Transcript - Episode 26: The Butterfly Factory (Part 1)
Audio for The Butterfly Factory Part 1
The Butterfly Factory Part 1
Wed, Feb 4, 2026
“Push the Roll with Ross Bryant” is produced for the ear and includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.
Ross Bryant 00:01
Welcome to Push the Roll. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. The blank page lies before us. We stand vertiginously at the lip of chaos. Let's see where chance takes us. We got Cup, we got Nic, we got Paula, we got Brennan in the building. Thank you all so much for joining us.
cuppycup 00:18
You're welcome, Ross.
Nic Rosenberg 00:20
Absolute pleasure.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 00:21
This is so fun, and it's so exciting.
Paula Deming 00:24
Happy to be here.
Ross Bryant 00:27
So we're gonna improvise a Call of Cthulhu game right off the top, inspired by a title. Now we've got a full table of titles as submitted by our Patreon subscribers. So I think we have 100 titles that have been submitted by our friendly subscribers.
Paula Deming 00:47
Just this month?!
Ross Bryant 00:48
That's right.
cuppycup 00:48
I actually randomly picked the selection of 100 from the more than 100 that we received.
Ross Bryant 00:55
That's amazing.
Nic Rosenberg 00:55
Wow.
Paula Deming 00:57
What is wrong with you people? [laughing]
Ross Bryant 00:59
Yeah, people are twisted and creative. So let's see what their sick minds have created. So would somebody like to do the honors and roll a d100 to see what figure we get, which will then randomly decide which title will inspire our little adventure today?
Brennan Lee Mulligan 01:17
I'll roll it
cuppycup 01:18
Yes.
Ross Bryant 01:18
Yes. Brennan, do the honors.
Paula Deming 01:21
I think that's the perfect solution.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 01:24
25!
Ross Bryant 01:26
All right, Cup. 25.
cuppycup 01:28
Okay.
Paula Deming 01:28
Okay, interesting reaction.
cuppycup 01:32
Yeah. [laughter] Oh, this is great! This is a great title, no, so this comes from Klorpdonk. User Klorpdonk.
Paula Deming 01:41
[gasps] I know Klorpdonk.
Ross Bryant 01:43
Yes. Hello, Klorpdonk.
cuppycup 01:45
Okay, this is rigged. Paula knows Klorpdonk.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 01:47
Of the Long Island Donks.
Ross Bryant 01:49
Yeah, of course.
cuppycup 01:53
The title is "The Butterfly Factory."
Nic Rosenberg 01:58
Oh.
Paula Deming 01:59
Okay, interesting.
Ross Bryant 02:01
[MUSIC: melancholic guitar theme] The cosmos is a cyclopean infinity of chaos, infinite branching paths stretching off to vistas in the distance that will drive the mind mad. Shall we shrink in the face of all this? Or will we climb aboard the chaos and ride it to the end, letting chance guide the way? This is Push the Roll. We're rolling dice against your Patreon suggestions to create improvised Call of Cthulhu adventures in real time with themes of eldritch horror, the weird, the transhuman, the transmundane, the cyberpunk, the splatterpunk, the anything punk. We don't know until we roll. Anytime, anyplace, anything can happen when you push the roll.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 02:53
Now that's a whimsical, delightful creature, but a factory conjures images of industrial waste and sterility and grime. There's a thematic juxtaposition even within the title, and I think that's the direction Klorpdonk is pointing us in.
Ross Bryant 03:13
Yes, this, um,
Nic Rosenberg 03:15
Crafty Klorpdonk.
Ross Bryant 03:16
Yes. This antithesis that Klorpdonk is so craftily placed into the title "The Butterfly Factory." Yes, the butterfly, this beautiful symbol of like natural loveliness, freedom, its gossamer wings plying the sky. And the factory, the choking the air with smoke and noise. What does this make me think of? "The Butterfly Factory"? Well, if I hear butterfly factory, I'm instantly thinking just butterflies, thinking of like butterfly effect, things rippling out. Butterflies making me think just of beauty, natural loveliness and fragility, softness in contrasting with the factory. The factory not only makes me think of a giant, cement structure with an enormous smoke stack pouring smoke into the sky, but also Andy Warhol.
Paula Deming 04:15
[laughing] Okay.
cuppycup 04:17
Nice.
Ross Bryant 04:18
The Factory being, of course, what he called his art studio, where all kinds of artsy and fashionable eccentrics would gather. "The Butterfly Factory" to me, just as a title, it sounds to me like a paperback. You're there at the sort of a spinner rack in your used bookstore, thumbing through the weathered paperbacks with cracked and faded covers, and "The Butterfly Factory" really seems like something that you'd see there printed in the 60s or 70s. I think this is where my imagination is just kind of like pushing me here. I'd like us to all think of characters that would be in a Warhol-esque smart set in like late ’60s, early 1970s New York. We're thinking Edie Sedgwick. Young socialites. We're thinking rock musicians. We're thinking artists, weirdos, people from the Upper East Side slumming it on the downtown scene.
