Friday, May 21,2010
Bash Compactor: Mad About Anger
Anthology Film Archives’ Big, Angry Fundraiser
Kim Gordon. Photo by Gerry Visco.
“Shut the fuck up!” Julian Schnabel screamed from the stage of the sedate and swanky Hiro Ballroom. The crowd in the balcony had the nerve to chat during the night’s program. The tickets were $100 per person, $500 a table for the Anthology Film Archives 40th anniversary benefit, called “Return to the Pleasure Dome.” I love it when an artist famed for smashing plates yells at big shots. I’m known for temper tantrums myself.
“Where the devil is the devil?” I asked my friend Louis. I’ve never seen Kenneth Anger in the flesh. I didn’t know what to look for, although the notorious filmmaker and author of the Hollywood Babylon books was an important icon of my youth, for both his experimental films and his dishy but intensely intimate unearthing of Hollywood lore. Don’t forget the supposed curses he put on naughty
It was fitting the Anthology people had snagged Anger as their special guest of honor for their gala. The Archives is a treasure trove of celluloid on First and First, where no film is too crazy or too obscure. Looking at the place’s schedule has always overwhelmed me with guilt. Skip that shit at the multiplex—we should all be going to Anthology Archives every damned day!
The entertainment of the night was definitely worth the three or four hours it took to unfold. The band Jihae was adorably trip-hoppy. The Virgins’ lead singer wore a retro pair of spandex shorts but by contrast his band’s set was subdued. Sonic Youth, however, was cooking. Kim Gordon did the tango with her bass and Thurston Moore was flipping around his mop of hair like they did back when the headbangers had their own ball.
“No pictures of Lou Reed,” one of the PR people with a clipboard told me in a ferocious whisper. “OK. But I think we should have a fundraiser in support of Lou’s facelift,” I quipped. She smiled. Ignoring Reed wasn’t much of a problem.
Cult writer Jonathan Shaw wandered by, his gold teeth gleaming in the dark. “I just arrived off the plane from Brazil,” he said, confirming my hunch that the freaks only come out at night for Kenneth Anger.
The man of the hour came out with Brian Butler for a set with their band Technicolor Skull. The music they made was, not surprisingly, dark and mystical, and while they played, Anger’s films flickered eerily on a screen and smoke floated over the stage. I could almost reach out and touch them but I didn’t want to get burnt.
Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
Got some great photos of Sonic Youth at the 40th Anniversary Gala at Hiro Ballroom honoring Kenneth Anger.
The Gerry Visco Cocktail Hour
Welcome to the FABULOUS world of Gerry Visco! This is the first Gerry Visco Cocktail Hour (it’s actually 1.5 hours!) of what hopefully will be many more. But YOU need to come and say hi and pay me back for all those favors I’ve done for you.
And I will make sure you laugh, have some drinks, and meet other oddball friends of mine. Some of them — YOU, me, and others — will be providing entertainment. If you are in the mood to read something, sing, do a little dance, come in costume, or just be your boring old self, GREAT. Bring friends. Look, you’re probably out downtown Saturday night anyway so how hard would it be to stop by and say HELLO. Weekly themes will be invented to keep you amused.
THIS week, try my own cocktail invention: The BIPOLAR. Bulldog gin, tonic, Tabasco sauce, and a sliver of jalapeno. Keeps you young and clears your throat.
Saturday, April 24th
7:30PM-9PM
$5 cocktails – $3 PBR’s
http://www.gerryvisco.com
gerryvisco@gmail.com
Special guests will perform including Gio Black Peter, Thain Torres, Jennifer Blowdryer, Taylor Derwin, Santa Claus, and Elvis Presley.
The GERRY VISCO COCKTAIL HOUR:
A fun!-raiser for the 2010 HOT! Festival
Everyone who is in the bar before 9PM gets free admission to the comedy, variety hit of the season! – Shelly Mar’s Bulldyke Chronicles.
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street (bet. Rivington and Delancey)
NYC 10002
www.dixonplace.org
http://dixonplace.org/html/lounge.html
161A Chrystie Street (bet. Rivington and Delancey)
NYC 10002
www.dixonplace.org
http://dixonplace.org/html/lounge.html
Gerry Visco will Gerrify a few enthusiastic subjects. Gerrification NOT gentrification. Down with yuppies up with Gerrys! Gerrification will make you look better, feel better, and will improve the planet. It’s 100% free and works better than Prozac. Join the movement. One of the demands of Gerrification is free plastic surgery for everyone! Let’s face it, we all need a makeover. Get GERRIFIED or be TERRIFIED!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerryvisco/sets/72157622501091395/
Special Gerry Visco mood music will be played. Please dress appropriately — loud colors, tacky accessories, wigs, polyester pant suits, hot pants, bouffant wigs, pointy spiked shoes, anything in leopard skin or polka dots, skin tight sequinned pants, kerchiefs, aprons, poodle skirts, heavy makeup, big hair, and anything else that makes people stare at you.
