Here it is everybody...Juba's "Pick Up The Mic" Tour Diary from the Toronto Film Festival.Tried to keep good notes and flesh this out the best I could. If I missed something, lemme know. You all have different eyes than m'self.
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September 9
Getting to town
After a surprisingly relaxing second leg of my flight ( from Las Vegas) I got into Toronto at around 7:30pm and dropkick me jesus, just flew through customs without the grilling I received on my December 2004 trip. Maybe they were just keeping me on my toes before.
So as soon as I could after taking a breather and hanging out with my sweety, Nalo, I bounced over to the Ramada to meet director Alex Hinton, producer Alan Skinner and Andy Wombwell as well as several members of Alex’s family who had come to support him. I’m early in town, so the only other performer present is JenRO, who was hella cute with a wide eyed just-soaking-it-all-in vibe about her . This evening we met all of the business people involved with the movie publicists Bonnie Voland (a 23 year TIFF vet) Mickey Cotrell (and actor and veteran publicist) and sales agents David Garber (Lantern Lane Entertainment) and Jeff ‘The Dude” Dowd (yes, the real life guy depicted in “The Big Lebowsky”). I learned a hella lot from all of these people and how they handle their business. I’ll get more into the details of that later down.
Sarah Silverman “Jesus Is Magic” Party Club Monaco Retail Store
The first party was for comedian Sarah Silverman new feature at this high end men’s clothier, Club Monaco. There are several of them around Toronto, and this was at what looked like their main store in what maybe used to be a small bank.
There Lots and lots of really skinny white women, which I was worried about until I saw the hors doeuvres table. Holy fucking crap! Tons of amazing smoked and spiced cheeses, good bread and jams and preserves-plus two cute chef dudes serving it and explaining what you were eating. The bar was great too- they had this brand of vodka called Iceberg that I’d never heard of…but DAMN it was smooth! So we all spent most of the party walking around and meeting buyers and owners of film companies, shaking hands and smiling (JenRO remarked at some point later in the trip that her face hurt from smiling so much).
CityTV/Much Music Party on Queen Street West
This was the biggest party we went to during the festival, in terms of number of people. It was held in the CityTV (big Canadian network, owns MuchMusic think) parking lots and on part of Queen Street West, which was blocked off for the event. David ran us around for this one, taking us to meet any and everyone we could ( he worked real hard trying to get us into the red carpet entrance where we would get interviewed, but it just didn’t happen).
There had to be at least 2000 people there, and more than that filtering through the night. Very good music, lots of cute people in there fineries, and actually pretty pleasant considering the Hollywood vibe. Despite my experience performing at big shows and producing events, I’m really not much of a big crowd person in terms of hanging out….but this was actually OK. A few famous folks here and there, and lots of press people that I recognized. At some point in the party, Alex tapped me on the shoulder and said “said don’t panic- Michelle Trachtenberg is standing right across from you”. Yes, the famous proto-knee-ga-roe is a BIG Buffy/Angel/Firefly/anything Joss Whedon geek (SERENITY opens September 30th !!!! WOOOHOO!!! Take my love, Take my land….uh, OK I’m back.) so that kind of proximity to Buffy’s little sister could have given me a heart attack….But I was cool, y’all. I handled it and remembered I was there because I’m featured in a movie. Even If I wanted to be a fanboy, she was standing with that kid that played Iceman in” X-Men United” and they had a couple people in their grill already. Wouldn’t have been cute of me.
Since we got to this gig kinda late, most of the good liquor had been swallowed already. Plenty of white wine though., so I had that and did the toast thing and posed for photos. It was about 1:30 by this time, and everybody was winding down. Jen and her girlfriend went to their room. David knew of one other gig we could hit and Alan asked me to come along in case there were any photo ops. So off we went in a cab to Spadina Street.
