Event Calendar 2027!

Take a gander at the themes for 2027. Then pick one (or two) and jump in!

Can you believe it? I’m posting the themes for 2027!!

It’s much sooner than we realize.

There’s a new slam every month.

If you’re a feminist and you publish on Substack, come tell a story or two at the slam.

There are 10 storyteller spots available for each show. They fill up quickly.

Are you an audience member looking for great entertainment?

Shows are at 5pm ET on the third Saturday of the month in our virtual Zoom Playhouse.

C’mon, you know you want to do it. Click the button to sign up for your chosen slam(s).

Yes, it seems so far off, but 2027 is only six months away!

See the theme descriptions below, and tell me you’re in.

Come tell a story. You can do it.

If you’re more inclined to be an audience member, you can buy a ticket to any live slam, but if this is right up your alley and you plan on attending a bunch of them or all of them, you can become a paid subscriber for a much better value, and see each live slam for free. You’ll be supporting the work of this project.

We’ll never turn anyone away from seeing the live show. if they can’t spring for a ticket (it’s the only thing we charge for) or become a paid subscriber, DM me, and tell me you want to go.

I’ll comp you. No questions. No borders.

Don’t Eat That, You’ll Get Fat!

January 16, 2027 at 5pm ET

How many times have you heard that in your lifetime? Yeah. Me, too. As a woman in recovery from disordered eating, I have plenty to say about how our culture insists on bodies that conform to a standard that’s mostly impossible to achieve. Did you start dieting at 7 years old, because you grew up learning disordered behavior around food? Have you ever thought, “If only I could take off these last 5, 10, 50 pounds, my life would finally be good.” But then you did, and life wasn’t that different. Because the truth about who you are has nothing to do with your measurements. Nothing. Share your story.

Not All Men? Prove It.

February 20, 2027 at 5pm ET

We’re doing it. A man-slam. We’re inviting men to tell stories this month. Men who say they’re feminists to some degree or another. When I thought of producing this event, I realized that I’d framed it too loosely.

“Just tell us you believe we’re equal.”

That’s not nearly enough. It’s not that simple. Tell us stories about what YOU’RE doing to make change in our upside-down world.

• Do you confront men who are harassing women on the street? Or do you walk by, because you don’t want to become a casualty, too?

• As a citizen, do you demand law enforcement and legislators pick up the pace and test the backlog of rape kits, that wait for years to be tested?

• Do you teach your boy children how to feel, cry, share, and lead with an open heart? Patriarchy hurts men, too.

What are you doing to actively change the world for all of us?

Remember, we have a zero dicks policy; it’s not about penises.Don’t be a dick.

Who’s Your She-ro?

March 20, 2027 at 5pm ET

March is Women’s History Month. So we’re telling stories about the impact of the She-roes in our lives. When you were a kid, who did you love? Was there a woman in your life who was your hero? Someone you wanted to emulate? Someone who inspired you? Who was your shero? Was it a teacher? A grandmother? Your mom? A public figure? I had more than one.

As far as well-known women go? Eleanor Roosevelt. Especially when I was a kid. Always and forever.

How Can I Help?

April 17, 2027 at 5pm ET

This slam is about our lives as caregivers. Because yes, we are the caregivers. How do you feel about that? Who have you taken care of? Who are you tending to now? A parent with dementia? A father with cancer? A child with special needs? Did you do it from a place of love? Or obligation? Or a little bit of both?

With all that caregiving, do you remember to take care of yourself?

Men-O-Pause!!

May 15, 2027 at 5pm ET

I’m a big fan of the double entendre. Remember zero dicks? Yeah. That got some folks riled up. That means we’re doing a good job.

For this one? Of course, the central theme is menopause. Peri or Full. Let’s hear about your symptoms. The night-sweats, the brain fog, the floods and the droughts. The wild mood swings, the rage, the loss of libido. The day you threw away your last tampon. Did you take HRT? Do you? Or did you miss that boat because of the incomplete studies that warned us away?

The relief, when it’s over once and for all. Or did you feel grief?

And, if you have a story of pausing from men, you can tell that one, too.

Whose Choice Is It, Anyway?

June 19, 2027 at 5pm ET

I remember bodily autonomy. I remember legal abortion. Easily-accessed birth control. Do you? You probably do.

We didn’t lose those rights until recently. I remember the Roe v. Wade SCOTUS decision, hard-won in 1973, that finally provided an avenue to safer abortions and bodily autonomy, so women would stop dying on back-alley kitchen tables from botched procedures.

I was 11 when Roe was enacted. Today, I’m 65, and I’m outraged.

I worked at Planned Parenthood in the early 2000s and one of my jobs was escorting frightened patients through the always-present crowd of sign-waving, praying, screaming protesters at the clinic.

