Reviews, previews, reports

 

REVIEWS:

Luna Poetry:
"There was some weirdness, some humour, & or course a lot of sexuality- all of which combined to show the word EROTIC in a hundred different lights"
http://poetrymonthly.wordpress.com/lunar-poetry-reviews-2/velvet-tongue-270714/

Huffington Post:
"the night was riotous and highly amusing"
http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/5748764

QX blog:
"a heady, involving evening that had us laughing, licking, touching, seeing, believing and enjoying sex with its doers and speakers."
http://www.qxmagazine.com/blog-event/velvet-tongue-winter-2014/

QX Magazine:
"At Velvet Tongue, all boundaries and genres were free to be explored in how we treat sex, both linguistically and literally."
http://www.qxmagazine.com/feature/velvet-tongue/

AfterGlow:
"Velvet Tongue is quite possibly the best regular erotic literary night in London."
http://afterglowart.com/the-velvet-tongue-experience/

This Is Cabaret:
"Velvet Tongue had the perfect mix of engaging and mesmerising wordplay and pure hilarity"

http://www.thisiscabaret.com/review-velvet-tongue

thingsipickedupontheway blog:
"I was really impressed with the night in total (...). I feel like i expanded my mind, took in some culture and best of all got inspired."
http://thingsipickedupontheway.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/velvet-tongue.html

Remote Goat: 

"Fun, diverse and so sexy!" (Five stars)

http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/review_view.php?uid=6555  

Erotic Review Magazine: 

"Whether you're a performer, a poet, or just like listening to other people's fantasies, Velvet Tongue offers a place to hear and be heard." 

http://francescadarimini.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/review-velvet-tongue/

Evening Standard: 

"Velvet Tongue is the word-spinning sister of the burlesque revival that has stormed London - humorously titillating with tongues very firmly in cheeks" "...a wonderfully entertaining way to spend the night" 

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/stage/erotic-literary-salon-7594661.html

Metro:

"For literature really laid bare, poet Ernesto Sarezale’s Velvet Tongue in Shoreditch is just the titillating  ticket. He started his quarterly open mic night dedicated to erotic writing in February 2011 and attracts nearly 100 people to each event."
http://metro.co.uk/2012/11/21/fleshing-out-the-story-the-rise-of-erotic-book-clubs-537703/

Erotic Meet:

“It's the perfect place to try new work and show off your talent with a room buzzing full of writers and fans of poetry and word. It's not simply readings though, the performers that it attracts are hands on, hansom and props and interaction with the audience often occur...”
http://eroticmeet.net/birthday

PREVIEWS:

"Those who consider Jane Austen’s back catalogue to be a mite racy, look away now."

http://www.thisiscabaret.com/tic-recommends-eight-halloween-shows-get-fangs/

"If you aren't aware of Ernesto’s legendary erotic literary soirees, you’re in for a brazen treat"
http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2014/07/17/dare-to-bare-at-the-velvet-tongue-erotic-literary-salon/

"it’s nights like Velvet Tongue that made the empire what it is today…."
http://london.lecool.com/event/velvet-tongue/

"For those that aren’t aware of the night, it’s nothing like the drab, pc, ‘right-on’ vibe you might expect from a poetry event. It’s more of a literary circus, and yet the atmosphere of the room and the people who attend is the most encouraging, friendly, intimate and accepting that I’ve ever come across. Literally, anything goes."

http://gideonksays.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/velvet-tongue-26th-may-2014/

"I want as many voices as possible; the idea of making people aware that whoever they are and whatever they want to present, they are welcome is vital. (...) I have the impression that there are people who use Velvet Tongue as an opportunity to try things they wouldn’t do at other events -  I like that very much."

http://www.beigeuk.com/2013/07/stripped-bare-ernesto-sarezale/

“You are always guaranteed to see Ernesto whip off his towel in the name of performance art”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/12/inside-london-s-underground-burlesque-and-fetish-scene.html

"A much better way to get better acquainted with your fellow Londoners than having your nose in someone’s armpit on the tube."
http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2012/07/30/todays-olympic-news-travel-and-nudity/

"Featuring naked poetry and sensual performances galore, Velvet Tongue at Bar Kick is an erotic literary soiree and cabaret night like no other"

ViewLondon
 

"...exploratory literary night of performance and poetry with a raunchy edge" 

Time Out, Cabaret section 

"a warm, open-minded and receptive audience.'"

