My guest this week is Ben Sander, creator of the character Brini Maxwell, a drag hostess who’s helmed shows about crafting, cooking, and homemaking, for decades. It all started with a little cable access show that he produced with some help from his mother, before becoming a cable TV series, with live shows that continue to this day — with Brini the character continuing to evolve as Ben her creator explores new artistic frontiers.
(Also: if you’re a fan of pop culture history — and I think you are — you’ll probably enjoy Sam’s great blog from a few years back, The Obscurity Factor.)
We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a reminder that I’ve got a book coming out next year about queer sitcoms! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and pre-orders are open — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details.
Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and names in the credits of YouTube videos.
Life is Drama, Make me Laugh (Ep. 353 - Dan Savage)
Called to the Kitchen (Ep 352 - Cookbooks/Adam Roberts)
Queer Dark Souls (Ep 351 - Dark Souls/Illusory Wall)
The Luckiest Little Homosexual in the World (Ep 350 - The Tonys/Jeffrey Masters)
In my Own Way I'm a Doomsday Prepper (Ep. 349 - Phuong/Drag Race)
Tough on the Outside, Nice on the Inside (Ep 348 - Pokémon/José)
A Little More F'd Up (Ep 347 - Six Feet Under/Scott)
The Devil's Name is on All my Paychecks (Ep 346 - Fran Tirado/Greek myths)
My Cat Makes Me Laugh (Ep. 345 - Bette Midler/H. Alan Scott)
Good Luck, Kid (Ep 344 - Beatrix Potter/Carl Bishop)
Always Dreaming (Ep 343 - The Brady Bunch Movie/Stan Zimmerman)
Really Stupid and Delicious (Ep 342 - Desperate Housewives/Benji Carr)
The Lone Wolf Doing Theater (Ep 341 - Ravi Roth/Broadway)
We Were Too Busy Being Gay (Ep. 340 - Stonewall/Tree)
A Pride Omnibus (Ep 339 - X-Men/Joe Glass)
Glamour Rampage (Ep 338 - Justin Vivian Bond)
Misfits and Aliens (Ep 337 - Lypsinka/Gypsy)
If You Can Survive it, do it (Ep 336 - Gay New York in the 70s & 80s/Mark Finley)
Camp is like Pornography (Ep 335 - Eurovision/Jānis)
Beauty in Trash (Ep 334 - Bruce Vilanch/Bette Midler)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
LGBT Bar NY Podcast
Out Loud: LGBT Stories of Faith
Lez Represent Podcast | A queer LGBT social
Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive
Nancy