What’s 10 years between queers? Born exactly 10 years apart, Johnny Blazes and Brian King are twin queens of song and glitter that share everything… except most of their cultural references. In the decade between their coming-of-age (or radically different “coming out” stories), social attitudes about gender, sexuality, and identity made some tectonic shifts. Searching for common ground, the pair walk a mile in each other’s Doc Martens, trading the endless corridors of high school hazing for the triumphant cresting of Beacon Hill in the sunshine of a Youth Pride Parade. While one was listening to queercore punk on vinyl in a dorm room, the other was riding the bus alone with Bikini Kill playing on a cassette walkman and avoiding the leers of townies. Do You Queer What I Queer? blurs identities as the pair explores intersections and spaces between their versions of queerdom, interlacing story, song, and video to expose the gaps imposed not only in generation, but by geography, gender, and shoe size.
BRIAN KING is a singer, songwriter, and performance artist acclaimed for his gender-defying voice, which Whoopi Goldberg once said was the last sound she wanted to hear before bed to ensure beautiful dreams. With his original songs, evocative lyrics, and hilariously honest stories, Brian carries audiences through raw meditations on love, sexuality, and identity. His song “Cold Rain” was recorded by New Orleans Soul Queen, Irma Thomas, on her Grammy-nominated CD “Simply Grand,” earning the track high praise in Rolling Stone, USA Today & The Village Voice. Whether solo or with his neo-cabaret band, What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?, Brian has performed to packed venues throughout the US. For more info visit: www.3rianking.com or www.whattimeisitmrfox.com
JOHNNY BLAZES is a performer, educator, and author who is notorious for their exuberant and glittery approach to the stage and classroom. As a vaudevillian, Johnny has toured the US extensively with their solo theater piece, wo(n)man show, as well as presenting lecture/demos and workshops at colleges, universities, community centers, and kink conferences throughout the country. Johnny is a self-described ‘double triple threat’, having been trained classically as a singer, actor, and dancer in an academic setting, and subsequently having developed their voice in the folk arts of drag, burlesque, and circus through immersion in queer nightlife. For more info visit www.johnnyblazes.com.
In partnership with the Afterglow Festival, founded by Quinn Cox and John Cameron Mitchell, this season-long series brings world-class cabaret and solo performance to Cambridge. See more GLOWBERON events here!