Rubbing Elbows: My Brushes with Celebrities chapter 3

I've been hard at work on my proposed memoirs. Here's chapter 3:

I grew up in a somewhat obsessed-with-entertainment household tat helped mold and groom me for what I do today.

My uncle, Patrick Tuohey, was a singer who started in the business as one of the Startime Kids, a popular tv show in the 1950s. He was on at the time with Connie Francis and had a kiddie crush on her.

Her career took off but my uncle's didn't due to family setbacks of one or another.

"If your Uncle Pat couldn't make it, none of us can make it''' was one of the negative mottos I frequently heard around the house where I grew up with my mom and grandparents; my uncle's parents as well. They meant well, trying to protect us, but drilled a toxic message into my head.

This message only made me more determined as I matured. In high school, I joined the glee club. In college, I joined an acting troupe. After my days at University of Colorado, I moved from my humble roots in Paterson, NJ to Manhattan. I had a cabaret act, singing. I was an underground, Super-8 filmmaker. And I continued to write, which has always been my greatest talent and passion.

I found my niche as a celebrity blogger in 2009 that has gown and it's viewed internationally. with over 13,000 views monthly. Beat that, People magazine!

Flash forward: 20015 and I am press-passed to events, like Melba Moore's packed-to-the rafters sold-out show at the fabulous Metropolitan Room in downtown Manhattan. I finally found my calling. As Melba sings: "This is it!"

Again, I appreciate any feedback on my development of my memoir. Thanks!

Rubbing Elbows. Brushes with Celebrities and How I Became Buddy Beaverhausen, Celebrity Blogger: a Memoir (chapter 1 preview)

It was the summer of 1975 and I was three years out of University of Colorado. I moved from my mom's house in our hometown of Paterson, NJ, just 20 miles from New York City, where I intended to live. All these years later, I live here still.

I got myself a fleabag room in a West Village hotel that, nowadays, is quite elegant. I applied for a job as a host at The Bottom Line, and I got it. I escorted people to their seats for the shows.

It was just a little more than minimum wage but I had a fun crew to work with and a great group to hang out with afterwords, mostly for drinks from our tip money, at the nearby Phoebe's, itself a legend that is still around on The Bowery.

Free kitchen food at The Bottom Line was a perk! Great burgers & fries, chef salad -- were my favorites. I never left hungry.

My first show at The Bottom Line featured Bruce Springsteen as their star. It was that week, in June, that Bruce appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. The house was packed to the rafters for that five-night engagement.

The now-classic Thunder Road album was about to be released, and he and the original E-Street Band opened with "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out." Chills ran up and down my spine. A star was born!

But, before he even took to the stage, I saw Bruce shirtless in his dressing room, and my heart skipped a beat! What a lithe, muscular body!

My bosses, Alan Pepper and the late Stanley Snadowsky, asked me to go backstage and get some chairs back for the patrons. It was a daunting task but I thought they were testing my mettle.

So, backstage I went, where Bruce was having his torso powder-puffed by a female assistant. He gave me a big grin and I practically melted. I passed on the request and he was totally agreable. His entourage carried seats back out to the audience.

And thus began my brushes with celebrities. Eventually, I got a promotion to Bottom Line's box-office, where I often dealt with celebs -- like Bette Midler and Lou Reed -- face-to-face. But those are stories to be told later in this book.

"Post-Nuclear Lust" and My Life as an Underground Filmmaker

Shooting PNL & 3 of my leading ladies

In the late 1970s - early '80s, I ventured from cabaret performances to directing and writing films. Post-Nuclear Lust was my second effort and distinguished by the fact that it didn't have any drag queens in it. Real --- but very dramatic -- women starred.

The film was shot on Super-8 film during an emergence of punk, New Wave, underground filmmaking in the wake of the success of Scott and Beth B. Even John Waters didn't start in 35mm, and he was my idol.

My stars were my friends & family members who had no formal acting training.... though that only made the film better, I believe. They turned in perfect melodramatic work that was perfect. I directed everyone to play it straight even though we all knew it was high camp.

At the time, there was a demolished factory site in my home town of Paterson, NJ that we shot some scenes in and parts of Soho and the Meat Packing district were demolished at the time, awaiting reconstruction. We shot amongst the ruins.

Tracey Lott turned in a fabulous performance as the film's arch-villain. Her husband was played by my cousin Walt, to whom she was married at the time. They were Baked Alaska Films' Taylor and Burton! And, indeed, I based the characters Lulu and Iggy on George and Martha, in fact.

Gary Popkin, Azous Zar (my brother), Sledge Hammar, Randy Pesch (our flesh-eating mutant), Jane Blackstein, Pearl Buttons and my late sister-in-law Rita as Lolita Presley were also cast in this. It was a fun shoot.

Lulu with her female co-stars

The first film I made, prior to P-NL, was Paranoid Delusion, starring Daphnetta and Parti Mintz, blending '60s girl groups with psycho-horror films. My third -- and most successful -- effort was Delirium about a cosmetics saleslady framed wrongfully for a murder. I swear this film was ripped off and made for the big screen as Mortal Thoughts with Demi Moore and Glenne Headley. My final film was Blond Libido starring Parti Mintz. We had some big screenings in small venues, notably the old The Dive in Chelsea.

S-8 film has no negatives, only the reversal film. I kept them refrigerated but, still, over time, they degenerated and turned brittle. Because filmmaking became so costly, I relinquished that dream. But I learned so much, and had so much fun and cherished memories. I believe videotapes exist. Someday, perhaps I can share them.