Get Some Hot Lip Service This Weekend

Esther Martinez, Lip Service co-founder

Collagen injections. Corrupt politicians' promises. Back-room strip club blowjobs. When it comes to lip service, Miamians have an array of temporarily thrilling options to choose.

But these widely available "services" all have one sad characteristic in common: They eventually leave you feeling... deflated.

Thank goodness for Andrea Askowitz and Esther Martinez, a pair of sexy storytellers who keep serving Miami audiences their own home-spun brand of Lip Service, in the form of substantial and guilt-free helpings of word candy.

Now in its 22nd round, Lip Service calls for Miamians from all walks of life to submit their personal, true stories to the series. The authors of the funniest and most poignant tales then share their stories with a typically sold-out audience, reading them out loud on stage. Some accounts are funny; some are deep; some are heart-breaking. But all are thought-provoking.

"With all the ways Miami is fake, Lip Service is an injection of the real," says co-founder Esther Martinez. "Real stories, from real people, only sometimes about implants. It's like a face-lift for story-telling; we're plumping up Miami's cultural scene," she quips.

This time, the show centers on the theme of "culture clash," so expect stories about worlds colliding. J. Robert Barnes, a native of Homestead, will share his experience with using an especially inflammatory racial slur. Karen-Eileen Gordon's story details how a devout Christian girl nearly kicked her Jewish ass because she didn't believe in Jesus And Manuel Martinez, a man with a complicated multi-racial ethnic background, talks about his son's refusal to check the "black" box on forms asking for racial identification. Other stories address religious fanaticism, racial tensions, and international travel.

The show goes on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Miracle Theatre. Tickets cost $15. Go to lipservicestories.com. Want to find out how you can submit your own tale of glory, shame, hilarity, or woe? Find out how by going to the show's website.

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