A list of past performers and a brief history of That’s What She Said!
The very first TWSS variety show was held at The Local an Irish Pub in Minneapolis MN as a fundraiser to send a group of Minnesotan Poets to go to the Women of the World Poetry Slam 2008. Spoken word performer Cynthia French is responsible for the concept and title of the show. The Show continued as a fund raiser for poets over the next few years featuring guest musicians, comedians, storytellers.
In 2010 Wonder Dave the official DJ and collaborator of previous That’s What She Said shows moved to the Bay Area. He suggested that Bay area Slam Poets do their own That’s What She Said. The First Bay Area Show was held at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco and featured performances by Bay Area slam poets such as Lucky 7, Tatyana Brown, Katelyn Lucas and Queen D. Special guest performers included Dixie DeLaTour of Bawdy Storytelling, Stand-up comedian Morgan, vocalist Chloe Newton and musician Melody Walker.
A good time was had by all and the question was posed, “Why don’t we do this more often?” A short while later The Garage welcomed our show with open arms. That’s how we got to where we are today! We’re dedicated to bringing you great shows starring great women. In Sept of 2012 TWSS proudly presented it’s first ode to body positivity Sassy Fat Girls!
This link will lead you to a collection of videos from our October 2011 show at the Garage.
Several other TWSS videos are available on Wonder Dave’s youtube channel www.youtube.com/teamwonderdave
Below you will find a list of some of our past performers as well as some previous flier images:
Dixie De La Tour of Bawdy Storytelling
Dixie De La Tour – founder/curator/host of the hit show, BawdyStorytelling (called “The Moth for Pervs” by the LA Weekly)- is equal parts sex educator, entertainer, and irreverent host. Drawing on the rich storytelling lore of the Blue Ridge Mountains she once called home, Dixie gave traditional storytelling a twist when she founded the nation’s ‘blue personal narrative’ movement almost 6 years ago. These days, Bawdy is now being replicated in multiple cities, and has been asked to appear all over North America. Dubbed ‘the Grande Dame of Dirty Storytelling,’ Dixie has turned curated salon storytelling into an art form by providing guidance and encouragement to anyone with a juicy tale while simultaneously serving as Bawdy’s stage mom, talent scout, and talk show host. Dixie has taught sex-positive personal narrative performance at Yale’s Sex Week, is a former producer of San Francisco’s Memoir Spool storytelling show, and performs around the country. She is currently working on a national tour for Bawdy, her first book of true stories about sex, and a one woman show about poor impulse control.
Special guests from Rubenesque Burlesque Kitty Von Quim and Magnoliah Black
Kitty Von Quim:
She’s got aspirations of being David Bowie’s third wife:
Kitty Von Quim exploded on the Bay Area burlesque scene nearly four years ago. Quintessentially cute and equally mischievous, she’s been described as “something out of a John Waters movie.”
Kitty Von Quim was born on the bayous of Louisiana, but traded zydeco for punk rock and glam gods in the passenger seat of her dad’s broke down Dodge van.
She has performed all over the Bay Area as well as New York, Portland and L.A. as a solo artist and as a core member of Rubenesque Burlesque.
She’s definitely no fat kid in the corner. Follow her on twitter @kittyvonquim
Magnoliah Black:
She’s a Touch of Class with a bit of Crass
This sweet southern debutante has a touch of class to match her crass and is every bit as spicy as the New Orleans dishes she was raised on.
Miss Magnoliah Black has been shaking it up with the wild women of Rubenesque Burlesque from San Francisco to New York and Oakland to Los Angeles with her ample ass and attitude for the past 3 years.
She aims liberate the fat masses and fuck the main stream beauty standard with every sashay and sway.
