A “queer clown bat mitzvah” is happening on Coney Island & it sounds like one helluva party

It sounds like the opening line of a joke. A transgender clown, a rabbi, and a burlesque performer go to Coney Island and… they throw a party?

But that’s exactly what’s happening this weekend when a “queer clown bat mitzvah” rolls into town, complete with multiple bands for a night of revelry.

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Performance artist Dylan Mars Greenberg, who is transgender, is the mastermind behind the collective Jewish coming-of-age ceremony. Her band, Theophobia, performs a “hybrid of music, performance art, and comedy,” making Coney Island the perfect place to hold the event.

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The party will feature “a live concert with spiritual moments, sideshow acts and spaces for queer expression — and a rabbi to coach attendees through the experience.” It will be held at the Coney Island Shooting Gallery Arts Annex.

“The event as a whole is really supposed to be a celebration of identity and acceptance, both Jewish and LGBTQ identities and in particular queer and trans identities,” they said.

“I’ve met a lot of people who are both very openly trans and queer and gay and also very open about Judaism. That is inspiring to me because there was definitely a period where I wasn’t sure how welcome I’d be in the Jewish community. I’m realizing now that the Jewish community encompasses so many different things.”

The artist Pink Velvet Witch will host the event, Theophobia and the band 95 Bulls will perform, as will Maggie McMuffin, a sideshow and burlesque performer. Rabbi Rachel Grant Meyer will deliver a short Torah commentary and share a blessing with the crowd.

“I was brought in because we’re in a really difficult moment in this country, where trans people in particular, but queer people in general, are really under attack. There was a desire to have a celebration of queer identity and trans identity and to do that through a Jewish lens,” she said.

“One of the centerpieces of my Jewish life is the concept of Shabbat or rest. And inherent in that is the concept of Oneg Shabbat, or the joy and celebration of Shabbat. That’s what this is, a rest or a pause from a political moment that’s really devastating,” Meyer added. “This is meant to give people a taste of a different, joyful, celebratory world and a pause from so much of the hatred that is so demoralizing, debilitating and takes away our dignity.”

“I really want to invite people into Jewish culture in ways that are non-proselytizing and show that there are actually ways to live values and to express your identity, whether that’s cultural or religious, that don’t limit or control other people’s behavior. I will be blessing everyone and everyone will really be blessing themselves and lifting each other up in community.”