“The Life And Hard Times Of Guy Terrifico” Party – Drake Hotel
“Guy Terrifico” is a mockumentary about a fictional country western singer who became famous in the late 1970s. Its become a huge indie success and has appearances by some pretty heavy hitters like Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings and it won an award at the festival I just heard.
The Drake was the spot where PUTM was originally scheduled to have its afterparty, but we went with the Panorama, which was a good choice for a couple reasons. The Drake wasn’t bad…just kinda far away, as well as configured a little differently than the Panorama. It worked well for the “Terrifico” party though, which was overflowing with people. Not much in the way of press ops, but still cool because of the GREAT hors doerves- hot and cold sushi (killer seared tuna!), French fries, oysters on the half, and the coup de grace, an angus mini burger (palm size, a half inch thick) with gruyere and tomato on a wheat bun- on a stick . Ta-dow!
I had been slugging Red Bulls up to this point to stay up and was done drinking for the night, so I got some water. I also had a swallow of some overproof bourbon that Alan ordered that I will never drink again. It was so strong it felt like it evaporated in my mouth before I could swallow it. Yow. To each his own , I guess.
There was also a band there as well playing bluegrass and gospel covers that was pretty good. Alas, there was one VIP section at the Drake who’s velvet rope we could not cross because we lacked the proper wristband. The burger on sticks more than made up for it though.
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Saturday September 10
The American Apparel In-Store 4-6PM
This is one of the times I have to admit being surprised at how much fun I had, especially given that I hadn’t expected to. The in-store promotional was held at American Apparel’s 500 Church St. location in the heart of Toronto’s “gayborhood”. To give you an idea, think of a combination of the Castro’s aesthetic, but the relatively laid back feel of Chicago’s Halsted Street corridor.
Timothy’s, a Canadian coffee chain, had a location next door and is a pretty popular hang out with a lot of the older (as in 50-ish) set. The steps were filled with guys who seemed to be regulars, and didn’t seem to be tripped out at all by the gay hip-hop mob overrunning their spot. A really great part of this trip was getting to meet Miss Money and Aggracyst, who I’d only known through email and phone calls. The American Apparel staff made us feel right at home, down to the big trays of sushi and crudite’ and fruits and whipped cream an’ stuff- real star treatment.
I’ve done a kazillion shows and hosted PeaceOUT four times already, but it was still pretty surreal being in another country with all of these folks I’ve know as friends as well as artists.The PUTM trailer playing on the overhead, and the soundtrack blasting though the store. Outtasighteous!!!
The Artists Only Screening @ Ramada
The flossing continued as we took a 10- minute walk around the way to Alan and Alex’s suite at the Ramada, which served as a command center of sorts for our time in Toronto. It was very homey, with everyone pulling up chairs, scrunching in the sofas and sharing snacks. Though I had seen PUTM in a small Oakland screening, I was just as excited for everyone who hadn’t seen it yet.
It was something to sit there with everyone, whooping and laughing at the scenes, and remembering stuff that happened. I started to feel it, at this point, some of the excitement and nervousness that I’d been suppressing in order to help everyone get travel and lodging situated….in a “wow, we’re really here” kind of way.
It was a good feeling. I set up a line for everyone to sign posters during the screening, and afterwards we talked about everything that happened for us to get to this point. Alex talked about the email that he sent me in mid-2002 about coming up to shoot and how the ball rolled from there- the rollercoaster of experiences that he has had meeting and filming everybody, and broke down in the middle of his thank you’s. It was hella powerful. He quickly composed himself though, and got back to partying with us, like a good queen.
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Sunday September 11
Pick Up The Mic Photo Shoot/Toronto Brickyards
I haven’t said so yet, so I will here- my participation in this trip could not have happened with out the time, generosity and love of a bunch of great freaky queer Torontoians lending their energy and immense talents to the effort. David C. Findlay (aka MyBabyDaddy), a amazingly talented photographer and staffer at York U., rallied all of his troops for the shoot and created a well organized and family feel-good event. From his wonderful assistants and makeup people to Sharron Mcleod and Carol Camper who kept everyone fed and watered, it was professional affair end to end. They were always on point, which allowed us to relax and have fun with the shoot.