Paula Deming 05:19
Yeah. Hmm... Well, my first thought, I don't know if this exactly matches what you just pitched us, Ross, so feel free to help me mold this. But my first thought is the like kind of put-upon assistant who is there maybe really wants to be a, you know, an artist herself, but right now, relegated to brush cleaning, canvas stretching, we are mining the depths of my painting knowledge. You know, really wants to prove that she could do that, maybe if she was just given a shot to do it.
Ross Bryant 06:00
That absolutely tracks with what we're talking about, especially if we're thinking of that era in art and a Warhol-esque figure in particular, you're thinking of the, this sort of reframing of the concept of an artist from this person daubing paint on a canvas, but rather a corporate CEO managing a whole group of employees who are pushing out material, and so you probably have a bunch of these sort of hen-pecked assistants doing the work.
Paula Deming 06:28
Yeah, yeah. Let me see what, uh, I'm just gonna dig into the old 1920s character sheets, I think. Those are my old reliables.
Ross Bryant 06:40
Yeah, maybe this could be an artist themselves, a frustrated artist or craftsman, or...
Paula Deming 06:45
Yeah, I think so. Someone who has promised, "Hey, just take this internship. It'll lead to something." But it hasn't yet. How long do I have to do this before I am elevated to the position of artist myself. So, yeah, I'm gonna find I think an artist character sheet here. I'll consider names. Come back to me for names. I'm not sure yet. [laughter] It's the hardest part of any character.
Ross Bryant 07:19
Yeah, of course. Well, cultural touchstones, things like Downtown 81 or I Shot Andy Warhol or Basquiat, or maybe some of the movies that he made, or think of Lou Reed's song, "Walk on the Wild Side." This is the sort of milieu we're cooking with. And if you're thinking of names, the Warhol superstars had some pretty incredible names that might get your mind going names like Cherry Vanilla, or Brigid Berlin, or Candy Darling, or Ultra Violet.
Paula Deming 07:48
Oh my gosh, yes. Okay, that's great.
cuppycup 07:52
See, I only have a name. I actually went into the Regency set and grabbed the poet, but I'm picturing someone who actually is just like super pale from being indoors all the time, working across, like, different mediums for art, but isn't particularly good at any of them. And figured that he could maybe get away with that in poetry to say, like, maybe you're just, you're just not sophisticated enough to understand my poems, but I have Velvet Bloom as my character name.
Nic Rosenberg 08:18
It's a nice one.
Paula Deming 08:19
I love that.
Ross Bryant 08:21
That's absolutely perfect.
cuppycup 08:22
Yeah. And he projects confidence, but he's quite fragile because he's surrounded by, well, we'll see, right? Brilliant artists, potentially.
Ross Bryant 08:31
Confident and striking, yet fragile, not unlike a butterfly. Wonderful.
Nic Rosenberg 08:36
Yeah, I'm kind of stuck on this Nico-esque kind of artist too, but I feel like we might have too many artists. So maybe the kind of like aristocrat, really leaning on the association with creative types, kind of fancying themselves also, but an artist as well, but not really able to produce anything. So just, you know, hanging out, waiting for inspiration.
Ross Bryant 09:06
Yeah, I'll also put out there that like, so the type of person you're describing is often just like these sort of, like scene mavens, these scenius people who just have this kind of natural charisma, and maybe even like a model.
Paula Deming 09:20
Yeah, I was gonna say someone could be there whose job is to inspire the art being created.
Ross Bryant 09:26
So a muse.
Paula Deming 09:27
Yeah, that's the word I was looking for!
Nic Rosenberg 09:30
Yeah like Twiggy.
Paula Deming 09:32
Yeah,!
Ross Bryant 09:33
Yeah, like Twiggy or Edie Sedgwick, or,
Nic Rosenberg 09:36
I'm not sure which character sheet would work best with this. I mean, honestly, maybe just Dilettante.
Ross Bryant 09:43
That Dilettante sounds pretty good.
Paula Deming 09:45
I've actually grabbed the Antiquarian.
Ross Bryant 09:48
I love that the Antiquarian I feel like is great. That gives me a picture that this character might have an art history degree, or something like that...
Paula Deming 09:56
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 09:57
...and they actually know a lot about the art of yore that maybe is being subverted in the new set that you're involved with.
Paula Deming 10:06
Look, you got to know the rules to be able to break the rules.
Nic Rosenberg 10:10
So true.
