Illustrated Lecture with Rare Film Clips by Mel Gordon, author of  Grand Guiginol and Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin with DJ in residence Friese Undine
Date: Friday, August 8
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $12 (Tickets here)

During Paris’ Belle Époque, three exotic nightspots surfaced overnight in the red-light Montmartre district. They were unlike any known entertainment emporiums. Each was devoted to a ghastly and/or hedonistic vision of death. Cabaret du Néant (Nothingness), Cabaret du Ciel (Heaven), and the adjoining Cabaret de L’Enfer (Hell) all promised an otherworldly experience with unique menus and drinks, comic religious presentations, technological optical tricks, and nudist displays. These tourist attractions lasted into the 1950s and created an enduring folklore that still can be found on Websites and in the imaginations of retro-nightclub producers.

CABARETS OF DEATH is the first illustrated lecture that recreates a typical evening in each venue. It also includes rare film clips of similar avant-garde productions in Brussels, Berlin, and Moscow and special “death concoctions” that were served in the cabarets.

Mel Gordon is the author of Erik Jan Hanussen: Hitler’s Jewish Clairvoyant,Grand Guiginol: Theatre of Fear and Terror, Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin, and many other books.Voluptious Panic was the first in-depth and illustrated book on the topic of erotic Weimar; The lavish tome was praised by academics and inspired the establishment of eight neo-Weimar nightclubs as well as the Dresden Dolls and a Marilyn Manson album. Now, Mel Gordon is completing a companion volume for Feral House Press, entitled Horizontal Collaboration: The Erotic World of Paris, 1920-1946. He also teaches directing, acting, and history of theater at University of California at Berkeley.