So What the Hell Is a Smut Slam?
Smut Slam DC’s Origin Event: The Combustion of a Darling Mimosa
In November of 2015, Diva Darling produced the DC stop on Cameryn Moore’s international tour. In addition to producing the DC premiere of Cameryn’s one-woman play Phone Whore, she booked one of Cameryn’s signature events– Smut Slam– at Bossa DC in Adams Morgan and invited Mindi Mimosa to be on the celebrity judges’ panel.
After the Slam, the room was buzzing like a Hitachi with enthusiasm and bonding. We each went straight to Cameryn wanting to know if there was a way that we could keep doing this amazing event here in DC in between her visits. A few hours over diner food later, the three of us had gang-banged out a framework for the very first Smut Slam International franchise, Smut Slam DC. We had our first solo flight at Lotus Blooms on Valentine’s Day 2016, where we packed the house and sold out the event. Muggle jobs, Capital Fringe, tours, and producing slowed our roll after that, but Smut Slam DC came back more badass than ever as a monthly show in the “Byrd Cage” downstairs at the Songbyrd Cafe in January 2017. We moved to Ten Tigers Parlour in 2018, kicking off with a “Terrible Twos” birthday party for our second year of existence, and well…it’s kind of exploded like a glitter bomb of sex positivity since then! With the much-mourned demise of Ten Tigers in August 2019 (thanks, greedy developers and your stupid rent hikes), we have moved to The Brixton on U Street as of September 2019. In all that time, we’ve formed partnerships with, and featured as judges, everyone from fellow burlesque producers and other sex-pos shows, to sex toy makers, to Planned Parenthood, HIPS, and the Department of Health. As sex educators ourselves, we have been proud to use our sparkly, rowdy platform to support and advocate for sexual health and freedom and the people on the front lines of that vital work.
As for our partnership? Mindi has moved on as of January 2020 and retired from the burlesque scene as well in order to focus on her emerging career as a full-time sex educator and researcher, but she’ll always be part of the Slamily and one of Diva’s BFFs. While our decadent duo-ship lasted, it was like it was meant to be. The two of us came up in the DC Gurly Show together at the start of our respective burlesque careers and hit it off right away. (This pic is from the DCGS Shirts vs. Skins show, just two months after we joined the troupe!) We’ve worked together many times outside Smut Slam, and both of us currently work for Lotus Blooms. If you’re out on the town and there’s a flurry of loud colors, loud voices, and enough glitter to choke a drag queen, you’ve probably found us overstaying our welcome at happy hour.
Join Diva now to activate our collective Smut Slam DC superpowers of oversharing and insatiable curiosity about other people’s sex lives!
Smut Slam International: …And Cameryn Moore Gave Unto Us Smut Slam, and Lo, It Was Good For Us, Baby
Boston, February 2011: Performing artist, sex educator, activist, and phone sex operator Cameryn Moore mounts the first-ever Smut Slam. Her self-stated goal was to create a space of radical acceptance and authenticity, a sex-positive space that’s open and fun and where everyone is able to share their experience and witness each others’ truth. It was an experiment, and it was a success. She brought it with her as she traveled North America and the UK for the better part of every year, touring her one-woman shows to Fringe festivals, small theaters, and even house shows. It became part of her regular repertoire, along with its spinoff siblings Smut Slam Cabaret and Anonymous Sex, and her other sex-positive writing and performance work including workshops, the Smut Stand, her blog and Terrible Sex Tips article series, and more recently BEDx.
Fast forward to 2016, and Cameryn’s longtime dream of a Smut Slam franchise bursts forth into reality. After working out a basic franchise structure and agreement for Smut Slam DC, she found hosts in over dozen other cities in the US, Canada, and the UK, and Smut Slam International was officially born.
Check out Cameryn’s own words about the growing popularity of Smut Slam, and why it’s still a little bit of a mystery to her. (And hey– if you love Smut Slam, please consider becoming a patron of Cameryn’s work at Patreon! We love her and want her to continue to be able to make the world a more sex-positive place.)
A World of Smut
These are the other cities and dates where you can find Smut Slam events (start planning your vacations accordingly!) Links will be added as other franchises’ sites go live, but in the meantime, you can find upcoming events for all cities at the Smut Slam International Facebook page.
**A NOTE FOR 2020: With the worldwide spread of coronavirus, most if not all Slams are not currently hosting live shows. However, we’ve collectively developed a fully-online model for the show. At the moment, Smut Slam Europe happens weekly on Wednesdays at 3 PM EST, and Smut Slam DC remains monthly on 3rd Thursdays at 8 PM EST (and will soon become Smut Slam USA). Check the Smut Slam International Facebook page for updates about live and online shows.**
United States
Boston: First Tuesday of the month
New York City: First Wednesday of the month
Chicago: Launching autumn 2019
Canada
Victoria, BC: quarterly, next in September
Ottawa: Last Thursday of the month (on summer break)
Winnipeg: Last Tuesday of the month (on summer break)
Europe & UK
Berlin, Germany: Third Monday of the month
Brighton, UK: Returning from hiatus in autumn 2019
Cardiff: Bi-monthly, next on Oct. 8th
Copenhagen: Monthly, next on Sept 26th
Edinburgh: Semi-regular, inquire for next date
Leipzig: Monthly, next on Sept. 18th
London, UK: Second Wednesday of the month (location alternates between the Dogstar in Brixton and The Apple Tree in Camden)
Munich: First Sunday of the month
Australia
Melbourne: Quarterly, next in November
South America
Santiago, Chile: Launching autumn 2019
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