Dennis is joined via Zoom by model-actor-artist-costumer designer John Coulter to discuss his appearance in the new documentary All Man: The International Male Story, which documents the rise and demise of the West Hollywood-based clothing store and mail-order catalog. In the interview, John recalls his first exposure to the IM catalog as a budding gay teen, how the IM crews were almost all straight, the fun of modeling flamboyant pieces he would never wear in real life and getting recognized on the street by fans of the catalogs. He also recounts traveling to Cuba for a down-low IM shoot only to have the US government rule that none of the photos could be used after the catalogs had been printed. John also talks about his work as an artist, painting fine art pieces of beloved characters like Snow White and Cruella DeVille to be sold at Disney galleries. Other topics include: working with CIndy Crawford, Madonna, Lil Kim and Mary J. Blige, learning aerial tricks to he could play Tarzan in a Disney show, judgmental Wizard of Oz fans, modeling in New York versus LA, his diet and exercise routine and his dream of designing costumes for Broadway musicals. www.johncoulterdesigns.com
Dennis is joined via Zoom by the cast of the hit play Tilda Swinton Answers An Ad On Craigslist for a few rousing rounds of You Don't Know My Life! The lineup includes Tom Lenk, Jayne Entwistle, Mark Jude Sullivan and Byron Lane who is also the playwright. Inspired by the play’s storyline of Tilda Swinton moving in with a gay guy in Weho, Dennis poses these questions: Describe a memorable encounter you've had with a celebrity and Roommate story. Go.The answers involve everything from animal hoarding to tampon thievery to losing your virginity to a sexy weatherman to observing Chris Pine's "look ma, no hands" urinal technique and being simultaneously grossed out and turned on. www.tildaplay.com
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Alex Liu, the co-director and star of the documentary A Sexplanation,in which he attempts to right the wrongs of his sorely inadequate American sex education by going on the road and talking with psychologists, sex researchers—and even a Jesuit priest. Alex talks about the shame and anger he felt for years around sex, hanging out with "sex nerds" at the Kinsey Institute and what it was like to masturbate on camera in an MRI machine for the film. Other topics include: Porn Hub search results, nudism, how the film brought him closer to his parents, which countries are doing it right in terms of sex education and being called out by his mother as a sloppy teen masturbator. www.asexplanation.com
DNR STUDIOS hosts E Bradshaw, Jaimie Kelton, Romaine Patterson, Adam Sank, Joselyn Contin, & Jonathan Valdez join host Dennis Hensley to play a special Pride Edition of You Don't Know My Life! Listen and laugh as the hosts serve up surprising and occasionally scandalous answers to the following two questions: YOU’RE WRITING AN ARTICLE BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE CALLED “A PRIDE TO REMEMBER.” WHAT HAPPENS IN IT? and WHAT’S A PROVOCATIVE INSCRIPTION OR IMAGE YOU’VE WORN ON A T-SHIRT. The answers involve lesbian love, a stranger named Elvis, a Gaga-Grande downpour and lying down with dogs. To book a YKDML Virtual Game for your crew, visit www.YouDontKnowMyLife.com or buy the boxed game on Amazon
Dennis connects via Zoom with filmmaker Peter McDowell whose documentary Jimmy In Saigon is showing at the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco on Sunday, June 19th at 1:15 PM at the historic Castro Theater and will be available to stream nationwide through Frameline.org from June 24th to 30th. The Frameline program describes the film this way: "When his golden-haired, blue-eyed brother Jimmy mysteriously died in Vietnam in 1975, gay filmmaker Peter McDowell was just a kid, growing up within his family’s veil of silence. As an adult, armed with a video camera, Peter embarks on a quest to uncover the possibly queer brother he never knew."He talks about the 12-year odyssey he embarked on to make the movie, the use of animation in the fim, what his family thinks of the finished movie and Jimmy's quest to "explore hedonistic pleasures like never before." Other topics include: taking Uber motorcyles in Saigon, the regular Zoom meetings he has with groups of documentarians that keep him motivated, why the movies All That Jazz and Hair rocked his world, feeling connected to Harvey Milk, his ex-boyfriend-turned-Executive Producer Dan Savage, coming out in the mid-80's, his tips for tracking down people in other countries who haven't been heard from in decades and the beauty of brutal honesty. www.jimmyinsaigon.com