Tell us your choice stories. We all have them.

How Many Steps, Exactly?

July 17, 2027 at 5pm ET

This slam is devoted to telling our recovery stories. Our sobriety stories. What we discovered about ourselves when we put our obsessions down and learned to live full lives. Whatever the road to recovery was for you, 12-step, or some other solution, we want to hear what you want to share. Food, drugs, alcohol, gambling, money, sex, workaholism, dysfunctional thinking. The things we chose to distract us from our pain and our trauma, so that we can discover our truly beautiful selves. The selves we kept buried for far too long.

What’s your life like now?

Hey, Sister!

August 21, 2027 at 5pm ET

I never had a sister, I got a brother, instead. He’s good. I love him. I wonder sometimes what it might have been like with a sister, instead. I once dated a woman who was an identical twin. And I worked for her sister. I can’t imagine having an identical sister. That would be scary, don’t you think? Two of ME, in the world. One’s enough. So, tell me a story about your real live sister, or the sister of your heart. Because we all have one of those.

Sisters, sisters. There were never such devoted sisters!

The Semicolon Stories

September 18, 2027 at 5pm ET

September is suicide awareness and prevention month. You may be wondering what punctuation got to do with this topic? Well, there’s my long answer. For now, here’s the shorter answer. The founder of Project Semicolon chose this symbol in 2013 because:

“A semicolon is used when an author could’ve chosen to end their sentence but realized they had more to say. The author is you, and the sentence is your life.” ~ Amy Bleuel, founder Project Semicolon

Many of us have been touched by the suicide of a family member or a dear friend, and some of us have survived our own attempts or dealt with suicidal ideation and depression. We’ve chosen to adorn our bodies with semicolon tattoos in support of our lost loved ones. The tattoo signals that we’re safe to talk to should we encounter a person who’s struggling.

I have a bracelet of 32 semicolons circling my left wrist. You can talk to me anytime.

I’m grateful that I stayed to say more; if I hadn’t, I’d be missing out on all of this.

You don’t need a semicolon tat to perform in this slam; you just need the story.

Are You In or Are You Out?

October 16, 2027 at 5pm ET

This is a call to the queer community on Substack. We want everyone (as long as you hold feminist values and have a publication on Substack. We’re breaking the zero dicks guideline for a second time in a year! Might that constitute a trend?

Women, men (cis & trans), lesbian, gay, bisexual, nonbinary, intersex. If your definition of queer falls under this umbrella or parasol, you’re invited to come out and tell your stories. If your definition of queer isn’t among the ones I’ve noted, but it’s yours, come on out and tell us! Allies, you’re in the audience for this one.

Gee, What Middle Class?

November 20, 2027 at 5pm ET

This one. This one. It’s all about income inequality. It’s about those of us who’ve struggled to pay the bills, often have to work more than one job, or have suffered the indignities of the joke of a federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. They think we have little worth. It hasn’t been raised in 27 years. But the cost of living? That continues to soar; it’s skyrocketing now, and the rich?

They’re shooting their phallic projections into outer space while people starve.

How do we make ends meet when the middle class has all but vanished? How do we survive when the corrupt, uncaring billionaires get rich on our labor by exploiting us.

By now, we’ll probably have a good idea of the state of Congress.

And, I’m not in the mood for cake.

Thanks A Million!

December 18, 2027at 5pm ET

This one’s about gratitude. There’s so much to be grateful for. Some days, it’s easy to forget. My big gratitude fantasy is that by the time this slam rolls around, we’ll be dancing in the street celebrating the fall of the evil regime.

There are so many things to be grateful for. It could be a tiny gratitude. Witnessing the first crocus bursting through a thin layer of snow or lying in your bed at the end of winter with the windows cracked, so you don’t miss the first song of the peepers announcing the arrival of spring.

It could be a huge gratitude for the family that loves and accepts us just the way we are, or for the roof over our head, the wagging tails of the puppies who give us more love than we might deserve. I write down 10 things I’m grateful for every night before I go to sleep. Sometimes I repeat myself but there are plenty on that list. Writing them down keeps me present to the blessings in my life.

What are you grateful for?

This is our planned second year of programming for Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!’s feminist storytelling events. Subscribe for free. You’ll be kept in the loop about our upcoming slams and you’ll be supporting our work.

And, if you’re really excited about what we’re doing, you can become a paid subscriber, catch every live show for free, and help support the work.

PS. We’re cooking up some surprises that haven’t hit the calendar yet, all the more reason to keep track of us. Solve the FOMO problem. Subscribe now.

Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! has a fiscal sponsor now. A arts nonprofit called Fractured Atlas serves as our umbrella so our fans can make donations that are tax-deductible for US citizens. Another way that you can offer your support.