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PHILLY TATTOO ARTIST NAMED INK BITCH TO STAR ON SEASON 3 OF INK MASTER

Jackie "Ink Bitch" Jennings chats about her experience on the Spike TV reality show and what it means for her future as a tattooist Philly.

Posted by Josh Middleton on 6/19/2013 at 2:59PM | No Comments

When season 3 of Spike TV’s Ink Master premieres next month, local tattoo artist Jackie ‘Ink Bitch’ Jennings will stand among the 16 national contestants vying for a $100K prize and the honor of being named one of America’s most badass tattooists. If you’re a reality-show fan, you probably know the drill, but for those not keeping score, the show, hosted by Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, places contestants in weekly tattoo challenges, slowly whittling them down until they have a winner.

Jennings is going into the competition with a solid 10 year’s experience, spending much of that time honing her skills at Tru Blu Tatu in Bristol, Pa. She currently lives with her girlfriend — a bartender at Stir Lounge in Rittenhouse — in South Philly. I’ll admit, my fingers trembled a little when I dialed her number this week for a phone interview. I mean, chances were pretty high that a conversation with someone named “Ink Bitch” could go south in a gay heartbeat. I couldn’t have been more wrong — though I wouldn’t want to cross her. Keep reading to learn more about the tough-cookie tattoo artist, including the precious thing she says she’d do with the prize money, if she plans on opening her own shop in Philly and what on Earth made her lose her shit in this preview clip.  READ MORE

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13 QUESTIONS WITH THE NEW MR. GAY PHILADELPHIA

Everything you need to know about the new king of Philly gays.

Posted by Josh Middleton on 6/12/2013 at 3:12PM | No Comments

Photo by Alexander John Photography

This weekend, at Bruce Yelk’s much-hyped Triumphant Pride event, Thomas Westerfer was crowned 2013 Mr. Gay Philadelphia. Here, I cozy up to the 27-year-old event planner from Troy, Pa., in the attempt to get to know our new king a little better. Takeaways? He loves a good exclamation point, he gets a kick out of dancing around in his underwear in front of his straight roomies and, heads up, fellas, he’s single as a one-dollar bill. READ MORE

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LOCAL SINGER RELEASES NEW SINGLES, WILL PERFORM THEM TONIGHT AT TABU

Singer-songwriter George Alley returns with a few summer jams for your listening pleasures.

Posted by Josh Middleton on 6/12/2013 at 9:28AM | No Comments

How about a little tune to jumpstart your Wednesday? READ MORE

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TEMPLE’S ONE OF THE GUYS IS NOW AN AWARD-WINNING WEB SERIES

Philadelphia's gay version of Friends is right up there with Anne Hathaway.

Posted by Josh Middleton on 5/9/2013 at 4:11PM | No Comments

Episode 4 of one of my favorite local web series, One of the Guys, premiered on Tuesday night. This time around, the guys try to kill the stir-crazies with some board games, only to get caught up in real-life game of Clue. As always, funny-ness ensues.  READ MORE

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MAN WHO SENT HOMOPHOBIC EMAIL TO CENTER CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL APOLOGIZES

"I recognize that my choice of words was nonetheless irresponsible, unkind and simply wrong."

Posted by Josh Middleton on 5/8/2013 at 9:13AM | 2 Comments

Yesterday, I posted an article about a homophobic stir-up that was caused when Martha Graham Cracker was invited to perform in this year’s Center City Jazz Festival. Local musician Joe Harrison emailed the festival’s creator in protest, saying, “Really, A faggot drag queen at a Jazz festival. You are disrespecting your ancestors!.” READ MORE

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CENTER CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL RECEIVES HOMOPHOBIC EMAIL AFTER INVITING MARTHA GRAHAM CRACKER TO PERFORM [UPDATED]

The Joey Harrison Group believes "faggot drag queens" should have no place in a jazz festival.

Posted by Josh Middleton on 5/7/2013 at 11:04AM | 7 Comments

The term “inappropriate” has been bandied around the Martha Graham Cracker (pictured) camp quite a bit this year. In February, officials at an after-school program in New Jersey disinvited the Philly cabaret drag queen from a Dr. Seuss reading at their school because they deemed her “too inappropriate” for kids. And just when the dust is beginning to settle from that rigamarole, she’s now being told she’s inappropriate for jazz, too. But this time another word is being tossed into the mix — and it ain’t one bit pretty. READ MORE

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15 QUESTIONS FOR MARTHA GRAHAM CRACKER

Guess what the Philly drag cabaret star views as her biggest achievement.

