{"id":10101,"date":"2025-06-04T20:25:32","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T03:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/?page_id=10101"},"modified":"2025-08-08T22:18:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T05:18:58","slug":"jim-carroll-at-the-cooler-2001-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/performance-reviews\/jim-carroll-at-the-cooler-2001-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Carroll at The Cooler 2001"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Cooler, NYC 
New York, NY, 12 May 2001<\/strong>
Review by Cassie Carter

<\/strong>Wow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s 3:30am (5\/13\/01) and I just got home from the most amazing evening.  I took a taxi downtown at around 10pm . . . the night began perfectly with a ride down Fifth Avenue with the breeze coming in and all the trees green along Central Park, dark windows on exquisite townhouses . . . on down past the Plaza Hotel and postmodern high fashion . . . cubic zirconia in 18th-century settings . . . past St. Patrick’s Cathedral (against a backdrop of skyscrapers) and Saks . . . it was really beautiful.  Getting down into the 40s and below, Fifth Ave gets tacky . . . yellow and red lettered plastic signs, scaffolding . . .  turn right on 14th Street and head West . . . construction, busses . . . get out between 9th & 10th Avenues . . . can’t find the damn club.  Walk up and down, ask directions.  Right across the street, the man says.  It looks like a warehouse except for a little awning that says “Live Music.”  Cross the street, go in, head downstairs . . . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Gerard Malanga\u2197<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Jim Carroll ca. 1970s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Little bar area with\u00a0Gerard Malanga<\/a>‘s photos hanging everywhere.\u00a0 I make a mental\u00a0note that the flyer for the show has an early photo of Jim.\u00a0 I walk into the performance area, where a band is setting up and a small crowd is hanging around, then go back to the bar and order a beer.\u00a0 While doing that, I notice Jim at the other end of the bar talking animatedly to someone I don’t recognize.\u00a0 I go over and say hello.\u00a0 Jim introduces me to . . .\u00a0Gerard Malanga<\/a>!\u00a0 I go back in to the performance area and stand around for a while, until somebody leaves and I’m able to grab a seat.\u00a0 The band comes on . . . I didn’t know who they were, but I liked them . . . reminded me of Joy Division for some reason.\u00a0 I’m getting into it when I look to my right and see\u00a0Lenny Kaye<\/a>\u00a0standing there, also apparently getting into it.\u00a0 I turn back to the band then look to my right again and see Jim looking around . . . grab his sleeve . . . he’s looking for me.\u00a0 “This is Tina,” he says; “she’s looking for me.”\u00a0 Only later I realize I misheard him under the din of the band–her name is Dana and she is the woman who booked the show.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually the band ends its set.  I move my chair up to the center of the room so I’ll be able to see better.  A long setup ensues.  A table containing a pile of electronics is placed slightly off-center on the stage and I watch a guy do an elaborate sound check. I’m thinking . . . the sound board is ON the stage?  More waiting.  I head to the bathroom, and as soon as I get there, I hear, “I’m Lee Renaldo, and I’m going to do one piece, then Jim Carroll will come on.”  I hurry back to my chair.  Lee Renaldo . . . the guy doing the sound check! . . . reads sort of a list poem . . . derogatory names, insults . . . gradually modulating his voice with the collection of electronics on the table.  It is amazing.  The noise grows and grows; his voice becomes more and more distorted until it is completely eclipsed by the electronic noise.  The noise becomes a wall of sound . . . all different sounds . . . and I realize that all of the sounds are his voice<\/em> modulated and fed back via the machinery on the table.  My jaw is hanging open . . . I wanted to tape it, but I knew there was no way it would come out even close to what it sounded like in person.  And it was so amazing to watch him control the machines, taking new machines out of boxes, plugging them in, tweaking the sound with them for a while, unplugging them, plugging in others, adding new sounds, reading from sheets of paper that he threw on the floor as he finished reading them.   Wow.  I would have gone to see that alone!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then more waiting.\u00a0 I’m looking around to see if I can find anyone from this list and looking for Dana . . . no luck.