Time Out, Gay and Lesbian section

"sure to get tongues wagging"

Now-There-This

"With a line-up of acclaimed writers (including Jonathon Kemp, a favourite of mine!), reading selections from their most enticing works, the evening will also have an open mic slot."

Coffee, Cake and Kink

REPORTS:

from Carl Chamberlain:

http://velvettongueuk.blogspot.com.es/2013/12/carl-chamberlains-facebook-note-on.html

from James McKay:  

http://mckaypoetry.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/tonite-lets-all-make-love-in-london-%E2%80%93-velvet-tongue-report/
from Jane Fae:
http://janefae.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/on-the-boards-again/

from Paul Burston:  

http://www.paulburston.com/Paul_Burston/Blog/Entries/2011/8/8_%E2%80%98HOT_LEGS%E2%80%99_AND_THE_HOT_AUGUST_FRINGE.html

from Rubyyy Jones:  

https://rubyyyjones.com/theblog/2011/05/17/velvet-spank/

August Velvet Tongue: THANKS! (brief report & photos)

After two amazing editions of London's Erotic Literary Soiree in February and May, the summer edition of Velvet Tongue was yet again very special with fantastic guest acts (Paul Burston, Holestar and Lucy Leagrave) and a varied and fabulous array of open mic performers. The space was packed with a wonderfully receptive and enthusiastic audience! Thanks again to Stephanie Ware and all the staff at Bar Kick for their support.

(Sadly, Chris Young, one of the scheduled guest readers, was not able to come down from Glasgow and could not join us on the night.)

Here is a little report about the event by headliner Paul Burston: http://www.paulburston.com/Site/Blog/

The performers in August were (in order of appearance): Lucy Leagrave, Paul Burston, Holestar, Paolo Ferrari, Ernesto Sarezale, The Illegible Batchelor, Jake Royston, Andrew Fiver, Gareth Storey, David Allen and Mel Jones.

Scroll down for some more photos.

[For more (uncensored) pix, click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarezale/ ]

Velvet Tongue SUMMER EDITION

After two fabulous Winter and Spring editions, Ernesto Sarezale brings VELVET TONGUE back for the Summer Season.

A Literary Soiree dedicated to erotic writing and performance. The event on facebook.

Guest readers on Sunday 7 August 2011 include:

• PAUL BURSTON - http://www.paulburston.com
• HOLESTAR - http://holestar.webs.com
• CHRIS YOUNG - http://www.chrisyoung.biz
• LUCY LEAGRAVE - http://vintagepoison.co.uk

NO OPEN MIC SLOTS LEFT for the August show! (the quota's full!).

=====

In the meantime, have a look at this Call for Erotic Stories.

=====

Velvet Tongue celebrates the hot, the sweet, the viscous, the carnal, the sexy, the racy, the provocative, the lustful, the voluptuous, the libidinous, the playful, the flirtatious, the teasing, the suggestive, the explicit, the cheeky, the bold, the brash, the brassy, the flashy, the risque, the pervy, the licentious, the queer, the depraved and the downright kinky.

There is no dress code as such but sexy attire, lingerie and flesh exposure will be most welcome...

Keep your velvet tongue hot & viscous!

Call for Erotic Stories

I just received this from Barbara Cardy. Please contact her (details below) with your submissions:

Monthly Erotic eBooks – Call for Submissions:

 

I am putting together 3 mini eBooks every month for publisher Constable & Robinson.  Each mini eBook will comprise four short erotic stories of around 2,500 words or one longer story of 5,000 words and two shorter ones of 2,500.

 

The three categories are:

 

Gay

Lesbian

Straight

 

The story should preferably be written in the 3^rd person and should grab the reader’s attention in the first few sentences and hit the ground running with a jolly good plot!  I would prefer unpublished stories for the time being.  Twosomes, threesomes, groups, spanking, BDSM etc are all welcome subjects.

