Elevate Difference

Crazy Enough (6/12/2009)

Portland, Oregon

Her mother tried to poison her with turquoise "chicken noodle" soup, she tried to become a "dick whisperer" at age twelve, and she was addicted to heroin by age twenty-one. Is Storm Large "Crazy Enough?"

Decide for yourself before this show ends August 16, or spend the rest of the summer regretting that you missed her. Large, who starred on CBS's Rockstar: Supernova in 2006 and whose band Storm and the Balls had a Top 10 hit with "Ladylike" that same year, lets everything hang out in this one-woman show—including her boobs, which she refers to as a "$4,000 growth spurt."

She is agonizingly honest about life with a mentally ill mother and a geographically and emotionally distant father; about trying to find love through nasty sex with much older men; about what it felt like to get addicted to heroin and go through withdrawal on her bathroom floor—think feeling like your skin is being scraped by a cheese grater as you watch her perform. All the while growing up, she's also terrified of becoming "crazy" like her mom. But in the end, her message is one of enormous strength—one that I believe is reaffirming for girls and women of all ages. She's six feet tall, sexually omnivorous (Large's preference to the noun "bisexual"), and yes, (Susan) Storm Large is her real name! If you don't like it, too fucking bad for you.

Despite having a voice like gorgeous dynamite, Large was told by mostly male record talent scouts that she was "too aggressive," "too old" at age twenty-seven, but did she mind giving them a blow job while she was there?

This incredible performance will make you fucking pissed off, might very well make you cry, and will definitely make you roar with laughter—who else can pull off singing a song about an eight-mile-wide vagina? If you don't live close to Portland, Oregon, you should definitely check out the play's soundtrack. Just don't start humming it at work.

Photo by Owen Carey via Flickr

Written by: M.L. Madison, July 9th 2009

I look forward to seeing Storm Large's show. A friend recently forwarded me a link to her Eight Miles Wide video. It is fabulous! She definitely speaks to women and feminists about reclaiming all of who we are and being proud. I'd like to invite folks to another great feminist event in Portland happening this Saturday (August 8) at the Bread and Roses Center (819 N. Killingsworth St.) Saturday, August 8, 7pm with 6pm dinner

Public Forum No more singing capitalism's blues… Sisters, it's time to fight!

Special guest speaker Anne Slater, Radical Women firebrand & National Organizer, is on a national speaking tour, mobilizing women and their allies to stand against rightwing racism, layoffs and state budget cuts. She is a member of Queer Ally Coalition, a longtime abortion clinic defender and led a community college unionization drive. She recently helped to launch Seattle’s grassroots group Sisters Organize for Survival.

A Sizzling Barbecue Buffet will be served at 6:00pm (vegeratian option available). Dinner donation is $8 and door donation is $2 (sliding scale and work exchanges available).

This was by far the best performance piece I have ever seen. I will be going back again and taking everyone I can with me. Storm's story is tragic and inspiring all at the same time. Hearing her story gives you the inspiration to make changes in your own life and lets you know if she can go through so much, and still come so far, you can too!

great review! i've never heard of her until now- too bad the show isn't in my town.

thanks for the great write up! and we've just extended Storm's show again, due to ticket demand...it's now playing through August 16.

Cynthia Portland Center Stage

It sounds, by pure description, kind of marvelous but mostly awful, albiet painfully entertaining. AKA: I'd watch it, but I wouldn't pay to see it. It is quite nice to know there's an audience for ex-reality tv star, rock and rolling, sexually omnivorous, one woman monologue shows... it makes for a much more interesting world!

What is the message of strength she gives? I get the : Perserverence as a bisexual rocker with a loud mouth. Overcoming drug addiction. Continuing to speak up while being labelled to aggressive (yet still giving blow jobs?)? But I'm wondering if it's raunchy girl power strength or self-acceptance strength? Not that any of these are necessarily worth more or less than the other- I'm just curious.

Thanks for the article. I'd never heard of Storm Large, prior to this. What a great name!