I LIED TO YOU!

 

Subscribe to My Blog! August 9, 2024 I LIED TO YOU! (Click Here 4 Tix 4 8/10 Lesbo Solo) I know, I know. I told you I would perform "Are You the One?", which involves me running through the audience falling in love and breaking up with one woman after another. I'm not going to do that because, with an absolute time limit of 60 minutes, there's not enough time. Actually, "Are You the One?" was always a dicey proposition because I was very worried that what was hilarious for a 40- or even 50-year-old actress to do would be pathetic when performed by a 77-year-old actress. Below is a poster from a run of ONE FOOL in Amsterdam, which begins with "Are You the One?" You can see that's from long ago, because, at the time, you could bring in an audience by using a review that compared you to Woody Allen. Actually, I always thought of Woody Allen as "The heterosexual male Terry Baum." But. as far as I know, he never used that in his publicity. And I certainly would never dignify him with that title now, after all I know about his personal life. My personal life is pristine by comparison -- in its own way. (The fantastic poster is by my friend Lucille Moquette.) But I digress. And I also told you I was going to do a scene where "Terry's mother (a hand puppet) comes back from the dead, to hound Terry to marry her gay male friend so that Mom will have something to brag about in heaven." I'm not going to do that either. I DID do some work on that scene. I came up with an idea of Mom singing a song about "naches," which is a Yiddish word that refers to what your children do that you would like to brag about to other parents. Children are supposed to give their parents naches -- that is, things to brag about. I gave my parents literally no naches when they were alive (until after I confronted my dad and demanded he be proud of me, but I digress.) And I thought it would be very funny to have Mom demand naches in a song. I asked David Hyman, my lyricist, to write the song, and he came up with some great lines: I want naches I deserve some naches. Like my friends should say “hmm That young lesbo’s done some- thing to shock us.” That's just a taste of the lyrics. So I did the work of coming up with an idea, and David did the real work of writing lyrics. And then I realized I did not have time for this scene either. I'm sure I will perform it eventually, but not as part of LESBO SOLO. Also, I'm a little concerned about the "Do not speak ill of the dead" issue. Am I speaking ill of my mom? Should I worry about some old saying that I don't necessarilly believe is true anyhow? Would Mom, who never said a Yiddish word, be insulted to sing about naches? Does she have the ability to curse me from Heaven, which I don't believe in anyhow? I don't have to think about these issues because truly there's no time for the song. Here's me and Mom from the workshop production of WAITING FOR THE PODIATRIST: This first Mom puppet was made from an oven mitt by my dear friend Mary Wings, who was the first person to create a gay comic. Sadly, she died on July 3. There is an obituary of Mer in the New York Times. But I digress. Anyhow, the other things I said were true. And LESBO SOLO opens tomorrow night. Info on all the performances below. Do come. Terry 2024 San Francisco Fringe Festival Presents LESBO SOLO One Dyke's Life in the Theater Saturday, August 10 @ 7:30pm Saturday, August 24 @ 12:00pm Sunday, August 25 @ 3:00pm   277 Taylor Street in San Francisco   Tix: $17.85 lesbo-solo.eventbrite.com

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STEPPING INTO THE UNKNOWN WITH LESBO SOLO

