{"id":10166,"date":"2025-06-05T22:42:42","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T05:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/?page_id=10166"},"modified":"2025-06-05T22:43:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T05:43:15","slug":"jim-carroll-at-hothouse-chicago-1999-review-by-j-a-carpenter","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/performance-reviews\/jim-carroll-at-hothouse-chicago-1999-review-by-j-a-carpenter\/","title":{"rendered":"Hothouse, Chicago (1999)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jim Carroll\u00a0at Hothouse
Chicago, IL (5\/8\/99)<\/strong>
Review by\u00a0J. A. Carpenter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, Jim Carroll fans, dig this…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw Jim Carroll in Chicago at the Hothouse…and it was awful and amazing all at the same time. Bad omens everywhere. I wonder what Jim will tell Cassie or what he has told her but Fucked Up barely describes it…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So to begin, the sign that posted Jim Carroll’s reading fucking spelled his name wrong. Now this PISSES me off, because where is the respect for this AWESOME man? They spelled it “Jim Caroll”. I don’t know. If he was going to read in your establishment, wouldn’t you get the name right? It was spelled wrong on BOTH sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So just to skip to the Jim Carroll thing…I did not cry this time. Just thought I should mention that. I was really excited, though. And Jim steps out onto the wooden lighted platform\/stage. Shit, he is still soooo thin. When I saw the\u00a0Today<\/em>\u00a0show, I thought, “Boy, he looks so good. He looked like he had put on weight, his skin was healthy, and his eyes alive.” But when I saw him three days later, he was gaunt and pale as usual. (I guess it WAS the turtleneck, Ivan). Anyway, Jim comes out shaking and nervous…but SO SO FUNNY!!! He starts talking about how he had a hectic week and about going on the\u00a0Today<\/em>\u00a0show. He said the show was so hard for him because he wanted to be funny and couldn’t, due to the seriousness and how he had to look like the “sober poet” which was sosososo funny. And how he bought the black velvet vintage jacket just for the show. He said that Matt Lowery made him want to buy teeth whitening because he felt like his mouth was a “coal mine”. He was so ALIVE! At the other reading, Jim was serious and quiet. Here is was funny as hell…joke after sarcastic joke. And then he tells this priceless story that could have been straight out of one of his books. I wish I could have taped this thing, man. It was fantastic, dig. It was about how Jim was on the train and OF COURSE it is half empty and a crazy guy sits next to him! hahaha. And how the guy was a real “red neck” with his 300 pounds and red neck. hahaha. The guy starts telling Jim about his obsession with Jane Mansfield and how he was the head coroner on the scene when she got decapitated. He gets really into the story, full of jokes and details and Jim even does a Hick Louisiana impersonation! hahaha. Dig that, Jim with his thick New York accent trying to sound southern! So anyway, he gets really metaphysical and hilarious about this crazy guy talking about Jayne Mansfield’s decapitated head and correlating it to a religious question of why the guy called her body “that” and her head “her”. It was fantastic. And we are all hanging on to every word when some ASSHOLE yells, “Jim What are you doing? What does this have to do with your poetry?” And Jim gets confused and says, “Well, man, it doesn’t have to be relevant to you, but I’m telling a story, here.” And the guy says again, “Jim, I think you are god, and a great poet, but why are you saying this biblical stuff with Jane Mansfield?” and Jim gets pissed and says, “Look, man, I’m telling a story here. I am laying a story on you, man.” His accent was getting more and more New Yorkish, if that is possible. and the guy is like, “Jim, you are a god, and I am a poet to, but what the fuck are you saying this stuff for?” And Jim gets totally angry and yells, “Look, I don’t have to fucking JUSTIFY myself to you man.” Now people are yelling at the guy to shut up and why he wasn’t thrown out immediately, I don’t know but the show went kind of down hill from there. Somebody else threatened to kick the guys ass and the heckler stood and said, “let’s go, let’s fight” and Jim Yells, “Look, man, you’re like the guy in Kentucky or something. Just CHILL man, just fucking CHILL. It’s all cool.” Everyone started clapping and laughing and whistling and they threw the heckler out. But, The spark in Jim was gone. He got serious and started Justifying himself by saying, “What I just did some people call a monologue.” and “It is harder to tell a story than to read from a book, I mean, I don’t have a fucking safety net, you know?” He read “A Day at the Races” to “lighten the mood” which kind of helped, but you could tell Jim was shook from that dick. And then he read “8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain” and it was SO moving because Jim sounded soosososo sad. He read “Sick Bird” and “I am not Kurt Schwitters”. He sang acapella “Falling down Laughing” and finished with “the Beast Within” (which could be metaphoric, itself.) But thanks to the heckler, Jim got the hell out of there and did not mingle or sign books or talk to anyone. He was gone. So I left to. And that is the second Jim experience for me. It was so