Arranging my ex-boyfriends onto a grid for my comic in Robert M. Kirby’s QU33R anthology… I’m a cartographer of twink.
When I posted this on my Tumblr a couple days ago, somebody commented:
“im sure simon amstell would be thrilled to be portrayed as a rapist. jesus christ.”
So I’d like to make the following DISCLAIMER: I do not actually believe Simon Amstell is a rapist.
Although, I don’t speak for Simon or know the details of his private life, so there could be a trail of violated twinks a mile wide stretching across London of which I’m not aware. You never really know someone.
But regardless of the possible dark underbelly of Simon’s life to which I’m not privy, the drawing I did was intended as what’s called a “joke,” and he laughed a lot when I showed it to him, so I’m pretty sure he likes those “joke” things the kids are making these days.
There’s a bit in Simon Amstell’s show Numb where he talks about wanting to hate-fuck Justin Bieber until he cries. I’m uncertain, but given that Simon’s doing comedy, I think this may also be something akin to a “joke.” When I met Simon last time he came to San Francisco, I talked to him about my comics, which it turned out he had already seen before. He told me that he liked this drawing that I had done of an ex-boyfriend of mine, so I thought doing a drawing of Bieber in a similar pose might entertain him. Simon’s a lovely individual, and was extremely kind and complimentary about my art when I met him, so when I heard he was coming back to San Francisco, I thought I’d like to do a drawing for him as a gift.
The show I saw him doing, Numb, is just such a great piece of writing. After I saw the show once, I probably would have been able to quote good sized stretches of it, because it’s so precisely and beautifully written that if you move a piece around or substitute one word for another, it’s not quite as good. It was still a lot of fun to see him do it twice, though, because he’s also a great performer, and there’s room in the piece for embellishment, and it’s also a lot of fun to watch him engage his audience. He likes to incorporate what’s happening around him at the time that he’s doing the piece, and it’s great to see how he’s able to do that without compromising any of what he’s written.
It seems like he usually picks up on something or someone in the audience and makes that a part of the night, so it would probably be fun to watch him do it several times and see what changes. This time, he started to comment on the notebook I was holding on my lap, which had the drawing of Bieber in it, and then said, “Oh, I know you…” Later on he has a bit about pretending to write in notebooks when you’re in a cafe alone so people will think you’re a traveling genius, and then he pointed to me and and my notebook and said, “Apparently I’m not the only one with that idea…”
I was distraught that he saw through my traveling genius guise, but glad that he recognized me.
Anyway, apparently this was the last US go around for Numb, but a friend of mine saw Simon road testing new material in London a couple months ago, so I’m excited to see what that will be. If you didn’t see him the last two times that he’s been here, see him next time- we need to keep encouraging him to come back!
im sure simon amstell would be thrilled to be portrayed as a rapist. jesus christ.
AnonymousI think you’re supposed to phrase that as a question.
So if anybody was wondering why I was talking about Justin Bieber’s dumb little tattoos earlier today… Last time I saw Simon Amstell, I talked to him for a little bit and it turned out he had seen my comics before and had enjoyed them. He specifically seemed to like the drawings I had done of twinks in various compromising positions. I like Simon’s comedy a lot, and since he was so nice about my comics last time, I wanted to give him something when I saw him again tonight… He has a bit in his show where he talks about wanting to hate-fuck Justin Bieber until he cries. I mean, who doesn’t want to do that? Then I read Justin Bieber’s quote from his Rolling Stone interview where he talked about abortion in the case of rape and that, and the type of drawing I wanted to do to give Simon, and Simon’s bit about Bieber, all seemed to come together naturally to make this drawing. I think this drawing is pretty SFW, since I specifically had Bieber’s legs turned so you don’t see any Bieber dick, but just side of his legs and a tiny bit of butt. I felt a drawing of Justin Bieber’s dick just wouldn’t be appropriate to give Simon, since I’m classy.
Part of the piece I’m doing for Robert’s QU33R anthology… I’m drawing portraits of exes I’ve had and then editing them together. The piece is kind of about the repetitious patterns that occur in relationships in our lives, and learning to live in the moment and not dwell on comparing things to the past or trying to predict what they’ll be in the future… So, here you go, the parade of twinks. Most of these people have appeared in my comics in one form or another, but I’m not attaching names to any of them, because whenever I draw a real person I’m always very careful to be discrete and protect their identity… Which anybody should keep in mind if they’re wanting to offer to pose naked for me. Totally legit, you’re in safe hands ;)
Hey, I really like the thing you wrote there about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. I felt like I was alone in that mindset, but your writing really opened up a lot of perspectives. Wishing the death of someone (suspected) who's caused death doesn't make them any better. What happened at the Boston marathon was horrible, but the reactions towards suspected Dzhokhar aren't any less inhuman. I really do hope that there are more people like you out there. Oh, and great drawing btw!
Thank you! Watching everything unfold yesterday provoked a lot of strong reactions in me, and drawing is usually how I get those out.
