News

"With One Eye Open"

2010-06-16T13:58:11Z

Polly's new book is available. Buy it here at Amazon.

"With One Eye Open" collects some of the humor pieces she has published over the years in such outlets as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Grin & Tonic. It's a zany and sweet grab-bag, full of funny ideas -- new designer dog breeds, an entire country that has optimized itself for your shopping pleasure -- as well as vivid characters, including a college girl who can't see why she shouldn't be allowed to create social networks instead of writing term papers, and a life coach who discovers a new sense of purpose when she begins giving seminars designed to help people shut the hell up.

Don't tell anyone we said this, but ... "With One Eye Open" may be a mere collection of short humor pieces, but it has more clever hooks, more engaging storylines, more incisive observations, and more convincing characters than a whole shelf-ful of literary novels. Don't tell anyone we said this either, but ... It belongs on the shelf next to collections by Woody Allen, Fran Lebowitz, Dave Barry, James Thurber and Dorothy Parker.

Mainly, of course, it's sweet and funny, and full of flights of zany invention. Thanks to designer John Reinhardt and photographer Erik Kragh, it also looks beautiful and feels good in the hand. It's cheery, it'll make you laugh, it's a perfect gift, and it has got a very friendly price ... What's not to love? Go to Amazon and buy your copy now.

And while you're there, check out Polly's snazzy new Author's Page too.

"Sex Scenes" at Kiss & Tell

2010-03-17T14:29:00Z

"Sex Scenes" made an appearance at Abiola Abram's fabulous Kiss & Tell erotica series the other night, upstairs at the legendary downtown burlesque venue Madame X.

Jake Thomas -- who has been appearing in "Sex Scenes" for so long that he might well qualify as "Mr. Sex Scenes" by this point -- played the immortal pornographer-wannabe Nathan Moffitt; the talented and inventive Jillaine Gill gave her lovely all to the role of incarcerated high-school teacher Deborah Kibble. The audience laughed ... The temperature in the room rose a few degrees ... In other words, Jake and Jillaine put the story ("Detention") over just the way it deserves to be.

Abiola -- who made her own appearance in a "Sex Scenes" evening a few years ago -- is a force of nature. A hilarious, glamorous and lovable dynamo onstage, she's also a writer, an exceptional video host, and with Kiss & Tell she's now sponsoring and emceeing one of downtown's funnest -- and most diverse -- evenings. Drop by a Kiss & Tell evening and you'll be able to savor a very wide range of body types, sexual preferences, skin colors and performance styles. It's guaranteed to be a fun time, as well as a majorly dis-inhibiting experience.

Here's the lineup from the evening when we made our appearance:

That's Abiola with the pink ruffle. Look closely and you'll also spot a couple of other "Sex Scenes" veterans: Mo Beasley (suave and kneeling) and Shannon Lower (red hair, low-cut black shirt, great big smile), who were there to contribute a hot and beautiful poetry-and-movement duet.

You can't say that "Sex Scenes" hasn't spun off a lot of creative partnerships!

Go here for further info about Abiola.

The Sex -Tape Thing

2009-08-21T15:37:57Z

It's a celebrity sextape! No, it's just some friends having fun! In the nude.

There's a celebrity sex-tape angle in "Sex Scenes." Is the celebrity sex-tape the defining artistic form of our age?

Alexa Linkage

2009-08-05T15:45:00Z

Alexa recalls some of her piercings.
"My father always told me to do something I love," Danielle writes, explaining why she became an escort. Alexa runs that website too.
Alexa also turned up this history of the courtesan. If you haven't guessed: The smart, feisty, and amazingly forthright Alexa -- who is working as an escort while making her way through grad school -- is one of our favorite sex bloggers.

We're in Jakubowski's "Best Erotica"!

2009-06-15T13:23:31Z

We're thrilled to learn that one of our Sex Scenes stories "Detention" was selected for Maxim Jakubowski's next Mammoth Book of Best Erotica #9 which will be out in January 2010.

"Detention" is about a young man who visits one of his high school teachers, who's in jail for having had sex with a student. What does he really want from her? And what does she really want from him?

I won't give too much away, but I will volunteer that the story is beautifully, sexily, and hilariously performed on our audio by Jake Thomas and Marisa Landow.

Jane Austen's Other Side

2009-06-14T01:10:28Z

Finally a Jane Austen adaptation even the "Sex Scenes" team can enjoy:

Metzger

2009-06-11T00:18:00Z

The trailer for Radley Metzger's 1970 "The Lickerish Quartet." Metzger was major -- Polly and Ray worship his work -- and is overdue for rediscovery.

Go take a look at "The Fold," the funny and sexy webseries we co-made with the brilliant young director Matt Lambert. You'll definitely see the Metzger influence at work.

Erotica Linkage

2009-06-09T16:37:31Z

Tony and Peggy Comstock (of the very interesting alt-porn company Comstock Films) have started a new blog/community on the theme of: What to do when you take your digital camera into the bedroom.
Broken penises, yikes.
Escort Missy writes about her clients' "other women" -- ie., their wives.
Lacey Steven's real-estate business was tanking, so she changed fields.
Kimberly lists 10 things she wishes she'd done during her years as a stripper.
New England-bred Polly-Vous Francais finds herself immersed in France's culture of flirtation -- and liking it.
Here's a tribute to that great archetype, the Frenchwoman.

Theatre Askew in Williamsburg

2009-06-07T16:43:00Z

Polly and I are huge fans of the Downtown Queer Theater specialists Theatre Askew. So we had a great time going out to Williamsburg and catching up with "The Tale of the Good Whistleblower of Chaillot's Caucasian Mother and Her Other Children of a Lesser Marriage Chalk Circle," their latest piece of brilliant mischief. We partied afterwards with cast, crew, and assorted hangers-on. Time for some snaps.

Polly and me with the show's director Jason Jacobs:

Jason, who's a topnotch performer himself, is one of our main actors in "Sex Scenes."

Polly with Jason's Theatre Askew co-conspirator Tim Cusack (caught mid-pizza) and the hilarious and touching Debbie Troche. Tim and Debbie really tore the stage apart.

Polly had a great time yakking with the show's playwright Stan Richardson.

From Charlton Griffin

2009-05-23T12:27:56Z

Great responses to "Sex Scenes" keep coming in. The award-winning audiobook producer and narrator Charlton Griffin has this to say:

Raymond Chandler meets Larry Flynt! This is immensely entertaining. In fact, you'll run off the road listening to this. With chapters with titles like 'Dick Worship,' you know this is not your average audiobook. Don't worry, nothing hardcore here, just adult language. And truly hilarious. Bravo!

Now that's a very pleasing and insightful compliment!

Charlton's own audiobooks are some of the best -- and classiest -- ever created. Check them out at Audible. Type either "Charlton Griffin" or "Audio Connoisseur" into the Search box.