For those who aren’t yet in the know, Smut Slam is a monthly open-mic dirty storytelling event, with true smutty stories shared by members of the audience. The event is hosted by Cameryn Moore, who set it up in response to taboos surrounding sex-related anecdotes at regular story slams. As she puts it herself, “if I want a space for myself and it’s not there, I’ll make it, rather than wait for someone else to step up to it.” Too damn right.
The idea of Smut Slam is to create a space which defies the notion that sex is an inherently taboo subject, and instead use it as a tool to create a sense of commonality and community. The stories can be anything from funny, sad, steamy, or moving, which is exactly the beauty of the evening: you never know what you’re going to get.
Cameryn recognised an open, artist-friendly atmosphere in Berlin and it has made it the perfect base for Smut Slam. While the event concept is getting the attention it deserves and taking off in other cities across the world, Berlin will remain its heart and soul.
To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the project, we asked Cameryn to reflect on five stand-out moments in Smut Slam’s history (and give us one extra insight into its future). Hear in her own words how she has shaped the project, how it’s shaped her, and where it’s going next.
Highlight 1: Moving to Berlin with the help of Marc Seestadt of Sticky Biscuits
When I first landed in Berlin, I needed to test the waters for Slam-ability. No one I talked to before moving here was really sure that Berliners would go for a community dirty-storytelling show—”too reserved,” one doubter said, shaking their head—and I had exactly three acquaintances in town. One of them was Marc Seestadt of Sticky Biscuits, whom I met when he and bandmate Naomi Fearn played the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015. “Come to Berlin sometime,” he said. So when the UK was turning out to be increasingly inhospitable to my smutty artist self, I turned my sights to Berlin instead.
Marc helped me scout out venues, which mostly ended up being unassuming spaces attached to Neukölln bars: a moody back room with an untuned piano, a dark basement with steep stairs and dirt floors. Other Nature Alternativer Sexladen signed on as our storytelling prize sponsor at the very first slam, without even knowing exactly what a Smut Slam is. This is a real problem when trying to recruit people to the cause: it’s hard to convey what it’s like, because there’s nothing quite like it. In September of that year I signed up for a few months in “the belly” of Du Beast, but as boho as it felt to have everyone packed cheek to jowl against the exposed brick walls, I realised that it was already time to think bigger.
Highlight 2: Upgrading Smut Slam with a new venue, Lovelite
We moved to Lovelite, a high-ceilinged club just a walk away from Ostkreuz. Here we had room for things like five judges instead of three, a backstage area (so I wasn’t putting on my makeup in front of people coming in), proper stage lights and OOOOOH red velvet curtains! By this time, the core of the Smut Slam Berlin team was beginning to form, with folks who had been attending steadily from the Du Beast days. Kit became my floor manager (they haven’t missed a single Slam in five years); Marc hung on as tech and assistant producer. A handful of other folks joined in to help w box office, merchandise sales, set-up crew. After one diånner party for the volunteers, Diego came up with the name for our team: the Smutterlings (playing off the German word for butterfly,Schmetterling). They even got some fancy-pants headdresses, made by Lithe, a brilliant club accessories maker and our regular Bucket Babe—you know, the person who holds the Fuckbucket. Fuckbucket? That’s where the anonymous questions and confessions go… You know what, maybe you should come see for yourself 😉
Highlight 3: Securing a flat with the help of Smut Slam (probably)
During this period I actually secured my current flat here thanks to Smut Slam. I think? A prospective landlady asked what I did for a living.
“I’m a performer,” I said, in the typically evasive way that I use when someone asks who has power over my life.
“Oh! What kind of performer?”
“Well, I write my own plays, but the main thing… um… are you religious?”
“No…?”
So I handed her a flyer for the next Smut Slam. She accepted my application the next day, and a week later she and her husband showed up at Smut Slam. “We just wanted to see,” she said on her way out. I’m glad I didn’t see her walking in. I would have gotten nervous; we hadn’t signed the rental contract yet.
