Hot sweaty gay men on a crowded dance floor and a beer garden full of cigarette smoke… what’s not to love? Well… all of the above, if you’re not one for circuit parties like me! It’s kinda funny, because I’ve written about similar parties before. I was definitely more ready-to-rock back then, but part of it was fueled by the fear of missing out. Now that I’ve experienced the blaring music and dizzying lights, I’m finding myself prioritizing my comfort over chasing someone else’s bliss. Still, I was grateful to have gotten the chance to check things out (thanks for the ticket Brent!), and now I know what to prepare myself for should the party mood strikes in the future!
Ziggy’s Added Note I love to see how Hien grows and changes through the stories he tells in his comics with us. He always provides this introspective “everything doesn’t have to be perfect or easy for it to be worthwhile” experience of these events. Gay culture can seem like a confident, nonstop sexy party, and that can be a huge obstacle to joining in for people who don’t feel like they fit that vibe. Hien makes it seem manageable and human and enjoyable despite maybe also feeling hesitant or awkward or overwhelmed at times. We need to see more models like this, especially from cis dudes! I hope Hien’s growth, bravery, tenderness, and humanity inspire you all as much as they do me.
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↓ Comic Transcript
Hien Pham illustrates his comic in an extravagant style, using bright, vibrant colors that shift and change from page to page to convey a sense of energy and introspection. In today’s autobiographical comic Hien, draws himself a bunch! A person of color with an elegant, long, and wispy beard and mustache, square glasses, bunned-up hair, he's wearing short shorts and a Shibari harness as he attends a busy party!
Page 1
Narration:
'Booming dance remixes and a pumping crowd. An abundance of alcohol and clouds of cigarette smoke.
This… was the antithesis to my comfort zone.'
We see a tiny cartoon Hien surrounded by large illustrations of dancing, gay men, drinking, smoking, partying.
Narration:
'Still… A friend gave me his ticket to the Circuit party, so I’m trying to make the best of it! '
Hien's friend approaches in the crowd, a large, heavyset man with a big bushy beard, holding a hard-earned drink.
Bearded Friend
'Hey! I finally got a drink!'
Hien whips around
'Sweet! What did you get?'
Bearded Friend
'650 for a pint of post mix.'
Hien
'Finished already.'
Bearded Friend
'At least they gave me a lot of ice.'
Narration finishes the page, by following up on the previous narrations line, I'll repeat it here in the transcription for context!
'Still… A friend gave me his ticket to the Circuit party, so I’m trying to make the best of it!'
'… Emphasis on try.'
Page 2
We see a small depiction of one of the rooms at the top of the big building!
Title
The Dancefloor
Hien and his friend explore the dance floor, as booming music covers everything
Narration:
'Circuit parties are large dance parties with a Kruse atmosphere. '
Hien
'Man, I feel so overdressed!'
Bearded Friend
'What did you say?'
Narration:
'I’d have danced more if I could sing along to the music… And if the weather didn’t melt everybody into an amalgamation of sweaty dude flesh.
Hien tries to kickstart a conversation with a pair next to him'
Hien
'You’re wearing Shibari!'
Shibari clad stranger
'What?'
Hien
'I’m wearing Shibari too!'
Shibari clad stranger
'Huh?'
Hien and Bearded Friend start to exit the dance party
Hien
'I’m going to walk around!'
Bearded Friend
'OK!'
Narration:
'The cloakroom at the front was run by a local queer organization, and all proceeds, went to support them. I’ve done cloak for dance parties before, and to be honest? I miss it! '
We see another illustration of the building zoomed in on to a smaller part of it to showcase a small room next to the dance party
Title
The Dark Room
Narration:
'Dark rooms are a staple of Circuit parties! These areas are sectioned off so folks can get down and dirty with some shared privacy.'
Hien has made a new friend, a tall stubble-faced slim man in Y-fronts. Hand-in-hand, they creep into the dark room to take a peek.
Hien
'Ooh!~'
Page 3
Hien and his tall friend look upon the room, there are figures making out, giving each other head, and generally having a fun, sexy time
Narration:
'I thought this was more of an exploratory area, but it seemed like most arrived with folks they had already courted.'
Hien
'Kinda wish it was dark in here.'
Tall Friend
'I don’t mind, I like being a bit of a voyager'
Holding hands, they look around.
Hien'
Doesn’t feel super sexy…'
Tall Friend
'…But it is more private… If we were to do anything…'
The comic passes back the exterior of the room, lending Hien some privacy from our reading eyes, we can still hear the conversation being had behind.
