James St. James' Freak Show: When High School is a Drag
Feast of Fun: Gay Talk Show
Fausto Fernós
4.4 • 834 Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2020
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Youth gay culture is exploding online and in high schools everywhere. Just take a look at our community forums here at Feast of Fools. Youth gay culture, GLBT teens, or whatever words you want to use to use to describe it: teenagers all over the United States are speaking up, talking about their sexual identity with the support of their parents and schools.
You've come a long way, gay baby! Just PLEASE wait until you're old enough to understand the ramifications of your actions before you do "it," and when you do, please PLEASE use a condom.
{Originally posted as FOF #527 - High School is Such a Drag - 05.04.07}
Freak Show is now a movie on Amazon Prime!
Gay culture folks like us or writer James St. James are thrilled to welcome these fresh faces into the fold and share our stories, experiences and ideas. Today we're delighted to bring legendary NYC nightclub performer (or club-kid) James St. James on the show to talk about his new book "Freak Show," a semi-fictional story about the struggles and triumphs of a fabulous gay teenager living in a conservative Southern town in Florida. I say semi-fictional because in many ways the story is loosely based on his own life experiences growing up gay.
"Freak Show" attempts to create a healthier atmosphere as he tells the story of Billy Bloom and his struggles to fit in at his High School and how he tries to get the class hunk. It may sound like a departure from his better known autobiographical novel "Disco Bloodbath" (later re-named "Party Monster") where he tells the dark and grim story on how NYC nightclub promoter/club-kid Michael Alig killed his drug dealer Angel Melendez.
We're making a special announcement today. The word "reinventing" needs to be dis-invented. We're tired of seeing everyone everywhere "re-invent themselves" when they are really just putting on a new wig and going shopping at H&M. Save the word for when it means something, like "they just re-invented the combustion engine to run on hugs and kisses."
Join Marc Felion and me, Fausto Fernós as we talk to James St. James about his book and his celebrity gossip. Did he really sleep with Macauly Culkin? Listen to today's show and find out.
The podcast you want to take to the prom: Feast of Fools.
Featured Book:
Freak Show by James St. James: Amazon
Featured Music:
Reuben Butchart - Golden Boy: iTunes | CD Baby | Amazon
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | James St. James, did you ever go to high school dressed up in drag? |
| 0:10.4 | I did, and it wasn't a very pleasant experience. |
| 0:15.5 | I was, you know, this was, I would go, it was during the sort of Boy George era, so it wasn't so much drag |
| 0:21.0 | with the tits and, you know, the wig and stuff, but I would do a definite gender bending |
| 0:26.4 | thing and I, you know, would get, I never was beaten up. I was never really beaten, because I |
| 0:33.2 | all the girls loved me, and so they would stop their boyfriends from beating me up. |
| 0:38.2 | But I would definitely get the spit wads and pushed into lockers and called faggot. |
| 0:42.7 | But I sort of had that same feeling that Billy does where I'm already being harassed. |
| 0:49.9 | Why not? |
| 0:50.8 | Why not just be myself and why not just, you know, push it to the limit and see what happens? |
| 1:29.3 | With a flash of your lashes and do get to give every order with a click of your fingers I see You gotta make believe That you're |
| 1:32.3 | Queen of the Land |
| 1:35.3 | To quill |
| 1:37.3 | That old cacophony |
| 1:39.3 | And come off as |
| 1:43.3 | Grey and my star. |
| 1:50.0 | The world is your oyster cause. |
| 1:53.0 | Get your corsage ready, because you're going to want to take the Feast of Fools to the Prom. |
| 1:58.0 | On today's show, we're going to be taking you to hang out with author and |
| 2:02.0 | celebrant James St. James about his new book, Freak Show. It follows the struggles and trance |
| 2:09.2 | of a gay teenager living in a conservative gay town. St. James is well known for his first book, |
| 2:15.4 | Disco Bloodbath, later renamed Party Monster, |
... |
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