Highlight 4: Upgrade 2.0 with a new event space in Mitte
By fall of 2019, Smut Slam was once again like being in a tin of very excitable sardines, so we decided to go big in our next venue hunt, someplace that could really accommodate some growth. In January 2020, we brought Smut Slam to a big event space in Mitte. Their terms were reasonable, at least during the trial period, and the space was superb for a growing young Slam. There were alcoves for things like a craft table and a reading lounge and display materials from Other Nature and Play Safe Berlin. There was wheelchair access, even, WOW.
In January and February, it felt like we had definitely made the right decision. The February Slam had more than triple the ticket sales than we had in our first official slam location. By then, the Berlin show was giving me a strong enough base that I could do little run-out shows in Leipzig, Munich, Frankfurt. Yes, this smutty train was running, full steam ahead!
Highlight 5: Surviving the pandemic
I don’t want to write much about that time. It was crushing for anyone doing entertainment and community gatherings, and Smut Slam is both. It hit producers and performers both professionally and personally, and most of us are still recovering.
Fortunately, Smut Slam in Berlin and across Germany did make it through, with a combination of online Slams and, in Berlin, a few outdoor Slams, as soon as we could find the right venue. As always, Smut Slam requires a space that both feels comfortable and open for guests (especially in the interests of Abstand), and ALSO is private, so that random passersby can’t just stop and eavesdrop. We found the spot in Villa Kuriosum, an artist co-op and garden located right on the Ringbahn in Lichtenberg. With quirky sculptures and a country-fair outside bar and garden cats and apples that will drop on your head without warning, all we had to do was string some fairy lights up and plug the microphone in, and there’s your filth party, ready to go.
Two years of mostly outdoor Slams, starting in Aug 2020 and continuing through today, has meant that we had to invert our normal season; instead of summers off, we had to play summer full on, and even do a couple of shows in the spring or fall that maybe would be ill-advised from a meteorological point of view. But with a couple of rickety shade structures and our audience bringing umbrellas, we managed to survive suffocating heat and a few drizzly nights, and the smut lovers are astonishingly game for whatever. (Bless our pervs.)
Bonus Highlight: Going global*
(*but once a Berliner, always a Berliner)
In 2022 we noticed that people were travelling again, in earnest, and our audience shifted a bit. Local veterans were sometimes absent, but in their place we got out-of-town folks visiting friends or just stumbling across us accidentally online, people from Victoria BC and Poland and Turkey and France. Why don’t you bring Smut Slam to us? they would ask on their way out the door at the end of another astonishing show. “That’s a great idea,” I would nod and smile, “I’ll keep that in mind!”
Not every location is practical, but we do keep them in mind. Right now I’m confirming dates for Smut Slams in Helsinki and Tallinn, Frankfurt and Dresden. Cardiff is coming back at the beginning of 2023 and so is Copenhagen. Maybe Mannheim will want another one? I just got back from that and they loved it.
But the core of it all is here in Berlin. Our strongest audiences, my most dedicated crew members, the people I can brainstorm ideas with, the crew for our new podcast and touring operations and social media planning, my awesome fucking bed, aww yeah… all of that is here.
So. We’re getting ready to take Smut Slam Berlin back indoors in October, at Crack Bellmer near Warschauer Str. It’s eclectic as fuck on the inside, with those cute alcoves and sheltered outdoor spaces that I love, a state-of-the-art air filtration system, AND a good supply of late-night doner shops nearby (smut makes you hungry, all right?).
And so as we celebrate our fifth anniversary here, and get ready to step into year six, I’m grateful to be able to stop and take a breath and look at this little home base we’ve created. It’s not what I expected, when I first rolled up at Tegel and squinted at German words that I didn’t know how to read yet. The five years have covered some pretty terrifying territory, to be honest. But we got through it, coming back strong, so I believe it more than ever, that thing we sometimes shout out at Slam:
Our lives are awesome.
