of deeply emotional…

I love it when an event transports me – to a time & place I’ve never been to like when a guy or gal plucking a guitar takes to the Riverboat 1963; or, as happened this past Sunday night at Lizzie Violet’s open-stage birthday bash at the Central. This time I was whisked into my own east coast past to kitchen parties where guitars and fiddles were mixing and melding – including someone with baby rattle maracas.

The second floor at the Central had a great feeling, even with strangers accidentally wandering in as the fun spilled out into the street. We were treated to great sets by various combinations of the circle of jerks: I Hate Todd, Big Name Actors’ Hugh Wilson,Melting Pot’s Nelson Sobral & non-jerk Natasha Jolly. All kicked off by Cate McKim’s excellent tuxedoed drag king turn.

Todd did a high energy…

A hot sweltering night didn’t keep Noir fans from packing the house. I kept hoping the ice-cream truck would show up during the breaks in the show. There must be an app for that 🙂

First up was Trasharella who give an reading of Philip Cairns’ ‘Why I’m Not A Star’ to be featured at Gay Play Day this fall. An affectionate reflection on Philip’s acting experiences starting with being told, at age 11, he was too effeminate by a casting director, to getting cast as a gay duck in last years Fringe ‘quack quack, darlings.’ Comic, ironic, sometime bitter, biting & always honest he left us wanting more.

Music feature Marcus Walker was up next. Accompanied by Nelson Sobral & a fine sax player (whose name I didn’t get) he did a set of songs whose sensual rhythms rode the pulse of a hot summer night. The soaring sax…

The Damned launched their move to Q Space with another stellar line up – Philip Cairns hosted, his bejeweled emerald outfit brought out the Irish in him for sure. A jam packed open stage ran the gamut of 15-year -olds getting on stage for the first time to tired old bald guys, like myself. It’s good to see so many new, to us, faces on the open stage.

First feature Shawna Dimitry give us a set of emotional and romantic pieces some dealing with mental health – ‘the pills are dissolving, so am I’ ‘handcuffs and stomach pumps aren’t the luxuries we wished for.’ Her powerful, direct images connected with us all. She mixed in some tender love poems – ‘you cracked my fear with a kiss.’ A strong set delivered with a sense of humor and acceptance of the issues many deal with ‘I’m sorry I didn’t live up…