Ross Bryant 10:12
Yeah. What are you thinking, Brennan?
Brennan Lee Mulligan 10:13
Um, I would like to be, and this is a contentious point of history, there are differing reports on this. However, I would like to be an American CIA agent who, due to the Cold War initiative by the CIA to promote abstract expressionism as a means of producing American cultural assets totally devoid of revolutionary or populist sentiment. I think I want to be a like art dealer.
Ross Bryant 10:52
Yes, a "art dealer," yes, yes. [laughing]
Brennan Lee Mulligan 10:56
One of those art dealers who's funding art and seems to have access to galleries that can buy your art. [laughter]
Brennan Lee Mulligan 11:05
There's a lot of quotations happening here. [laughing]
Ross Bryant 11:07
Where does that budget come from for all those artworks? What sort of arms deals are going on in the side? Yes, the galleries, we're big scare quotes here. Scare quotes flapping in the air, not in like butterflies wings. And yes, I too, Brennan, am fascinated with this concept that's floated up in a culture of the CIA and the American government promoting abstract expressionist art in particular, as a way of promoting the American project of freedom, while de-resonating American art of its radical messaging.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 11:41
The 60s had this huge Woody Guthrie resurgence in folk art and folk traditions and folk music. And you know, as someone who feel like grew up in New York City and was often chided for a degree of culturelessness by not being moved by abstract expressionist artwork, I found myself giddy with elation when a connection was made between it as an actual weapon of government promoted meaninglessness as I went, aha, my assumptions about this art were 100% correct [laughter]. As a seven year old, I went, I don't think this is anything. And they went, No, it's something. And then later I read the CIA promoted this because it wasn't anything.
Ross Bryant 12:31
Yes, go back into your history books and compare, if you will, the socialist realism of a beautiful 1930s WPA mural as compared with a picture of a can of soup.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 12:46
Hell yeah.
Ross Bryant 12:47
But yes, both of these are expressions of a particular relationship with commodity and industry. The sort of things that are made in factories. We're cooking with gas here, folks. I love this. I love, in particular, Brennan, bringing in a CIA agent, because that is all part of the stew of this time period, also. This Cold War paranoia and dancing on the edge of apocalypse that all of this scene has of like, yeah, my gosh, maybe we're going to have our 15 minutes of fame, because maybe 15 minutes is all we got, because we have a lot of missiles trained on each other, and who knows when it's all going to go down. So Cup, do we have a sense of who Velvet Bloom is kind of occupation-wise?
cuppycup 13:34
Yeah, I don't think he actually has a real occupation. I think maybe, like some of the others here, he's just kind of flitting about, going from party to party, trying to make an impression on everyone else. I think he walks around, he probably has some family money that's allowing him to do this. He came up to New York from New Jersey. He is often seen wearing like a thrift store tuxedo jacket with no shirt on underneath, metallic scarves, really like intricate sunglasses. Sometimes he wears those, like see-through vinyl raincoats. He just wants to be seen. And he's always like, kind of pushing his terrible poetry on everyone, hoping that somebody finds deeper meaning in it, and then can kind of push him up so that maybe he gets featured in like these art galleries or some of these really well-known poetry readings that are happening around the city.
Ross Bryant 14:24
All right, excellent. Velvet Bloom: party boy, poet, scene maker.
cuppycup 14:31
Oh, and now that you said party boy, I'm thinking like, floppy blonde hair that's like falling over his eyes as well.
Paula Deming 14:36
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nic Rosenberg 14:37
Like, emulating Warhol?
cuppycup 14:39
[laughing] Yeah, pretty much,
Ross Bryant 14:42
Yes. Paula, do you have a name for your overworked antiquarian?
Paula Deming 14:47
Yes. Margot Marceau.
Ross Bryant 14:52
Oh, love that.
Paula Deming 14:53
And yeah, I think she looks more academic and harried than she does this like kind of pop culture idea of what an artist looks like, maybe more like what Velvet Bloom looks like. She doesn't quite live up to the glamor idea of someone creating art, but she knows within her she could, she could...
Ross Bryant 15:21
Yes.
Paula Deming 15:22
If they would just let me.
Ross Bryant 15:23
[chuckling] You're right on the cusp.
Paula Deming 15:26
And Marceau is not my real last name, but if I go by that, people will think I'm more artsy.
Ross Bryant 15:34
What about this fashionable dilettante, Nic?
