Attention Butt Pirates and Lesbetarians

Playing directly to a crowd that already treats her like royalty, Judy Tenuta brings her accordion, her gravelly voice, and her aggressive camp to the 1994 C.S.W. Gay Pride Festival. Operating as her standard “Love Goddess” alter ego, she commands the stage with a mix of performance art, audience abuse, and cult-leader posturing. She spends the set preaching the tenets of “Judyism” and demanding total devotion from the crowd.

The 48-minute audio release strips away the visual flair of her elaborate gowns, relying entirely on her abrasive delivery and intermittent bursts of the accordion. She hauls men on stage just to put words in their mouths and freely insults her listeners, who cheer for the hostility. The album functions less as standard stand-up and more as a revival tent for her followers, ultimately earning Tenuta a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Comedy Album.