'Body Modification'?

Once More Through the Modified Looking Glass Erik 'The Lizardman' Sprague Second Edition Cover photo by Allen Falkner Copyright 2003 – 2009 Erik Sprague. All rights reserved. 2 Contents Introduction 5 By Way of Introduction 7 About Records 9 The [Modified] Body Politic 13 Body Modification: Rights & Responsibilities 17 Self Definition and Body Modification & Ritual 23 What is ‘Body Modification’? 29 What is 'Body Modification'? – What does it matter? 33 The Benefits of Being Trendy 39 Are You a Body Modifier? (An Ode to Keith Alexander) 43 To Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake: Thank You! 47 Bill O’Reilly Fears The Lizardman 51 Confronting Rudeness 55 What About When You Are 80? 59 What Does Your Mother Think? 63 You just want attention / You’re just trying to be different 67 Can I touch you? 71 Body Modification v Spirituality 73 Suspensions & Me 77 The Modern History of Tongue Splitting 83 The Lizardman goes to Am-Jam 89 Magnetic Jewelry 93 Tattooed People Onstage Part I 97 Tattooed People Onstage Part II 100 Dealing with the Media 105 So you want to be a freak 109 Matt Gone Interview 117 Tyler Fyre Interview 123 Fredini Interview 133 Dick Zigun Interview 139 Nippulini Interview 145 Jason Sand Interview 149 Mike Jones Interview 157 Lizardman Q & A 163 3 4 Introduction Through the Modified Looking Glass was my column for BME News from 2003-2007. What I have done in this volume is to collect all of the published articles (excepting the two year in review columns which, in retrospect, I found to be lacking of any real substance) along with three previously unpublished articles. I have done some minor editing and added some brief notes but they are presented here in more or less the same form that I originally submitted them to the then editor and publisher of the BME (www.bmezine.com), Shannon Larratt. Also included is my response piece to one of Shannon's own articles that resulted in his invitation to me to write a regular column. The dates shown are of submission not publication. These articles were written very much within the narrow context and for the specific audience that was the BME community at the time. And it is as a sort of snapshot of that community and my thinking within it that they are probably best viewed – although I do think and hope they have something to offer readers beyond this. I am still active with BME today but it is not the major player in my life that it was in the past. The published articles can still be found online as they were originally posted here: www.bmezine.com/news/lizardman-all.html Unfortunately though, the comment forums which provided for further discussion and an even better look at the community have since been lost to the ether. I hope this new collection serves to entertain and provoke old and new readers alike. 5 6 By Way of Introduction 5/19/2003 This was the second article to be published, after The [Modified] Body Politic, under the banner of Through the Modified Looking Glass. While it probably should have been the first, the issue of tongue splitting legislation was far more substantial and occupied my focus at the time. The opening paragraph still sums up my feelings about it but I include it here for the title explanation if nothing else. According to custom, something like this would have been my first installment for Through the Modified Looking Glass, wherein I explain my choice of column title, plans for future subject matter, and background. The problem with that is that I have always felt such pieces tend to be cop-outs which avoid a true effort. And while I try to maintain a familiarity and respect for custom, I quite often find myself circumventing it. First, why ‘Through the Modified Looking Glass’? I am, as it happens, a C.S. Lewis fan but the greater motivation behind my choice is the use of the looking glass reference by another tattooed sideshow aficionado and performer: Mike Wilson. In his interview that appeared in Modern Primitives, Wilson describes the idea of becoming heavily tattooed: “…signifying a possible way of going through the looking glass for me to achieve a whole other frame of reference, and to elicit experiences beyond the ‘normal’… presenting yourself as a signal beacon drawing things to happen to you.” I had some of the same influences as Mike – surrealism and circus sideshow history so it’s not surprising that we held some similar views. In fact, this was as close to some of my own ideas and inspirations for my transformation project as I had ever seen expressed by another person. I first saw the interview in 1995 and through my own carelessness by not taking advantage of opportunities I missed my chances to meet Mike in person before his untimely death. I have since come to know some of his friends and colleagues from Coney Island and the title of this column is in part an homage as well as an expression of that shared notion. I like to think that Mike also realized one of my own personal joys of the stage and being a tattooed man – taking others through the glass for awhile just by being part of their day. That is the story, for what it’s worth, of the title. But what do I actually intend do to do with this pulpit? Well, as evidenced by the first installment, The [Modified] Body Politic, some subjects will choose me and 7 simply demand to be addressed. In the absence of such ready made topics in the future I hope to address and give an accounting of the land I find through this modified looking glass and that others may report discovering through their experiences with me. I will also attempt to put to use some of the formal training I have had as a philosopher by examining concepts and terms like ‘body modification’. I would also suggest to anyone who has a topic they would like to see here that they contact me via my IAM page or email. And of course, feedback is always welcome. Now then, you may be asking ‘So, who the hell are you anyway?’ Well, my given name is Erik Michael Sprague but I am far better known these days as The Lizardman. I was born on Fort Campbell in Kentucky in 1972. My mother is an elementary school teacher and my father works both as a high school teacher and a mountain warfare instructor for the military. Growing up, they always encouraged me and told me I could do whatever I wanted – I took them seriously. And so, using the tools they provided me in my upbringing and thanks to the support of them, my younger sister, and many dear friends I did what I wanted: I became a performance artist. A professional freak. Along the way I have worked a myriad of jobs (lifeguard, farmhand, karate instructor, warehouse crew, bartender, teacher, and many more) and picked up a degree in philosophy (I abandoned my doctoral thesis to devote my time fully to myself as an artist). Currently, I live with my girlfriend, Meghan, in Austin, TX with one snake and three ferrets when I am not traveling the world speaking and performing. My modifications, rituals, and experiments are documented here on BME as well as on my own website. Ultimately, I hope that through this column I will find another way to express and develop ideas and to make a contribution that others will find in some way worthwhile or entertaining. Since this was written Meghan and I were married, there have been more ferrets, my snake passed away, and my parents both retired. 8 About Records 1/7/2003 This is the response to Shannon's article that resulted in his suggestion that I start writing a column for BME. Looking back on it, I think I could probably make these points more eloquently now but my basic position(s) remains the same. I got an email this morning [1/7/2003] from a morning radio crew I did an interview with a little while back. They said they just heard about a guy getting three concrete blocks smashed with a sledgehammer on his groin and wanted to know if I would comment on it. Since they were previously really interested in my act where I get a concrete block smashed on my groin with a flaming sledgehammer. Now, I assume the guy stacked the blocks and had all three smashed at once because doing the act repeatedly is nothing new. I have done it hundreds if not thousands of times. How do I feel about it? Well, I don’t care much really. I give whoever it was a certain basic respect for performing the act and putting his own twist to it with the multiple blocks (though in terms of the physics that actually makes it safer, not riskier) but in the end I would have to see it to make any real judgment. This is because what counts here is the show — he obviously didn’t just do it for himself by seeking the press, so it now becomes, to my mind, a question of whether or not he managed to give the audience something worthwhile. If he managed to in any way inspire, awe, or simply entertain people then I say more power to him. It was this, along with Shannon’s recent piece about records on BME, that got me once again thinking about world records, or alleged world records as the case may be.

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