Nic Rosenberg 15:40
I think that she goes by Willow, not her real name, but she's gonna be this, like in the 60s, that whole, you know, emaciated esthetic, how beauty was equated with basically, like not really being there. She's always in latest fashion. So, you know, she's in the, you have to forgive me, I don't know anything about 60s fashion. She's always in the, you know, the latest Mary Quant or Yves Saint Laurent, and is very concerned about the, like, esthetics of things. And so she's a name-dropper. She's everything you would expect from someone who doesn't have a lot of their own personality and relies on kind of like subsuming everything around them that has been designated as cool or avant garde or cutting edge fashion, cutting edge art, all of this. The takeaway here is insufferable. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 16:43
Okay, all right, maybe to some.
cuppycup 16:45
We sound like perfect pawns for the CIA, all three of us. [laughter]
Nic Rosenberg 16:52
Which segues beautifully into...
Ross Bryant 16:54
Great assets, all of you. And please tell us more about our gallery owner.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 17:02
I would love to. My character's name is Allen Clay. He is, well, or at least that's the name he goes by. And I think that he appeared in town about seven years ago. He was a regional gallery art scene person who was a very big deal in the Twin Cities, although someone else heard that it was actually St. Louis, and someone else had actually heard that it was maybe Pittsburgh. But he was big. He was a big gallery dealer somewhere else, and I think that he has essentially come in to the scene. And the main role, he's like an introducer. I think that's the main thing that he does. Like, he buys pieces himself from time to time, but the main thing he does is, like, make those connections and promote people. And I think that a lot of what he does privately is sort of market making, is like the people that he- there's been a couple times where he'll have been someone's first big purchase. So like the first piece that someone sells for an enormous amount of money, and lo and behold, once you've sold one piece for a lot of money, typically the art scene, for all of its visionaries, tends to produce a lot of following. And all people need to hear is that someone sold a piece for a ton of money, and that sort of seems to imply that they're the next big thing, and art thrives on the next big thing. So Allen Clay is a next-big-thing-maker extraordinaire.
Ross Bryant 18:41
Wow. A spotter finding these blue-chip artists early in their career.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 18:47
If I can just get Allen to look at some of my work, maybe I can get out of here.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 18:52
And I think Allen has a little bit of that, he's a thin, reedy man, not- I think he's like 5'10", or something like that, where everything about him is square but seems to be an affectation. So he's got like, in the style of the time, like thick framed glasses, wears a black suit, or like a nice, dark charcoal suit, but everything is always like a safe choice with a wink, sort of that thing of like, well, you're the artist. Like, let me not be taking up any air in the room. But everything seems to be done with a wink. But there's this weird question of like, is it being done with a wink, or have we talked ourselves into this square being important in this community? Hard to say. So that's sort of what he looks at, sort of like, it's like, look at the hip square in the corner. Oh, he hasn't said anything funny or interesting all night. Oh no. [laughter] Like, oh, wait. Oh, this is just a guy with a lot of money. But again, things are tailored. It's nice. So he's not a total goon, in other words.
Ross Bryant 20:01
Great, wonderful. These people have really come into focus. I love this.
Nic Rosenberg 20:09
Should we roll Luck?
Ross Bryant 20:11
Let's see how lucky you are. Roll 3d6 and multiply that figure by 5, and that is how lucky your character is. And you can drop that stat into your Luck.
cuppycup 20:23
Ew.
Nic Rosenberg 20:23
[laughing ] Make smart choices, Cup.
cuppycup 20:27
I always do. 40. Oh, no.
Paula Deming 20:31
Let's see. Oh, I did pretty good.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 20:36
I have a 65 Luck.
Nic Rosenberg 20:39
Dang!
Ross Bryant 20:39
That's great.
Nic Rosenberg 20:40
Yeah!
Paula Deming 20:40
Not- Oh, that's better than me!
Ross Bryant 20:43
So of course, if you fail a roll, you can always spend Luck to bring it down to the relative level of success that you would like. The other method of attempting to succeed where you have failed is you can, per the title of the show, push the roll, where you try what you were doing harder, maybe using a different tactic. You roll the same skill, and if you succeed, you succeed, but if you fail a pushed roll, something terrible happens to you. High risk, high reward.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 21:13
Lovely. Cool, cool, cool.
Ross Bryant 21:15
Okay, here we go. [chuckles]
Nic Rosenberg 21:22
Oh dear.
Paula Deming 21:23
[laughing] I just got nervous.
Ross Bryant 21:25
What?
Paula Deming 21:25
Cause you, didn't you just go [imitates Ross chuckling]? It made me nervous.
Ross Bryant 21:30
Because I laughed?
Nic Rosenberg 21:31
Oh boy.
Ross Bryant 21:31
[chuckles again] Yes, okay...
Paula Deming 21:34
[laughing] See? You did it again!
