Bawdy Storytelling – Episode 52: ‘With Risk! in Brooklyn 4’

Date: December 12, 2018
Host: Dixie De La Tour
Featured Guests: Kevin Allison, Reformed Whores, Storyteller ELG
Theme: Sex, Storytelling, and the Transformative Power of Being Heard

Episode Overview

This special episode features the second part of a collaboration between Bawdy Storytelling and Risk! recorded live in Brooklyn. Host Dixie De La Tour and guest host Kevin Allison guide the listener through a night of bold, unfiltered stories about sexuality, authenticity, and self-acceptance. Through unscripted performances from storytellers ELG and Dixie herself, and musical performances from The Reformed Whores, the episode highlights the healing and community-building powers of storytelling—especially amidst the vulnerability of sharing personal, often stigmatized truths.

Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Setting the Stage: Inclusivity, Risk, and Sex-Positive Community

• [00:12]–[02:30]
  • The explicit and adult nature of Bawdy Storytelling is established.
  • Dixie and Kevin Allison introduce the collaboration with Risk! as a celebration of “freaks” coming together to share their honest, uninhibited experiences.
  • Dixie refers to Bawdy as “the original sex and storytelling series”—emphasizing the untamed, personal, and uncoached nature of the stories told.

2. Musical Comedy with the Reformed Whores

• [02:55]–[05:56]
  • The Reformed Whores perform humorous, inclusive songs addressing female sexuality and queer desire, aiming to expand beyond their “heterosexual” repertoire.
  • Lyrics like, “Hey, my vagina is eight miles wide…” and “I’m eating out tonight” set the sex-positive, lighthearted, and extravagant tone.
  • Memorable line:
    “My vagina is eight miles wide. Absolutely everyone can come inside.” – Reformed Whores ([00:47])

3. ELG’s Story: From Pervert Shame to Authentic Love

• [07:06]–[23:26]
  • Background: ELG describes a lifetime of feeling “weird,” hiding their kinks, and coming out as queer, poly, and transgender throughout relationships that often ended when their true self was revealed.
  • Discovering Community: Finding the New York kink scene provides ELG with a sense of belonging and the freedom to explore desire openly.
  • First Play Date: A vivid, at times comic, account of their first BDSM scene—with “lifetime guarantee” clothespins, a mishap resulting in flesh torn, and their partner fainting, all leading to a rush of power and a sense of being at home.
    • “I feel just like so powerful and like at the top of a roller coaster…” – ELG ([15:27])
  • From Scenes to Feelings: An encounter with a collar “gift” unexpectedly takes on real significance, shifting the dynamic from play to authentic attachment.
    • “Oh, shit. This joke just got real.” – ELG ([18:20])
  • Struggling with Vulnerability: ELG describes their fear of emotional exposure—“What if I’m not enough?”—internalized from past relationships.
  • Climax at the Club: At a swingers’ dungeon party, ELG delivers a cathartic, primal scene with their partner—including phone book beatings and “SAP gloves.”
  • Revelation of Love: After an intense moment, amid the endorphins and emotional whirlwind, their partner confesses, “I’m thinking I love you.” This affirmation provides ELG with “serenity” and the courage to accept love.
    • “I just think, this person loves me and I love him and I’m not afraid anymore.” – ELG ([22:15])

4. Behind the Stories: Dixie & Kevin Discuss Storytelling as Healing

• [24:25]–[32:00]
  • In candid pre- and post-show conversation, Kevin Allison and Dixie reflect on why live storytelling of sexual experiences is so meaningful—particularly for those bullied or made to feel “other.”
    • “Both you and I grew up feeling traumatized for feeling like we were freaks.” – Kevin Allison ([25:04])
  • They acknowledge the psychological complexity and ever-present tension between pride in their nonconformity and residual shame.