Rachel Wiley
Rachel Wiley is a bad ass all the way Columbus, OH. She represented Writing Wrongs Poetry Slam in the Women of the World Poetry Slam 2011 where she was the 4th place finalist. She was the 2011 Grand Slam Champ for the Writing Wrongs Poetry Slam team that went on to place 4th at the 2011 National Poetry Slam. Rachel has self published 3 chapbooks and 1 cd. She is seriously considering becoming a mermaid. Check this out:
Denise Jolly
Denise is a member of Salt Lines Spoken Word Collective, has served as Executive Director of Seattle Youth Speaks, co-host and facilitator of the Seattle Poetry Slam, Poetry Curator for The Round (a live multidisciplinary collaborative arts show), Eleventh Hour Productions Board of Directors and Vice President of Stronghold Productions. Denise was the 2009 San Francisco Grand Slam Champion and member of the 2009 San Francisco Slam team who ranked 3rd in the nation. She has performed, taught, and/or collaborated in venues as large as Coachella and as small as Cook County Detention Center, Cleveland High School, and Seattle Youth Speaks writing circle. She likes doing great things with amazing people and being moved by art, community and how the two work together. You can find her online at DeniseJollySpoken.com
Lydia Popovich
Lydia Popovich is a San Francisco based comedian and blogger. Her website, Hater Tuesday founded in 2003 garners thousands of weekly visits from friends and family around the world. You can see her performing on stages all over the Bay Area including her favorites the Punchline and Rooster T Feathers. You can check her out on Tumblr: http://lydiapopovich.tumblr.com/ She is currently the host of Ladies love the Layover in Oakland.
Jennifer Dronsky
Winner of the first Alameda Comedy Competition, Jennifer Dronsky is an up and coming, comic with San Francisco queer charm. Originally from southern California, Jennifer Dronsky fled to San Francisco at the sweet age of seventeen to pursue her passion for fashion. After creating two lines; Fashions for the Living Skeletons (a line for anorexics) and Baby, I mean Business (business clothes for babies), Jennifer Dronsky sought a new target market for her creative mind. Despite being a newcomer, Jennifer has been drawing focus with her charismatic style and gorgeous foul mouth. Follow her on Twitter @JennDron
Natasha Muse
Natasha Muse is guaranteed to be at least the second-funniest
transsexual you know. She began performing in 2002 as “Ginger” at AsiaSF. In 2008 Natasha made the leap from lip-synching to stand-up comedy. Her cerebral wit, whimsical wordplay, and unique perspective on life have earned her the adoration of audiences and the respect of her peers.
www.NatashaMuse.com
www.twitter.com/NatashaMuse
www.facebook.com/NatashaMuseum
American Nomad
American Nomad is a new acoustic group fronted by Shiloh Parkerson and Hassan El-Tayyab. Rooted in Americana and folk/swing traditions, their carefully crafted original music maintains a modern relevance. Smart songwriting, catchy lyrics, tight rhythms, rich harmonies, and strong musicianship have already begun to earn American Nomad a reputation as a band that intrigues listeners. Check them out online at http://www.americannomadmusic.com/
Entirely Talia (Musician)
Talia Cooper is a singer/songwriter. Talia’s songs weave together her family traditions of activism, humor and Jewish culture. She is the Director of Jewish Youth for Community Action. Talia also sings with the internationally renowned Jewish women’s acapella group Vocolot.
For more, you can find EntirelyTalia on Reverbnation, Facebook, Youtube, WordPress, and Twitter. Or email EntirelyTalia@gmail.com to join the mailing list.
Liz Green (poet)
Liz Green is a writer, performer, and educator based in Oakland, California. As a performance poet, she has featured at slams, special showcases and workshops in middle schools, high schools, colleges and open mics across the country. Find out more about Liz and her work: http://www.lizdemigreen.com
Amy Dentata (Spoken word)
Amy Dentata started performing music at open mics in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, before moving to the Bay to pursue a career as an artist. While attending school in San Francisco, she simultaneously discovered the SF Queer Open Mic and a love for spoken word. Amy is currently putting the finishing touches on Bite, a collection of poetry and short stories. Her work will also appear in Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, a resource guide for the trans community. www.amydentata.com
Tatyana Brown (Poet)
Tatyana is the host of the Lit Slam. She was a finalist at the 2011 Individual World Poetry Slam and has been on multiple Bay area Slam Teams. She is the longest running dirty haiku champion at Tourettes without Regrets. She was a featured performer at Yale University’s infamous sex week.
