wow! i can't remember the last time i did two open mic readings in the span of a week! sunday was excellent ... Lynda Barry opened for me (well, truth be told, her event ended right before i was the first person to read at the next event ... the release of the 70th issue of Punk Planet) and then last night on Wednesday I read at "Smack Dab" which is hosted by Larry-bob and Kirk at Magnet in the heart/bowels of the Castro. I'd tried to read there one other time I'd visited, but got there too late to sign up.

This time, I did manage to get my ass signed up. Brought along some friends, who then invited other friends (who weren't into the event, and since i was about third from last they didn't have the patience to stay). The readings were pretty uneven. There seemed at first to a "good - bad - good" pattern going on, with eventually a "good - bad - bad - good" pattern. The "bads" were mainly readers who either had little to no stage presence, or who mumbled their way through their pieces. Kirk used a bright pink feather boa to signal those who went over the five minute "in the interest of the community" limit ... but most of the people who went over five minutes were barely making eye contact with the audience, so it wasn't terribly effective.

The highlights included Ernesto Salazar (sp?) who was in town from London, and is a friend of my dear, sweet adorable friend Sina. He's a true professional, has his work memorized, and was a featured performer, meaning he was able to present four short pieces. For one of them, he began to take his clothes off ... hotttt!! It was hilarious to watch passers-by doing double-takes through the front windows looking into this space which is always pretty brightly lit with one sheet-metal covered wall with magnetized letters attached to it.

Other highlights included a guy named Danny (I think...) who channelled "DJ Berkeley," an incarnation cobbled together from the character DJ on some '90s TV show (Full House?) and the surname of the actress who played her. He posted this hilarious Craigslist personal about being some hippy vegan guy with blond dreads who would only rim pure vegetarians and vegans "because I can tell when anyone passes filet mignon!" among other snarky comments. The replies were ... astounding! And each reply left themselves wide-open (heh heh) for a supersarcastic reply from the divine DJ Berkeley.

There were other greats, too, but I can't remember them at the moment.

During the break, a little surprise birthday cake treat from Tommy (his bf) for Larry-bob's upcoming birthday!

Afterward, got to hang out with Eric, the friend I'm staying with while I'm here, and his totally hottie artist friend Jayson, who creates amazing layered paintings with found objects like sugar packets and bus transfers, and uses Lego? pieces to paint texture. pixelstud.com/ - check it out!!!