Houston Texas
Volume 3 Book 4 Part 1 of
Living in the Bonus Round
(The Big Voice Chronicles)

December 3, 1996.
Nik Venet's 60th Birthday Party.
He's trying to shove Brian and me together.

[ Book 3-3 ] -- [ Pt 1 ] [ Pt 2 ] [ Pt 3 ] [ Pt 4 ] [ Pt 5 ]
[ Pt 6 ] [ Pt 7 ] [ Pt 8 ] [ Pt 9 ] [ Pt 10 ] -- [ Book 3-5 ]

March 14-21, 2003.
Two Comedians Scoping.

At the top of this diary entry is a picture sent to me by Sue Crawford. It's at Nik Venet's 60th birthday party. Nik, who signed the Beach Boys to Capitol Records, was one of my most fierce advocates. Nik, at the time was suffering from stomach cancer. This shot was taken before our first NY production.

Tuesday night the two of us looked like a classic Hollywood farce. We were to show up in Westwood at a United Methodist Church for the awarding of our PFLAG Oscar Wilde Award. Simple, huh?

Monday morning:
Jimmy wakes up with gout in his right foot. A massive, painful, exquisitely torturous attack of gout -- which he constantly reminds me is called "the disease of genius" -- so bad that he can't walk. In fact, to make it to the bathroom he had to crawl on his hands and knees. I really, REALLY wanted to snap a photo of that for posterity but couldn't bring myself to do it. There are some indignities better left to the imagination.

To even barely TOUCH his foot was too painful to describe. So, I went homeopathic and bought him black cherry juice, which he dutifully drank. That along with aspirins and walking cane finally got him down the two staircases, into the car and then up to the doctor's office on Tuesday by 2pm. He got pills and we got home by 4:30.

SIMULTANEOUSLY, this was my "laxative pre-op day." I started the day with a liquid diet, half a bottle of phospho laxative at noon and got in the car to drive him to the doctor. And of course, Laurel Canyon was backed up with traffic. My stomach was rumbling and by the time we arrived, I was about to explode.  I did explode, but in a bathroom, not the hallway, street or car. But I sure was walking funny and so was Jimmy and his cane. Every other step was, "OW!"

So, in this comedy we have two heroes, one on a cane screaming with every step and the other trying to hold back the flood gates of a bowel cleaning procedure. At 7pm, I drank the rest of the phospho laxative and it was time to go to Westwood to a United Methodist Church get our PFLAG Oscar Wilde Award.

This time we took Beverly Glen Blvd. and quickly made our way to Westwood. And what did we find? More staircases! We weren't quite sure which room this was in, so I began running up and down all the stairways and hallways looking for PFLAG while Jimmy stood out in the parking lot waiting. Finally, we found someone who told us it was on the top floor.

We hobbled into the gathering room and the event was really nice. Bea Bernstein described the Oscar Wilde award as the first ever given to a GLBT work. "Before GLAAD, before anyone else." This would be our second Oscar Wilde Award.

Posing with our award.

We gave a couple of thank you speeches, Jimmy sitting on the edge of the stage, and then we performed the "Closet" section of TBV.

Singing "The Closet"

The following morning was SCOPE DAY! We got up early and made our way to the "surgical center". By then, I was STARVING. The only food I had had for the past 24 hours was clear broth. Jimmy's gout was a bit better but he was still hobbling.

Unlike the last time I had a scoping procedure, where I was awake the whole time and watching on a TV screen, this time I was wheeled into the operating room, fell asleep and two seconds later someone was waking me up telling me it was all over. The doctor then appeared and said that yes he was right, he found an ulcer alongside the internal hemorrhoids, that they took a biopsy and that I'd have the results in two days. And he was off.

So, now we wait.

[ Book 3-3 ] -- [ Pt 1 ] [ Pt 2 ] [ Pt 3 ] [ Pt 4 ] [ Pt 5 ]
[ Pt 6 ] [ Pt 7 ] [ Pt 8 ] [ Pt 9 ] [ Pt 10 ] -- [ Book 3-5 ]

© 1996-2003 by Steve Schalchlin. You have permission to print from this diary and distribute for use in support groups, schools, or to just give to a friend. You do not have permission to sell it.