World Famous In San Francisco

Chris Crocker @ The Crib SF 10/25/07


As you can see in the video above, Chris Crocker proved his quote all too well on Thursday. The thing is, Chris IS talented. It's just that his medium is so new that it has not been acknowledged or even noticed yet.

Part of Chris' old shtick was pretending to be famous in videos posted on his MySpace. Most of his videos took place inside of his grandparent's rural house when they weren't around. His audience was the Internet; the wide, abstract and grossly impersonal Internet.

Not participating in human contact with your audience can provide a really interesting environment for an artist to develop. This kind of development has been romanticized in the art world forever. These personalities range from pretentious home-recordists like Jandek, to scared shut-ins like Henry Darger and countless other people probably including your mom. Outsider artists (for lack of a better term) are the one type of artist that goes unquestioned. Their motives seem true and their output feels authentic.

Chris' videos, for me, felt very much like a outsider artists' home-recorded album. His videos ranged the span of human emotion, they seemed sometimes... pointless. They felt lonely. They showed that same sort of sexy courage that we only posses when we are alone in our bedroom.

It was interesting to see Chris live at The Crib on Thursday. I realized Chris is now famous. I felt really lucky to see one of Chris' first performances on stage in front of hundreds of people. I understood his craft wouldn't translate to stage, but I was very curious to see how he was as an entertainer. His performance felt rehearsed but determined. It was fun and fanatical. It was new and nerdy. I loved it. This new generation is much different than my own. They didn't have their mind blown by Kurt Cobain or The Chronic. Something else happened that we're not aware of yet. It may have something to do with the Internet.

I thoroughly enjoyed spending the night locked in the club with my art/business partner Aaron. We didn't buy any drinks for the nineteen year olds who asked. We leaned around and people-watched just as fathers do when they become overwhelmed by shopping malls. We felt old.

Chris Crocker - Nose pickin'





For me, Chris Crocker represents a huge shift in 'punk rock' (for lack of a better term). I believe if I were an angry teenager growing up in the middle of nowhere in 2008, I would not start a punk band - instead I would be making provocative YouTube videos. Right now, Chris Crocker is my favorite band... even though he doesn't make music.

Watching Chris' contagious videos convinced me that making an ass of one's self on the Internet is a good idea. He inspired me to make my own idiotic videos. Chris changed the way I think about the Internet. He taught me that the Internet is anything I want it to be. I can't wait to see Chris Thursday on his first visit to San Francisco. I have no idea what he is going to do, but it will be fun. I'll be hanging out amongst the lovely Monistat who is host for the evening. You shouldn't miss this either.

I'm totally getting my hopes up. This flyer looks like the magazines I bought when I was sick. It's amazing.