DAVID is back! We are very excited to announce that DAVID Magazine is back after more than five years. We want to thank Peach for carrying the torch in that time and ensuring that Atlanta always had a weekly entertainment guide even through a global pandemic and economically challenging times.
The past years have taught us that we need to provide support and extra care for our community to keep it thriving and growing. So even though you may see DAVID change a little in its transition from Peach, we will still center around providing you with the best content inspired and driven by the voices in our community. With the shift to DAVID, we will be continuously committed to providing you with the premier weekly guide to all things gay in Atlanta.
In fact, we plan to do even more with DAVID and work even closer with local advertisers, businesses, and organizations to bring you even more content in print and online, but also do promotions, events, and parties.
We want to publish the best version of DAVID yet and work with you to do just that. So, get in touch with us if you’re going to promote an event, have an idea for a story, or want to launch your business with us – we can’t wait to show you what we have in store for you!
On behalf of the DAVID team, here’s to a successful, fun, sexy 2023 with David Magazine by your side!
Sincerely,
Mikkel Hyldebrandt Editor-in-Chief David Magazine
mikkel@davidatlanta.com
PhOTOS By RuSS BOWEN-yOuNgBLOOD
Did you know that only 28% of Americans plan to make a New Year’s resolution? If you’re one of themcongratulations! That puts you in the minority of adults who want to make concerted positive changes for themselves in the year ahead. The top five resolutions? Exercise more. Save money. Eat more healthily. Lose Weight. Reduce stress.
Chances are you’re looking to make improvements to your lifestyle that will benefit your physical and mental health. Working on these in the gym and the kitchen, as well as other activities in your life, can do all of that and more - but only if you make adjustments to your lifestyle and stick with them. The key is consistency. Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.
Is there an activity you like or at least don’t hate? Just do it. If you like swimming, find an indoor pool. If you like dancing, join a class that lets you move and sweat to choreographed weight training. Do whatever will make
you move. Running and jumping are great cardio, but it doesn’t mean they have to be your thing. If you like what you are doing, you will do it continually. If you don’t, chances are you won’t stick with it. If you are unsure what you would enjoy, try various activities until you find one that sticks.
Instead of formulating your ultimate goal as what you are working toward, break your goal down into smaller achievable goals. If you want to lose 10 pounds, think of it as a goal of losing 1-2 pounds per week. If you want to add muscle mass, you can aim for putting on 1-2 pounds of muscle a month. If you want to run a 5K, try intervals of walking and jogging to get to the first kilometer, then the second, then the third. Your goals may shift as you work toward them but stay committed to your overall desire to get more fit.
Having the support of others can not only inspire you but also keep you
accountable. Who wants to tell them later you’ve given up on your goals? Chances are you’ll want to report that you’ve been working hard to get what you want. You never know who will inspire you during this process. You may even inspire others to join you on your journey or start one of their own.
Best Is the Enemy Of Good
I hear one question all the time. “If I can only get to the gym for half an hour, is it worth it?” Yes! My answer is always a resounding Yes! It’s imperative. Not only can you get a lot done in half an hour, it will keep you in the habit of exercising. Feel like you can only give 50% today? Fine! Much better than 0%.
We need achievements to reach our goals, but we also need reinforcement with rewards to remind ourselves of the sweetness of success. Once you hit a goal like getting to the gym four times or sticking to your new diet all week, reward yourself for the hard work. Just try to choose one that won’t undo your efforts: a massage, a favorite meal, or a cocktail you want to enjoy.
Your Body Can Stand Almost Anything…
… It’s your head that you need to convince. People are often afraid to try something new. If you’re new to lifting weights in a gym, ask a friend if you can go with them while you get familiar with the machines and movements. Mirrored walls everywhere at the gym making you nervous? Trust me when I say nobody is looking at you and judging you. They are all too busy judging and looking at themselves.
One of the big mistakes you can make when starting in the gym is working out too intensely, too long, or doing exercises that are too difficult for your fitness level as a beginner. This can make you super sore or even cause you to injure yourself. Both can make you miserable and discourage you from continuing. Concentrate on developing the habit of dedicating time to your fitness schedule and avoid squeezing
in the gym when you have “free time.” There are one hundred and sixty-eight hours in a week. Devote tree or four of them to your fitness. Over time this habit will become part of your lifestyle.
Take your time in the beginning. Concentrate on developing consistency and proper form with your exercises. All those people you see in the gym with physiques that you would like have been working on their fitness for five, ten, or 20 years. You will get there in due time. You just have to put in the work and be consistent. I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy; I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.
With over 20 years of experience, Jay Knowlton brings his training expertise to you. Jay’s pursuit of health and wellness extends beyond the gym environment, utilizing a three-pronged approach through exercise, nutrition, and mindfulness. Jay is available for oneon-one and couples training at Gravity Fitness.
On Cole Escola’s Instagram page, the 36-year-old nonbinary comedian and actor describes themself as “One of Grindr’s Fresh Faces.” That’s true, of course, on and off gay social apps. Escola, who continues their ascension in film and TV, is known to show up when you least expect them to — sometimes as a face, sometimes as a face wrapped in a white veil, and sometimes as just a voice.
