Frank Moore interviews The Pope of Punk, Dirk Dirksen

You can also download the video here (mp4, 2.5 GB):
https://archive.org/download/frank-interviews-dirkdirksen-090695/frank-interviews-dirkdirksen-090695.mp4

Recorded September 6, 1995

In 1995, I actually got Dirk to come over to the house for the following interview. It was supposed be Part One. But he died before Part Two. He is that kind of guy.

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Frank Moore
(written 11/24/2006)

Interview with Dirk, Pt. 1

In the late 70s, Dirk Dirksen “produced”/booked the shows at the North Beach new wave club, The Mabuhay Gardens.

During the rehearsals of my play, Glamour, when the strip joint got unbearably boring after hours upon hours, I took a walk along Broadway, into what then was the West Coast hardcore punk center, the Mabuhay Gardens or the "Fab Mab". Since I did not have anything else to do, I asked the gruff manager if I could do my next production at his club. To my surprise, Dirk Dirksen was a visionary who, instead of seeing a crip asking for a hand-out, saw me somehow as a misfit artist perfect for his new wave cabaret. Dirk gave me a sheltered theatre for six years, with complete artistic freedom and moral support. The first production was a raping of a high-brow comedy, Meb, which I turned into a multi-media farce, full of camp, nudity, sex, violence and rock n'roll. The straight playwright walked out in horror, the club owner wanted us out, and only a handful of people came. But Dirk wanted to extend the run. He loved it.

Interview transcript: http://www.eroplay.com/dirkseninterview.html