Oh Boi, Oh Boi... BoiBox turns 1 at SHE

Boi oh Boi was that a night!

Venue: SHE Soho

Date: 3 September 2014
Entry: £2 on the door

Name one other place where you will find birthday cake, spin the bottle, strip poker, 7 minutes of heaven, a constant stream of live acts, and innuendo... no, well thankfully Boi Box had just that.

Starting a year ago at the now historical Candy Bar (gasp, yes I said it out loud), and then graduating to middle school at SHE Soho, Boi Box is definitely excelling in all classes and is heading for Head Boi of Senior School with honours.

What I loved was that they still have their acts that have been with them since the beginning. |Juan Kerr is literally the drag love child of Apple and Adam, but is a child no more, having refined their act into something unique.

Stunning Wheat Free cake from MICA

The same was for Sam Dee and Alice who are also a reincarnation from a former 'turn up and have a go' drag duo who returned as a very credible, unique and mesmerising duo complete with harmonica.

Add to that dancing from a well rehearsed Romeo de la Cruz and what more could a girl want? The night didn't stop until the bar closed; showing that although only 1 year old, this night has grown into something quite spectacular.

At only £2 entry, this night is a total bargain, and well worth the night out. I recommend arriving early to get a good seat and starting your night of with a £19.50 bottle of prosecco after a fabulous dinner with friends at Labels.

By Naomi

Are you a bit like Maxine?

Who is Maxine you ask? Well it doesn't actually matter who she is, it is more what she represents!

Dyke March London is proud to be part of an ever-growing movement of dyke marches around the world.

Dyke March London aims to raise dyke visibility and celebrate dyke identity. We are part of the international dyke march movement which includes events across the United States, Canada, Mexico and Germany.

In order to meet the high costs of the public liability insurance required to hold the march, Dyke March London volunteer Charlotte Coates hosted a comedy fundraiser held at Bar Titania on Wednesday 28 May.

It was one hell of a line up with Rosie Wilby, Madge Hooks, Daryl Perry (the token straight man), Aletia Upstairs, Sarah Campbell, Amelia Stubberfield and Lara A King.

Tickets were just £7, and given the number of acts performing, this was excellent value for money. As always Bar Titania had its amazing Happy Hour with 2-4-1 cocktails, and outside of that time you can use the My Pocket Planet app to earn stamps towards a free drink!

A really strong crowd turned up for the event, and the drinks were flowing.

It was a refreshing experience to be in a room of women who were comedy virgins, especially during Lara A King's performance of L-E-S-B-I-A-N, and as I watched the audience listen to the Lez words being spelt out in song, then the penny dropping, I got to appreciate the jokes all over again.

So I guess you want to know who Maxine is, and why this article is named after her? Well Maxine is a great little story told by Lara A King. She used Maxine to help her to come out. Being unable to find the courage to say 'the L word' she simply said that she was a bit like Maxine, her lesbian cousin (although you should be careful as Maxine was also addicted to drugs - so it could be a whole other discussion entirely!!). The idea is to have a word we all understand but that isn't obvious, and I quite like it, so take it, use it and spread the word if you are a little bit like Maxine!

By Naomi

LFestive - a Christmas Treat

Workshops with Kiki and lunch with the solos, songs from the singers like Promise, Eek and Beth, Spinning Planets, speed dating, comedy and Awards, these are a few of my favourite things!

Venue: Nightingales Birmingham
Tickets: £20

Event: Boi Box @ Candy Bar - the Launch

Boxing Clever

Venue: Candy Bar
Day: 2nd Wednesday of the month
Tickets: Free entry

Oh Boi, what a good time we had at the launch of Adam All's BoiBox a new monthly event at the Candy Bar.

With Adam and guest host Lara A (drag)King at the helm of the evening we were treated to a mix of experienced, up and coming, and open mic performances.

Adam started the ball rolling with his unique, dry witted opening number. In between acts, floor-filling 80s beats provide the comfortable interlude, along with the opportunity to purchase a 'tash and tie' for £1.

