The RU Sirius Show recently had a great show where he interviewed
a writer/performer who evokes Hunter S. Thompson in a theater piece
called "Gonzo: A Brutal Chrysalis."
A text version of the interview has now been posted on 10
Zen Monkeys.
RU: Is this writing, basically, you trying to do the
voice of Hunter S. Thompson? Are you incorporating his stuff? Is it
all him? How does it work?BD: I had originally intended to take certain
passages from Fear and Loathing in America : The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalistand kind of knit them together. I quickly
abandoned that. I knew it wasn't going to work. Also, we would run
afoul of copyright issues with the estate and I don't really care for
his widow. She's done several stupid things that I really detest. So I
didn't want to pour more gasoline on that fire. And unlike Johnny Depp
or Bill Murray, I didn't have the luxury of moving into Thompson's
house and getting the Hunter experience.So I did more research and it was the political stuff that he did that
really caught my attention. And at that time, I live alone. So I had a
great luxury of time to myself to do this. And I really kind of
absorbed him through his letters, and went back and re-read things
that I had read before, in the context of the letters, to get the
complete effect. And I really allowed him to take me over. I spent a
lot of time with my eyes closed imagining the world as he would see
it.And it's very easy to translate elements of his frustration — the
Vietnam war to the Iraq war; spineless, useless Democrats to
spineless, useless Democrats; vile Republicans to vile Republicans.
Oil companies fucking everybody.