Imelda Marcos: “I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty.”
The GERRY VISCO COCKTAIL HOUR:
A fun!-raiser for the 2010 HOT! Festival
Everyone who is in the bar before 9PM gets free admission to the comedy, variety hit of the season! – Shelly Mar’s Bulldyke Chronicles.
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street (bet. Rivington and Delancey)
NYC 10002
www.dixonplace.org
http://dixonplace.org/html/lounge.html
Jayne County at the Chelsea Hotel
Jayne County performed at the storefront in the Chelsea Hotel
JAYNE COUNTY WILL BE PERFORMING LIVE AT CHELSEA HOTEL ALONG WITH HER NEW BAND, “THE WAR HOLES” FEATURING
MILO ROCK, FRANK COLEMAN, BOB TOXIC AND ARENA BOUND. LONG WITH THE ART, MUSIC AND FILM OF BILLY NAME, ANTON PERICH, CHRISTOPHER MAKOS, MICK ROCK, PRAIRIE PRINCE,CHRISTOPHER LYNCH, MARY WORONOV, LOUIS WALDON, WALTER STEDING, GAZELLE, GORMAN BECHARD, ERIC DANVILLE, THE FLOYDIAN DEVICE, DAVE STREET AND CO. AMANDA BURNS, MARK LA FALCE, AND MANY MORE MUSICIANS AND ARTISTS…
Joseph Keckler and Dan Bartfield after their show at Joe’s Pub
The show was fabulous!! Great crowd. There will definitely be a return engagement at Joe’s Pub or I shall make trouble!!!
Gerry Visco at HiChristina’s Creationizm
I went to a lot of parties and shows this weekend, but one of the really fun events was HiChristina’s Creationizm, where we wrote a novel in one hour and danced with string. Really zany time. I’m told I was barking like a dog for no apparent reason.
Gerry Visco in front of her self-portraits at Gallery U
I showed seven of my self-portraits at Gallery U in Montclair New Jersey. The show was Atonement and the opening party was a lot of fun. Seven of use — me and 6 guys, most of them artists in the show — drove out in a van to Montclair. It was just FABULOUS!
A Darling Film
In a new documentary, Candy Darling gets the starring role she always dreamed of
CANDY DARLING WAS sui generis. Many aspiring performers and artists move to New York City to forge careers, but few actually become their fantasy. Darling spent every moment in her life as a glamorous Hollywood movie star; her inspiration was platinum blond Kim Novak, whose films she studied relentlessly, along with other glam divas like Marilyn Monroe, Veronica Lake and Jean Harlow.
In Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, a film directed by James Rasin and produced by Jeremiah Newton premiering April 2, the inimitable writer Fran Lebowitz boils it down: “Candy Darling was a man who wanted to be a female movie star.” Author and Warhol biographer Bob Colacello observed that despite being a member of the avant-garde art scene, Darling was a throwback to the old Hollywood studio system. She saw Warhol as Louie B. Mayer and she was Novak, queen of the studio. However, we’re not talking MGM here: Darling only made $25 a scene.
Born James Slattery in Forest Hills, Queens, to a bookkeeper mother and a gambling, alcoholic father, as a young child, “Jimmy” moved with his mother to a small bungalow on Long Island. A mere 29 years later, Darling died of leukemia.
Beautiful Darling was created as a love letter of sorts by Newton, a close friend and roommate of Darling’s, drawing upon the materials he amassed over the years as executor of Darling’s estate—film and video footage, photographs, personal papers and letters and private diaries. He took a bus trip upstate where Darling’s mother had moved and she gave him whatever he could carry. “Take this back to New York. Candy always wanted to be with you,” she told him. Newton never again saw the mother, who had burnt the rest of Candy’s papers and costumes.
Related content
Not So Silent MoviesBash Compactor: The Family JuliusPressed for Time: LiftDirt Candy’s jalapeño hushpuppiesEven Norma Rae Couldn’t Love This UnionBash Compactor: W.W.O.D.?
Newton met Darling when he was 16 years old, visiting Times Square on an outing from his home in Flushing. Seeing a young, effeminate man, he followed him down to Greenwich Village. Rasin has edited together audio interviews with Tennessee Williams, Valerie Solanas, Jackie Curtis and Candy’s mother, along with contemporary interviews with Holly Woodlawn, Fran Lebowitz, John Waters, Penny Arcade, Julie Newmar, Peter Beard,Taylor Meade and Paul Morrissey, with narration by Chloë Sevigny. Unfortunately Morrissey, director of Women in Revolt and Flesh, later refused to allow any footage to be used in the documentary due to his antipathy for Warhol.
