Joseph Kearney

4 incredible stories from such talented performers at the gorgeous Brave Space - Spring Fling Edition. This was a cozy even of about 30 people. We opened with audience sharing their own spring flings. The @omisflomi took is on an ecclesiastical voyage from India deities of destruction and creation to Heidi Klum - from dark visitors and toxic friends to new queer connections and life lifting glitter! We then asked the audience to talk about gods and lovers. One member thought the story of Persephone was the perfect example of toxic love, control and the hope that comes each spring. Next up @farnooshamsterdam told us a beautiful tale of unexpected connection- a bisexual romance that spans decades and borders - that walks through revolution- that speaks many languages- a romance of touch and fear - of courage and fury - a romance that’s started 11 years ago but has been on hold for 63 days. And yet each spring will bring hope. We took a break to think about Irish revolutions the lord boycott story and the contraceptive train. Back after the break we soon of fundraiser adventures and our upcoming film - Here Lies Lola. Then @igor.alvarezcugat broke our hearts in his 12 hour true romance- a love story that was the start of a fully planned life with marriage, 6 kids and an audience member who became maybe the next spring fling. It was a masterpiece- weaving heart ache and loss into an entertaining laugh out loud performance- we knew his heart was shattered and yet we laughed with him at the power of that insight. Then we spoke of naked pub quizzes past and a future plan to change the world. We needed the night with @takos_concomedy who spoke of allergies and break ups that happened in spring times that fell in step with significant political shifts in Hungary from the arrived or Victor Orhan 16 years ago (also coinciding with the rise of Avril Lavine) to the continued ‘success’ of his grip on power and ultimately to the major swing pro queers at Budapest pride and the toppling of the autocrat this spring. Heralding in the new era of Patric Magyar - Hungarians have a right to love and live as who there are. - This Brave Space was powerful!

And there we have it the full confirmed line up for Brave Space. Spring Fling Edition. Join us tomorrow @theaterbellevue from 20:30 Host @josephkearneystoryteller Special guests Farnoosh @farnooshamsterdam Igor @igor.alvarezcugat Omi @omisflomi Akos @takos_concomedy Tickets are pay what you can. Link in bio. Joining us as always will be the rock if a human @memakemovies Love to see you there. Xx Backlash #storytelling #lgbtqiapride❤️💛💚💙💜 #queer #theaterbellevue🎭 #backlashmediaproductions

Completing our line up for Thursday it’s @igor.alvarezcugat This will be Igor’s first time on the Brave Space stage and we are excited to see what happens. Here’s the bio. Igor Alvarez Cugat is what happens when existential thoughts, queerness, and theatre collide. His work lives somewhere between Catholic guilt, surreal dreams, and very real emotional baggage. He spends a suspicious amount of time trying to make sense of it all on stage. Somewhere between chaos and meaning… he’s still figuring it out. Date April 30 Time 20:30 Location speakeasy in @theaterbellevue Tickets - pay what you can - link in bio Girl- get your good hair ready and see you on Thursday. Xx Joe & Brandon

Brave Space Spring Fling will happen this Thursday April 30h @theaterbellevue We have an amazing line up of storytelling performers. Let’s announce another one right now. Say hello to Akos @takos_concomedy Bio Akos comes from Hungary, but lived in Poland and Luxembourg before moving to the Netherlands in 2018 to study political science, which defined his sense of humour and storytelling style. He is a truly Eastern European comedian, script-writer, producer and dog walker. A real Polish-histor. Akos has performed at @mezrab_ and runs his own comedy event @servequeercomedychaos in one of Amsterdams finest and mightiest queer spaces @queer_bar_lellebel When Akos speaks rooms listen as his phenomenal gift for reading human nature perfectly compliments his iconic comedic timing. This is a performer you have to see on stage. Join us at Brave Space. Ticket link in bio. Pay what you can. #queerstorytelling #bravespace #lgbtqiapride❤️💛💚💙💜 #theaterbellevue #backlashmediaproductions

Whenever we ask @omisflomi to send promo photos we know we are in for a queer treat. What a beautiful spark of queerness you are in our world. Omi will return to Brave Space this April 30th to share another story. If this is your first time feasting your eyes on the gorgeousness that is Omi then maybe you’ll appreciate a little bio; Omi is a complete noob at storytelling (so be kind!) but he definitely has a lot on his mind to say! A very queer Egyptian-Dutch Mutt , Omi grew up in both cultures and is currently advocating for his community through his work and self expression. Yoga and spirituality have been his anchor and philosophy in making sense of this crazy thing called life - and as a parttime teacher he is not shy of standing in front of an audience who is willing to listen - will you give him a chance? Join us in @theaterbellevue from 20:30 on April 30th for 2 hours of queer community- connections - expression- gender play - gay all day - LGBTQ- it’s an immersive experience and everyone leaves way gayer than how they arrived. It’s the best litte queer night in town and this is your invite. Come alone and you’ll meet more queers. Come with friends and evolve with your community. #lgbtq #theaterbellevue #backlashmediaproductions #queerstorytelling #faggy