The Brickyards looks like an old abandoned foundry that has been cleaned up and maintained as an outdoor picnic space. The whole thing had a grammar school field trip feel, from our arrival on a rented school bus to the lineup for the final group photos. Kinda wild and loose, yet everyone had a sense of the import of it all, everyone from around the U.S. there in the same place at the same time- something that had never happened before, but hopefully will again.
Deep Dickollective @ The Opal Dining Lounge, 5PM
The talented and tasty Sharron Mcleod was gracious enough to organize and promote a casual acapella show at The Opal Dining Lounge on Spadina wchich was great time for us. We hadn’t done a acapella set in some time, so it took a bit to work the harmonies again, but it came together and as the casuals tend to go, created some good energy and pieces that would get worked into future performances. Nalo was particularly creative in her introduction of us, and the small crowd of people from the local freak scene was appreciative. And they bought me drinks. Always good.
The Premiere Screening /Cineplex Odeon Varsity 8, Manulife Building
Yes, the moment we have all been waiting for. The premiere screening. Nerrrrrvous! Was I hiding it well? I dunno. You’d have to ask some of the other performers. The Manulife Building ( a big tall office building with a giant mall downstairs) was buzzing. I actually got to sit and chop it up with Tori and Aggracyst a bit before they began to admit us to the theatre, when I had to do a little running around to catch the people who’d I’d gotten tickets for.
The screening was a sell-out, and audience reaction reflected that. I guess I was a bit more caught up than I let on, as Alex described the scene of all of us standing in front of the screen during the Q and A and with “flashbulbs popping everywhere”. It was quite a moment
The Afterparty/Panorama Lounge, 51st Floor Manulife Building
Someone (Aggracyst?) referred to this event as “PeaceOUToronto” which wouldn’t have been totally off. If I’m correct, it was the first show (excepting the D/DC casual that afternoon) that any of the artists had done in Canada.
The tight professional nature of the set was a testament to the hard work and talent of all the artists. We had roughly an hour and change to blow through one song by each artist present….this was something that went way better than I thought it would. The energy was incredible, and the audience was blown away. I have to keep reminding myself that even though I have been watching some of these artists for five years, that they are brand new to most of the world, as is the community presented in PUTM. Many of the partygoers I spoke to were quite literally speechless-in that good way.. And its all on tape with tons of still photos too!
The Panorama Lounge has a beautiful view of the city and great balcony seating which everybody hit up after the show. The staff was great and again, great snacks and drinks (Aggy and meself found out the open bar was only for the first hour- Screwdrivers for $7 Canadian!! Yow!!) and Cuba Gooding,Jr., of all people in tight jeans and a gay-as-hell cowboy hat, walking around getting his picture taken. That’s the film fest, I guess…get in where you fit in,Cuba.
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Monday September 12
Press Day, 8:30AM-6PM
(Four Seasons Hotel, Hotel Intercontinental)
Easily the craziest day of the festival ; Dutchboy, myself, God-des, Tina G and Katastrophe and Miss Money do print and filmed interviews as well as photo shoots from nine in the morn ‘til 6 that evening with a slew of outlets- Variety, Independent Film Channel, The Advocate, NOW Toronto, Much Music, you name it, they stuck a mike and camera in our faces.
The day started at the Four Seasons Hotel in the Chanel Suite. The suite was a series of four or five rooms done up in Chanel’s black n’ white motif and appointed with all the amenities of a high end beauty salon. The balconies of two of the rooms were set up with cabling and lights for the rotating list of performers who were to be interviewed from several different movies. When I arrived, the only people there were hotel guests in the chairs getting facials and such. The proprietor (who was very nice) assumed that I had a beauty appointment when I told her what I was looking for, flipped through her book and was extremely apologetic because she thought she’d screwed up a booking. We got it figured out though, and she led me to the correct area.