Ross Bryant 21:35
In darkness, smell dust. The smell of dust invades your nostrils. It's palpable, like an atmosphere in here hanging in the air. It's the smell of dust and paper. It's a bookstore. You're walking through teetering piles of used tomes on either side of you down a long hallway. The topics: history, architecture, art, spirituality, occult. Moving deeper and darker to the back, and there's one turning rack, and just see your hand reach out and push it [rustly squeal of an unoiled rack] around and pluck out one weathered paperback. On this cover, there is like a beautiful oil paint illustration of a young woman in a body suit, kind of writhing either in pain or in ecstasy, in dance. Lights strobe out in the darkness on this cover, and it seems as though a rather louche man is kind of lounging there in the darkness, looking at her. The title, "The Butterfly Factory" and you can see some of the writing beneath the promotional copy: "The dark beauty of the young set fluttered through the night, but something was waiting to pluck their wings." And as you look deeper and deeper into the just the black paint, as you kind of thumb through it, the price, oh, a steal. Only $2. It's a little bit damaged. There in the darkness of that cover, there's something that seems to resolve. There's something else in the art there in the paint on the cover, is that a face? No, it's just something there in the darkness that you can't quite see. Waiting there in the darkness as we move into that cover, through the cover, into the cover, into that darkness, the darkness of the night. No longer in the bookstore, no longer the smell of dust, but the smell wafting up from the sewer grates of 1970 New York. Steam billows up from manhole covers. You can hear [doppler effect of cars passing] like the yellow taxis rush by. You can hear sounds crackling out of a Zenith television shop that you're moving by, and you can hear like the "Vietnam War continues as more of the war dead come through. Unrest in Watts continued today as more cars were set on fire. The President..." so we're moving, moving through the city. Downtown. We're in downtown as we move down a flight of stairs into the lower level of a building as the music is getting louder. The smell is not of the night, it is not of dust, it is of sweat, and you're hearing bass guitar, organ, tambourine, rock and roll music as we're moving into this smart set party. We follow two women in each other's arms, passionately embraced against a wall, a mirror ball throws light on them. A small, older, bearded man with a cocktail kind of waddles by hand in hand with a young model. We move through the dance floor of a bunch of people doing the Frug and, [laughter] yeah, doing the Frug and cutting shapes in the darkness, and we're moving through, through, through. And let's land on our party here, perhaps all of you sitting together, let's say in a booth off in a corner here. This is a party thrown by your boss, Margot Marceau. This is a party thrown by Bruno Banks, who is one of the hottest pop artists on the scene right now. And in fact, hanging from the ceiling are some of Bruno Banks artworks. They are enormous vinyl boxes of Malt-O-Meal and Cheerios and detergent that are sort of bulbously dangling from the ceiling. You know them well because you helped stitch them together.
Paula Deming 25:51
Yeah, I actually did most of the work, but I am under strict like NDA to never tell anyone that I did most of that.
Ross Bryant 26:00
Great. The music is so loud. There are five people in black leather up on a stage. They're all playing instruments, except for one of them, whose instrument appears to be a bullwhip that she is cracking at intervals. But you are in conversation.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 26:20
I'm actually really lucky to work for Bruno. I'm learning so much from him, and I know it's really going to really launch my career one of these days,
Paula Deming 26:32
And I take another big gulp of my drink as I say this over the din of the music.
Velvet Bloom (cuppycup) 26:40
You are lucky. He's a genius! I mean, how do you come up with ideas like this?
Margot Marceau (Paula) 26:45
Boy, I guess, just inspiration strikes or something, and then you tell other people to do it [laughs]
Paula Deming 26:53
Drink.
Willow (Nic) 26:53
[forced laughter]
Nic Rosenberg 26:56
Just a disproportionately loud peal of laughter escapes from Willow as it becomes clear that she's not actually listening, but rather keeping her eyes scanning the crowd to see if anyone more famous or slightly higher status comes by that she could glom onto and then go off and converse with.
Ross Bryant 27:15
Yeah, perhaps your eyes notice the actual Jim Morrison is shimmying by out on the dance floor there with his shirt off and beads around his neck. He looks on the verge of passing out, but he is dancing out there.
Nic Rosenberg 27:30
Yeah, I think Willow might be starting to scoot a little bit out of her seat in that direction.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 27:36
I think Allen is seated all the way in the corner of the booth, and is doing that thing where you're sitting in the corner of a booth, where you're tilting out to face the room, where it's like, rather than sitting with his back to the cushion, he's sitting with his back to the wall in that corner and has a cigarette that he's smoking indoors.
Paula Deming 27:58
Oh, boy, what a time.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 28:01
And he sort of, I think he hits everybody with very warm eyes. The eyes are very warm, but the smile is very patronizing, you know, like the mouth is sort of crooked, and the eyes are very kind. So he's like,
Allen Clay (Brennan) 28:15
Look at all these little birdies flying hither and yon. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful scene, as always. Oh, Jim. Look at there goes Jim. I've worked with Jim.