Subscribe to My Blog! August 6, 2024 Stepping into the Unknown Lesbo Solo Opens Sat. 8/10! (Click Here 4 Tix) Saturday, August 10 @ 7:30pm Saturday, August 24 @ 12:00pm Sunday, August 25 @ 3:00pm San Francisco Fringe Festival 277 Taylor Street in San Francisco Tix: $17.85 lesbo-solo.eventbrite.com Usually, by the time I open a play, I have had so much feedback from other people that I am very certain that the audience will approve of what I have written. But with LESBO SOLO, I'm working without a director, which is very unusual. Even when I'm producing something that I've performed many times for years, I have a director guiding me, as I did when I just had a run of HICK at the Marsh. Now here I am, doing something basically new without that support. I have gotten a lot of help with the script from Carolyn on Zoom. Even though we're far apart, my long-time collaborator is still necessary to me. But bringing the script to life, I'm pretty much on my own. Thank goodness my new friend Susan has agreed to be my stage manager. She has been incredibly helpful and hard-working. This is a very minimal show technically. But still there are things to be done, and she is up for doing everything -- and then doing publicity on the side. And Susan's comments on the play have been perceptive and helpful. She's been been such a gift. Thank you, goddess. But still I'm far more solo than I've been for a long time. And I haven't had enough feedback to say for sure that LESBO SOLO will work as an evening in the theater. I guess I'll find out on Saturday. It's exciting and a bit nerve-wracking. I'm stepping off into the unknown. This is all reminding me of when I did my solo play IMMEDIATE FAMILY for the first time. It was at the first women's theater festival, in Santa Cruz in 1983. IMMEDIATE FAMILY is about Virginia, at the bedside of her comatose wife, Rosie. She has no legal right to say anything about Rosie's medical treatment because of course they're not married. There were no domestic partners back then either. This is me as Virginia, below. She worked for the Post Office. I was doing a serious play for the very first time. It was about the need for gay marriage, and I really didn't know if I could pull it off. I thought maybe people would feel ... well, I guess, basically that they couldn't take me seriously. That I was a good comic writer and actor, but I couldn't do serious drama. I really didn't know if it would work So I performed. And NOBODY LAUGHED. Of course it was a serious play and they weren't SUPPOSED to laugh. That was the whole POINT. But now that they were silent, I had no idea what the hell they thought. I'd never experienced that before. It was my very first time performing my own work without that constant reassurance from the audience that they were following along and enjoying the show. That was very unsettling. At the end, when people applauded, the lights were totally in my eyes. Usually they bring up the lights on the audience so the actors can see their faces. But this time they didn't. So I couldn't see anyone's expression. So I went back to my dressing room still wondering if the play worked. In those days, people would often come backstage to the dressing room. Almost nobody does that anymore. But then it was very common. Even people who didn't know the actor, if they were very excited by the performance, would come back to the dressing room. And certainly good friends always did. I enjoyed that. So I'm waiting for people to come back and tell me what they thought and I'm waiting and waiting. And by that point I'm pretty sure the play is a flop, and people are embarrassed to face me. And then FINALLY Z Budapest, who I had never met, walks in and tells me that I had gotten a standing ovation, which I didn't know because of the lights in my eyes, and IMMEDIATE FAMILY is a huge success! Z is a witch, so maybe she somehow felt my need for her presence. I will always be so grateful to her for coming backstage to congratulate me. So on Saturday night, I will once again be stepping into the unknown. I hope you can come. But don't come backstage after. You can't do that at the Fringe. Wait outside and we'll go to Little Delhi restaurant, and you can tell me what you thought. Terry Saturday, August 10 @ 7:30pm Saturday, August 24 @ 12:00pm Sunday, August 25 @ 3:00pm Cutting Ball Theater 277 Taylor Street in San Francisco Tix: $17.85 lesbo-solo.eventbrite.com

 

My New Play, LESBO SOLO, opens Aug. 10 at the SF Fringe Festival

 

Subscribe to My Blog! July 29, 2024 My new play opens Aug.10! 3 SHOWS ONLY! PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. PODCASTS, EVENTS, INFO, POSTERS: LilithTheater.com The 2024 San Francisco Fringe Festival Presents LESBO SOLO One Dyke's Life in the Theater

"BAUM IS PROVOCATIVELY COMIC!" -- San Francisco Chronicle Saturday, August 10 @ 7:30pm Saturday, August 24 @ 12:00pm Sunday, August 25 @ 3:00pm Cutting Ball Theater 277 Taylor Street in San Francisco Tix: $17.85 lesbo-solo.eventbrite.com I created LESBO SOLO for a performance in a dyke bar in South Africa. Now I'm bringing it back to my hometown Fringe Festival.  You'll see scenes from new & past work, all exploring what it has meant to be this particular lesbian in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In “Are You the One?”, I run around the audience, falling in love (and breaking up) with one woman after another.  In “Lesbians for WHAT?!,” I march in the Pride Parade in a contingent so politically incorrect that no one will march with me.  I tell my coming-out story, which includes: Homicidal rage at male bikers trying to break into a women’s music festival and... First-time lesbian lust while pretending to be a baby wrestling with another baby in an improvisation.  Also, my mother (a hand puppet) hounds me to marry my gay male friend, a Jewish lawyer, so that she'll have something to brag about in heaven. AND THERE'S MORE! WELL, NOT A HUGE AMOUNT MORE, BUT DEFINITELY MORE. IT'S ALL STRANGE BUT TRUE! except Mom hasn't come back from Heaven  -- yet. She would if she could! There are slides!  There’s a song!  What’s not to like? Do come. Click here for tix.

Thanks Nancy Pelosi, No ThanksBernie & AOC

 

Subscribe to My Blog! July 26, 2024 Thanks Nancy Pelosi, No Thanks Bernie & AOC & Other Thoughts PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. PODCASTS, EVENTS, INFO, POSTERS: LilithTheater.com In this photo it does appear as if Pelosi is threatening to punch Biden's nose. But in real life, she was a great deal more subtle.