One of the rooms was set up with sofas and love seats and a long table with tasty breakfast cookies, tea and coffee, as well as a silver tray of berries, kiwi, oranges and stuff that were chopped in impossibly small pieces. Katastrophe and I speculated that there was a small French man (or orphaned child) locked behind the rooms closet doors who was being forced to make the fruit trays, but this turned out to be untrue.
If you’re ever in the Chanel Room at the Four Seasons Toronto, be careful in the bathroom. There is an electric bidet attached to the toilet, a crazy X-Wing fighter looking contraption in beige plastic with digital readout. The little water squirter comes out like a machine gun and sprays in rapid bursts, and I ended up wiping up water that its sprayed all over the bathroom door before I figured out how to turn it off.
Continuing the trend of tasty treats, the Chanel kitchen (!) staff brought out trays of hot snacks and sushi- chicken satay, beef, crab cakes- all hella tasty. Not really enough for lunch, but yummy still. We were waiting for someone to come in and say “that will be $5217.63”, but as it turns out, it was all free.
After a much needed break that I spent chopping it up with Katastrophe and Michelle Tea (she’s everywhere!!!) we did the second half of the interviews which were in a set of suites on another floor. The setups were pretty clever; fake theater seating and backgrounds on platforms with rigged lighting. One in , One out. Every now and then the random celebrity would walk though. Katastrophe and I sat in the hallway writing, Gwyneth Paltrow stepped over my head and her coochie sprinkled magic pixie dust on me. At about 4, we bounce to the main lounge and lobby do more press. Among the sights there:
-David Duchovny with a big grizzly beard looking stoned and lost
-Woody Harrelson looking, well kinda like he usually does
-Maggie Gyllenhaal’s shoulders are pointier and sexy as ever
-Said hi to Freddy Rodriguez (“Six Feet Under”, “Dead Presidents”) who I hadn’t see since he was about 16 in 1992-93. The more obsessive fans probably know about a rap group he was in called Children Of Reality (COR). COR were regulars at an Open mike I co-hosted in Chicago back then, at which time Fred was making a name in local TV and theater. He of course, was surprised to see me, much less anybody from that scene, at TIFF. It’s that kinda gig though.
The best interview of the day happened here with an outlet called No Good TV that goes out to 400 colleges and universities. We were encouraged to be as nasty, wild and crazy as we liked, which was fun, but made going back upstairs to do the “serious” IFC interview a little strange. All in all a rockin’ day.
TIFF Party at Crystalroom, 9PM
Though its name sounds like a perfectly stereotypical Queer-As-Folk meat market, it was more a pink-diagonal stripe shirt and square toed shoe metrosexual hang out that wouldn’t be out of place in say, the Marina district of San Francisco. The tension was palpable when the gang of us mobbed up to the door (Deadlee turning heads as usuall in the ill gayngsta get-up. Sickening , honey!!)…but a magical “Were The Pick Up The Mic Posse!!” from Alex and Alan, and we were in like Flynn. What What!!!
I was again, surprised at how enjoyable the party was. The music was great…but nobody, and I mean NOBODY was dancing. Damn. Anyways…..the place had these king size beds in random spots, and one up on this deck-style area that was kinda cool. Everybody here was just too cool for school, trying to be fly and ready for their moment/deal/blah blah blah, so we took the deck bed and posted up, laying out and acting fool. More great drinks (thank you Canadians for Sleeman’s!!! good stuff!!!!) and more groovy appetizers- a spicy east Indian lamb sausage with mint yogurt sauce (on a stick) more yummy sushi, and BOMB ass oyster and shrimp shooters (Unfamiliar?Picture a shot glass an oyster or shrimp in the bottom covered in spicy cocktail sauce!)
Everybody kept their cameras a flashing, so I’m hoping to see some cute photos at some point. There was a great party at the next spot everybody hit, but I was bit worn…so I busted out to the subway back to Nalo’s crib.