Kicking off the performances were Tyler and Jack, a very urban pair of Kings indeed, packed full of cheek and lust for the ladies.

Next up was Rogue, the International Drag King Debonair from Spain who brought a continental, intense experience and three different guises for three songs, from Matador to 80s rock legend. The 80s rock legend in particular provided the kind of gender bending realism to the act of Dragging. 

Also performing were Lara A King, Louis Cyfer (winner of the last open mic session from Boi Box's previous incarnation) and the open micers for those brave enough to take to the stage.

Open mic performances are very much encouraged, but they must be in drag. No worries if you didn't come prepared, as well as being able to purchase a tash and tie, there is a handy dressing up box available for all to use to create the perfect drag king persona. And there's a whole karaoke book of tracks to choose from, too. For those who can't sing you can mime to a backing track and perform instead - this night truly does offer something for everyone.
  It was the most mixed crowd I have ever seen at Candy Bar, and a balanced mix of bois, Kings and boi lovers. It's a very welcoming, comfortable atmosphere with Adam and his girlfriend Apple mingling to make sure everyone is having a good time. Added to a great mix of acts, it honestly felt like no other event currently taking place - raw and live and just good fun with no airs of pretension.

And as an example of how Boi Box encourages new talent, Tyler and Jack who performed first, are a new duo who got together after having a go at performing at Boi's Night Out - Boi Box could breed a whole new generation of Drag Kings, offering a stage and a fun atmosphere to allow anyone to try their hand at performing, singing, dancing or just thrusting your box at the crowd! 

For more info and upcoming events, visit https://www.facebook.com/boibox 
Adam All: www.adamall.co.uk

Brighton Pride - "Thunderbolts and Lightning, very very frightening!"

Date: Saturday 3 August
Venue: Brighton, Beach, Preston Park

"Main events & Alternative Pride"

Lightning storms, long queues, sunshine, drinking, lesbians, the beach, camping, campfires, street parties, pimms, women's performance tent... hear all about Brighton Pride Planet London style in our new high tech-multimedia-vlog-type-thing

More photos:

• Women's stage
• Parade
• Lucy Spraggan

By Katie
 

Doing it Proud for Love & Marriage - London Pride 2013

We've tried to focus this year on what Pride events offer women as traditionally lesbians and bi women have been invisible amongst the masses of events laid on or aimed at men.

With new organisers and a completely different approach to Pride, the March and the events put on for the community, there was a real opportunity to break away from Pride only being meaningful for a small section of the LGBT community.


This year, for the first time we had a Women's Stage (hosted by Candy Bar and supported by FindHrr with free entry).

This was a wonderful event and a great way to spend the day and be part of Pride, even if you don't enjoy marching.

We were treated to an extremely talented set of musicians, from rock to pop to folk. Highlights included:



Rita Payne, a duo who got us off to a fantastic buzzing start that took us into fast beated guitar, mellow harmonies and ending us on a smooth version of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean.

Woman_E brought bubbly Gaga-esque pop-tainment to the stage, getting everyone up and dancing and setting the tone for the remainder of the day.

Pyscho Delia retro-fied us to 80s poptasm with a day-glo performance of electric guitar and drums - and they certainly fired up the "man in the green t-shirt" who was clearly enjoying himself A LOT. Lara King did an amazing job of managing the hecklers and keeping the every growing crowd roaring for all the amazing acts.

N'Chyx

Lyrically Challenged perfection

The urban love was brought to us by Wolverhampton's cheeky N'Chyx who seduced the audience in style, and followed by the performance of the day from Lyrically Challenged Collective who's perfected performance left us with that "one love" that Pride is all about - on message and on point.

Comedy stylings and grace from host Lara King and a set from lesbian favourite Rosie Wilby ensured we chortled in between the music

Hosting the evening section of the stage, Adam All brought variety up a notice (see the photo for the full picture...) with a couple of numbers and introducing the last rocking act before DJ sets took over, The Cut Outs - 2 women, electric guitars - what more could a girl want?

