The Mo', the Merrier!

I can’t act. I’ve tried. Friends have asked me to appear in productions and it’s never been a good idea. Oh, I can throw a star fit and I can be all the degrees of me. I just don’t understand the craft.

My very good friend Mo Fischer understands the craft. Mo is very learned in the skill of acting and has been acting on stage and screen for many years. I got to know Mo when she lived in New York while she was lighting up numerous stages performing as Mo B. Dick, World Class Entertainer,a rakish yet affable dude. Well-known as a Drag King performer, Mo was featured as ‘T-Bone’ in the John Waters’ movie Pecker. Always wishing to express fluidity with gender, Mo performs as a woman as well (of course). She appeared as Irma in the movie Hair Burners and she appeared in Girl Gang 2000, directed by Katrina Del Mar.

In a new venture, Mo is reprising her role as Mo B. Dick. She is currently creating ‘webisodes’ in which she portrays numerous characters, such as Joelle, a diner waitress prone to giving sage advice, along with Florence, Mo B. Dick’s ex-girlfriend, and Pedro, who is devoted to Joelle. These ‘webisodes’ do not have a title quite yet (I suggested As the Mo Turns, but to find out more about these episodes and view them, please sign up for Mo B. Dick’s fan page on Facebook.  

Mo has moved to the Los Angeles area to be closer to the movie industry. I love it when I get to see Mo during her East Coast visits. She is also passionate about fashion in a very unassuming manner. It is an extension of who she is. I always learn fantastic and stylish fashionable things to do from Mo. Here is my cherished friend Mo Fischer, lending her expressiveness to Subject Eye.

The footloose and fantastic Mo Fischer!

What were you thinking?

I had a plan that centered around the hat. I wanted to be festive, comfortable and warm.

List of items you are wearing in your photo:

Hat: my hat is a one of a kind. It is a red 45 rpm by Graham Parsons and the Rumors of  ‘Soul Shoes b/w White Honey (live)’ produced by Nick Lowe. It has some royal blue netting and some black, red, and tiger tail feathers.

Dress: a Goodwill find. It was a long dress, but I cut it for a Dolly Parton performance I was doing. I just cut it short to get more wear from it.

Shoes: blue glitter mules from Betsey Johnson that a friend gave to me. She found them at a thrift store for 5 dollars.

Leg warmers: these are my ‘skull’ leg warmers. I’m wearing them for comfort.

Favorite music played while getting dressed:

I listen to Howie Pyro’s pod cast radio show Intoxica on LuxuriaMusic.com. He plays obscure Rockabilly.  

Your inspirations: icons, fictional characters, shapes, eras?

Vintage images and clothing. I reconfigure it into something more than what it is. I love 1950s and 60s fashion, but I never replicate it perfectly.I mix it up and make it me.

 Mo's 45 rpm record hat,with netting & feathers.

Shopping tactics:

Thrift stores and resale shops. I’ll envision something that I need, like a good black sweater. Then I’ll find one that is encrusted with Swarovski crystals.

Avoidance tactics:

I never shop retail.

Do you Rock, shock or think about matching socks?

I rock. But I’ve been known to shock. I have a strapless and ‘ass-less’ black dress that I wore once to a party. People were gagging! (laughs)

How do you keep or lose your figure?

I’ve got good genes. And I don’t eat bad foods. If I can’t pronounce it, I don’t eat it.

Do you think you're sexy?

Yes. I’m Year of the Snake in Chinese Horoscope. (Note: people born under the Year of the Snake are sensual, love new ideas and are innovative in thought and action. They are also concerned with their appearance and are enigmatic.)

What do you collect? 

I don’t really collect anything. No, I collect vintage dinnerware.

Are you designer label happy?

No, I’m not a label person. I cut them out.

If you could be reincarnated as a piece of clothing, what would you be?

Something designed Bob Mackie worn by Cher or Mitzi Gaynor.

Is your skin in? (what is your skin care regimen, if any?)

I use Clarins Skincare.

         

A night to remember or forget regarding your clothing:

A night to remember: I was singing at the club Squeezebox in NYC. I was wearing a leopard suit that someone made for me, Fluevog creepers and a burgundy shirt. I had my gold tooth in and a high blond pompadour. And in the audience I saw John Waters! One recent Halloween I went to a party with a literal Picasso face. My features were askew and painted on; my nose was to the left and my mouth was to the right. I had lashes only on the bottoms of my eyes and I wore a black ‘Bob’ style wig with asymmetrical side lengths. I wore a short black dress with a trompe l’oeil necklace on it. I also wore sexy Agent Provocateur black bra and panty set and orange fishnet stockings.

Any advice for future generations?

Don’t follow fashion. Don’t wear labels. Use duct tape and safety pins.

        

Past, current or future projects?        

My past big project was 'The International Drag King Tour' that toured throughout the U.S. and Canada. Presently, I work as a performance artist in LA and NY. I’m always creating different projects. And in the future, I would love to do a one-person show. I’m so fluid with gender. I could become whatever character, either male or female. That’s my dream. I'm currently writing for my soon to be released 'webisodes'.

         

Keith Sheaffer, Mo and artist Veronica Cross at my art opening 'That Summer Feeling'.

Mo as 'The World Class Entertainer' Mo B. Dick.

Your Right to Be Married, My Right to Be Envious

Whoever you are, you should have the right to get married. And these two questions should not exist: Is he out or is he in? Is she out or is she in? And I’m not talking about a Project Runway query. I’m referring to what is known as ‘the closet’. The closet sounds like and awful place to exist. I know I hated being locked in a closet when I was a child (child rearing certainly has changed since my day), but you know I’m not speaking of a literal closet. The world can be a dangerous place, and being in a closet may be the safest place to remain (though how sad that there’s not enough respect and compassion in the world engineered the reasons for the closet). But there is certainly not enough room in most closets for a wedding. Everyone has the right to be married. 

Just don't ask me whether someone is straight or gay. Someone recently asked me this question as the beginning of a conversation about a mutual acquaintance. This was not a good idea. I find it rather distasteful to inquire whether someone is gay or straight. I absolutely do not care about anyone’s sexual preference or proclivity (within the consenting adult arena of behaviors). If you are looking for the answer because you wish to date a specific person, may I suggest presenting a ‘calling card’ with your name, phone number and your most recent DSM IV-Revised psychological assessment, and then strike up a conversation. I guess I’m a bit old fashioned.

But if your date progresses and you both develop to a desire to marry, I am passionate about the right to marry no matter how your choice of a mate’s genitals are configured (or not). As you know readers, I have never been married. And yes, I wish to be. Maybe the desire to be married should be part of a diagnostic tenet for an aggregate of mental illnesses in the DSM IV- Revised. But it is not as of yet. So whoever you are, if you are planning future nuptials whether you are gay or straight, I hate you. Well, I don’t hate you. I’m just envious. Whoever you are I support you, as I expect you support my vacuous desire to get attention for a day from all my friends while I march around before them in a fabulous ‘couture for the occasion’ dress.