In the fall of 2004, Jamez Terry and Kelly Shortandqueer began planning a show that would mix education with entertainment, make transgender issues more fun and less intellectual, build bridges between marginalized communities, and concentrate on transpeople without focusing solely on their genders. Each year, the Tranny Roadshow compiled an eclectic cast of artists, each one self-identified as transgender. Performers and artists for 2011-12 are listed below. Staff bios available here.

Performer bios from 2005-2012 can be seen here: Roadshow 2010 ~Roadshow 2009 ~Roadshow 2007-2008 ~ Roadshow 2006 ~ Roadshow 2005



Jamez Terry


Jamez Terry (alias Vermicious Knid) is a zine-writing, fiddle-playing, story-telling, circus-loving historian and radical organizer. He moves as often as possible, in order to keep wreaking havoc in new parts of the world, and is currently living in Somerville, MA. He has published more than 50 zines in the last 12 years with writings that include politics, fiction, poetry, personal stories, and humor, and, in 2003, he co-founded the Denver Zine Library. Jamez has worked in multiple queer activist settings, providing trans education at conferences, schools, churches, and nonprofits around the country. In organizing the Tranny Roadshow, Jamez has found a way to unite all of the things he loves best - travel, zines, performance art, and queer/trans activism.

Modern Day Pinnochio is the Creative Identity Project of Activist, Artist, and Queer FTM Rocker A.J. Bryce. MDP's tunes flow from Dirty Chords to Rhythmic Progressions and smooth grooves, while his art is maximalist at its best. He performs the Art of Sound Tech, as well as the rare occasional performance, where you will see what MDP means when he says "He likes to Flo" (Liquid Dance) and "Rock the Revolution." As Organizer of the Trans-Genre Project, he is excited to announce the Release of Trans-Fusions II, a compilation featuring nearly 25 Transgender Artists and Musicians from around the world, available exclusively at the Tranny Roadshow merch table (and online). For more info, check out Modern Day Pinnochio.

Modern Day Pinnochio

Ryka Aoki de la Cruz

Ryka Aoki de la Cruz is a writer, composer, chemist, black belt, and moonshiner who has recently been featured at the National Queer Arts Festival, the National Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival, Ladyfest South 2007, Atlanta Pride, UCLA’s OutCRY, and Fresh Meat. In 2005, Ryka was the inaugural performer for San Francisco Pride’s first ever Transgender Stage. She has also worked with the American Association of Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-Bomb Survivors, and two of her compositions have been adopted by the group as its official “Songs of Peace.” Ryka has been honored by the California State Senate for her work with Trans/Giving, LA’s only art/performance series dedicated to trans, genderqueer, and intersex artists. She was formerly head judo coach at UCLA and Cornell University, and is a professor of English at Santa Monica College.

Heidi Barton Stink is a HipHop artist based out of Minneapolis. She writes and performs positive HipHop with an emphasis on social justice and trans and queer rights. A talented performer and wordsmith, she is a rising star in the world of independent rap. She has free music to download at bartonstink.bandcamp.com/ and facebook.com/bartonstink, where you can also watch for her upcoming shows.




Heidi Barton Stink

 

 

 

Johnny Blazes



Johnny Blazes is known throughout the country for hir gender-blending, genre-bending, tongue-in-cheek performances. Trained in the classical as well as cabaret arts, Johnny first made hir mark on the vaudeville scene as a director of grassroot circuses, including Oberlin College's OCircus!, The ExtraTerrestrial Circus Experiment, and the full-scale circus-theater production Mischief in the Machine in collaboration with the Boston-based Emperor Norton�s Stationary Marching Band. Johnny is notorious for flamboyantly combining clowning with burlesque and drag, glitter with sophistication. Ze is seen regularly at variety shows around Boston, and occasionally tours with the fierce performance troupe The Femme Show. Ze is currently touring hir one-performer show entitled wo(n)man show to colleges and venues around the country. To keep up with Johnny's doings, check out www.johnnyblazes.com

Performer/author/musician solidad decosta is an uppity Portuguese woman who isn't afraid to claim her black Latina maternal ancestry. Equal parts street journalist, storyteller and crone-ta-be with Leo moon credentials, her work encompasses the why and where of life outside the boxes in a label obsessed world, and the what, when, who and how of everything else. solidad has performed at a variety of venues throughout the US, including St. Marks, Antioch University, Pitzer College, Bumpershoot Literary Stage, SomARTS and Brava! Center for the Arts. Her work has appeared in Shampoo, Mirage#4/Period(ical), ALLiance, P!, Angry Poet, Street NOTES and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. In addition, solidad has facilitated writing and performance workshops at Cell Space, STARC, Dancing Tree, SF Juvenile Hall, Alameda County Youth Facility and Pitzer College. She holds an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts, and was the 2008 recipient of the Kari Edwards Scholarship at Naropa University's Summer Writing Program.