Hien
'Oh? May I… Have a fondle?'
Tall Friend
'Hehe! Sure!'
We’re onto the next room, shown connected to the other two rooms
Title
The Beer Garden
Hien and Beaded Friend and Tall Friend all make their way to a booth area. The vibe is a little more bar-like.
All three are saying union
'Free booth!'
As they approach a, you guessed it; a free booth!
Narration:
'My friends and I found a corner, but not any quiet.
From the music to the drinks to the smokes… There was no respite for any of my senses '
Hien is melting into the noise between his two friends
'Oof…'
Page 4
We see Hien turned around in recognition of a large, Bear wearing a tank top who touches Hien fondly on the shoulder
Narration:
'Though I did manage to see a lot of friends I hadn’t seen in years '
Tank Top
'Oh! Hey, handsome!'
Hien
'How have you been?'
Next, we see Hien holding a new friend tight and close, he’s another large bear-type, but with curly hair
Narration
'Perth doesn’t get huge parties like this very often, so many made the trip out. '
Curly
'Told you it was a good time!'
Ian
'Sure! In some ways…'
Bearded Friend takes off his top, and Hien looks on with sparkly eyes
Narration:
'Plus, I enjoy how these events bring out different sides of the friends I do see on the regular'
Bearded Friend
'Too hot!'
Hien
'I’d say!'
Hien approaches a couple of guys
Narration:
'With some, the affectionate space empowered us to exchange flirtations when we hadn’t before. '
Hien
'Space for a third wheel?'
Stranger
'Come on in!'
We see Hien wave off two of his friends as they go off on an adventure
Narration:
'With others, I could see further physicality wasn’t on the table, and it was good to have a clear idea of where we stood. '
Friends
'Good to see you! We’re gonna walk around!'
Hien
'Have fun!'
The page end's with a close-up of Hien taking a quiet breath in a moment of introspection
Page 5
The tone of the comic switches to a night time dark blue as Hien exits the party, rain starts, and in this first panel we see him look up in surprise.
Narration:
'The event didn’t stop until early morning, but I left before midnight. Just in time to catch a bit of rain that relieved my hair from the scent of cigarette smoke. '
Hien closes his eyes and faces up, embracing the pitter-patter of cooling rain in what must be the hot, humid Australian weather
Hien
'Fuck, yeah.'
Narration:
'You can tell by now, Circuit parties aren’t for me. But… I didn’t have a terrible time. '
Over the next two panels, we see Hien start to undress and take his top off in the rain
Narration:
'Years ago, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to go out, or the know-how to hold and strike up conversations.
I wouldn’t have known so many faces in the crowd, or had the wherewithal to navigate those different kinds of friendships '
The page and comic ends on the fluttering shirt, floating in the air as Hien embraces the end of the night
Narration:
'Funny how such an extroverted party could help an introvert to introspect like that!'
Introvert Artist VS Circuit Party by Hien Pham published on May 20, 2025 for https://www.ohjoysextoy.com/circuit-party-hien-pham/, transcribed by Matthew Nolan on May 19, 2025
Page 1
Narration:
'Booming dance remixes and a pumping crowd. An abundance of alcohol and clouds of cigarette smoke.
This… was the antithesis to my comfort zone.'
We see a tiny cartoon Hien surrounded by large illustrations of dancing, gay men, drinking, smoking, partying.
Narration:
'Still… A friend gave me his ticket to the Circuit party, so I’m trying to make the best of it! '
Hien's friend approaches in the crowd, a large, heavyset man with a big bushy beard, holding a hard-earned drink.
Bearded Friend
'Hey! I finally got a drink!'
Hien whips around
'Sweet! What did you get?'
Bearded Friend
'650 for a pint of post mix.'
Hien
'Finished already.'
Bearded Friend
'At least they gave me a lot of ice.'
Narration finishes the page, by following up on the previous narrations line, I'll repeat it here in the transcription for context!
'Still… A friend gave me his ticket to the Circuit party, so I’m trying to make the best of it!'
'… Emphasis on try.'
Page 2
We see a small depiction of one of the rooms at the top of the big building!
Title
The Dancefloor
Hien and his friend explore the dance floor, as booming music covers everything
Narration:
'Circuit parties are large dance parties with a Kruse atmosphere. '
Hien
'Man, I feel so overdressed!'
Bearded Friend
'What did you say?'
Narration:
'I’d have danced more if I could sing along to the music… And if the weather didn’t melt everybody into an amalgamation of sweaty dude flesh.
