Updated: 29 September 2019
Smut Slam is a storytelling slam created and hosted by Cameryn Moore – started in Boston in 2011 and gone international since. The slammers sign up on the spot and tell their own personal, real sex stories to an audience, according to the theme that evening. They’re encouraged to freely share their experiences, as long as they remain respectful. At the first event in Leipzig, in January 2018, they spoke to a full room at Noch Besser Leben (NBL).* Our Editor-in-Chief was one of the judges who got to rate the stories. She asked slammer Taylor Harvey to share with LeipGlo readers what it was like to participate.
*Note: The event series has now moved to Pizza LAB in Lindenau. Our Editor-in-Chief will serve as judge once again, for the next edition on 20 March 2019. Coordinates at the end of this story.
Six months into residing in Germany, all I could see was the promise of finding a community closer to the friends I had left back home. The adaptations of growing up in a multicultural hub like Chicago had begun to erode in favor of more practical thinking and indulgence in the comforts of Leipzig living.
Concepts like intersectionality and safe spaces, which allow for deeper dives into understanding humanity, tend to be met with curiosity at best and, more often, with outright rejection at worst.
So Smut Slam was quite the attention grabber.
Apprehension and butterflies were still present as my friend and I approached Noch Besser Leben, the wonderful venue for night festivities. A familiar feeling for me, since I never really fit into these types of gatherings.
Still unfamiliar with the city’s street system, we first walked into a French cafe populated by 20+ elderly people gathered around a speaker. We grabbed a seat, prepping for a stranger night than we’d expected, but were kindly told by the owner we needed to go down a few more doors.
Smut Slam’s organizing team was stellar from the get go. Comfortably stashed away on the second floor of the bar, the MC and her team made me feel at home.
“First sexual experiences” was the theme of the night, and I was in no way planning to share mine.
Then, a bucket was passed around to collect anonymous notes containing questions for the MC. Anything, from favorite toys to partner preferences, was on the table.
While I wasn’t sure if the crowd around me was the kind of people I was looking for, I knew, by this point, that the Smut Slam team was. Anything that could be made fun of, was. Support was given freely and often.
After the opening festivities, we were told only one brave soul had volunteered to tell a story. Fortunately, we were also told, there would be a break after the first story, in case more people wanted to get up on stage. In hindsight, the organizers must have known all along many of us would rush in to share our experiences with the first presenter behind us.
I think it’s common to expect that we have to be prepared and polished with a tale of epic proportions to get on a stage.
The first story of the evening reminded us all how far from the truth that can be. Her telling was conversational, honest and not perfectly smooth.
I ultimately decided to share my story, and so did my friend. We got some laughs out of it, and it encouraged us to think about our “firsts” from different perspectives.
It was funny at times, sad at others, and overwhelmingly encouraging for us all to share our experiences as if we were all friends who haven’t met in a while.
Supporting others in their journeys was an unexpected reward, as some presenters had enraging experiences where they were taken advantage of. Others shared a time when they found empowerment through their sexuality.
Being a part of a space that truly allowed people to be themselves, free of judgment and full of love, was all I was searching for.
My calendar already has the next Smut Slam in it – knowing that I can get a touch of home, that I will get to spend time with new friends who surely will feel like old friends by the end of the night. What more can an expat ask for?