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Tuesday September 13
AM Press, Hotel Intercontinental
So we ended up back at the hotel for more potential press ops…there was some stuff going on, but not much. Alex made the score of the trip for us at the Diesel Suite ( that Diesel, yes) . Diesel has a store set up on the second floor. Publicist makes appointment, actors come down and get free $200 jeans, chocolate truffles,really great skin products and champagne. It was hella gay, and that’s okay. They even had pants to fit my big butt. Score!!!!!!
Second Screening, Royal Ontario Museum. 2:15PM
Just about everyone performer was gone by this time, save JenRo, Deadlee, Johnny and myself. A smaller crowd (200-ish), but no less enthusiastic.We signed a bunch of posters and talked to lots of folks and had a generally nice time.
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Wednesday September 14
This day I spent hanging out at the Dub Poets Collective office and answering email.Did lunch at a great Jamaican restaurant in the St. George district. It was nice to get a break from the madness and chill a bit.
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Thursday September 15
Gay Flambe’ Party @ Le Petit Liban
Inside Out The annual Toronto Gay Lesbian Film Festival sponsors this event annually in support of the queer content at TIFF. Le Petit Liban is a restaurant/lounge across the street from American Apparel with a great patio space ( including a fenceless wishing pond that both Alex and myself almost fell into-WTF!!?) and a beautiful interior with hardwood floors. Nets to the Panorama gig, this was probably the most homey of the parties…much of the crowd had been to see the film, and everyone was really hyped about it. DJ Nikki Red was spinning and I got to hang out with Nalo and a couple other cool T>O. folks who were hella hyped about getting the movie out and the performers back up to Toronto. There were also of course, great drinks ( free margaritas) and food ( banging samosas!) It got to be a little wiered with people coming up to me …you forget that it is a movies, and if for just that week, youre one of the “starts” in the minds of people who come to the event…Its not just some video or something ( which was cool when that was what we thought it was but- well I said it before…Its all still a little crazy).
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Friday September 16
Radio w/ Cyrus Ware on CUIT-FM (University Of Toronto)
Cyrus’s show “Resistance on The Sounddial” is one of those spaces that become hella important to the development of the queer hip hop scene and the careers of its artists in an international way. I always encourage artists to reach out to people like Cyrus because of their dedication to indy music and grassroots communities…you never know who is listening, or what somebody will tell somebody else, ya know? Big ups to you,homes, and thanks for your continued support. If you in Toronto, Tune in Fridays at 1pm. You’ll be real happy. He plays Blackalicious songs,yo… Dha-Dah-dah-dah-dee-dahhhhhh….
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Saturday September 17
Third Screening, Royal Ontario Museum 9PM
I’ve been doing a ton of walking since I’ve been in Toronto, so by today the ankle I hurt a coulple years a go is screaming pretty regularly. David was nice enouch to wrap it for me and Nalo had plenty of aspirins and stuff so I was able to stick it out. Leah Piepzna-Samarahsinha and a few of the other folks I’d met came back to the Museum for the last screening, which was again, sold out! Alex had a 100 or so of the autographed posters left, all of which got snatched up before the movies started. The Q and A was kinda funny this time as I was the last MC there, so I ended up talking more than I planned, but that went well. The rest of the night I spent hanging out and clowning at King Noodle and talking with the folks (there was a Closing Gala party waaaaaaay down by the water, but we were short a ticket and would have had to turn a pretty big cartwheel to get another. Ryan, an agent/ distributor who had been incredible, gracious and amazing in taking us around to parties and getting us in just about everywhere we needed to go took my place.
So I’m figuring I may have screwed some of the chronology in the whirlwind, and left something out, but I’m sure some of the peeps who waere around will let me know, and hopefully share some of their experiences here. Thanks to everybody involved with the movie, the Festival volunteers and staff, and all the cool folks in Toronto who made the trip a truly 0nce in a lifetime experience. I cant wait to get my photos back to post them here!!!
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