A new recap for 2022
Its been a long time coming, but I’ve still been going to SNM for all these years. Now that Tumblr is making it long awaited comeback (Fuck you Twitter) here’s a new entry.
Wanted to do a mini recap of my show from a week ago because it was so good. Jeff (Speaks) and Camara (Hecate) seriously made the show (I'm somewhere between 180 and 190, I've lost count) one of my top 5. [12:36 PM] It started with Louis and Miguel as PIB and Julia as the singer. I hadn't been since August, so the newer setup in the Manderley was a fresh experience ( I'm not entirely sold on it). I also hadn't seen Louis in the show yet (except for the Halloween parties, but that's a different story). After some reminiscing; Dee, Frost and I were on the first elevator with Nate. We were the last three on the elevator at the end and Nate asked us where we wanted to go. Being old school, none of us answered. "The party it is" he responded. "Strange, I don't recognize any of you, and I never forget a face. They keep me in this box all night long and its fucking filthy." he said as he wiped his finger across the elevator buttons. "Last floor, everybody off". This interaction alone would have made it an amazing night.
There was nothing that caught my eye in the ballroom, so I did my usual tour of the space, stopping by the lobby to clock Porter and then moseying up to 4 to check in on High St. No Speakeasy yet so I went to Malcolms. Zach Martens was on as Malcolm, and I almost chose him, except that Frost had done the ballroom chase (bless his soul I just don't have the energy for that anymore.) Im glad I sodded off, because I got back to the Speakeasy right as Jeff was exiting the 1:1 room. This is somewhat controversial, but when Jeff first started doing Speaks years ago, I wasn't a fan. His interpretation was too off from the loop that I had memorized by heart. His Speakeasy was too aloof, having too much fun in Hecate's service. I'm glad that my opinion has changed over the years, as I think that he and Tony are the current best of the bunch. One more thing that instantly attracted me to the Jeff loop for this evening. Jeff has been my great white whale for Speakeasy (except for Layne and apparently they weren't doing the 1:1) I have never once had the 1:1 with him. There were several times from years ago where I felt he purposely wasn't choosing me (which is a very Speakeasy thing to do). It wasn't personal, I think he liked teasing me along. The very first night I saw him as Porter I had his 1:1 almost instantaneously. I was hoping to rectify that this evening.
I was very fortunate to have about 90 percent of the loop to myself. Jeff did several things I had never seen in a Speakeasy before, all of which blew my mind. When Jeff dissappeared into his room during the card game, I bopped over to Paisley for some sweets and came back to my usual spot in the box corridor to wait for him to emerge from the hidden flap (I love standing here as the black mask on guard in the bar always beckons me to come forward and I never do). When Jeff emerged, he instantly clocked me and HELD OUT HIS HAND. What's this?? He positioned me between the boxes so I could see a tiny sliver of Banquo being murdered and held my shoulders from behind as if Macbeth was getting hanged.
I followed Jeff along the corrugated hallway as we sat in wait for Hecate to harvest her tears. CAMARA! Finally. I hadn't seen her in the role since March. I instantly knew who my second loop would be. While I was still reeling, Jeff did another new thing. He handed me the box that Hecate's locket would soon reside in. Their interaction played out as usual, and Jeff reached for the box when it was time. Camara stared through my soul (if it wasn't Camara, at this point I would have known that Hecate was my second loop)
Though some find it dull, I love Speakeasy's loop during the reset. It's mostly resetting the space during for the next loop, but it's a series of moments that can be filled with individual performances. I have my routine for this segment just as Speaks follows his. (after all it was during this 10 minute section that JWW pulled me into the BW bathroom for a one time only improvised 1:1 about Grace many years ago.) Jeff filled each moment with perfect choices, and his interplay with Hecate was superb. When Agnes held up her locket during Hecate,s High st. procession, Jeff moved up to her and got in her face as an act of jealousy that Hecate was paying her attention and not him. When he got on his knees to present the picture of Grace to Hecate, he stared his triumphant pride at Agnes ( Zina this evening)
Jeff arrives back in the Speakeasy for the 1:1, and though there are other people in the room, he notices me and pulls me into the room. The 1:1 was everything I had always imagined it would be minus the whiskey of course. And I was a bit sad that there was no dancing, as I've heard that Jeffspeaks dances with the women in this moment) Captain Ahab has found his Moby.
The sexy witch duo with Kristen has an extra charge to it this evening. The Fulton duo with Nando is also fraught with a particular peril I don't usually notice. For his card game, Jeff picks two random white masks and brings them to the cardboard table, where they attempt to pick up on Jeffs non-verbal cues to build a house of cards. It collapses several times, and Jeffs reaction are comic gold. Somehow it gets to a third level about a minute before Agnes will enter. He folds a final card and beckons me over to place it on top. I do ever so gently and the entire thing collapses any way, much to the exacerbation of all. It was a hilarious replacement for the card trick ( I still miss the thrill of winning and getting a shot) and a wonderful way to end a perfect loop. Jeff acknowledges the three of us and shakes my hand. My time with him is over, as I have come back to the moment where I joined him. I wander to the rep bar to wait for Hecate to emerge. [1:14 PM] Camara emerges and screams the most ululating scream I have ever heard to kick off the second loop rave. I am transfixed by her subtle movements at the table, controlling the rave within an inch. She forcibly puts Sexy Witch back on track and then waits for Agnes. I watch the other side of the scene from before, as Jeff waits in the hallway with no helper to hold his box. He notices me as Hecate's loyal follower and nods in recognition, welcoming me into the the familiar brotherhood. I am under Hecate's sway just as he has always been. Hecate pulls another into her layer to send to the Porter ( I am glad, as I get to watch the full loop now)
Camara notices me and plants a kiss on my mask before leaving for her procession. Again, I watch the same scene play out with Speakeasy and Agnes from a different angle. As the table is set for Hecate's dinner, she notices me and maintains eye contact for the enitre sequence. That is until a woman who is entirely too drunk for her own good stumbled up to the dias and sat uninvited into the chair next to Camara. Hecate beckons to her with her knife to get up. No response. Hecate continues. Drunk lady reached out to grab Hecate's fan and gloves and Camara snatches them from her grasp with the speed of a viper striking. Eventually drunky gets the clue and stumbles away, almost tripping into the crowd, only to come stumbling back moments later to sit on the couch behind the scene. Camara pays her no more mind. The lip synch is flawless. She ushers me into the room where I have the first Hecate 1:1 since Covid. It is Find My Ring, and it is unhinged. I emerge into the apothecary, momentarily thinking that the ring is back in place and that I am compelled to find it. I go upstairs to search in the two or three spots I know the ring used to be. Unsurprisingly, it is not there.
My loop with Hecate is at an end. I head down to the Manderley for some water, and a chat with Miguel; who tells me he is about to sing a song in the middle of the room and that no one will pay attention. I tell him that I will, and watch him perform a loving ballad in Spanish. He is right, as the crowd in the room is particularly drunk and loud. I spend half of my attention on his performance and the other half worrying that the masses will trip over his microphone cord. He finishes and I head back up to 4, catching a bit of Nando's Fulton. I watch his ritual and want to keep following, but he ushers me into the interrogation, where only one other person is waiting, effectively making it a 2:2. I finish the show with Hecate, and know that when she dissappears into her lair that she will emerge on the other side. Going through the rep bar, I walk down to the beaded curtain just as she comes through the beads. She holds out her hand as if she was expecting me and we walk down to watch the murderer hang from Duncan's box.
