continued Thatfucker discussion

[anonniemouse]

Since we've been kicked off FFA for the week, please feel free to continue the anon discussion here. Apologies if this is a big flop - I've never made a DW community before!

The rules are vaguely the same as they are over on FFA. Please refrain from being too much of an asshole, making personal attacks, posting identifying information or engaging in transfail.

ETA: If there's information you'd like to see archived (journal/blog posts related to Andy, etc.), please dump it here and link to it from the main post for discussing.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

http://tf-talk.dreamwidth.org/272.html?thread=115472#cmt115472

Abbey, would you be willing to talk more about the "club"? Was it all Andy's idea? What was the original intention? Was it financially motivated or was it a way of Andy trying to get more followers or to control the people around him?

Saw this and yeah, I'm willing. It's my evening off and I'm avoiding cleaning the kitchen.

The organization was Andy's idea, but it wasn't a bad one. Things were getting pretry out of control among costumed performers ("Hollywood Ambassadors" as we were hopefully nicknamed by the Hollywood Entertainment District office). The job was entirely unregulated. All you had to do was show up in costume and pose with tourists and collect cash tips. Yes, really it was glorified panhandling, but there were a lot of really good performers who honestly delighted visitors. Thing is, Hollywood Boulevard is a giant letdown for tourists. There are a handful of kitchy attractions (like the wax museum and the various "Celebrity Home" tours) and the stars and handprints... and beyond that a lot of stripper stores and head shops. Having characters and celebrity look-alikes to take pictures with was legitimately adding to the experience.

That said, there was getting to be a ridiculous excess of performers, many of whom were dirty, aggressive, or dangerously unstable. Add to that several characters who were VERY aggressive in asking for money - a huge (and illegal) issue. We were NOT allowed to set prices or demand money - we could only say that we worked for tips.

Since the LAPD was starting to crack down on the characters, the "job" was in real danger of being made illegal - and after we left, it WAS outlawed for a time (though the ban was later recinded). There were a number of us who were quite professional in our behavior and took pride in our work - and took great exception to characters who not only made us look bad, but who cost us income - bad characters = fewer tips for everyone.

We were popular - well, I was. I don't just say that because of what I know about Andy's true behavior, I've been back twice to visit since then and am in touch with several of my fellow ambassadors to this day. They liked ME. And Andy was plenty good enough to be part of the unofficial "professionals." In fact, Andy showed every costume weapon to the LAPD and had them directly approved for use on the Boulevard.

Anyway, the LAPD had called a massive meeting of all the characters to lay out what the laws and rules for our "job" were. We stayed after and talked to one of the lead officers (Mike Shea, who is in the documentary I linked to in the parent thread). We floated the idea of setting up a quasi-union, with rules they'd approved, to give the officers on patrol a level of confidence in the "good" performers.

There was no significant money involved - we asked for a $5 membership fee to cover the cost of photocopying the "official guidelines" and of a button to indicate membership. We paid the expense of copying and buying button supplies ourselves up front. We about broke even and kept receipts until we left the street to be sure.

The "rules" were overly detailed - much like the uniform guidelines Andy later published as a part of DAYD. we had a few meetings and even had a "governing board." It was a legit effort to protect ourselves and our livelihood, nothing more.

Andy didn't *need* a club to get control over other performers. There were people who almost joined his channeling cult as it was, but this organization came along late enough that it was irrelevant. It was a last ditch effort to keep our jobs legal and reasonably lucrative.

It failed. In part because Andy made it overly complex, but mostly because it was an unsustainable system to begin with. It was less than a year later that we ended up leaving.

Crossposting to my tumblr.

-KQ
Reply to this Thread from start Parent

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for this, Abbey.