A beast with two backs: HUMP! screenings underway in Seattle and Portland.
A still from last year's HUMP! Best In Show winner "Hi I'm Pon" used with kind permission of the filmmaker.
Seattle and our sister city of Portland share many commonalities and collective interests- not the least of which is a fierce love for homegrown sexy performers and their many, many talents.
HUMP! 2011, the self-proclaimed “biggest, best, and most beloved amateur-and-locally-produced porn festival of the Pacific Northwest”, is under way now- having just completed the first of two weekend screenings in Seattle at On the Boards, and continuing November 11th and 12th at Uptown Cinema (Seattle), and November 17th, 18th and 19th at Cinema 21 (Portland). After the screenings wrap up, prizes for Best Humor, Best Kink, Best Sex, and Best In Show are awarded by audience ballot. This year’s HUMP! jury selected 23 short films for the screenings, each clocking in at no more than five minutes in length.
Since HUMP! is still in process, I won’t give away too many details of my favorites (centaurs? music videos involving too many tantalizing bathhouse choices?)… but I will confess that I was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of many familiar faces and other parts belonging to quite a few brave men and women from Seattle’s burlesque and sex-positive arts community. Not all the films show actual sex, but they’re all racy, creative, and above all else, FUN. If you can still score tickets to any of the remaining screenings, by all means go. HUMP! rescues adult entertainment from the world of fakery and shame and puts it on stage where humor, love, acceptance, and creativity are the name of the game. And hotness. Let’s not forget the hotness.
Congrats to all the brave directors, creators, and stars of this year’s HUMP!
Check Burlesque Seattle Press after the festival for some juicy still photos and thoughts from one of this year’s directors on his first foray into making porn.
Seattle tix, subject to availability, can be found HERE; Portland tix over HERE.
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HUMPing isn’t all that’s going down in Portland- I’ve recently discovered two fascinating events worth checking out if you happen to be heading to PDX:
I want my garmonbozia.
****Black Lodge Burlesque, billed as “A Night of Cabaret Inspired by David Lynch” will be at the Star Theatre Friday, November 11. The cast features three of my favorite Portland ladies: the beautiful Hai Fleisch, Baby Le Strange, and Meghan Mayhem, among others. Here’s the show’s description, created by Sign of the Beast Burlesque:
Black Lodge Burlesque, at the historic Star Theater in downtown Portland, will be a dark, sumptuous evening of burlesque beauties and cabaret style performances centering around the works of legendary director David Lynch!
Raffles! Lynch shorts! And lots of gals taking off their clothes!
Featuring the talents of:
Baby Le Strange
Meghan Mayhem
Hai Fleisch
Vera Mysteria
Miss Alex Kennedy
Rocket
Lady Stockholm
Miss SteakRecreating infamous Lynch scenes for your visual pleasure will be:
Rikki Barney
John Renner
Noelle EatonHosted By Dylan Hillerman as the man himself, David Lynch, and Vera Mysteria as The Log Lady.
Tickets will be available at the door $10. Doors open at 8:30pm and the show commences at 9pm.
**** Rocket, one the performers in the cast of Black Lodge Burlesque, happens to be one of the two-woman production team that created my second upcoming “things to do in Portland” event, the strip club industry awards show called The Strippies. The Second Annual PDX Strippies Awards Show takes place Monday, December 5 at the Bossanova Ballroom, honoring the best dancers and staff from the Rose City’s formidable adult entertainment industry. Voting is taking place online now, with winners announced on stage. Everyone knows that Portland’s dancers put on a show- now is your chance to see what they’re famous for. Visit the site HERE to learn more and cast your vote.
Visit http://www.pdxstrippies.com for more information.
Burlesque Seattle Press 