Willow (Nic) 28:23
You've met Jim?
Allen Clay (Brennan) 28:26
Oh yes, yes, yes. Jim's an old friend. We go way, way back. I knew him when it was just The Door.
Willow (Nic) 28:36
Wow, that's so interesting. It's just that I've also spent a lot of time with Jim, and you know, he never really mentioned you. It's just, I guess we were just partying so hard that it didn't come up
Allen Clay (Brennan) 28:49
Well, I'm like a pair of drawers on the floor. Unmentionable. [a competition of laughter from Allen and Willow]
Ross Bryant 29:02
Laughter, laughter, laughter, almost drowned out by the fuzz guitar coming from the stage and the occasional bull whip cracks. A young woman suddenly is like, leaning against you, Willow. This is just a young girl from the scene you know. She goes by the name Cherry Coke, and she is like, kind of looming over you like,
Cherry Coke (Ross) 29:20
Oh, oh, my God. Where? Where did you get those? Are you going to the after party?
Ross Bryant 29:27
And she lowers her sunglasses and looks down at the table in the center of all of you, where each of you has set on the table - this is probably what started your conversation earlier - a ticket to the after party. And you can see the ring of the four of them making a little cross there in the center of the table. And on each one stamped with a rubber stamp, it says, "The Butterfly Factory."
Cherry Coke (Ross) 29:52
Very, very exclusive, Willow. You don't happen to have a plus one, do you?
Willow (Nic) 29:58
Oh, I'm so sorry, Cherry. It's just, you know, we have to keep it small, otherwise it's not as fun. [giggles] But I promise I will tell you all about it when I see you next time.
Ross Bryant 30:13
You can tell that she's like dying inside when you look at her eyes and then she just pushes her sunglasses up and leans in close, like,
Cherry Coke (Ross) 30:20
You promise to tell me everything. Besitos!
Ross Bryant 30:23
And she kisses you on each cheek and shimmies back into the crowd.
Willow (Nic) 30:28
Ugh. She's the worst.
Nic Rosenberg 30:30
To everyone else at the table after she scuttles away.
Ross Bryant 30:36
It's a week ago, Willow. You are at a model casting. It's a pale white cyc of a room. And let's just see like a photo of Willow. Bang! Standing with one arm above her head. Bang! Leaning on a bicycle. Bang! In a full leather jumpsuit unzipped to the navel. Bang! And see the photographer there.
Photographer (Ross) 31:02
All right, wow. Okay, great stuff. We'll call by the end of the day to let you know.
Willow (Nic) 31:09
That's fantastic. Um, maybe we could do just some extra, you know, slightly more risque shots, just to pad out the set?
Photographer (Ross) 31:22
Like, wow, something a little... artistic.
Willow (Nic) 31:27
You read my mind.
Ross Bryant 31:30
I would like each one of you. I'm loving this idea of, like, generative scene painting. What about this model casting office tells us that it is at the absolute bleeding edge of fashion, but is also a little like as we've already recognized, a little bit erotical and maybe a little bit cloying in its perversions?
Brennan Lee Mulligan 32:00
I think that there are bronze sculptures that are exaggeratedly willowy human figures, like dancing throughout. The sort of stick figure sculptures are supposed to be very featureless, but these ones have been left mostly featureless, except they all have very wide empty eye sockets in a level of detail that leaves you like, I don't know, it's just a little bit unsettling.
Ross Bryant 32:28
Yes, yes. There is something unsettling about these figures. Anyone else have a detail to add to this room, to this office?
Nic Rosenberg 32:37
I think there is a box full of props to be used in different photo shoots. And there are some that you might expect, you know, like silk scarves and things like that. But then also, there's a bunch of them that are strange and maybe a little out of place, like there's a bedpan and one of those, like hand crank egg beaters and, you know, like just one random old shoe that looks like it's from World War One, or some like a soldier's boot from World War One. Just these very strange things.
Ross Bryant 33:11
Great, yeah. What sort of photography are they doing here, anyway?
Paula Deming 33:15
I think the restrooms. It's just one room with toilets, no stalls. We have nothing to hide here. We should be exposing everything.
Ross Bryant 33:28
[laughing] Amazing. Okay, great.
cuppycup 33:33
There's like this constant drone of demo reels playing. Like the most cutting edge music, but it's all like a little warbled like, there's a broken jukebox in the corner, and if you ask anyone, they'll tell you that it's an "installation" like it's a work of art itself, and that's why it's broken.
Ross Bryant 33:49
Great.
Nic Rosenberg 33:50
Nice.