5. Dixie De La Tour’s Story: Marriage, Family, and Finally Being Heard

• [32:18]–[55:14]
  • A Community Brought Together by Loss: Inspired by the sudden loss of a friend who found happiness in the kink community late in life, Dixie proposes to her partner Bent, with the main aim of bringing their biological and chosen families together.
  • Orchestrating a Wedding in Three Weeks: Dixie hilariously recounts juggling family (many from conservative backgrounds) and her “freak family,” from drag queen makeup to porn clowns as guests. Her message: “Come to this wedding as who you authentically are, whatever that means to you.”
    • “Did my wedding just become a sex party meetup? …You’re not fooling anybody. You love it.” – Polly Superstar & Dixie ([40:40])
  • Ceremony & Reception: The event becomes a fusion of love, authenticity, and acceptance—queer friends and family blend, and kind words bridge the gap between worlds. Notable moments include a best “kitten” instead of a best man, vows about accepting love, a potluck, and throwing a rubber chicken instead of a bouquet.
  • Emotional Climax: After the wedding, Dixie’s estranged mother begins to reconnect. Dixie finally tells her mother why she started Bawdy: to give people a place to be believed—having been disbelieved about childhood sexual assault for decades. In a pivotal, raw phone call, her mother at last says, “I’m so sorry,” giving Dixie the closure and validation she’s long needed.
    • “You believed me. And I know now, when the day comes and I get that call, I will grieve for you.” – Dixie De La Tour ([55:14])
    • “Thank you, mom, for teaching me that it’s never too late. It’s never too late to tell your story and to finally be heard.” – Dixie ([55:40])

6. Post-Show Reflection: The Ongoing Power of Storytelling

• [56:14]–[69:25]
  • Dixie and Kevin dissect the emotional risks of storytelling and the vulnerability “hangovers” that follow.
    • “Every time you watch somebody be brave and tell something that's, like, so real…you watch it and go, why am I hiding a part of myself?” – Kevin Allison ([56:50])
  • They discuss the domino effect—when audiences hear powerful truths, it inspires them to reveal their own.
    • “She told him the story…Life doesn’t give us this perfect opportunity to say the thing that’s difficult until you hear somebody being brave telling a story.” – Kevin Allison (about audience impact) ([58:33])
  • Both discuss the importance of breaking generations of shame around sexuality, advocating for parents to be open so children don’t grow up feeling their identities are “dirty” or “taboo.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Inclusivity Unapologetically Displayed:
  • “Everyone tells me I'm too much, maybe it's just you're not enough for me…” – Reformed Whores ([00:36])
• Revelation of Internal Power:
  • “I feel just like so powerful and like at the top of a roller coaster and there's so much adrenaline, I'm like, yes, I am the top.” – ELG ([15:27])
• Vulnerability and Love:
  • “What if, when I cut myself open and I reveal myself for who I truly am to this person…what if he doesn't feel the same way I do?” – ELG ([19:51])
• Communal Support at the Wedding:
  • “Are you Bent’s dad? Oh my God, we love your kids so much! … Thank you for giving birth to them.” – (Dixie’s friends to her family, paraphrased) ([43:33])
• Healing Decades-Old Wounds:
  • “Because you married Johnny Fields when I was 12 years old…and when I was 14 I told you he was sexually assaulting me. You called me a liar…And I kept thinking, I wish there was a place to tell stories and be heard and to be believed. And it didn’t exist, so I created it.” – Dixie De La Tour ([53:19])
• Transformation and Closure:
  • “It took 35 years, but she finally heard me.” – Dixie De La Tour ([54:52])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:12]–[02:30] Host intro, show concept, Risk! & Bawdy partnership
• [03:05]–[05:56] Reformed Whores perform sex-positive musical comedy
• [07:06]–[23:26] ELG’s first-time storytelling: kink, connection, and fearless love
• [24:25]–[32:00] Kevin Allison & Dixie reflect: why sharing sexual stories matters
• [32:18]–[55:14] Dixie’s wedding story: reconciliation, community, speaking your truth
• [56:14]–[69:25] Post-show: how storytelling heals, inspires, and creates community

Tone & Style

The episode is raw, confessional, irreverent, and deeply compassionate. Speakers shift fluidly between comedy, vulnerability, and profound personal truths, fostering an atmosphere where no sexual or emotional experience is “too much” or unspeakable.

Final Takeaway

Bawdy Storytelling’s “With Risk! in Brooklyn 4” is an ode to living one’s authentic, possibly “too much” self; to finding family—inherited or chosen—that accepts you; and to the daunting, vital act of telling your real story out loud. As Dixie says, “It’s never too late to tell your story and to finally be heard.”

For the full interview and more backstage insights, listeners are encouraged to support Bawdy Storytelling on Patreon.