If you’re not already familiar with VICE magazine or Humboldt’s Impropriety Society, then the news that one is in the other won’t prompt the same, “Really?!” response that it did in those of us so exposed. But it’s pretty big. The irreverent, shocking, titillating, edgy, raw, unsparing, funny and ambitious magazine circulates one million copies through 28 countries. Considering the strict rules of confidentiality attending a Humboldt Imps party binds participants to (on paper, if not always in practice), allowing global publication of not just party details, but photos – with faces! – seems a substantial shift.

Sure, this isn’t the first time the Imps have made the press. I interviewed party organizers for the Arcata Eye way back when, and the NCJ’s Ryan Burns wrote “At the Orgy” back in 2008. They’ve even accused KSLG’s John Matthews on air of being “vanilla” – a bold move, sure. But VICE?

Fans of the Imps sex parties winced. An eyebrow or two was cocked in amusement. What were the Imps thinking? Didn’t they know about VICE? Hadn’t they ever read the Dos and Don’ts? “Snarky” conveys the neither the wit nor depth with which VICE’s writers skew the ugly, the badly dressed, the ill-behaved and the merely unfortunate. How could the Impropriety Society allow someone in who was likely to mock their stated goal of “lovingly builds conscious community by creating events and resources that encourage diversity and consensual sex-positive exploration”? Is there a safe word one can use to keep journalists from writing smart-assed takedowns of sincere intentions?

With Vol. 19, Issue 1 out for the taking, these questions can at last be answered: Turns out writer John Michaels treated both the experiences and the participants with thoughtful consideration. Sure, the story title is just a shade too nasty for me to rewrite here, but the subhead, “Sexual Healing and Kinky Community Outreach with the Impropriety Society,” sums up the article’s flavor nicely. Emphasis on “Healing.”

Oh, sure – there are photos. Those sorts of photos. People may be recognized. But anyone reading the story hoping to discover who’s doing the nasty to whom with what will be (mostly) disappointed. It’s more heart than hard-on. Between the X-rated retelling of scenes witnessed, a sweetness emerges. Michaels sought something beyond kinky sex and, in his journey re-telling, he gives readers something more as well. 

(You can find VICE at the Neighborhood Boardshop in Arcata, on 11th off of G Street, behind the Jogg’N’Shop. And probably other places, too.)