Feast of Fun - History

History

The creator of the show, Fausto Fernós, was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Fernós moved to Austin, Texas at age 17 to enroll in art school at the University of Texas at Austin. At the age of 18 he started the "SoftMen Show" above an alternative clothing store in Austin, Texas in the well-known music area known as Sixth Street. In 1993, Fernós created a successful Public-access television cable TV how entitled "El Chow De Faustina," which featured Fernós in drag interviewing artists and musicians from the local area. In 1995, the Austin Chronicle named the program as the "Best Cable Access Show" and featured Fernós on the cover of its publication alongside Texas Governor Ann Richards. In 1996, his solo performance work was featured in The Cleveland Performance Art Festival, a then-world-renowned festival of experimental art and live theater.

Fernós met his partner, Marc Felion in Chicago, Illinois in 1999, and together they developed Feast of Fools, a live theatrical variety show performed in various Chicago area venues. It featured music, dance, poetry, comedy and performance art strung together by a play that took place between acts. The name "Feast of Fools" was chosen by Fernós to pay tribute to Harry Hay, a gay activist from the 1970s, who felt gays should "embrace a certain frivolity." Hay envisioned a future where people felt free to express themselves fully and honestly, and therefore “act foolish.” In September 2000, Fernós, identifiable around Chicago by his distinctive blue hair, gained notoriety as a 'fire-eating drag princess' and performed as part of the Radical Faeries of Chicago at Chicago's HotHouse. By April 2001, Fernós and Felion expanded their show at the Randolph Street Gallery to be a "performance art cabaret."

By 2005, Fernós—whose friend, video artist Kerthy Fix described as "a celebrity waiting for the technology to catch up with "—and Felion aspired to take the show a step further by creating a cable access show; but at the same time, podcasting burst onto the scene with the promise of video podcasting in the near future. Taking a chance on the up-and-coming technology, they decided to embrace the new medium.

In 2007, the website was overhauled and two new podcasts were added: "Show Me Now," a video podcast; and "Mini Bites," which featured short skits and sound bites that users could download and use as cellular phone ringtones. The original audio podcast was named "Gay Fun Show" to distinguish itself from the other, newer shows. In addition, a Community Forum was started which allowed listeners to create personal profiles and share stories and information with each other. In 2008, the video podcast was re-launched and renamed "Video Player," which coincided with the launch of the Feast of Fools YouTube channel and another re-design of the main website.

In 2009, the name of the show was changed to "Feast of Fun" to better reflect the show's content, which focuses on odd news stories, food and drink recipes, music, comedy and irreverent humor. The show intends to include both gay and straight community members who are open to GLBT-related subjects and topics.

Also in 2009, a complete redesign of the website introduced new features, including "Fresh," which gives listeners the ability to contribute stories, photos and original articles freely; and "What's Hot," a summary of the most popular podcasts, topics and stories.

In July, 2010, Feast of Fun featured interviews with a series of "Legendary Divas of Comedy": Cassandra Peterson, Carole Cook, Mink Stole and Carol Channing.

In 2011, Feast of Fun converted to a subscriber-based system, called "Feast of Fun Plus+". Subscribers gain access to all areas of the site, as well as additional benefits based on the level of membership chosen (Gold, Platinum or Diamond).