So when I see video of someone being attacked in public in NYC, I cringe. It brings back memories that I don't particularly enjoy, memories involving police cars and an emergency room and spending hours going through photographs of criminals, trying to find the people who beat me with a baseball bat, people who later that same summer killed another gay man with a baseball bat -- probably the same bat and the same fagbashers -- in the exact same location where they attacked me. Not something I enjoy reliving.
I don't know if they still do it this way, but several years back when I first became aware of Improv Everywhere, there was a procedure to apply to be accepted as an Agent. You had to submit an essay, it was evaluated, and they decided to admit you as an Agent or not. I loved Improv Everywhere and what they were doing, and I thought I'd be good at it, so I applied.
I was accepted.
Flash forward to last night, when I saw a video of a fellow Improv Everywhere Agent being physically assaulted on a New York City subway train. All the memories came flashing back. My emotions kicked into high gear. I just watched a video within 24 hours before this one of a gay man being bashed on the streets of the West Village -- a video released by the police, who were asking people to help identify the attackers in the video. So when I saw the one that Improv Everywhere posted, of an Agent being assaulted and asking people to help the police identify the attackers, I swung into action IMMEDIATELY.
I wrote about it here on my blog, I posted the video, and I posted it to Facebook. I reprinted the request for help, and linked to the Improv Everywhere blog so people could assist in the hunt for the attackers.
I was STILL so upset when I got up this morning, that I posted it AGAIN, and assured my 700+ Facebook friends that it was NOT an April Fool's joke, because OF COURSE, who would ever consider pretending to physically beat someone on a subway train IN ANY WAY FUNNY? Not the people I respect and admire over at Improv Everywhere -- of course they would never try to make light of violence that way. Their stunts are funny, and light-hearted, and make people smile.
Of course, you know where this is going. They recently announced it was an April Fool's Day "joke." If I could put the word "joke" in about 50 quotation marks, I would.
Therefore, I would like to apologize to all of the readers of this blog, and my over 700 Facebook friends, for upsetting you, concerning you, and leading you on a wild goose chase. I especially apologize to my friends who went to the trouble of reposting the post from this blog to THEIR friends on Facebook, which I saw happened.
Sadly, in this case, the assholes with no sense of humor who ruin everything for everyone always, turned out to be Improv Everywhere, not the people who "attacked" them.
Below, if you're interested, is the message I posted on the Improv Everywhere website and Facebook page. I think it about sums up my feelings on this matter. I hope you had a better April 1st than did I.
-- lm
I reposted your video to my blog, and shared it here on Facebook, TWICE, because I was so upset that someone would attack one of you guys, and would have done anything to help you catch them. April Fool's jokes are supposed to be funny and make the person falling for them feel foolish. You didn't "fool" anyone, you just upset a lot of people, lied to them, got them riled up on YOUR behalf, and then, even when you realized that people went out of their way to help you and express concern for you, you just laughed in their -- no, I mean OUR -- faces and walked away. Fuck you, I'm done. There is currently a search on for people who bashed a gay man in the West Village a few nights ago. Video has been released and the police are looking for leads. I wonder how many people who see that video here on Facebook, where it is widely circulating, will think it's a stupid joke and skip right past it because you guys chose to act like assholes. Color me disgusted.
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