\u00a0 I notice three microphones are set up on stage and I think, my god, maybe Lee Renaldo will join Jim and Lenny Kaye\u00a0for a song!\u00a0 (That ended up not happening, but I thought it was a possibility because he did “Woman” with Jim and Lenny on the Kerouac tribute Kicks Joy Darkness<\/em>.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I’m thinking, this is absolutely perfect . . . all that’s needed is for Gerard Malanga to sail in here with his camera . . . and just like magic, here comes Gerard Malanga with his camera.\u00a0 He positions himself just off the side of the stage on the floor.\u00a0 As I told Gerard afterwards, at that point I wished I’d brought my camera so I could photograph Gerard Malanga photographing Jim Carroll.\u00a0 Damn.\u00a0\u00a0 More waiting.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Finally, without fanfare, Jim appeared onstage . . . the crowd had grown to a pretty good volume by then and more people suddenly crowded in from the bar area.\u00a0 As usual, Jim didn’t acknowledge the audience at all as he unpacked his books and laid them out on the table at the back of the stage.\u00a0 Everything in order, he approached the microphone and said, putting on his glasses,\u00a0“I’m sorry . . . if I appear to be unprepared . . . I am.”\u00a0 He went on to explain that earlier in the day\u00a0he had been prepared, but that he’d been backstage talking to “my good friend and yours, Lenny Kaye,” and that he’d had two margaritas, his limit being maybe one and a half.\u00a0 He then went on to say he’d thought he would do this new monologue he’s been working on about beds, but he what was so clear earlier was now fuzzy .\u00a0. . and, need I say it?\u00a0he then launched into the monologue, which starts with the problem of his current bed, which is a platform bed that is . . .\u00a0 too low.\u00a0 I won’t offer details on this until others have had a chance to hear it.\u00a0 (If he doesn’t do it again within the next few months, somebody please remind me to share it.)\u00a0[2025: nobody reminded me! I hope the reason why a too-low bed is a problem is obvious to all — if not, I’m giving you another chance<\/a> to ask.]<\/em> Following the monologue, he read what he refers to in private as “the bunny story,” but which now has a tentative, formal title: “The Snake People.” This is a new piece from “The Petting Zoo,” and he began with a quick recap of the\u00a0story of the raven\u00a0(listen to\u00a0full-length 1991 version on the Audio Library page<\/a>). Again, I won’t spoil this new piece for those who haven’t yet heard it.\u00a0 Wrapping up the bunny story, Jim read a few poems from Void of Course<\/em>: “Facts,” “Female as Thunder,” “Zeno’s Law of High-Heel Shoes,” and “Jukebox” (I’ll have to double check with my tape).\u00a0 Then he brought out Lenny.\u00a0 They started with “Wicked Gravity,” then “I Want the Angel,” and “Still Life,” closing with “Sweet Jane.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not sure what more to say about it, but I hope the fact that I am writing this NOW says a lot.\u00a0 The performance wasn’t perfect in any technical sense, but that’s a good thing–I tend to feel somewhat disturbed when a Jim Carroll performance is technically perfect.\u00a0 As I’ve said many times, I love the tightrope walk. After the show, I talked to Dana and her friend for a while then went backstage, where Jim was talking to Gerard Malanga with a guy from\u00a0Paris Review\u00a0<\/em>named Tom Moffett and a photographer named Stafano Giovannini looking on.\u00a0 Jim introduced me to everyone and I sat back and listened, as I always do.\u00a0 After about half an hour the group broke up and Tom Moffett and I headed out with Jim.\u00a0 We walked to 8th Avenue\u00a0then went our separate ways.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yes, this was an amazing evening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cooler, NYC New York, NY, 12 May 2001Review by Cassie Carter Wow.  It’s 3:30am (5\/13\/01) and I just got home from the most amazing evening.  I took a taxi downtown at around 10pm . . . the night began perfectly with a ride down Fifth Avenue with the breeze coming in and all the trees … Continue reading Jim Carroll at The Cooler 2001<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3985,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"folder":[38],"class_list":["post-10101","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9VlUH-2CV","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8649,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/literary-works\/diaries-and-fiction-by-jim-carroll\/the-basketball-diaries\/the-basketball-diaries-first-edition\/","url_meta":{"origin":10101,"position":0},"title":"The Basketball Diaries (First Edition)","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"March 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Basketball Diaries: 1963-1966First EditionBy: Jim CarrollPublished: 1978Publisher: Tombouctou Press (Bolinas, CA)Format: PaperbackCover photograph: Rosemary Klemfuss The first edition of\u00a0The Basketball Diaries, the only one (from what booksellers tell me) that has any value as a collectors' item, has a number of distinctive characteristics. First, the cover photograph, by Rosemary\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Jim Carroll- First Edition of The Basketball Diaries 1978","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/bd1cov.