Brave Space returns to @theaterbellevue this April 30th for our Spring Fling edition. Guess it’s time to announce our first guest and This time it’s a retiring friend of our event the incredible @farnooshamsterdam Many of you may already know Farnoosh but for those who don’t, let’s share the bio here Farnoosh Farnia is a storyteller, teacher, artistic director and programmer. In whatever she does, she’s making space for unrepresented stories. Currently she’s artistic director of the Amsterdam Fringe Festival, co-founder and teacher of the Mezrab Storytelling School, co-founder and co-director of production house Mezrab | House of Creation, and some other stuff. But mainly, she loves sharing stories! Farnoosh & @amsterdamfringe gave @backlashmediaproductions our first break & were instrumental in helping us go from amateur to professional. We are beyond delighted Farnoosh is joining again @theaterbellevue in the Speakeasy from 20:30. The show is free, the vibe is queer, the theme is fluid. See you there. #lgbtq🌈 #queerstorytelling #safespace #bravespace backlashmedia

The Big Queer tour has come to an end. We were delighted to put this event together to give back to Amsterdam- to spread the word of queer community- queer revolution- queer resilience and The beautiful way our little village connects to lgbtq folk around the world. The healing of chosen family, the role modeling of our queer elders, representation, equality, marriage, pride, sport it was all in there. We covered 4 centuries of sodomy, lesbianism, gay cruising, gay codes, hiv crisis, aids fonds, lolhuizen, krul culture, hankie codes, nuns, oil slicks and so much more. Our last tour was booked by @queersoberclub and we had some friends joining too. It was so beautiful to say goodbye to this queer experience with the wonderful queer sober community. The future of the tour will be its evolution to recorded interviews that we will make available as and when they are completed. If you’d like to contribute a history story to our queer archive send us a message. For now the live tour is over. Our next event will be Brave Space on April 30 in @theaterbellevue Love and thanks to all. The original tour was made possible by @amsterdamfringe and @afk020 The spring series were run as a fundraising activity with @voordekunst to help make our movie Here Lies Lola happen. #queer #stories #backlashmedia #queerhistory #lgbtqamsterdam

On March 31st Brave Space held a special event to celebrate our Trans community on Trans day of visibility. It was a beautiful night. We opened with an interview with @sallees and a Poem about external rejection and internal acceptance. Then the phenomenal @emma_voerman shared a powerful and incredibly personal story about family and a level of acceptance that was impossible to describe in words - remarkable does not cover it. It was beyond measure. Closing the first half we invited @indie_nile_storyteller to the Brave Space XL stage for gender illusionism and a mix of story - Brittney lip syncing, drag therapy and social commentary. Another phenomenal experience. We had a quick break for queer folx to mingle and the second half cast to assemble. We opened with another empowering poem by Diana. Followed by a spoken word and dance mash up by @kaya.amsterdam and Ina. While a fully original and exceptional piece it had echoes of the faggots and their friends between revolutions. It was an announcement and explosion of queerness - the light and the dark - death and rebirth. Next was the larger than life and absolutely gorgeous queen of all queens @dorawantsagram this accomplished and delightful trans ally spoke of her connections to the trans community and was a tongue in cheek raconteur exploring the various boobs she has known before leaping into a rendition of Otto Van Titsling from Beaches. It was queerly divinely chaotic and the room loved it. Knockers, boobs, tits, brassieres all added tbe humour and campness we need to survive. Our final storyteller was the outrageously talented @lioralives - who walked us true a lifetime of trans exploration. Of love, secrecy, fear, anxiety, honesty and finally ending a double existence to try to live aa her true self. It was magnificent and a generous insight into trans reality. The final performance was Diana Salles who walked into her true body form. Who loved and moved and struggled and buckled to get there. She entered the audience to finish The show reunited with our community on an equal level. This brave space xl was so unique and so special. We hope to see you at the next one. Huge thanks and love

Last tour What a ride. Today’s group was so conversational and we all felt safe and connected. The point of this series of March Tours was to help raise funds for our upcoming movie. We also ran pub quizzes - naked @freewillieamsterdam and fully dressed @mezrab_ We reached out to friends and family. We hosts story nights. We shook up every business and employer we could think of. And we made it. Thank you for being part of this journey.

Special guest & gorgeous human Indie Nile @indie_nile_storyteller joins us on Tuesday for Brave Space XL Indie invented Drag Therapy. Her work is divinely transformative & her devotion to queer love, self acceptance & phenomenal lip syncing will leave you speechless. 👄 #ticketsinbio‼️‼️‼️‼️ #lgbt💛💙💙🏳️‍🌈🇨🇴💗 #theaterbellevue #backlashmediaproductions #gay

The full line up is here for Brave Space XL - trans day of visibility Special Edition. Join us at @theaterbellevue on Tuesday March 31st Show starts at 20hr Here are your fantastic performers Diana @sallees Liora @lioralives Kaya @kaya.amsterdam Emma JJ Vorrman Emmavoerman.nl And supporting our trans storytellers it’s two of Amsterdams most love drag queens Indie Nile @indie_nile_storyteller Dora Royal @dorawantsagram Hosted by Joseph Kearney @josephkearneystoryteller Get your tickets. Come & support. Be the change you want to see in the world. #transvisibilityday🏳️‍⚧️ #transstories #lgbtq🌈 #backlashmediaproductions #theaterbellevueamsterdam

If you have ever heard Emma tell a story you’ll already know she is a gifted public speaker with a talent for exploring the most challenging life experiences with grace, humour & hope. Emma will join us at @theaterbellevue on March 31st for our special Brave Space XL - make sure you join us to enjoy community vibes, trans stories, love, joy, and all the good gorgeous glamour of being queer together. See you there on Tuesday. Ticket link in bio. #lgbtqia🏳️‍🌈 #queerstorytelling #transdayofvisibility🏳️‍⚧️ #backlashmediaproductions #gayallday