Dick Monologues

The Dick Monologues is a show about everything dick related from the noun definition to the action verb. Conceived and birthed by Spike Gillespie in July 2007 as a one night revenge-as-art performance, the show was so well received that the dick has continued to grow, with monthly performances including Austin’s top writers, performers and singer-songwriters including…

Spike Gillespie - Spike tied with Sarah Bird for Best Author in Austin 2006 Chronicle Readers’ poll. Gillespie is a journalist, author, teacher, documentary filmmaker, public radio commentator, and ordained minister. Spike is the critically acclaimed author of four books—including the just released Quilty as Charged: Undercover in the Material World— and countless magazine articles. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Real Simple, GQ, Esquire, Elle, Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, The Christian Science Monitor, Texas Monthly, The Dallas Morning News, and other publications. She is the President of the Office of Good Deeds. Spike dreamed up The Dick Monologues after a particularly dicky experience with an especially dicky man. Her websites include: www.spikeg.com, www.spikegillespie.com, and her blog resides at: www.myspace.com/spikegillespie

Sarah Bird - Sarah tied with Spike Gillespie for Best Author in Austin 2006 Chronicle Readers’ poll. She is the best known and most loved novelist in Austin. She is the author of six novels: The Yokota Officers Club, Virgin of the Rodeo, The Mommy Club, The Boyfriend School, Alamo House and The Flamenco Academy. She is a columnist for the Texas Monthly and has written for The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, O Magazine, Glamour, and Mademoiselle, among other publications.

Sarah Barnes - Sarah writes for the Austin American-Statesman and is currently working on a book about her misadventures in special needs parenting. She's been in the newspaper business for 25 years as a staff reporter at USA Today, The Dallas Morning News, Lubbock Avalanche ­Journal and Des Moines Register, and has freelanced for many other publications, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Time magazine. She's an Austin native and recovering debutante.

Marrit Ingman - Marrit Ingman is a regular contributor to The Austin Chronicle. Her writing has also appeared in Brain, Child, Isthmus, The Coast Weekly, AlterNet, Clamor, The Anchorage Press, The Charleston City Paper, Venus, Mamalicious, and other publications. She has contributed to various anthologies, including The Risks of Sunbathing Topless and Other Funny Stories from the Road. She has taught at Boston University, Springfield College, and Southwestern University. Inconsolable is her first book.

Rudy Ramirez - Rudy Ramirez is a writer, director, and performer who has developed cast-created pieces with Austin activist organizations such as The Rhizome Collective and Radical Encuentro, exploring radical history (The History of the Garden--2003, The Emma Goldman Project--2007 ) and sexual politics (Getting Off: Stories of Sexuality and Consent--2004). He is a regular performer at Camp Camp and for The Dick Monologues, and has written and performed with Humdrum Collective in Food/No Food--2007. He is currently finishing a Master's in English from the University of California, Berkeley and will be directing Luna Tart Died for the 2008 Frontera Fest.

Southpaw Jones - Southpaw Jones treads lightly on the thin ice of irreverent honesty. Being left-handed, he naturally turns his guitar upside-down to play more comfortably. Being a creative little brother, he naturally turns the world upside-down to make his audience uncomfortable. Critics say he has “that most amazing ability to be hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time,” and his songs are “at once political, personal, serious, hilarious, lucid, and muddled.”

Kristine Kovach - After a quarter century on the receiving end of dick, (finding herself occasionally enthralled, appalled, mauled and balled), Kriss Kovach continues to read, write and research the topic between delicious naps in Austin, Texas.

Laura Lane - Lane is an television and stage actress, best known for her portrayal of C.C. Babcock on the 1990s popular sitcom The Nanny. She was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and raised in Texas. Lane began acting in 1984 and has appeared in numerous TV shows such as Hunter and L.A. Law and in several movies. She also has acted on stage. She was a member of The Actors Gang, an experimental theater company headed by Tim Robbins. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington. She is currently a professor in the Theatre Department at Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas State University) in San Marcos, Texas.

Robin Chotzinoff - Robin is a freelance magazine writer and book author. Her books include People with Dirty Hands—intimate portraits of eccentric gardeners, People Who Sweat—intimate portraits of unlikely athletes and Holy Unexpected—a memoir about her conversion to Judaism. Her work has been reviewed favorably everywhere from People to The New Yorker. She has won numerous local and national awards for feature writing. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Food and Wine, National Gardening and many other magazines.

Diane Fleming - Diane is a poet and a short writer. She has short hair. Sometimes, she writes short stories. She won the Tenth Annual Austin Chronicle Short Story Contest for her story, Valium. She is working on an MFA in creative writing at UBC Vancouver, and is the author of Trip to Normal, a book of poetry. Her ideal job would be to travel the world with Anthony Bourdain, eating the still-beating heart of a Cambodian cobra, drinking jugs of Portuguese wine, and experiencing the crunch of roast sheep testicles in Morocco. Until then, she's a technical writer at a software company in Austin.