#badkidtheshow

[badkidproject]

That Sprockets Partnerlook, Berlin 1990

Meet SM Shrake, producer and founder of Washington DC's wildly successful live storytelling series, the Story League. I don't know where to start with this photo. So I'll let him. "These were taken in Germany in 1990-1991. I had my own gay hippy punker look, a year before Eddie Vedder showed up." What the hell is that shirt? Is it made of paper? Its so bleak and Orwellian. This is a portrait of a man who spends 11 hour days on in assembly-line inspecting the parts of robot prostitutes in a futuristic pleasure-bot factory. At night he goes to a shabby, dangerous warehouse club, which is ironically called The Factory. There, he cries on the dance floor while swaying alone to the music of Gary Newman, which, by the year 2057, is considered retro. It's just so white. So institutional. So German! Speaking of German…

"This two-shot was a joke on Sprockets but also on "Partner-look" which is a German concept. We are smoking YSL (yes, Yves Saint-Laurent) brand cigarettes. The Krauts all laughed at us and we laughed back at them." "Partnerlook?" This is a thing? Is Shrake taking the piss? I guess it's kind of like that nightmare denim pairing that Britney and Justin wore to the VMA's a decade ago. Remember that? Unfortunately, I do too.

You can find many hilarious photos of partnerlook by doing a search right here on Tumblr. To find out more about Story League go to: www.storyleague.org

[badkidproject]

Moody Madonna, Seguin TX 1992

This photo was sent in from Angela; a mother, artist & music fan living in Austin, Texas. I mentioned in my reply how Erotica-era Madonna this shot was and she replied: "Well I danced around in front of the mirror to my mom’s Madonna records when I was eight or nine years old, so go figure. I also think it was that "Cindy Crawford’s MTV House of Style-Christy Turlington-Helena Christiansen-Annie Leibovitz-NYC glam-motorcycle punk-Drew Barrymore-Guess Jeans ad campaign" influence…phase! ❤️" This splendiferously nostalgic and heavenly reply gave me such intense longing for the 90s, that I had to pull out a bunch of old Deee-Lite CDs. Here’s the story behind Angela’s photo-shoot, which was actually a proper “shoot,” albeit of the Bad Kid variety. "This photo was captured (along with many others) in a photo session with my friend Nicolas Briseño invited a little posse to. The typewritten parchment paper invitation was hand-delivered to invitees. One Saturday we all piled in two cars and drove around Seguin to select locations. I think it was my friend Molly’s Ford Taurus and Rene’s Mazda 626. On this jaunt we made it to Starke Park, pulled up along the Guadalupe River, somebody kept the car radio on and turned it up so we could hear it from afar and as dusk turned to night we ran around the golf course playing and posing while Nic shot pics. He experimented with double-exposing the film. Taking some shots as silhouettes and some as close-ups with a flash." I think we can all agree that the results are stunning. I mean, who doesn’t love an attractive young blonde sucking on a crucifix? Just ask Madonna. It worked for her.

[badkidproject]

Boys In Alt-Drag, San Antonio 1991

This is me and my best friend Glen in sad, half-assed drag. We’re probably Sophomores in high school here. This is the kind of drag that lots of alt-youth boys attempted once (and probably only once) at the hands of their Cure-obsessed, Martin Gore-loving, new wave girlfriends. Here, our friends Kyndra and Michelle turned us into their own living, breathing, life-size dolls, making us over with clothes from their Gap & Express-filled closets. Although Glen and I had partial say in our “looks,” I have to blame the girls for the final outfit choices. I’m not sure why my best friend (on the right) got to look like a saucy, shapely pole dancer while I was re-imagined as a man-ish Patty Duke complete with kerchief and headband. Personally, I think I got the shaft. We would stay inside in these looks drinking Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill and listening to Yaz’s “Upstairs At Eric’s” the rest of the night. Later on in the evening there would be make-up application and some light hair-crimping. I can only thank God that those pictures haven’t surfaced, as I looked like a candy-faced, ghoulish Raggedy Ann in all of them. Needless to say, I would never try drag again.