solidad decosta




Red Durkin



Roadshow veteran Red Durkin is one of the only openly transgender stand-up comedians in the United States. In her time, she�s performed as a poet, a rapper, and a story teller, but her true passion is comedy. She�s performed at Camp Trans, clocked more time with the Tranny Roadshow than almost anyone else, and hosted events all over the country. Red has made it her mission to bring levity and irreverence to a community that too often has little to laugh about. A North Carolina ex-patriot, she now resides in Oakland, CA. Check her out on Youtube: www.youtube.com/daedsider

Midwest GenderQueer, also known as JAC Stringer, is a transgenderqueer femme radical activist, writer, and performance artist from Cincinnati, Ohio. JAC has lectured and performed across the USA and Canada with his work focusing on trans*, genderqueer, and queer communities, gender identity disorder removal, (dis)ability, trans performance, and identity empowerment. JAC is the founding director of The Midwest Trans and Queer Wellness Initiative, is a leading activist in gender identity disorder removal, and is a strong advocate for health care reform, sexual assault awareness, and comprehensive sex education. He is on several organizing boards including TransOhio, GLSEN, The Philadelphia Transgender Health Conference, The Femme Conference, and The International Drag King Community Extravaganza. JAC has done genderfucking dance, music, drag, and spoken word as a solo performer, as co-manager of The Black Mondays Drag Troupe, and with his one-human shows. JAC uses hot pants, poofy skirts, and gender theory to create a intriguing space centered on bodies, ability, androgyny, and beyond. Check him out at MidwestGenderQueer.com
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photo credit: Karen Cornell

Midwest GenderQueer




Ignacio Rivera

Ignacio Rivera aka Pap� Coxxx is a gender queer Trans-Former born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Ignacio, who prefers the gender-neutral pronoun �they,� is a performance artist, currently performing skits, spoken word, one-person shows and story-telling internationally. Ignacio is a lecturer, activist, new filmmaker and self-proclaimed sex educator.

Ignacio is the founder of Poly Patao Productions. P3 is dedicated to producing sex-positive workshops, performance pieces, films, play parties, panel discussions, social/political groups and educational opportunities that are specially geared toward queer women, transgender, multi-gender, gender-queer, gender non-conforming and gender variant people of color.

Ignacio is also one of the founding board member of Queers for Economic Justice, a progressive non-profit organization committed to promoting economic justice in a context of sexual and gender liberation.

Deena Kaye Rose is a musician, a poet, a songwriter, a performer, a jewelry designer and an all around creative Transgender Woman. In her words, �Creativity is the most important part of life. Art is what distinguishes us from the animals. Rabbits do not paint abstract works to hang in their warrens, at least not that we know of!� Deena's definition of art? �Art is the captured energy of human emotion!� � Deena Kaye Rose is an exceptionally talented artist, dedicated to using her deep sensitivity to explore and chronicle the human condition.

Deena Kaye Rose

 


Shawna Virago

 

 

Shawna Virago is a celebrated transgender songwriter and cultural activist. Her music twists together folk-punk and glam roots music, creating anthems for a new generation. The SF Bay Times said Miss Virago is a �transgender songwriting goddess who manages to channel Joe Strummer through a Candy Darling-like persona.� She is the Director of the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival. You can check out and buy her music at www.shawnavirago.com.


 

Traveling Art

 


Rahne Alexander

Rahne Alexander is a writer, musician and multimedia artist from Baltimore. She is the guitarist and songwriter for the girl garage band The Degenerettes and a senior organizer of the Charm City Kitty Club. Her video art has screened in galleries and film festivals across the country, and she is a frequent contributor to City Paper and Smile Hon You're In Baltimore.

Sam Thorp is classically trained in anatomy and fine art techniques, displaying provocative imagery dealing with personal conflict, and androgynous beauty. The artwork deals with many LGBT issues and the idea of blurring the line between male and female to find a �whole� beauty. Sam exhibits locally in Pittsburgh and internationally with collectors across the world. More work can be seen at www.graphicanatomy.com

Sam Thorp

Bryce Wolfe

Bryce Wolfe frequents the streets of the Big Onion, where he finds inspiration in pigeons, falling ice and underpass murals. A self-taught artist and diploma'd journalist, he can't imagine putting down the pen. Beginning this year, he will be serving with the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan. You can follow his travels at http://brycewolfe.blogspot.com/ or skip the rhetoric and view his artwork here: http://alyricalmess.deviantart.com/

Artist Statement from 2011 Tranny Roadshow Logo Contest winner Bryce Wolfe:
I am a fan of the Tranny Roadshow. It's great to see a venue for the fantastically queer and artfully deviant shakers and makers in our community. Considering the mental gymnastics and physical performances required just to "fit in" with society at large, is it any wonder so many of us embody the arts? I chose this symbol for the 2011 logo because jugglers and jesters throughout history have survived by their wits, poking holes in the fabric of proper society and speaking truth in the face of absurdity. Outside the gender binary, we wear many hats, juggle many roles and generally cultivate a good will to laugh at ourselves - we may be fools, but we always laugh last. The circus has, for me personally, been a place of refuge. It embraces androgyny and values skill over sex. It celebrates camp. Plus, bearded ladies!

2011 Logo