Ross Bryant 33:51
So yeah, over this, like, low hum of maybe a song by a band, like the Strawberry Alarm Clock or the Chocolate Watchband being played at just off-kilter and warbly. The shoot has taken place that you suggested, and the negatives are well in the possession of the photographer, and he looks at you, Willow,
Photographer (Ross) 34:17
As always, a total groove, Willow. Say, if you're not doing anything next week, maybe you'd like to go to the after hours after Bruno's little shindig. What do you say?
Ross Bryant 34:32
He reaches into a little cigarette case, and he pops it open. And there are cigarettes of like, five different colors in here, but in among them is a little ticket that he hands to you reading "The Butterfly Factory."
Nic Rosenberg 34:47
Willow snatches it with a bit too much excitement.
Willow (Nic) 34:51
Bruno Banks?! I mean, yeah, I... that would be groovy.
Nic Rosenberg 34:58
And she's clutching this thing almost white knuckled.
Photographer (Ross) 35:04
Oh, it's, um, this isn't Bruno's official after hours. Willow. Oh no, no, no. It just so happens to be on the same night. I know that this is Bruno's opening or whatever, a real happening, but this is from someone new. This...
Ross Bryant 35:21
And he turns it over, revealing the address.
Photographer (Ross) 35:23
...this is from Ivy Wilde.
Ross Bryant 35:26
And we just see Ivy Wilde's name there. And let's cut over to maybe, like, four days ago. Velvet Bloom, I want to see you delivering some of your poetry.
cuppycup 35:40
[laughing] Of course, you do.
Nic Rosenberg 35:42
We all want to see this.
Ross Bryant 35:45
Bookshelves on either side of you, the smell of strong coffee in the air. There's a huge poster on the wall with a picture of Ho Chi Minh on it, and you're on a little stage and a notebook in front of you, and several people are leaning forward to listen to what you have to say.
cuppycup 36:06
He does, maybe he calls it "demonstration poetry," but I think he's gonna bend down and he's gonna put the notebook on the stage, and he's gonna stand up and take a gum wrapper out of his pocket, and he's gonna hold it in his hand up to the audience and say,
Velvet Bloom (cuppycup) 36:25
It's just a gum wrapper in my pocket. It just looks like a gum wrapper, right? A little bit of Wrigley's, but, um, this gum wrapper is louder than the subway, right? It's louder than the Velvet Underground. If I, if I unfold, if I unravel, the gum wrapper. Look at the potential. Look at the silver horizon of the gum wrapper. Do you see it? Do you see the reflection? But if I fold the wrapper...
cuppycup 36:51
And he's carefully folding it,
Velvet Bloom (cuppycup) 36:52
...it becomes a coffin.
cuppycup 36:55
And then he just steps backwards. He takes like five steps backwards on the stage as the lights dim.
Ross Bryant 37:03
Great. Do you have a Poetry skill on your sheet there, Velvet Bloom.
cuppycup 37:08
[laughing] I do. I do. I have a very generous number of 50.
Ross Bryant 37:13
Why don't we do our first roll of the game in this absolutely absurd way? Give me a Poetry roll, and let's see how well received your rather outre demonstration poem was,
cuppycup 37:22
I love it. I love it. Oh, man.
Nic Rosenberg 37:26
Wow!
Paula Deming 37:28
Oh no!
cuppycup 37:29
Okay, I rolled a 96 [uncontained laughter in the background as Cup explains how not bad it is] but I have a 50 exactly, so it's not a fumble, Ross.
Ross Bryant 37:37
[laughing] Didn't fumble your Poetry roll.
cuppycup 37:39
I don't know if this is consequential enough to warrant taking the time to push the roll, but I am always happy to push the roll with a second poem.
Nic Rosenberg 37:48
Are you going to poetry harder, right now?
cuppycup 37:51
I'm gonna poetry harder.
Nic Rosenberg 37:53
Perfect.
Paula Deming 37:54
Just say it louder. Again, but louder and faster.
cuppycup 37:58
No, I think the idea that I have is that he was kind of trying to make this, like illustrative scene of the gum wrapper, and he realizes it's not working. So he's just, like rifling through his pockets, looking for more props to use in his next poem. And he pulls out like a handful of change, and he starts chucking it at people in the audience, and he's like,
Velvet Bloom (cuppycup) 38:16
The moon's a nickel.
cuppycup 38:18
And he throws it at somebody, [laughter] and he's like,
Velvet Bloom (cuppycup) 38:21
The sun is a penny!
cuppycup 38:23
and he throws it at somebody and just starts pelting people with change as he kind of calls out all the celestial objects.
Ross Bryant 38:29
Wow. Okay, let's see if this goes over well. This sounds like quite the push.
cuppycup 38:32
Maybe I missed my calling everyone as a demonstration poet!
