Freedom Sex Rang Out at In The Flesh, July 8

The Independence Day and Night Hangover was cured by a healthy dose of sex tales with a freedom theme at July's In The Flesh. Celebrating not just the freedom to say fuck in a crowded room but also 35 years of Hustler magazine publishing, all of the stories read demonstrated how lucky we are to be able to express ourselves erotically, uncensored, and that we should take every opportunity to do so. In that regard, In The Flesh thanks Hustler Hollywood for giving us the venue and the support of all the staff to let sex writing in all its wonderful forms ring out on the second Wednesday of every month.

Our first freedom sex tale came from Dayle Dermatis reading as Andrea Dale popping her reader's virgin cherry with a scintillating delivery of "Fanning The Flames" from the sizzling Playing With Fire anthology edited by Alyson Tyler. It was a tale of a woman trying to break free from a relationship and came with great imagery describing the simple pleasure of a man's face in her cleavage and the release of 21 smacks.

Next I (Stan Kent) walked the audience through the Erotica Revealed reviews of the month engaging the crowd in a discussion of why do we read erotica - "to excite, stimulate, titillate, entertain - get off" was the consensus and while realizing the subjectivity involved therein we took strong exception to the statement of one of the Erotica Revealed reviewers that "The fact is that most erotica is deliberately devoid of ideas, stylistically clumsy, and grindingly lacking in talent or vision as a result." From our experience at In The Flesh, nothing could be further from the truth. In a month where we celebrated Freedom Sex, the reviewer's statement dismissing most erotica seemed censorious,pretentious posing that smelled of jaded erotic snobbery rather than celebrating the diversity offered by titiilating tales from one-hand readers to classic works.

Our next read from Alyson Mead was a joy of discovery that started slow and hit like a bolt of lightning. She read from her forthcoming novel, Swallow, painting the vivid picture of a guy, Swallow, who just can't seem to connect with women but he has a teddy bear named Fucker. Enough said. As the encounter between man and bear played out looks of guilty recognition shot around the room. This was a tale of the freedom to fuck-up and find redemption in the unlikeliest of paws - I mean places. We can't wait for the publication of Swallow and look forward to celebrating its release at Hustler Hollywood's In the Flesh. Bring your own Fucker.

Next it was time for Phone Sex from Donna George Storey who read a very steamy passage from Amorous Woman courtesy of my Blackberry speaker and a phallically poised microphone.

Donna was really good at giving phone and described in dripping detail her preferred outfit for when she needs stimulus as in writing or in this case, reading her words over the phone. A picture is worth a thousand words - so here you go. This is what Donna was wearing as she captivated us with her true-life inspired story of an American woman discovering her sexual nature in the Floating World of Japan. Next time you read at In The Flesh in the flesh, Donna, we except you to be so attired in your inspirational garb...



Bringing up the rear of our Freedom Sex night was Sam Saturday. He read his erotic poetry to an audience who was simply blown away. Sam's words were a hilarious and beautifully crafted demonstration of whey why we do In The Flesh. While on the surface very Dr. Seuss-like in rhyme and pacing, Sam's poetry, especially the anal variety, showed that you've got to have the sexual vocabulary to pull it off. We'd all just love to be flies on the wall when he's bouncing his work off of accomplished erotica writer and girlfriend Eden Bradley and his two cats, Sasha and Xev and his Teddy Bear...


The room full of smiling listeners buzzed from Sam's erotic poetry so I issued the challenge to the audience - a swag bag full of Hustler merchandise to the soul bravest enough to come up and celebrate Freedom Sex by reading one of Sam's poems - chosen by Sam. At first it looked like no one would rise to the occasion but then stood the valiant Tim and read well inspite of the audience chuckles that permeated almost every naughty word. Never have we heard so many words for the bum...

We munched on some tasty Hustler cafe nibbles, and as I played some appropriate music (Queen's "I Want To Break Free" for example...) the authors and hosts gathered under the beaver mag display for a group photo. And now is an appropriate time to mention that the next In The Flesh will be on August 12 and will feature lesbian erotica from Where the Girls Are and Girl Crazy. You can bring your favorite Fucker if you like...