Hien tries to kickstart a conversation with a pair next to him'
Hien
'You’re wearing Shibari!'
Shibari clad stranger
'What?'
Hien
'I’m wearing Shibari too!'
Shibari clad stranger
'Huh?'
Hien and Bearded Friend start to exit the dance party
Hien
'I’m going to walk around!'
Bearded Friend
'OK!'
Narration:
'The cloakroom at the front was run by a local queer organization, and all proceeds, went to support them. I’ve done cloak for dance parties before, and to be honest? I miss it! '
We see another illustration of the building zoomed in on to a smaller part of it to showcase a small room next to the dance party
Title
The Dark Room
Narration:
'Dark rooms are a staple of Circuit parties! These areas are sectioned off so folks can get down and dirty with some shared privacy.'
Hien has made a new friend, a tall stubble-faced slim man in Y-fronts. Hand-in-hand, they creep into the dark room to take a peek.
Hien
'Ooh!~'
Page 3
Hien and his tall friend look upon the room, there are figures making out, giving each other head, and generally having a fun, sexy time
Narration:
'I thought this was more of an exploratory area, but it seemed like most arrived with folks they had already courted.'
Hien
'Kinda wish it was dark in here.'
Tall Friend
'I don’t mind, I like being a bit of a voyager'
Holding hands, they look around.
Hien'
Doesn’t feel super sexy…'
Tall Friend
'…But it is more private… If we were to do anything…'
The comic passes back the exterior of the room, lending Hien some privacy from our reading eyes, we can still hear the conversation being had behind.
Hien
'Oh? May I… Have a fondle?'
Tall Friend
'Hehe! Sure!'
We’re onto the next room, shown connected to the other two rooms
Title
The Beer Garden
Hien and Beaded Friend and Tall Friend all make their way to a booth area. The vibe is a little more bar-like.
All three are saying union
'Free booth!'
As they approach a, you guessed it; a free booth!
Narration:
'My friends and I found a corner, but not any quiet.
From the music to the drinks to the smokes… There was no respite for any of my senses '
Hien is melting into the noise between his two friends
'Oof…'
Page 4
We see Hien turned around in recognition of a large, Bear wearing a tank top who touches Hien fondly on the shoulder
Narration:
'Though I did manage to see a lot of friends I hadn’t seen in years '
Tank Top
'Oh! Hey, handsome!'
Hien
'How have you been?'
Next, we see Hien holding a new friend tight and close, he’s another large bear-type, but with curly hair
Narration
'Perth doesn’t get huge parties like this very often, so many made the trip out. '
Curly
'Told you it was a good time!'
Ian
'Sure! In some ways…'
Bearded Friend takes off his top, and Hien looks on with sparkly eyes
Narration:
'Plus, I enjoy how these events bring out different sides of the friends I do see on the regular'
Bearded Friend
'Too hot!'
Hien
'I’d say!'
Hien approaches a couple of guys
Narration:
'With some, the affectionate space empowered us to exchange flirtations when we hadn’t before. '
Hien
'Space for a third wheel?'
Stranger
'Come on in!'
We see Hien wave off two of his friends as they go off on an adventure
Narration:
'With others, I could see further physicality wasn’t on the table, and it was good to have a clear idea of where we stood. '
Friends
'Good to see you! We’re gonna walk around!'
Hien
'Have fun!'
The page end's with a close-up of Hien taking a quiet breath in a moment of introspection
Page 5
The tone of the comic switches to a night time dark blue as Hien exits the party, rain starts, and in this first panel we see him look up in surprise.
Narration:
'The event didn’t stop until early morning, but I left before midnight. Just in time to catch a bit of rain that relieved my hair from the scent of cigarette smoke. '
Hien closes his eyes and faces up, embracing the pitter-patter of cooling rain in what must be the hot, humid Australian weather
Hien
'Fuck, yeah.'
Narration:
'You can tell by now, Circuit parties aren’t for me. But… I didn’t have a terrible time. '
Over the next two panels, we see Hien start to undress and take his top off in the rain
Narration:
'Years ago, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to go out, or the know-how to hold and strike up conversations.
I wouldn’t have known so many faces in the crowd, or had the wherewithal to navigate those different kinds of friendships '
The page and comic ends on the fluttering shirt, floating in the air as Hien embraces the end of the night
Narration:
'Funny how such an extroverted party could help an introvert to introspect like that!'
Introvert Artist VS Circuit Party by Hien Pham published on May 20, 2025 for https://www.ohjoysextoy.com/circuit-party-hien-pham/, transcribed by Matthew Nolan on May 19, 2025
