Gab – Review

Gab

Week 50 Free
(3223 N. Sheffield, Chicago, IL 60657)
by Leggs Marbison

I don’t know how this found its way into Lollipop, but I’m glad it did. Apparently, Gab is a weekly guide for the hip, “alternative lifestyle” crowd. For those of you not up on the lingo, it’s a ‘zine for finding out what’s hip and cool to do in Chicago if you’re gay. But it has stuff that’s entertaining for all walks of life. They do a nice little piece on some ’60s easy listening music (Julie Andrews, Julie London, Desi Arnaz, et al), a rating system of how well your party is going (“Level Four: Your guests, food smeared across their naked bodies, are capering around the burning Christmas tree in some unholy ritual. The piano is missing”), a survey of “Homocore,” and a cool “letter” from what has to be the biggest loser in America (Trailer burned down, a Grandfather who uses his tracheotomy box to amplify his farts, a junkie Grandmother, sister marrying a convict, brother is a convict, etc. etc.). The rest of the admittedly small ‘zine is filled with classifieds and listings of the Chicago nightlife scene. This wouldn’t be so cool if it didn’t have such an easy reading style and accessibility to anyone who picks it up, but it does, so it’s cool.