Morgan (Comedian)
Morgan is middle aged provided she lives to one hundred and eighteen. Her honest and zany insights into life leave audiences gasping for breaths between laughs. Wheter talking aobut her sexual encounters or dealing with drug addiction, Morgan always makes a personal connection with the audience creating a perfect atmosphere for hilarity. There you have it: she’s a 50 year old transgender woman telling her truth. Just a small look at the world through her eyes will make you laugh.
For more information and video visit:
Blythe Baldwin (Poet)
Blythe Baldwin is a performance poet and visual artist. Hailing from the Bay Area, she attended Pitzer college where created her own major: Narrative Arts. She spends her days working in media production and by night writes poetry and draws comics.
Check her out on facebook here!
Elaine Gavin & Maisha Z. Johnson (Performance Duo)
Elaine Gavin has been performing in San Francisco for the last 8 years. She studied at SFSU and graduated with a degree in Drama and has continued to study theater and perform around the community. She is involved in the three person improv group On My Moon & the sketch comedy group The Tinker Show.
Maisha Z. Johnson is earning an MFA in Poetry from Pacific University. Maisha often writes poetry, fiction and non-fiction to explore the relationship between the written word and social change. She has been a featured reader at events throughout the Bay Area, including New Poetry Mission, Bitchez Brew and Quiet Lightning. She has won Portuguese Artists Colony’s live writing competition and the Leo Litwak Award for Fiction, and she blogs about writing and social change on her blog, Inkblot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_XMPcki_P8
Montana Rose (Musician)
Urban hippie songstress, Montana Rose, brings passionate explosions of pleasure to your soul. A friend once said she’d be the lesbian love child of Liz Phair and Hazel Dickens. Her lyrics will snatch your attention as you find your head bobbing to melodies backed by Mandi (her mandolin).
http://soundcloud.com/montana-rose
Tiki Houseman (Musician)
The Chronicle described Bass player/comedian Tiki Houseman’s vocals as a range between Maryann Faithful, PJ Harvey, Parliament and pre-80s Heart. Klaus Flouride, bass player for the Dead Kennedy’s says of Houseman’s playing: “Your bass playing is sure to inspire lot’s of folks ( let’s hope women) to pick up the bass and see if they can do it too. That in and of itself is a gift.”
Tiki has played music at the Hotel Utah, Grant and Green, Irelands 32, the Rockit Room, the Brainwash Cafe, Thee Parkside and El Rio. She has perfromed comedy as a feature on Pirate Cat Radio’s Common Threads Collective, the Impala Club, Croll’s, the Improv San Jose, and other small clubs where hecklers congregate.
http://www.twitter.com/tikitok
www.tikihouseman.com
http://www.facebook.com/tikihouseman
Katie Bucholz (Spoken Word)
Katie Bucholz is fresh meat. New to the Bay Area, she can often be found at the SF Queer Open Mic stirring up some angsty hilarity. Currently working on her first chapbook and preparing to take the SF spoken word scene by storm, she will keep you posted on how that goes.
Jen G (Poet)
Jen(nifer) G(igantino) is a writer, experimental filmmaker and hypothetical former marina trench explorer from the wastelands of the San Francisco Bay Area. She has never been in the Navy.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hYPU90ASis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdi7P3tUmWU
Kibibi Dillon (Comedian)
That’s What She Said was fortunate enough to have been graced by Kibibi’s presence before she passed away in December of 2011. To see her hilarious performance in the October 2011 TWSS click here. She is greatly missed.
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