THANKS, NANCY PELOSI. At some point in the lengthy struggle to persuade Biden to opt out of running for President, it occurred to me that this was a job for Nancy Pelosi. Besides Biden, she is the dominant Democrat in office, even if she is now "only" a Congresswoman. She's been in it an awfully long time, as he has. They have worked long together. If Pelosi actually said the game was over, then Biden might very well accept her authority to make that judgment. In her coyly diplomatic way, she never publicly said Biden should withdraw. She only said "It's the President's decision." She refrained from saying what she thought that decision should be. On the other hand, she also refrained from saying anything that could be interpreted as meaning, "I support Biden as the Democratic candidate for President." So basically it was clear, to me anyway, what side she was on. I think she hoped Biden would take the hint. But he was not in a hint-taking mood, as we all witnessed. Then both Pelosi and Senator Schumer spoke privately (and I think separately) with Biden. And only THEN did Biden meet with his intimate circle and tell them he'd decided to withdraw. Okay, I haven't done the research to really pin down the sequence of events. But I do believe Pelosi no longer supporting his candidacy was crucial to his giving up. And I am grateful to her for using her power in this way. I'm not used to thinking well of Nancy Pelosi, let alone feeling grateful. I realize she is pretty much universally adored. But I have hated her ever since she voted for the Patriot Act and supported the invasion of Iraq. I ran against her in 2004 because of those particular dastardly votes. I have rarely appreciated how she has used her extraordinary power. But I sure am happy she had all that power to use, to help Biden have the clarity and guts to pull out of the race. NO THANKS, BERNIE & AOC On the other hand, it has been my great joy to ADORE Bernie Sanders and AOC. What the hell did they think they were doing by stoutly backing Biden in all his frailty? Someone explained to me that they had made a deal with Biden that he would aggressively push some of their projects if they stayed with him in the battle to remain the candidate. But if he's incapable of winning, what good would it do them?!? I still don't get it. OTHER THOUGHTS I think it's interesting that so many Democrats of color remained loyal to Biden. It seemed that it was mainly WHITE Democrats who were afraid that a Trump juggernaut would push them out of office along with Biden. But certainly a Trump victory would be at least as bad for black people as for white people. This is another thing I don't get. Do any Bloggellinis have any insights into this question? I would love to hear them. I would like to understand this phenomenon better. Did people of color have more compassion for Biden? Did they identify with him as the underdog? Overall, I am very relieved to have Kamala Harris as a candidate and I'm also very worried about her as a candidate. In the 2020 primaries, she started like gangbusters and then almost immediately washed out. Harris's first elected office was San Francisco District Attorney. Her campaign platform included a commitment to never seek the death penalty. When a policeman was murdered, she was under tremendous political pressure to abandon her principles and seek a death sentence for the defendant. But Harris stood firm. Not many politicians would be that strong. I'll never forget that. All for now, Bloggelinis.

Escape the Overwhelming Present for 80 minutes! See HICK @ 5pm!

 

Subscribe to My Blog! July 14, 2024 Last HICK 5pm Today! Escape the Overwhelming Present for 80 minutes! (Links & Info @ bottom of blog) PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. PODCASTS, EVENTS, INFO, POSTERS: LilithTheater.com My last performance for HICK: A LOVE STORY will be 5pm today at The Marsh. I've grown so much over the last six weeks as an actress. (I like "actress" more than "actor." It's more glamorous.) I'll be sorry to leave these two wonderful women. I don't know when I'll see them again. I'm having a Q&A with the audience after, in honor of it being the last show. And then we (at least Joyce and I) will put in an appearance at the very good Indian restaurant, Aslam Rasoi, across the street. Please join us, if you wish. Terry When FDR became President in 1932, his wife had a lesbian lover... BEST OF 2019 SAN FRANCISCO FRINGE "Valiant, valuable & vivid." -- Baltimore Sun FINAL SHOW! Sunday, July 14, 2024 @ 5pm THE MARSH 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco (near 24th St. BART) Tickets Parking Info

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HICK Meets AI!

 

Subscribe to My Blog! July 10, 2024 HICK Meets AI! + This Sunday is the LAST Show! (Links & Info @ bottom of blog) PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. PODCASTS, EVENTS, INFO, POSTERS: LilithTheater.com I checked out Evite to see if that was a way to publicize my performances. It turned out it wasn't. They charge a hefty service fee for every ticket sold. But in the process of engaging with the website, I was offered the services of AI to help me come up with publicity content. I declined but that didn't matter. AI decided to participate on its own, and came up with this: Get ready for a down-home, country-fried love story with HICK: A Love Story It's gonna be a hootenanny y'all won't wanna miss! I laughed so hard. AI, you sure went down the wrong wormhole with this one! I hope some of you will make it to my very last outing. I'm getting better and better. Last Sunday, I felt very loose, in a good way. I felt like I wasn't just playing the part, I was playing WITH the part. Joyce, my stage manager, is the ultimate connoisseur of my performance, having seen it so many times. She said it was my best ever. That might be true. My friend Susan sent a bunch of her friends to the show, and two of them texted their appreciation to her and used the word "phenomenal." I don't think anyone has ever described the show with that word. I don't take the good reviews personally. Contrary to getting a swelled head, I always have the feeling that they're talking about someone standing right next to me. But "phenomenal" is a pretty nice word. And now, the same old info about the show, with links for tickets at the bottom: THE MARSH PRESENTS Terry Baum in HICK: A LOVE Story Based on Eleanor Roosevelt's 2336 Letters to Lorena Hickok When FDR became President in 1932, his wife had a lesbian lover... BEST OF 2019 SAN FRANCISCO FRINGE "Valiant, valuable & vivid." -- Baltimore Sun FINAL SHOW! Sunday, July 14, 2024 @ 5pm THE MARSH 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco (near 24th St. BART) Tickets Parking Info