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I feel like I’ve been on the road forever. I live out of a suitcase and sleep in unknown beds. I don’t know the people I’m staying with before I arrive, but by the time I leave we are best friends. I fly into each city exhausted and excited, ready for the next chapter. I ring the bell on unfamiliar doors with breath held and excited smiles.
A manicured lawn with sprinkler on a timer in Los Angeles. A buzzer and an elevator in Brooklyn. Brick walls, leaded glass windows, and stairs that go to the top in London. Mystical symbols and a doormat in the shape of a curly moustache in Copenhagen. Graffiti, broken glass, and the smell of coal fires in Berlin. Each city has a doorway to another friend, another community.
In LA they organize Kinky Salon like a movie set. There’s a director, a producer, and all the actors in the play. It’s incredibly well organized with printed, color-coded spreadsheets defining every aspect of the event. On the night it feels effortless.
In New York it’s more like an art project—creative people working together with a sense of struggle and achievement. It’s a ground roots project with its heart firmly rooted in Avant Garde cabaret.
London is like a rally—a passionate crowd who gathers for a cause they believe in. Their process is based in consensus, and everyone in the core team has a say on how things get done. With fifty volunteers at every event and a crowd of 300+, it’s an impressive feat of people wrangling.
The Copenhagen team is fiercely egalitarian and action oriented. With Scandinavian efficiency, every team member has a job to do and they don’t slow each other down. Like a dozen firecrackers going off at the same time, they each shoot out on a trajectory, creating a magnificent spectacle.
Berlin is just cool. It’s laid back and artsy. It’s a jazz band. It’s improv. There are times where it feels like it might degenerate into chaos, but at the last moment the team picks it up for a flawless finale.
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Report from the Road