Intimi(dating): A Cabaret About Sex and Dating

Posted on by Thor

This post is sponsored by a very delicious mango flavored prosecco consumed on the Green Lawn of Fabulousness that left me floating in a wide zig zag pattern across the lawn not sure if my feet were touching the ground.

Katie Thayer is a powerhouse at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. She has become known as Bikini Katie for her unique advertising campaign where artists can advertise their shows on her bikini clad body with body paint. Placing an ad on her arm is cheaper than an ad on her shapely legs and an artist must pay top dollar to advertise on the the prime real estate of her chest.

Katie now has artists who help her by wearing bikinis to expand the advertising campaign. Katie purchased the award that Bobby Wesley had left unattended last year. He jokingly said he online that he owed Katie, and volunteered to wear a bikini at this year’s Fringe. Bikini Bobby honored that commitment, which I can verify since I saw him briefly at the beer tent. The ads were smeared and running because he had sprinted to a show at the Savoy, working up a sweat. The ads were legible but faint and dripping downward.

Back to Katie’s show Intimi(dating): A Cabaret About Sex and Dating which is at Savoy this year. Waiting in line to get into her venue in the Starlight Room there was a pre-show since we got to watch a male dancer in his thong gyrate on a platform near the bar. He kept nudging the thong down to his pubic arch as if about to reveal the not so hidden package.

Katie’s show was refreshingly honest and candid. I loved that two of Katie’s Bikini models were in the front row of her performance. Fringe is all about artists supporting artists. Katie held nothing back to reveal her sultriest scandals. When the sex was hot she was very honest about why. When she spoke about one relationship, the sex was no longer just about sexual pleasure, they became truly intimate.

Married men hid their secrets. She joked about how all women are master detectives when dealing with men. The trouble with her dating pool was that many of the men were international artists. She had less than stellar experiences dating Canadians.

Between stories Katie would play her ukulele and sing songs that helped musically define the bristling points of each story she related, followed by jokes about how she takes her men like she takes a cup of coffee. For the delicious punch lines you will need to see the show. Each sexual foray would lead to her questioning her choices.  But she lives fiercely and loves with absolute passion and abandon. Any failed relationships don’t knock her down; they make her stronger and more determined moving forward.

Experiencing this cabaret, you will leave feeling uplifted and hopeful that love and passion is always the right choice. As Katie says, “Life is more fun when you kiss and tell.” Hidden gems like this show are what makes Fringe great.

Remaining show times for Intimi(Dating): A Cabaret About Sex and Dating by Bikini Katie Productions, Orlando Florida. The Venue is the Starlight Room at Savoy (1913 North Orange Avenue Orlando Florida). Rating is 18 and up. The show lasts about 60 minutes. Tickets at $15. Be sure to get a Fringe button for entry. Happy Fringe!

Tuesday May 19, 7:00pm

Friday May 22, 8:30pm

Saturday May 23, 12:00pm

Sunday May 24, 7:30pm

Orlando Fringe: Visual Fringe Storytelling

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Bobby Wesley pulled together a storytelling event in the Visual Fringe. The idea is that the storytellers would pick two pieces of art that related to their story and those would be on the easels as they spoke. The event was held in the round planetarium room inside the Shakes.

I arranged to meet Keith Brown in the venue since he purchased a print of one of my sketches. He peaked over my shoulder as I was sketching. Then it turns out he was one of the story presenters. He told a story about one of his greatest tricks as a teen. He desperately wanted to meet a girl and had an otherworldly number of condoms in his pocket.

Bottom line, he was with teens who were someplace they shouldn’t have been and a policeman was there to catch them.

As the policeman was interrogating and lecturing them,  Keith began clandestinely removing fist fulls of condoms from his pocket and dropping them where they could not be seen. When the policeman pulled him aside, Keith offered to show the policeman a trick. Reluctantly the policeman agreed. When the trick was done the policeman said simply, “Pretty cool, you can go.” So Keith’s greatest trick as to use magic to evade the law.

