So, there I was, in a bathroom at the Silver Legacy, feeling really silly because a whole bunch of bird seed came pouring out of my pants when I unzipped them.
OK, back up.
There's a logical explanation.
Well, sort of.
It all started out somewhat innocently. It was last Tuesday, and some friends had talked me into going to the annual Artown showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." I had never seen the film before, and all I really knew was that it had something to do with cross-dressing, and that Tim Curry played a scientist who was named after some sort of pork product. However, I began to suspect something was up when my friends mentioned the need to bring supplies including toilet paper, bird seed, toasted bread and squirt guns.
If you are familiar with the whole "Rocky Horror" cult following thing, then what I just said makes sense. If you are NOT familiar with the whole "Rocky Horror" cult following thing, let me emphasize that I am not making ANY of this up.
Anyway, the showing was supposed to be held in Wingfield Park, but rain caused the wing-ding to be moved to the CityCenter Pavilion, which is the enormous tin shed-looking thing that the Silver Legacy built across Virginia Street from the casino. Hundreds of people showed up, many of whom were wearing costumes that made some of the outfits at the San Francisco Gay Pride parade look prudish. I was kind of frightened.
I got really frightened when Reno City Councilman Dave Aiazzi, who was THANK GOD not wearing a costume, announced that squirt guns could NOT be used at the CityCenter Pavilion, because squirt guns piss off Don Carano or something. This caused the freakish, liquored-up crowd to start booing. I feared a riot in which there would be serious bird seed-related injuries.
Fortunately, things calmed down, and an Artown official got up and said something that, frankly, made me embarrassed to be a Reno native. He said that the annual "Rocky Horror" showing is -- let me remind you I am not making this up -- the LARGEST "ROCKY HORROR" SHOWING IN THE COUNTRY. He then announced that during next year's Artown, instead of a simple film showing, there would be a full-fledged, multi-day "Rocky Horror" convention in Reno.
This led to lots of cheering, which was followed by a completely unnecessary costume contest. There was then a brief demonstration on how to do the "Time Warp." The Artown official dude finally introduced "The Bawdy Caste," which is a traveling group of actors that goes around to "Rocky Horror" showings and re-enacts the movie as it plays.
(Quick question: How do potential employers react when they see "member, 'The Bawdy Caste'" on a resume? With fear? Amusement? Pants-wetting? I know I'd probably be somewhat flummoxed if I saw that on someone's resume.)
Anyway, at long last, the movie started. That is when the absolute chaos started.
You see, there are certain events during the movie that serve as catalysts for the crowd to, well, act inappropriately. During a wedding scene, people throw bird seed or rice (which gets EVERYWHERE, including down one's nether regions). During a storm scene, people squirt water guns (although this was forbidden inside the CityCenter Pavilion, which led at least one of my friends who is a "Rocky Horror" veteran to complain, in complete and total seriousness, that it "ruined the experience" for her). During a scene in which they unwrap the mad scientist's mummy-like creation, people hurl toilet paper. During a scene in which someone gives a toast, people throw -- you guessed it -- toast!
Add to this the fact that audience participation is mandated during several parts of the film, most notably when everyone has to dance the "Time Warp," a dance that includes, quote, "the pelvic thruuuuuuuusrts, they really drive you insay-ay-ay-ay-ayne."
Add to this the fact that some die-hard "Rocky Horror" fans have created a whole script of dialog that they shout out during the movie, most of which can't be quoted in a family newspaper.
You put all this together, and you have a messy, anarchist, perverted mishmash of activity, all motivated by a film that is -- euphemistically -- refereed to as a "B-movie."
And met me repeat, in capital letters, that Reno is home to the LARGEST "ROCKY HORROR" SHOWING IN THE COUNTRY.
If anybody asks, tell them I was born in Pahrump.
Jimmy Boegle is a fifth-generation Nevadan who, despite his crankiness, had a blast at the "Rocky Horror" showing. His (Jimmy's, not Rocky Horror's) column appears here Tuesdays, and he can be reached via e-mail at jiboegle@stanfordalumni.org.