Escola has lent their talent to the voice of a gargoyle on “What We Do in the Shadows,” to Amy Sedaris in her craft room, to a kidnapper known as “the twink” on “Search Party,” to a sassy waiter in “Difficult People,” and to Bridget Everett in a cabaret show, playing a fetus. With seemingly a no-limit rule on the outrageousness of the characters (or things) they play, Escola’s two-role part in writer-director Amanda Kramer’s new film “Please Baby Please,” now available to rent or own via all digital/VOD platforms, makes perfect sense.
In the film, about the influence of misfit queers on a newlywed couple that evokes old Hollywood films like “West Side Story,” we meet one of two Escola characters, a
weepy, colorful drag queen, tucked into a phone booth, their eye makeup running onto their grief-stricken, white-powdered face. Channeling old Hollywood glamor in a flower-adorned headdress wrapped in a white veil, Escola sings The Skyliners’ 1958 classic “Since I Don’t Have You” into the phone. It’s a scene that could have been interpreted entirely differently on the page, but Escola envisioned it exactly the way it looks.
“Amanda and I were just both on the same page in terms of the tone of that,” they say during a recent Zoom interview. “It’s so satisfying to see something look exactly how you imagined it would look.”
Later in the film, Escola appears dressed in a cowboy costume, as Billy, a role, like a lot of their roles, written specifically for the actor. Both of the actor’s parts in “Please Baby Please” are small, and Kramer initially intended they would go to different actors. That was until Escola, who connected instantly to the film’s old Hollywood aesthetic, pleaded a case for both roles because, they say, “I was just so excited.”
“I appreciated that I got to play a character that was bored and annoyed by their exploration of their fascination with gender roles,” Escola says. “Amanda was really aware of that. It was intentional that Billy was rolling his eyes the whole time at them. I appreciated that point of view.”
In another scene, Billy won’t divulge his “perfect theory” on sexuality to the newlyweds, Arthur (Harry Melling) and Suze (Andrea Riseborough), because, the actor explains, he’s been “exploring and rejecting gender norms and roles probably his whole life.” Billy is just so over it.
“For these two squares to all of a sudden be like, ‘Wait, men can be different and women can be different?,’ he would be like, ‘This is so boring. You’re so boring.’”
Billy tells them he doesn’t believe they’re being honest with themselves or each other about their sexual desires. Suze insists he share that theory, prompting his spectacularly hissed retort: “Moo, you bossy little cow.” When Escola read that line in the script, they were instantly on board with the film.
“I, like a true actor, only read my parts first and I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to say that,’” they say. Another favorite line of theirs is one that directly quotes Greta Garbo in the 1932 film “The Grand Hotel.”
“I just like all of Amanda Kramer’s references,” Escola says. “I was like, ‘You seem cool. I want to work with you.’ It was really just the lines that I got to say, like a true self-involved actor.”
Then, of course, there’s what the movie says about gender and, for Escola, it’s somewhat of a reminder that queer people investigate gender much earlier than most.
“I think queer people, they feel the discomfort of gender roles so early that
they’re forced to look at them,” they say. “Even just the well-tread queer youth narrative of wanting to play with dolls or walking through the Barbie section
at Target. Not turning your head to look at the Barbies, but just keeping an eye. The fact that’s part of the learning or understanding the mask of gender, like, ‘OK, I have to wear this one even though it’s not who I am.’”
Escola was born and raised in Clatskanie, Oregon, where being queer was what you might expect in a less-than-urban setting. “If you saw what my queer youth was like on a TV show, you would be like, ‘This story again?’ It’s just that rural. Small town. Two gay adults.”
Growing up, they remember watching “Will & Grace” in middle school and seeing campy queer icon Paul Lynde on “Bewitched,” but they say they “always related more to character actresses.” Fast forward to today, Escola played a part, albeit admittedly minor, in bringing one of the most spectacular women roles to TV, with Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance
on HBO’s “Hacks.”
“I was just a part of a three-week writer’s room before the actual writer’s room. Just sort of concept, like big blue sky,” they say. “I don’t know how or who decides what credits those things are [on IMDB], but it definitely makes my role in ‘Hacks’ seem much bigger than it actually is.”
Acting wise, Escola always seems to relate to whoever and whatever they play, be it that gargoyle or that fetus. These are roles that just come their way. Maybe it’s because no one else will play them, but maybe it’s also because no one else could, at least not like Escola, with so much irreverent, screw-ball style. (It probably says a lot that Escola grew up admiring Amy Sedaris in “Strangers with Candy.”)
In the latest season of Netflix’s animated series “Big Mouth,” they voice Montel, the nonbinary child of hormone monsters Maury (Nick Kroll) and Connie (Maya Rudolph). Not only did Escola get another musical number, singing opposite
Rudolph for a song called “The You That’s In Your Heart,” but they tapped into their own personal beliefs on gender as part of their performance.
