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One night in 1992 (?) I had just closed the Pyramid and was walking up Avenue A and there I ran into Antony, Eve and Johanna Constantine coming towards me. They told me their night at Crowbar, called "Blacklips" had been completely empty and they offered me the doorprizes that nobody claimed--two shrink-wrapped salamis. (I later gave these same fab luncheon items to Tom Bruno, the great jazz drummer who lived downstairs from me. I am sure he ate them.) Needless to say, I could just "smell" an artistically (if not financially) successful night in the making. And managed to convince then to start doing the night at the Pyramid. And so, Blacklips was (re)born. The rest is herstory.
Dearest Hattie :

You were lucky recieving the salamamis as a doorprize - other "lucky guests" got an assortment of antique crackpipes, Depeche Mode records studded with nails and some kind of mobile made out of canned peas, a dry-cleaning hanger and dental floss. Not to mention the $1 pink & black 14th Street undies that one unsuspecting patron got!

PS to Bobby - I'd love the pic of you as Joey. I'll contact you via e-mail! Thanks, hon.
Once we did a re-working of Shakespeare's most cursed tragedy. It included a freshly written prologue sending up those unlucky aspects, with Flloydd and Marti whistling in the wing of the stage, the set was all green with peacock feathers and the audience entered the room underneath a ladder that we had strung up over the door. Funny, huh? Well, within seconds of the door opening, the ladder had fallen, almost killing the first customer, and Sissy Fit fell onstage during her scene and broke her leg.
Needless to say, the next week we had to revoke the curse, and Flloyd recited the appropriate monologue from Hamlet while Marti spouted "profanity", although with her she used words like "poop" and "ca-ca!" And so the curse was lifted.
Other high points of the show were Ebony and Opal and some one else I can't remember, as the three witches from Motown, singing their lines to the tune, "Baby Love" and Marti's hokey Scottish accent!
Well, Nancy, as I'm sure youare aware, I was in my teen whilst I was a member of said cult. Those were the salad days.....All I ever could aford to eat was, salad. I learned quite a lot from some of my favorite performers.

It was quite a magical time, although I believe a bit of an unstable time. I suppose magic and instability go hand in hand. I remember feeeling at different times central to the groups process and at others very peripheral. I suppose thats how things thrived. We all just sort of drifted in and out, changing things and adding our individual aesthetics. I do know that the whole thing ever would have existed without Antony and his original spark. I remember moving to New York with him from Santa Cruz California on August 26th 1990. We made a bee line to the Pyramid Club to see Hattie Host "Screem !". I was mezmerized. I was too shy to ask Hattie if I could do a lypsynch, so Antony asked for me.

In 1991 Antony and Eve and I were in a play called "Cripple and the Starfish" at Theatre for the New City. It was a, um, learning experience.
That same year, We saw Ffloyd perform "This mortal Coil" at wigstock and I cried at a lipsynch for the first time !

I just saw Flloyd perform at Cheezewhiz on Sunday, It was brilliant, and brought back alot of memories. I also recently cought Antony's show at Joe's Pub...It was the culmination of years of work, exquisite.

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