Kaytlin Baily told a horrifying story of her decision to ride a rodeo bull ride right after a breast reduction surgery. I will not go into the gory details, and I already spoke about Megan Phillips incredible story of revelation and healing in a previous article. I loved the incredible diversity of stories from Fringe artists who come from every walk of live.

Orlando Fringe: Grease Too!

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I sat first in line for 1001 Red Flags early in the Fringe. As I waited, Megan Phillips came up and handed out the flyer to her show Grease Too! She then gave an exuberant pitch. She then sand one of the numbers as we waited. As I sketched other shows I was advised to see Grease Too twice by Fringe die hards.

Then I sketched a Visual Fringe Story Telling hour produced by Bobby Wesley of Orlando Story Club. Megan Phillips told a story during that program and it was intimate and visceral. She teared up letting us all know this was the first time she was relating the memories. By the end of her story I was welling up and felt a deep respect for her journey.

Back to Grease Too which was a high energy romp where she related her insights into two of the campiest films ever made. I had seen Grease 1 but never saw Grease Two. After her insanely fun commentary, I feel I have experiences both films from a vibrant new perspective.

Producer Bobby Wesley was seated beside me which put me at ease, because I am often concerned that the glow of my iPad screen might distract any audience around me.  A box of Oreos were being passes around during the show. I had one in line and one during the first act.

Megan had one knee high bobby sock on her left leg. I desperately wanted to paint a white bobby sock on her other leg but that leg was bare. Megan was playing a very young girl at the equivalent of a pajama movie viewing party. A persistent bully at school tried to make her feel small, but her love of these musicals let her spirit soar and she lifted our spirits along with her own.

As she was making her final announcements, the Fringe Festival producer Tempestt Halstead came in and announced that Megan’s show had won the blue venue patrons pick award. The audience went wild and Megan stood and jumped in place with her hands to her face. I feel so lucky to have been sketching as Megan felt the sharpest knives of memories stabbing their way back into her consciousness and then the absolute joy of being recognized for her joyous talents. Life is bursting at the seams as I quietly sit and sketch. As an artist my hear swelled.

Grease Too! has one more show tonight.

Sunday May 26, 12:20pm

The show is in the Blue Venue and rated 13 and up. It has a run time of 60 minutes and tickets are $15. There will also be another show scheduled since she won patron’s pick. Trust me you will have a blast and discover a new summer love.

Story Club: What a Mess

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Orlando Story Club is a live storytelling competition which takes place at The Abbey in downtown Orlando. Anyone can enter by putting their name in the story hat, where 10 names are randomly selected to compete. Each storyteller is given five minutes to impress the audience and the top three tellers take home prizes.
All proceeds benefit local charities. It’s a night of laughter, fun, and
connection!

Judges are randomly selected from the audience and special story prizes
are awarded at the end of the evening. Other audience participation
opportunities abound.

I enjoy sketching knowing I will have only five minutes to catch one of the competitors. Despite that challenge I enjoy pushing the sketch to a finish as best as possible. These are everyday stories from peoples lives and you never know how strange, surreal or common a story might be. Most tug at my heart strings since we all are making it through this game of life together, despite the challenges and setbacks.

At specific events around town, Danielle Ziss and Bobby Wesley set up a story wall. Event attendees fill out note cards with “one-liners” – short
stories that fit with the story themes. One-liners can be as short as a
word or as long as the note card allows. It is a fun way for audiences
to participate in Orlando Story Club, even if they haven’t attended a
show!

One-liners are a huge part of Orlando Story Club live
shows. Between each randomly selected storyteller, our hosts read the
one-liners to the audience. They are completely anonymous and fit with
the selected theme of the evening, allowing all storytellers and story
listeners a chance to participate.

Example one-liner:

Theme: What a Mess!

I woke up to find my toddler holding a pair of scissors and a handful of hair. It was my hair. Who knew I could pull off bangs?

The next Orlando Story Club: Best of 2019, Homecoming, will be on Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at 7 PM – 9:30 PM
at The Abbey
(100 S Eola Drive, Suite 100, Orlando, Florida 32801). Tickets are $5.