[thedavidcrabb]

Check out BadKidProject.com

Did you listen to the Cure and wear dog collars in high school? Make facial piercings out of office supplies? Were black capes a normal part of your 1st period Algebra attire? Send in your own ridiculous, wonderful, embarrassing, heartwarming Alt-youth photos to www.badkidproject.com by clicking "Submit your soul" on the site. It'll be growing this month during the run of Bad Kid the show in Austin and getting even bigger as we get closer to the release of the Bad Kid memoir next Spring. Let's laugh and cringe TOGETHER! Here's my recent find! This is me and my best friend Glen in sad, half-assed drag. We're probably Sophomores in high school here. This is the kind of drag that lots of alt-youth boys attempted once (and probably only once) at the hands of their Cure-obsessed, Martin Gore-loving, new wave girlfriends. Here, our friends Kyndra and Michelle turned us into their own living, breathing, life-size dolls, making us over with clothes from their Gap & Express-filled closets. Although Glen and I had partial say in our "looks," I have to blame the girls for the final outfit choices. I'm not sure why my best friend (on the right) got to look like a saucy, shapely pole dancer while I was re-imagined as a man-ish Patty Duke complete with kerchief and headband. Personally, I think I got the shaft. We would stay inside in these looks drinking Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill and listening to Yaz's "Upstairs At Eric's" the rest of the night. Later on in the evening there would be make-up application and some light hair-crimping. I can only thank God that those pictures haven't surfaced, as I looked like a candy-faced, ghoulish Raggedy Ann in all of them. Needless to say, I would never try drag again.

[badkidproject]

BAD KID Trailer 1

My witchy, druggy, all-around Gothy one-person show is opening at Austin's Long Center this week!

More info at: BAD KID the show and LONG CENTER

[badkidproject]

Dream Catcher, Placerville CA 2008

"This gem of a photo was taken at Mel's Diner in Placerville CA after an intensely contested Halloween costume contest, shockingly this undead spiky haired creature did not come close to the kid who dressed up as a bad dream lured into a dream catcher. This loss, although understandably procured, broke his little undead spooky heart. Thankfully his awesome parents bought him a club sandwich to make him feel better, it was no small plastic trophy, but it was an affirmation to be as weird as possible, and that's all that matters. Besides amazing Diner foods."

[badkidproject]

Dark Thing #5

A benevolent Goth accepts that sometimes... there is nothing nice to say.

[badkidproject]

Santa vs. Mall Goths, Texas 1992

For fear that we might burn up in the harsh light of the Texas sun, some of our legion had to remain in shadow, or at least in sunglasses. Even at night. Even in the mall. And especially at the feet of Santa Claus.

Here we are at the mall chillin’ with Santa C. Glen and I are on the far right taking this shit way-serious, mugging up some major Johnny Depp cheekbones and jawlines. I can guarantee you we beat our faces with a compact for five minutes before this was taken, much to the chagrin of the toddler’s parents waiting in line around us. Lynn might look asleep in Santa’s lap, but I think she’s actually just very high, like all of us. Our clique was very into “keeping up appearances.” So I’m not sure how this eyes-closed photo was approved. I think the photographer was just very frightened and wanted us to pass through as quickly as possible. Scott (Duckee), on the top left, is basically voguing with only his face. The earring, the brooch, the lips slightly parted like he’s on the verge of growling or simply smells something rotten. It’s all too much for me and I LOVE it. He introduced me to all the best music when I was 16 and now he rocks an incredible, bearded, cosmopolitan hillbilly look. He’s the best. Devon is working the shades on the left. He played Riff Raff at the midnight screenings of Rocky Horror Picture Show. I always thought he was insanely cool, and not just because he wore sunglasses to visit Santa and knew all the words to “Let’s Do the Time Warp.” Don’t tell anyone, but underneath that t-shirt/mock turtleneck combo he’s wearing a black Rosary. Who’s on top now? But seriously, Devon was blind. Kidding, not really. And Santa. Santa never said one word. Not a one.

www.badkidtheshow.com