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4540,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/jim-carroll-lyrics\/pools-of-mercury-lyrics\/","url_meta":{"origin":10101,"position":1},"title":"Pools of Mercury Lyrics","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Pools of MercuryBy Jim CarrollMercury Records, 1998 See also: album details and audio clips LYRICS INDEX Falling Down Laughing Desert Town Pools of Mercury Hairshirt Fracture The Beast Within Falling Down Laughing Lyrics by Jim Carroll He was feeling invulnerableThat was foolish but wonderfulBut of course the first one was\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Cover Art - Pools of Mercury (1998) - by Jim Carroll","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pom.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3993,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/literary-works\/diaries-and-fiction-by-jim-carroll\/the-basketball-diaries\/the-basketball-diaries-5th-ed\/","url_meta":{"origin":10101,"position":2},"title":"The Basketball Diaries (5th Edition)","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Basketball Diaries5th EditionBy:\u00a0Jim CarrollPublished:\u00a01998Publisher:\u00a0PenguinFormat:\u00a0PaperbackCover photo:\u00a0Michael ZagarisCover design:\u00a0Edward ODowd The fifth edition of\u00a0The Basketball Diaries\u00a0uses a blue-tinted, closeup version of the same photo used on the\u00a0audiobook\u00a0version, and from the same photo session as the\u00a01980 Bantam (2nd) edition. This edition was issued simultaneously with the\u00a0second edition of Forced Entries. See Also\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Cover Art: The Basketball Diaries (1998 edition) - By Jim Carroll","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/bd5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10527,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carrolls-interviews\/margo-tiffen-a-previously-unpublished-jim-carroll-interview-surfaces-poetry-foundation-17-may-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":10101,"position":3},"title":"Margo Tiffen, A Previously Unpublished Jim Carroll Interview Surfaces.” Poetry Foundation 17 May 2017.","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"At\u00a0Please Kill Me, home of Gillian McCain and Legs McNeil's latest projects, Margo Tiffen posts a previously unpublished 2001 interview with\u00a0Jim Carroll, recorded at the Bendix Diner in Chelsea, where they were joined by Carroll's friend Stephen. \"He really opened up once we got talking,\" Tiffen recounts. \"After the interview,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9873,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/music-reviews\/paul-mcdonald-review-of-pools-of-mercury-louisville-eccentric-observer-1998\/","url_meta":{"origin":10101,"position":4},"title":"Paul McDonald – Review of Pools of Mercury – Louisville Eccentric Observer 1998","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"May 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Mercury risingBy Paul McDonaldLouisville Eccentric Observer \"When you hear Jim Carroll's voice,you know you're in for an interesting ride.\" Back in 1994, Jim Carroll was recording some songs with Pearl Jam that would later be included on the soundtrack for the film \"Basketball Diaries.\" Carroll had been thinking of returning\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4446,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carrolls-interviews\/jim-carroll-poet-with-a-past\/","url_meta":{"origin":10101,"position":5},"title":"Jim Carroll: Poet with a Past","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Interview by Douglas A. 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If you missed part one, check it out on our website at\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10101"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10602,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10101\/revisions\/10602"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/folder?post=10101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}