Posted by Josh Middleton on 5/2/2013 at 3:00PM | No Comments

Move over, Terry Gross, Martha Graham Cracker is Philly’s closest thing to a mega star. She’s got a voice that would give Whitney goose pimples. Beauty that rivals Elizabeth. And balls.  READ MORE

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VISIT PHILLY SNAGS LOCAL GAY SUPERSTAR INSTAGRAMMERS

Neal Santos and Streets Dept.'s Conrad Benner are temporarily taking over Visit Philly's Instagram profile.

Posted by Josh Middleton on 4/16/2013 at 9:51AM | No Comments

Visit Philly (@visitphilly) just snagged local superstar Instagrammers Neal Santos (@nealsantos) and Conrad Benner (@streetsdept) to takeover its Instagram account for most of the week. Smart move considering that, added up, the two have over 18.3K followers and have been featured in several local publications’ “Best of Instagram” lists. READ MORE

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15 QUESTIONS FOR PHILLY COMEDIC STORYTELLER R. ERIC THOMAS

The local funny may weighs in on his favorite books, lemons and Beyoncé.

Posted by Josh Middleton on 4/12/2013 at 3:28PM | No Comments

Need a giggle to jumpstart your weekend? You’re in the right place. This week I asked local comedic storyteller R. Eric Thomas to fill out this questionnaire and when he sent it back I nearly suffocated from belly laughs.

Starting Sunday, Thomas will be starring in Quince Productions’ five-night run of (in)voluntary commitment, an evening of solo performances with fellow raconteurs Daniel Student and Jennifer MacMillan that, according to Thomas, “bridge the space between traditional storytelling and an evening fully realized theater.” For his part, Thomas will tell a story about bringing his boyfriend to meet his family for the first time. From there, the piece “zooms out to encompass everything from race dynamics in the gay community to a brief — completely misinformed — overview of global politics.” For more details about the show, look below the questionnaire, which you should totally start reading now:

What’s your Philly connection? Patti Labelle. I don’t actually know her — I only met her twice — but I moved here to stalk her. Well, stalk is a loaded word. I moved here to be close to her without her knowledge or permission. When are you happiest? All the time, really. Life is so lovely and we live in such an exciting, imperfect but progressive time. And this city is vibrant. And the arts are alive. And you’re as young as you’re ever going to be and older than you’ve ever been. I read a lot of greeting cards. But I really am happy most of the time. Except when I’m hungry, which is like every 15 minutes. Then I’m a real dick. When I’m in the mood to splurge, I … My big splurges are things like a train ride to Manhattan, a Broadway show and a steak dinner — these temporal things that stop existing moments after they come into being, but I guess that’s why it’s a splurge instead of an investment. I believe in treating yourself to experiences because they produce emotional dividends, which is a fancy way of saying, “things make you happy.”  READ MORE

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PROUST’D: MAZEPPA PRODUCTIONS’ BRIAN SEAMAN

"I have a wicked sense of humor. And sometimes I cross the line into offensive."

Posted by Josh Middleton on 4/11/2013 at 3:34PM | No Comments

Philly attorney and A-gay Brian Seaman may spend his days dishing legal jargon with other lawyer types, but his heart and soul is dedicated to the stage. As managing director of Mazeppa Prodcutions, he has helped bring fab musicals to the city, like last year’s run of Spring Awakening and, starting this July, Avenue Q. This weekend, Seaman and other Mazeppa folks are hosting the third-annual Cocktails & Cabaret fundraiser to generate money for future productions. Like it sounds, the evening will flow with tasty libations and hors d’oeuvres, and be capped off with cabaret-style performances of Broadway hits by a handful of talented Philly songbirds.

This week, I asked him to fill out G Philly’s version of the Proust questionnaire, where he revealed him self to be quite the wit. Keep reading to find out which former SNL star he’d like to have a beer with, who he thinks does the best Carol Channing impersonation and why the wording on his future wedding invitations has his mom in a tizzy.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? 8 a.m. on a summer Saturday morning on Fire Island. What is the trait you most dislike in yourself? My inability to get home any night of the week until it’s dark out. What is the trait you most dislike in others? Arrogance and self-importance. What is your greatest extravagance? Really good theater tickets. Nothing like seeing a show from up close, even if the show is terrible. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Piety. What do you consider the most underrated vice? Gluttony. I don’t trust people who never eat full-fat ice cream or go to a buffet. Which person, living or dead, do you most admire? I don’t know about admire … but I think Tina Fey would be great to grab a beer with. Which words or phrases do you overuse? No doubt, I overuse the word, “buddy.” I call everyone “buddy.” To the point where an ex said to me, “umm, I am not your buddy, I am your boyfriend.” We didn’t last very long. What is the quality you most like in a man? A sense of humor. Nothing makes me happier than when a guy READ MORE

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