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Doris Fish Does Club 181 

  • Tenderloin Museum 398 Eddy Street San Francisco, CA, 94102 (map)

Book Talk & Panel Discussion with Craig Seligman, Silvana Nova, Phillip R. Ford, & Janice Sukaitis

Thursday May 4, 2023 | 6-7:30pm

at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Free (or $10 suggested donation) | Register via Eventbrite

Celebrate the publication of Craig Seligman’s new book, Who Does That Bitch Think She Is? Doris Fish and the Rise of Drag, at the Tenderloin Museum with a reading and discussion about that legendary queen’s “Sluts-a-Go-Go” era performances and the 1980s scene at the archetypal TL nightclub, Club 181.

NYC based journalist Craig Seligman’s new book, Who Does That Bitch Think She Is? Doris Fish and the Rise of Drag (Public Affairs, 2023), chronicles the life and times of one of San Francisco’s most prominent and beloved drag queens of the 1980s. An inventive and effervescent practitioner of drag, Doris’s charisma and intelligence imbued the tradition with a self-possessed, punk rock aesthetic that heroically captures her zeitgeist. Co-writer and star of the culty, campy Vegas in Space; frequent face for the popular West Graphics greeting card series; prolific performer both in the club and on the stage… even before her untimely death from AIDS complications in ‘91, her persona and performances were the stuff of legend.

Today, Doris Fish is having a moment–in addition to the publication of Who Does That Bitch Think She Is?, there’s a documentary–Dear Doris–in the works, and the GLBT Historical Society has a new exhibit called Doris Fish: Ego as Artform (curated by Ms. Bob Davis) that examines the life and legacy of Doris to “showcase the power of drag to change the world.” Mr. Seligman will give a book talk at GLBTHS about Doris on 4/28 in conjunction with that must-see exhibition; his book event at the Tenderloin Museum, however, will take a more narrow purview, focusing on a formative moment and milieu for Doris that unfolded in the TL.

The legend of Doris Fish includes a key chapter in the Tenderloin, in which Doris’s irreverent drag troupe the Sluts-a-Go-Go coheres around “Naked Brunch,” a campy and chaotic live theatrical soap opera, and her performance and writing chops become more fully realized. The venue: Club 181 on Eddy St., an archetypal Tenderloin dive that mixed glamor and grit in the district’s distinct tenor. A queer space going back to the 1950s, the original “breakfast club” Club 181 gained a reputation thanks to famed female impersonator Lynne Carter, who went on to the Jewel Box Revue and Carnegie Hall in NYC; later, a who’s who of local legends entertained at the 181: Pat Montclaire, Vicki Marlane, Arturo Galster performing as Patsy Cline & the Memphis G-Spots, et. al. Into the ‘80s, drag acts mixed with live cabaret, old school jazz, punk, new wave, and hip-hop, all set against a more sordid element of the TL’s criminal underworld…

Uncover the lore of Club 181, join us on Thursday May 4th for a trip through Doris’ scene: Seligman will read from Who Does That Bitch Think She Is?, we’ll screen some performance documentation of these “Sluts-a-Go-Go” shows, and then the author will be joined by a cadre of performers in the Sluts’ circle–-Silvana Nova, Janice Sukaitis, and Phillip R. Ford–to discuss Ms. Fish and this legendary Tenderloin nightclub.  

Free to attend (or a $10 suggested donation welcome); register via Eventbrite! Books will be for sale by Fabulosa Books

This event is presented as part of "I Love Tenderloin Week,” a grassroots initiative by the districts’ organizations and businesses to showcase the TL; it also coincides with the monthly "SF First Thursday TL/Lower Polk Art Walk” and the ongoing exhibition in TLM’s gallery space of Legends of San Francisco, an exhibition of photos and florals celebrating the local drag queen elders featured in Legends of Drag: Queens of a Certain Age.

Special thanks to Greg Cruikshank, Marc Huestis, Phillip R. Ford, and Michael Flanagan for their knowledge, research, and incredible video documentation!