Packing It In

Blessed Mary of Prankster 

No, no, not me. But Mary Prankster, one of my favorite live shows, is apparently "retiring" the Mary Prankster character and getting ready to write a book about her ten years of nonstop touring. Here's what she said:

"This year I decided to take a hiatus from the road after playing 80-200 shows a year, every year, since 1995. When I tallied up the numbers, I realized I'd played over a thousand shows as Mary Prankster. Artistically, 'Mary Prankster' did more than I ever dreamed possible. Creatively, I'm ready to try something new."

Final show Monday the 28th at the Knitting Factory in NYC, where she's apparently relocated (the city, not the club).

DeepToej and I ruminated on the meaning of this retirement the other day at brunch, and I have some theories. One of them is that Mary had apparently reached for a bit of something different with her last record--less bawd, more pop--and I don't think it connected as well as one might have hoped. There are reasons for it: she was working with a high-powered power pop producer with an impressive pedigree (Mitch Easter), but he may not have seen the same value in her raw edges that we the fan base did. Plus, the personal and band implosion happened mid-recording. This complicated the recording process, of course, and apparently Easter himself stepped in and did rather more playing than one usually expects of a producer, making his thumbprint even more distinct. But it also made touring as anything other than a solo acoustic act impractical. And I'll bet that gets wearying fast, even for the wiry, energetic Ms. Prankster.

The crucial comparison, I thought, was Liz Phair, who also risked alienating her fan base by going with hot-shot production, but Phair was starting from a stronger position and shooting for the mainstream, which she mostly hit. Prankster was shooting for a different level of indie cred, but she didn't have the same strength (by this I mean name recognition, label support, and presumably finances) to risk, and so the payoff didn't work quite the same way.

I met Mary once, in a bathroom at a club in Ithaca, NY. We were wearing the same shirt, a red baseball jersey with the words "Rock & Roll" emblazoned across the tits. I'm a buxom sort, and Ms. Prankster is, well, not, so we looked at each other and laughed and she asked "Why doesn't that shirt look like that on me?"


Mary as I met her. 

Anyway, in honor of Ms. Prankster, I present one of my favorite songs.

The World Is Full of Bastards

He said, “Mary is the rarest gem
And she’s the wildest flower.
I’ll make my Mary merrier
With every passing hour.”

So I made a certain sacrifice
As soon as we were through
I said, “Your Mary loves you, lad.”
And he said, “‘Mary’ who?”

You don’t know if an apple’s rotten
’Til you take a bite
You don’t know if there’s breakfast comin’
’Til you spend the night

And I’m sure I’ll kiss my share of frogs
Before my time is done
The world is full of bastards
And I’ve dated every one

Eh, the lad was oh-so-generous
Much more than you would think
He didn’t have a license
But he still drove me to drink

And I had no insecurities
So he gave me some of his
But I didn’t need his sorrow, man
I’m Irish as it is

You don’t know if the beer is bitter
’Til you buy a glass
You don't know if your peace of mind
Is just a piece of ass

And I’m sure I’ll kiss my share of frogs
Before my time is done
The world is full of bastards
And I’ve dated every one