Dennis is joined via soon by Mark Nubar & Jason Arnold (AKA Shyboy) the musicians and club promoters behind the upcoming mash-up dance party Madonna Summer, which is returning for Pride on June 11th at the 10 ½ nightclub in Downtown Los Angeles. Jason and Mark talk about their love of diva wordplay, why the music of Donna Summer and Madonna work so well together, how both singers were pioneers in their own way and what it feels like behind the deejay booth when the crowd is going nuts for what you’re doing. They also discuss their other diva mashup parties: Britney Houston, Gaga Lipa and Riyonce and break down what they love about each of the singers they feature. Other topics include: how Mark and Jason first met at a lesbian bar in the Castro, the song lyric they got wrong for years, the songs that remind them of Pride, why Prince goes well with Christmas, the ecstasy of backroom hookups, how much they miss record stores and what music, in general, has meant to them in their lives. www.djshyboy.com
In a departure from the regular interview format, this episode features excerpts from a live stage show Dennis Hensley’s THE MISMATCH GAME on May 22, 2022. This was the night the show passed the $200,000-raiased mark since it’s debut in 2004. After being introduced and taking the stage, Dennis decided on a whim to record the proceedings using the audio recorder on his iPhone so the audio quality is not the best. Still, he hopes the episode gives you some laughs as well as a feeling for how thrilling it was to reach this milestone. Appearing with Dennis on stage are Danny Casillas (Reba Areba), Jackie Beat (Bea Arthur), Julie Brown (Queen Elizabeth), Lory Tatoulian (Sharon Osborne), Marc Samuel (Morgan Freeman) and Tom Lenk (Tilda Swinton)
Dennis is joined via Zoom by playright-director S. Asher Gelman and actor Noah Bridgestock from the 3-character play Afterflow, which is currently showing in Los Angeles. The play is about a gay married couple Josh (Noah) and Alex (played by James Hayden Rodriguez) whose relationship gets tested when they become romantically and sexually involved with a younger massage therapist. Asher discusses the origin of the story, which is based on his own experiences with polyamory, how the show has involved since its breakout New York run five years ago and how he and his cast approached the play's more intimate scenes. Noah discusses what drew him to the play, how he approaches the role of Josh, the financially successful man in the middle and the what it's like to take a shower on stage. The pair of them talk about the reactions they've gotten from audiences, the audible audience gasp that happens in every show, and their belief that it's a "gross violation" when an audience member steals ...
Dennis connects over Zoom with playwright, filmmaker and performer Del Shores to talk about his first novel The Sordid Lives Saga: Before the Trip, which features the characters from his hit play-turned-movie-turned-series Sordid Lives. He talks about how the book came about, his choice to write about his characters' lived before the events of the play, getting amazing fan art from Sordid enthusiasts and turning a condo in Palm Springs into a Sordid Lives-themed AirBNB. He also talks about his writing process, the importance of writing every day and how he does his first drafts longhand in pencil with lots of erasing. Other topics include: teaching acting to college students in Lousiana for three weeks every year, coping with rejection and disappointment, the rush he gets from standup, the sexiness of bell bottoms, ordering monkeys through the mail, his complicated feelings about his home state of Texas, starting his own foundation to support young writers and how he learned to stir the shit from his mother. www.delshores.com
Dennis connects via Zoom with Toren Heymann and Jonathan Agassi, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based filmmaker and subject of the new documentary Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life. The film documents about the rags-to-riches-to rags odyssey of Israeli porn performer Jonathan Agassi who rose to prominence in films like Men Of Israel, Trapped In The Game and Jonathan Agassi Goes Raw, all from director Michael Lucas. Jonathan talks about how he got into porn, the power that came with changing his name and the parts of the business that he loved the most, from having sex with beautiful men to buying lots of shoes. He also talks about his descent into drug use, the first time he tried crystal, how he'd disappear for weeks at a time, and his decision to to let Tomer film him using drugs on camera. He also recalls showing up to early Q & As of the documentary high on drugs and how watching the film and seeing himself use drugs on camera inspired him to get sober. Tomer talks about what drew him to Jonathan as a subject, the moments in the process where he knew he was making a much more serious and intense film than the porn romp he started making and the challenge of getting mainstream audiences to treat this as they would any other acclaimed, award-winning documentary. Other topics include: the deeo relationship Jonathan has with his mother that's at the heart of the film, the Pride Festival where Jonathan first realized the power of his sex appeal, why he loved attending the Hustlaball in Berlin, taking inspiration from Madonna's Sex book, Jonathan's current job working in a supermarket where he often gets recognized by fans of his porn and the warning from Oprah that went unheeded. www.heymannfilms.com