Unlike other Warhol superstars like Holly Woodlawn or Jackie Curtis, Darling never styled herself as a drag queen but rather a pre-op transsexual. She had no interest in parodying women, only in being one.When Warhol asked her how often she got her period, she replied, “Every day, Andy.That’s how much of a woman I am.”
Being a drag queen and transsexual in New York City in those days was dangerous. Dressing as a woman was illegal. Holly Woodlawn recounts how they’d just be wearing tight pants, mohair sweaters and mascara, but the cops would put a flashlight to their face and throw them in jail.
Again at odds with her obsession with beauty and elegance, Darling was often forced to sleep on somebody’s couch. She convinced her mother and friends she needed to focus on being a movie star rather than work. Quoted in the film, Darling admits she never paid rent or bought her own clothes. “I didn’t pay for anything, I never have, I don’t have to.” One of the talking heads admired her gift for getting by, saying, “She was one of the greatest hustlers I’d ever known.”
Darling met Warhol in 1967 and unlike some other Warholites, adored him.They had a good rapport because she didn’t take drugs and wouldn’t freak out. A few years before her death,Warhol abandoned his transgender stars and grittier actors, moving toward more mainstream performers to cash in on more lucrative projects. Although Darling achieved some success, including a role created for her on Broadway by Tennessee Williams in Small Craft Warnings, and landing roles in mainstream films including Klute with Jane Fonda and Lady Liberty with Sophia Loren, it was a struggle to find parts. Radiantly beautiful, Darling proudly proclaimed in a film clip, “I’m Candy Darling. I’m an actress here in New York. I’ve been in eight pictures. Small parts in big pictures and big parts in small pictures.” But gorgeous as she was, it wasn’t easy transitioning from Andy Warhol superstar to Hollywood movie star, especially if you were transgender. One of her diary entries read: “I will not cease to be myself for foolish people. For foolish people make harsh judgments on me. I will always be myself no matter what the price. It is the highest form of morality.”
> Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling
April 2, Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-397-6980; 9:15, $14. Also April 3 at Walter Reade Theater.
Tuesday, March 30,2010
Bash Compactor: My Date Wore a Dress!
The 24th Annual Night of 1,000 Gowns.
Taylor Derwin at Night of 1,000 Gowns. / Photo by Gerry Visco
“Hey Visco, do you have a pink clutch bag I can borrow?” Don’t you love it when your date needs to borrow accessories? I have enough trouble keeping my wardrobe in shape, but who could say no to twinky Taylor Derwin? The boy was a vision in an adorable pink dress, waiting forlornly in the lobby of the fancy Times Square Marriott Marquis, a pink netting bow atop his crew cut hair, sequins plastered on his face.
It was the 24th Annual Night of 1,000 Gowns. I’d never been before, but being a glam diva myself, the idea of sitting in a room with so many gowns was intoxicating—that and the company of the perfumed, painted and bewigged drag queens and trannies wearing the dresses.
Everyone was wearing crowns and tiaras, and the gowns had long elaborate trains on them. Were those diamonds rhinestones or real? Were the girls boys or vice versa? Lucky I had on my pearls and an iridescent, two-toned, rose-colored taffeta frock. There were plenty of hot dudes, too, some bare-chested, some wearing Village People macho men caps and military insignia. Michael Musto wore a pair of pajama-like green pants resplendent with tigers. Vanity Society, one of the organizers, was a foppish gent in a long pink curly wig. Everyone was regal: princes and princesses, emperors and empresses, dukes and dames. I won’t lie: I’m no aristocrat. I’m descended from a long line of Italian peasants who carried boulders on their heads. But this night was all about fun and lots of camp, so I didn’t feel bad I’m no blue blood.
Just before we left, I stopped in the gender-neutral restroom where another, smaller party was going on. Sexy blond singer Sherry Vine towered over the bathroom stall as she went in to use the facilities. Lanky Mitch Adair, special events director of Out in TV and Film was lounging on a chaise in a fancy tuxedo. All 6-foot-5-inches of performer and designer Machine Dazzle was spread out on the carpet in the powder room, while his friend Eileen was snapping photos with her vintage Leica.
I figured he’d like it if I put my spike-heeled maroon pumps on his face. Of course, I was right. The shoes went perfectly with his green lipstick.
Gerry Visco and Machine Dazzle at Night of a 1000 Gowns
Went to Night of a 1000 Gowns at the Marriott Marquis last night. It was really a lot of fun and very unique. Hundreds and thousands of gowns. I was covering it for New York Press so stay tuned for more details.
Recent Photos
