Jessica Halem
Sun in Gemini. Moon in Sagittarius. Mind in gutter. Jessica Halem is what happens when you mix a hippie Midwest upbringing with a Sarah Lawrence education. The nationally touring comic brings brains and bawdiness to her racy, politically charged stage act and the result is little like a horny Gloria Steinem on nitrous oxide. “Humor is a powerful weapon for social justice,” says the former globetrotting executive assistant to feminist icon Bella Abzug and former Executive Director of the Lesbian Community Cancer Project. “No one knows what to expect from me,” she adds. “People hear lesbian feminist and are surprised when I start talking about glory holes. But that’s why I’m here, to complicate the way queer people are seen.” Jessica’s one-woman show Bad Feminist was such a huge hit at last year’s HOT! Festival that she landed her own monthly show at Dixon Place. She returns to the festival this year with See Something, Gay Something.
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