Looking for love in all the right places

Singer Johnny Lee warned about looking for love in wrong places. Heeding his advice, two self-appointed Cupids planned surefire dating games in two reliable places for those looking to locate their next mate.

Taking a page from Game Show King Chuck Barris, Kristen Porter hosts the third annual "Valentine's Campy Game Show Night" at Dyke Night on Thursday, February 13. Games include Singles Dyke Dating, Couples Not-Yet-Legal-Wed, and Who Wants to Marry a Blue Collar Butch.

"So many people complain that even in a club atmosphere that it's very hard to meet people and it's hard to know who's single," said Porter, founder of Dyke Night. "This came out of a way to identify people as single and find out what they're looking for and give people an opportunity to hook up and go out on a date that we send them on. It's that easy."

How it works is that host Porter, joined by Prize Boi Chris, corral contestants before the show to find out what qualities they're looking for in a mate. Singles are slotted into the Dating Game or Who Wants to Marry a Butch. After consulting with the bachelor, Porter writes campy multiple-choice questions to facilitate the Q&A. Just like the 80s Dating Game, contestants are blinded by screens and rely on the audience for advice. At the end, the audience hollers their choice but the bachelor isn't bound to the picks.

"It's usually a lot of fun and usually pretty comical," said Porter. "But you never know when you're doing these live, unprepared events what's going to come up so it keeps me on my toes."

For the game shy, Porter posts a message board so that people can tack notes aimed at other singles. In all, the games shell out $1000 in prize money that's divvied among individual date packages valued at $200. The packages include dinner for two at James' Gate, Zon's, or Dogwood Cafe, along with local theatre, club or concert tickets. Plus, for being good sports, contestants receive a goodie bag from Grand Opening! "Can't really have a date without that, can you?" asked Porter. Consolation prizes include CDs, show and club tickets.

As Porter noted, even in a laidback atmosphere like the Mid Way, it's still challenging and stressful to overcome the looming rejection factor and approach someone. Recognizing these persistent fears, Porter hopes to give her community a helping hand.

"This night grew out of trying to find a way to help facilitate that process, " she said. "Besides I'm a bit of a Yenta by nature and I tend to try to introduce people who are single or new and this is just a larger scale way for me to do that."

Dyke Night at the Midway Cafe, 3496 Washington St., Jamaica Plain. Doors 8.30, show 9pm. 11pm-2am dancing with DJ Mix Mistress 21+, $8. www. dykenight.com

Love in 8-minutes?

A newbie to the matchmaking scene, Peabody-based David Victory brings the nation's current singles phenomenon called 8-minute Dating to Club Cafe on Monday, February 17.

"It beats the hell out of clubs, personal ads, or any thing else," said Victory, an 8-minute Dating independent contractor. "It's a face-to-face meeting with someone. You get body language, voice intonations, and all the stuff you can't get online and all the stuff that you're not necessarily going to get at clubs."

An efficient and successful spin on speed dating, 8-minute Dating was called "part musical bar stools, part blind-dating" by USA Today. Since its Boston inception in 1991, the concept has swept across the country, among straights and gays. Recent episodes in Sex and the City and Providence have spotlighted the collective excitement for the game.

How it works is that registered participants (you sign-up at www. 8miunutedating. com) meet at Club Cafe and are warmly greeted by Victory who puts the nervous at ease. From there, people proceed to have a series of eight, 8-minute dates that are randomly arranged. At a table, people sit across from another participant and strike up a conversation. To promote anonymity, a "name number," i.e. David875, identifies people. At the end of 8 minutes, Victory dings a little bell and participants check off boxes on their dating cards indicating if the person is: (a) good date, (b) friend, or (c) business contact. Then off they go to their second date, randomly arranged at another table, as the experiment repeats.

After the first four dates, an intermission lets people grab a drink at the cash bar or enjoy free appetizers supplied by Club Cafe. (Bonus: Here, you can chat up a cutie that isn't on your dating card). After the intermission, participants return for four more rounds. When the event is over, people take their dating cards home and go online to log the "name number" of people they thought were cool. If people match, they exchange contact information.

"People are so busy these days. Who has time to go to a bar and play dumb games and try to be cool and catch someone's eye?" asked Victory. "All the pretense is cast off. Everyone knows that everyone is here for the same reason."

For February 17, Victory designed the event for people between the ages 25 and 45. People can register up until the day before the event.

The 8-minute Dating Web site boasts a whopping 62% match success rate. And, Victory, like a good salesman, couldn't say enough positive things about it. Yet if you're still not convinced, then the game comes with a guarantee. That is, if you go to an event but fail to meet anyone interesting, then you can attend the next one for free.

Despite the good faith pledge and Victory's boundless enthusiasm, he still runs into cynics. But to them, he has an answer.

"People say, you really can't get to know someone in 8-minutes and that's of course true," said Victory. "But what I tell them is that you can get to know if you want to talk to them for another eight minutes. That's how relationships start. If you can enjoy them for eight minutes, then maybe you can enjoy them for another eight."

8-minute Dating takes place on Monday, February 17. At Club Cafe, 209 Columbus Ave, Boston, (617) 536-0966. 7pm. Price: $33.88.