 

I know what follows sounds a bit pernickety, but it really does help my time management if you could stick to it as closely as possible: 

 

Please send me a maximum of two stories per genre – i.e. 2 Heterosexual, 2 Lesbian and 2 Gay would be fine, and each story must be in a separate email so I can divide them between email folders.  In the email subject box please put either Straight,  Lesbian or Gay and attach your story as a Word document in an email.  The title of the word document should be the title of your story. 

 

Use a plain text such as Arial, Calibri or Times and no text boxes or special formatting etc. as it’s a bugger to get rid of!   Please start at the top of the page – no need to start half way down.  Put your name, address and email address, plus word count.  The title of your story should appear next along with your pseudonym (if you use one) underneath that, then start the story on this first page.  I will put © 2011 against the story unless you specify otherwise.  You don’t need to worry about double-spacing between lines as I will only have to put it back into single spacing before I print it out.  All speech needs to be in double quotation marks.  I don’t need your bio for these eBooks.

 

There are no deadlines as it is an on-going project, so submit stories when you are ready.

 

It would be really helpful as well if you could give me a two or three sentence ‘teaser’ / ‘blurb’ of what the story is about.  This will be used to encourage a reader to download an eBook.  If you could put this just under your pseudonym that would be a good place.  Put a bit of humour in it.  I have pasted here a couple that I wrote to give you an idea of the sort of thing I’m after, but I’m sure you could do much better!

 

THE MORNING AFTER by Jude Mason

Silly Nathan Steele thought it would be a good idea to masturbate over Ms Harden’s desk.  Not only that, he had the audacity to employ the use of her vibrator.  Oblivious to the CCTV camera recording his every perverted desire, he is called to her office.  Confronted with the evidence he is  presented with two options: the police or being on the receiving end of a good whipping...

 

PARTY FAVOURS by Lynn Lake

Flower child, Saffron Miller, decides to organise a surprise party to celebrate her parents’ 30^th wedding anniversary.  Calling in on her parent’s various hippy friends, she finds them a very friendly bunch indeed!  Seduced firstly by a husband and wife team, then by a two of her father’s old football mates, will there will be red faces at the party...?

 

The fee is £25 for each 2,500 word story and £50 for a 5,000 word story.  We are asking for non-exclusive world all-language rights so contributors are free to place their stories elsewhere.  All successful contributors will be paid by either cheque or PayPal if in the UK or Paypal only for overseas writers. The Publisher will also need to have the option of releasing each story as an individual eBook, making each story available in audio form, both individually and as part of an anthology, and finally to include the story in a larger print anthology. It is not certain at this stage that any of these options will be taken, but by emailing a story to me you are consenting to any or all of these possibilities. It is far from clear at this stage if it will be possible to make much if any money from any of the options outlined above, but should we succeed, it ought to be possible to increase the fee for future stories.

 

I very much look forward to receiving your stories.  Please email them to me at barbara.cardy @ yahoo.co.uk  (please remove the spaces around the ‘@’)

 

Many thanks again,

 

Barbara Cardy

May VELVET TONGUE - THANKS!

After the high standards of the first erotic literary salon in February, one was not sure what to expect from the second Velvet Tongue. Gladly, not only were those standards met but were probably even surpassed in May. An exciting, varied, sexy and packed event! 

Thanks to Bar Kick for providing a lovely intimate space & support, thanks to the fantastic audience and thanks indeed to the amazing array of talented writers and performers who contributed to an awesome Spring Edition of Velvet Tongue.

Scroll down this post to read a brief report on the night by one of the participants, Rubyyy Jones: "There Were So Many Interesting And Talented Performers" http://rubyyyjones.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/velvet-spank/

A review at the Erotic Review Magazine: "Whether you're a performer, a poet, or just like listening to other people's fantasies, Velvet Tongue offers a place to hear and be heard."  http://www.eroticreviewmagazine.com/content/velvet-tongue

The next Velvet Tongue will take place on Sunday 7 August, at the same venue: Bar Kick in Shoreditch.