As for their other parts: “I didn’t audition for the gargoyle, I didn’t audition for the fetus,” they say, cocking a smile, “but I knew in my heart exactly who those characters were and are.”
“I’ve been a fetus,” they continue. “I tapped into that.”
After years of living under a global pandemic, our view of our bodies has changed. From being something we lived with but perhaps not always thrived with, the focus on our body is now keeping it healthy and resistant to whatever this world may throw at it.
To keep it healthy, we need to nurture and care for it, which has also impacted our consumer habits: instead of quick fixes, we are in it for the long haul. When it comes to skincare, there are plenty of products to help you reach your long-term skin goals, which will work preventatively while also benefiting your skin here and now.
Sure, a face wash will remove dirt and grime –but what if it brightened and exfoliated your skin with salicylic acid to lift dead skin and reveal bright skin beneath? Get a face wash that will do more for you than cleanse.
Revision Skincare Brightening Facial Wash, $40
A skin serum is like a not-so-secret weapon to supply your skin with targeted ingredients that will actively improve your skin. Choose a serum that will address any skin concern you might have, or go for one that will make your skin more resilient.
Dr. Andrew Weil For Origins™ Mega-Mushroom Relief & Resilience Advanced Face Serum, $86
Your moisturizer is the main barrier for your skin, so you better make it good! You should always go a little heavier than too light, so your skin has the proper moisture levels at all times.
La Roche-Posay Toleriane Ultra Intense Soothing Care, $31
Sunscreen is necessary to protect your skin against damaging rays that will age your skin prematurely. You can choose a moisturizer with SPF, but a dedicated sunscreen is needed in the summer months.
Paula’s Choice Extra Care Non-Greasy Sunscreen SPF 50, $22
Making a habit of caring for your skin overnight is one of the best lifetime routines you could ever have. With the proper nightly routine, which includes cleansing your skin before bed, you fight skin issues like dryness and dullness. Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Omega-Rich Cloud Cream, $53
Assessing your skin and defining where it needs help is a great long-term strategy. If you need assistance, consult a dermatologist who can also direct you to products or treatments – like using an eye cream to prevent and improve signs of aging in the eye area.
Dermalogica Age Reversal Eye Complex, $75
PhOTOS By RuSS BOWEN-yOuNgBLOOD
@ The Heretic
January 6, 10 pm – 3 am The hottest and biggest “jock party” in the country is back in Atlanta to kick off the new year in your jock. Dudes, daddies, discreet, dunno...DILF is for all men.
@ The Atlanta Eagle | January 6, 9 pm Come out to the Atlanta Eagle for the Season 15 premiere viewing party of RuPaul’s Drag Race! Special guest TS Madison will be joining, and they’ll be showing not one, but TWO episodes.
@ Blake’s On the Park | January 9, 4 pm
In December, we lost a true legend of the community. Come celebrate Lynn Barfield’s life at Blake’s as we gather to cherish the many memories she was such an intricate part of.
Pajamarama Bingo!
@ Lips Atlanta | January 10, 6:30 pm Tired from all the holiday parties and running around, but still want to get out and have some fun? Just throw on your pajamas and come to Lips for PALS Pajamarama Bingo benefiting PALS. Tickets via palsatlanta.org.
@ The Basement
January 7, 10 pm – 3 am Bring your friends and come dance to your favorite hits from the decade of Rainbow Brite, breakdancing and crimped hair. Come sing along, make some new friends, and dance your cares away with us to the tunes of Madonna, INXS, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney, Queen, Salt N Pepa, and Wham!
@ Lips Atlanta | January 9, 7:30 pm
Celebration of Jim Armstrong aka Electra Bell at Lips. If you would like to come, please know the doors open at 7:30 and the show will start around 8:30.
Valley of the Dolls
@ Plaza Theatre | January 11, 7-10 pm WUSSY is back at Plaza for our monthly feature fantastico with the 1967 campy classic, ‘Valley of the Dolls’ based on Jacqueline Susann’s best-selling novel. Tickets at plazaatlanta.com.
I just met this guy, and he is really great and very sexy. Well, sexy to look at because we haven’t had sex yet because he is very shy. We’ve made out a lot and done a bunch of on ‘top of clothing’ touching, but we haven’t even come close to going to the next leveland now it’s been three months! I’m sexually pretty liberated, so this was initially a turn on, but now it is becoming frustrating. I don’t want to be too forward with him, but I also want to take it to the next level and make him more comfortable around me. How do I show my interest without pushing too hard?
There are a lot of things to consider here. Did he come out late? Does he have a job that keeps him from being open and honest about his sexuality (they still exist, you know), or has he had bad experiences opening up and pushing past the shyness? You are doing the exact right thing with this guy by sticking to it and not applying pressure, so keep that up. Switch things up to create an environment that makes him more comfortable. Invite him to your house for a homemade meal or delicious takeout and let him know that you are very attracted to him, but you want to wait for him to overcome his shyness. If he is going through some issues with insecurity, you could be the person that he could open up to in more ways than one.