wonderful at the beginning. He was like a little kid. and then he kind of collapsed sadly. Not that he didn’t read fucking amazing, because he DID. But his sadness was apparent. And I think he was disappointed to. Cassie, if Jim says anything about the reading, could you let us know? I would find it so interesting. The worst part of the whole thing, too, was that I don’t know how it ended with the Jayne Mansfield story. I don’t know what he thought because the guy just made him give up on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Carroll\u00a0at HothouseChicago, IL (5\/8\/99)Review by\u00a0J. A. Carpenter Well, Jim Carroll fans, dig this… I saw Jim Carroll in Chicago at the Hothouse…and it was awful and amazing all at the same time. Bad omens everywhere. I wonder what Jim will tell Cassie or what he has told her but Fucked Up barely describes it… … Continue reading Hothouse, Chicago (1999)<\/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":[],"class_list":["post-10166","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9VlUH-2DY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3992,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/jim-carrolls-interviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":10166,"position":0},"title":"Jim Carroll’s Interviews","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"These, arranged in reverse chronological order, represent just a few of Carroll's interviews. I continue to add more as I have time; most of the newest additions are PDFs. Margo Tiffen, A Previously Unpublished Jim Carroll Interview Surfaces.\" Poetry Foundation 17 May 2017. M. Patricia Li, \"Basketball Diaries Author Bounces\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4163,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/research\/feature-articles\/","url_meta":{"origin":10166,"position":1},"title":"Feature Articles","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Feature articles are general interest articles about Jim Carroll. Some of them include interviews and reviews and, as such, are also included in the Interviews and other areas within the Research Library of the site. These articles are arranged in chronological order. Ted Berrigan, \"Jim Carroll.\" Culture Hero 1.5 (1969).Poet\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"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":10166,"position":2},"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":4056,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/works\/jim-carroll-music-and-spoken-word\/music-jim-carroll-jim-carroll-band\/","url_meta":{"origin":10166,"position":3},"title":"Music by Jim Carroll & The Jim Carroll Band","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Runaway EP Released: 2000 By: Jim Carroll Label: Kill Rock Stars Get this recording on Amazon Pools of Mercury Released: 1998 By: Jim Carroll Label: Mercury Get this recording on Amazon A World Without Gravity: The Best of the Jim Carroll Band Released: 1993 By: The Jim Carroll Band Label:\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Cover Art - Runaway EP (2000) - by Jim Carroll","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/runaway.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4036,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/photos-video-audio\/press-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":10166,"position":4},"title":"Press Photos","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The photos on this page may be reprinted provided the photographers are credited. Photographer credit:Jim Carroll (1998) \u00a9Ray Lego\/Cut the Fat Jim Carroll (1998) \u00a9Ray Lego\/Cut the FatDownload Photographer credit:Jim Carroll (1998) \u00a9Ray Lego\/Cut the Fat Jim Carroll (1998) \u00a9Ray Lego\/Cut the FatDownload Photographer credit:Jim Carroll (1998) \u00a9Ray Lego\/Cut the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Jim Carroll (1998) \u00a9Ray Lego\/Cut the Fat","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/JC1998_bw_001.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/JC1998_bw_001.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/JC1998_bw_001.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4037,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/photos-video-audio\/photo-gallery\/photos-of-jim-carroll\/","url_meta":{"origin":10166,"position":5},"title":"xxPhotos of Jim Carroll","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"If you have any good photos of Jim Carroll, please email them to me! Press Photos These photos may be reprinted (with photographer credits). Please do not reprint other photos on this site without reviewing the FAQs. xxxx Lorem ipsum XThe Catholic Boy Gets Blessed Lorem ipsum individual portraits Solo\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Jim Carroll (1998) \u00a9Ray Lego\/Cut the Fat","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/JC1998_color_005.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/JC1998_color_005.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/JC1998_color_005.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10166","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=10166"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10168,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10166\/revisions\/10168"}],"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=10166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/folder?post=10166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}