Women were very well catered for in the official post March evening events taking place as well. Perhaps a little too well, as a range of 5-6 events meant some might have been stretched a bit too thin. 

Find all the photos here!

We attended Code at Green Carnation between 9pm - 1am and the Big Gay Bash after that. Both not as full as they could be, but still good to have a choice of events for both women only and mixed that encourage the Pride Party to continue to the wee hours. 

By Katie

Comedy: Comedy & Cupcakes at Karamel

...And a Cherry on Top

Venue: Karamel club, Wood Green
Tickets: Free (voluntary contributions)

We were treated to the perfect Friday night, a great kick off to the new month. 

Lara King, with a cheeky wit and a wink, hosts this friendly, funny, foody evening on the first Friday of the month. Six comedians and an open mic slot pave the way to a delightful mix of comedy and banter, on a journey from the traditional, to character based, to sketches and overall a night filled with laughter.

February's line up was Caroline (Galloping good fun), Jack De’Ath (token male, love of graphs), Lucy Frederick(coooool), Madge Hooks (self confessed Take That and yogi tea fan), The Silky Pair (fancies me), and Rosie Wilby ("a cutlass and a dildo on Hampstead Heath") - all class acts, making the most of the intimate venue in Wood Green's cultural (you say "quarter" I say "tiny oasis") played the crowd - mixed gay and straight - a right treat.

A big whoop in particular to our friends Madge Hooks and Rosie Wilby who were in fine form, and brought quality lesbian humour to the stage.

The extra bonus with the Karamel is the restaurant right there in the studio. An excellent choice at affordable prices - we recommend the fish & chips and bread & butter pudding. As well as a bar serving for the duration. What more could you want?

Look out for next month:
Carmen Jean Ali, Elizabeth Hotson as Julie Jones, Mike Cox, (token bloke) Suzy Bennett and the fabulous all female improv troupe The Short and Girlie Show....always open mic slots and possible surprise celebrity guests....



By Katie
 

Glitter ball (incorporating L-Talent Final)

Date:               Saturday 10 September
Location:         HMS President

Taking place in the glamorous and glittery ballroom of the HMS president (which wasn’t too rough a non-journey for this sea sick reviewer).

We were excited - really keen to see what talents the eight finalists (2 from each of the regional heats: Brighton, London, Birmingham, Manchester) would have to offer, and we were not disappointed.

All the finalists were of a high standard, and it was fantastic to see a broad variety of acts  - singers, musicians, a sign singer, beat boxing and a fantastic comedy-musical act.

The L Talent final took up a large proportion of the evening, running over time as these things always do. We were treated to two performances of each of the acts, who performed valiantly through sound technical difficulties.

Voting for the winners was by audience text vote. Many of the acts had brought a large supporter group with them. 

Runner-up was beat boxer extraordinaire, Grace Savage (the London heat winner), who silenced the audience with amazing skill and sounds and stunning vocal work.

The winner, who received a £1,000 cheque (she promised this would be used to buy recording equipment) and all the glory was London based singer with a Geordie sense of humour, Lynsey Parkins, who stole the singing show with her popular renditions of Roberta Black’s the First time Ever I Saw Your Face and her own soulful twist of Valerie.

We’d like to also highlight our favourite act of the night, a comedy musical Caz and Britney’s Scotty Street Musical, a duo from Liverpool who tell the story of Caz’s journey from Primark to Prison set to the music of Chicago with a great comedy script and ad libbing and had the audience in stitches.

The L Talent final was an excellent showcase of what lesbians have to offer in terms of music, arts and culture, and a reminder that we need to get more of these women into the mainstream.

The venue was interesting and offered a good set of spaces – a ballroom well decorated, bar area and outside smoking/seating area. There was a decent turn out and a good mix of lesbians in attendance.

Review by Katie Hall