The fabulous performers on the 16th of May were (in order of appearance): 

Fran Isherwood, Eirini Kartsaki, Mel Jones, Jet Moon, Stephanie Ware, Ant Smith, Timothy Graves, Rubyyy Jones, Alison Brumfitt, Steven Pottle, Renato Volker, Al Cowie, Blake Heller & Ying, Graham Buchan, Philip Herbert

(and your host: Ernesto Sarezale) 

PHOTOS:

more here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarezale/sets/72157626749665392/

16 May - Lineup

After a packed first edition (with excellent performers, a lovely audience and great reviews), Ernesto Sarezale is hosting Velvet Tongue again in May!

Find out more about the first night here. 

A Literary Soiree dedicated to erotic writing and performance.

Guest readers on Monday 16th of May 2011 include (in alphabetical order):

• TIMOTHY GRAVES (www.paradisepress.org.uk/pages/jihad.htm)
• FRAN ISHERWOOD (myspace.com/frantasmagorical)
• ANT SMITH (http://www.antsmith.net/)

...plus special appearances by Rubyyy Jones, Jet Moon, Alison Brumfitt, Eirini Kartsaki & The Open Sauce Project, ... and other surprises.
 
The event on facebook.

Also open mic slots:Bring along your sexy words and share them with us. Have you got an erotic poem, a sexy short story, a salacious monologue, a sexually charged section of your novel, a provocative comic strip, a risqué stand up routine? Would you like to share a piece of erotica from an author you admire? Come and read it in front of an appreciative audience. Free entrance for open mic performers.

To sign up for the (5min) open mic slots, email Ernesto: ernesto@sarezale.com
(or give your name on the night, if there are any slots left)

Keep your velvet tongue hot & viscous!

Velvet Tongue - 6 Feb - Thanks! + POEMS

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the first edition of Velvet Tongue, which has received a 5 STAR review at remotegoat.co.uk:

"Fun, diverse and so sexy!"

http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/review_view.php?uid=6555

Thanks to 10 Gales, for providing a stunning physical space; thanks also to Sina Evil, Cathy Flower, Jonathan Kemp and Sophie Cameron, for their brilliant guest readings; as well as Ant Smith, Marcus Reeves, Graham Buchan, Mel Jones, Kevin Maxwell, Alan Wolfson, Natasha Moskovici, Sophia Blackwell, Scarlet French and Mathew Stradling for their fabulous open mic performances; and, last but no least, a wonderful (packed) audience. 

Here's some photographic evidence:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarezale/
Also by Ant Smith:

http://www.antsmith.net/photographs.php?page=103 (scroll down)
http://www.antsmith.net/photographs.php?page=102
and on facebook (you must log in first):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=273340&id=571036400&fbid=10150100662231401

 
VELVET TONGUE POEMS:

I include here two pieces that were written specifically for the event. They're both entitled "Velvet Tongue" and were performed on Sunday 6th February 2011 at Ten Gales. One is a  breath taking poem by one of the featured poets, Cathy Flower (pictured  - below -  by Lewis Horsman); the other one is a little limerick by the host, Ernesto Sarezale. Here they are:

Velvet Tongue

(by Cathy Flower)

Oh velvet tongue don’t ever leave me

Your velvet ribbon on my skin

Does such tanta-lizing things

Oops-ay… I spilt my…  coff-ay

My wee favourite ever so small espresso cup

blooms a floral Cezanne mixture on the side…

Tipped it over next to me

Too close it was

Whilst you were stroking my… … …

With (pause)

Your (pause)

Velvet (pause)

Tongue! (pause)

(mellow-ecstasy) Don’t stop (pause)

(mellow-ecstasy) Don’t stop (pause)

(mood change: domineering) I will evict you

if you cease.

Your velvet tongue (pause)

is (pause)

your lease.

© Cathy Flower 2011

 25^th January 2011

Velvet Tongue limerick

(by Ernesto Sarezale)

I sip honey to warm up my tongue.

I use plenty because he’s well hung.

He pulls back the helmet,

it feels just like velvet,

but his dickhead just stinks like old dung.

(February 2011) 

(Picture by Ant Smith)