Time Tripping

Brother Buck posted this pic at his place, which dovetails nicely with a video my son shot at the same location, 24 years later. Jim is in front of Sharon Breslau's apartment in St. Marks Place. As I explained several years ago at Red State Schmuck, Sharon

"was one of the most natural improvisers I've ever witnessed. She never got lost, was never thrown by a bad line or joke, and could steer a scene in any direction she chose. She was also very sensual and quite comfortable in her skin, and this came across on stage, which added to her appeal.

"Sharon was a Folk City favorite, and mine as well, and for a period she and I not only spent a lot of time together, we lived together for a couple of months in her East Village apartment on Ave. A. Our relationship was platonic, and she trusted me to such a degree that she walked around the apartment nude. We occasionally slept together, but never made love. Now, you must understand that this was a test I was putting myself through, for I desired Sharon in the worst way. But, wanting to be an enlightened, pro-feminist man, I refused to make a pass at her, and focused on the creative side of our relationship, which was enriching.

"We performed characters in private, a sort of in-house Nichols and May, and her contributions helped me focus on my strengths, such as they were. Yet I hated to perform with her in front of an audience. For one thing, Sharon was superior, if generous, to me; and for another, our creative interaction was ours and ours alone. Thinking back, it served as our sex. Sharing it with strangers didn't appeal to me, which is why I avoided scenes with Sharon as often as I could."

Unlike me, Jim did have a romantic relationship with Sharon, and the above photo was taken around that time, 1985. That was also my psilocybin summer, when I apartment sat for Sharon and spent many of my days tripping on mushrooms, listening to Talking Heads' "Little Creatures" over and over and over.



My wife went to the same showing of "Oz" with her boyfriend-turned-first husband. She kinda remembers a cackling nut in the theater, which was me hallucinating a walk-on role in the film, convinced I was on the brightly-painted MGM lot, dancing with Munchkins. If only I had a photo of that.