Sunday, October 09, 2022

Have You Ever Met You?

When I was at Brighton Art College, I used to hang out with a chap called Simon. One day we were sitting having a cup of tea in the canteen, and he told me about this band he had been to see called Joby and the Hooligans, who had a really good female bass player with a scary face and winged sunglasses. I thought he was playing a game, and I nodded along as he spoke. I finally realised that he didn't realise that he was speaking to her right there and then, and she looked completely different without the scary sunglasses.

Something similar happened when I was in Amsterdam earlier this year showing the She-Punks film, which I appear in myself a couple of times, briefly. An English musician came to the screening, and we were chatting afterwards. 'I've been to see Helen McCookerybook play in London', he told me. Again, I thought he was teasing, but as he carried on, it dawned on me that he didn't realise that I was the person in the film. He looked astonished when I told him.

I thought having multiple identities was just about names, but it obviously extends far beyond that.


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