Nic Rosenberg 38:36
I think so. If you roll 100 here, I'm just gonna be so happy.
cuppycup 38:41
All right, let's see. I passed 38 under 50.
Nic Rosenberg 38:46
Okay,
Ross Bryant 38:46
Wonderful.
cuppycup 38:47
It was just that good.
Ross Bryant 38:49
You didn't have them. You didn't have them at first, but the sky falling on them in the form of change turns them. This confrontational act has really won the crowd, and they applaud you.
cuppycup 39:01
Nice.
Nic Rosenberg 39:02
Oh, the violence of currency.
cuppycup 39:04
Oh yeah. Nice. That's the name of the act now.
Nic Rosenberg 39:07
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ross Bryant 39:08
As you're on your way out, a man with, like, a rather sharp Van Dyke beard kind of pulls you aside. And it's like,
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 39:15
Very interesting, very interesting... poetry. I suppose it's rather gauche to even call it by that name. What you're doing up there doesn't have a name yet. It's so far out on the limb.
Velvet Bloom (cuppycup) 39:31
I know. [wheezing laughter in the background]
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 39:34
I caught the moon. So allow me to give you something in return.
Ross Bryant 39:39
He reaches into his velvet jacket, and he gives you the invitation.
Velvet Bloom (cuppycup) 39:44
Oh, this is... Wow, worth a lot more than a nickel. Velvet Bloom, by the way, if you missed it, mister.
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 39:55
Oh, I didn't miss it. I didn't miss it. I didn't, nor did I miss this.
Ross Bryant 39:58
He makes the coin kind of dance down his fingers,
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 40:01
And trust that this is the same night as Mr. Banks' opening, but the patroness of this after hours is someone new.
Ross Bryant 40:09
And once again, he turns the card so that you can see the name of Ivy Wilde.
cuppycup 40:17
He'll slide it into his pocket.
Ross Bryant 40:20
Let's see you and Bruno Banks in the studio, Margot.
Paula Deming 40:25
All right. I am busy, I think, like sewing and stitching together the portions of this installation as previously described. I think I'm struggling with the maybe a detergent bottle and how I'm going to attach it.
Ross Bryant 40:45
And as you're working, like pricking your finger on like sewing needles and getting rope burns from the various material to make this thing. Bruno Banks is keeping up a steady monolog of conceptual ideas as he's kicked back with his feet up on his desk.
Bruno Banks (Ross) 41:03
Yeah, they'll be sort of hanging from the sky.
Ross Bryant 41:07
Bruno has a bowl cut, like a jet black bowl cut, and he's wearing a turtleneck and a chain with a big monocle dangling from it that every now and then he picks up and looks at a piece of paper in front of him, lets it drop again. His beetle boots are kicked up on the desk.
Bruno Banks (Ross) 41:23
There are no angels anymore, so we are replacing them with today's angels. Today's angels you find in the supermarket aisle. Every trip to the supermarket is a walk through purgatory, and we can only hope to meet an angel before we leave the door,
Ross Bryant 41:40
As he's yammering like this, as you continue to labor,
Margot Marceau (Paula) 41:44
Yeah, so deep there Bruno, really, really deep. You know, speaking of angels, I had some sketches I wanted to show you of some wings that I've been playing around with, you know, trying to capture that, like, ethereal nature of a flight and spirituality, and therefore heaven and, and death and the afterlife.
Paula Deming 42:07
And she's just like spitting out trying to sound artsy.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 42:12
And you would look at them right?
Ross Bryant 42:14
Takes the papers from you. [sound of shuffling pages]
Margot Marceau (Paula) 42:17
Oh, thanks!
Ross Bryant 42:18
He looks at the first page. Thumbs to the middle, looks at the middle. Thumbs to the back, looks at the back page of your drawings. Shuts it, slides it back to you.
Bruno Banks (Ross) 42:27
Did you know Marceau, that if you read the first page of a book, the middle page of a book, and the last page of the book, that you can totally absorb a book in under two minutes?
Margot Marceau (Paula) 42:36
Oh.
Bruno Banks (Ross) 42:36
I've literally read 1000s of books this way.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 42:40
Well, this isn't really a book, though, is it Bruno? It's, it's, it's sketches, that I thought you might... you know, because I've been working here for you for, for three years, and so...
Bruno Banks (Ross) 42:51
I'm the most well read person I know...
Margot Marceau (Paula) 42:53
Uh, yeah.
Bruno Banks (Ross) 42:53
Can you run to the store? Can you be a darling and maybe run to the store and pick up a purple swatch of purple vinyl.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 43:02
Oh...
Bruno Banks (Ross) 43:03
I'm having a vision...
Margot Marceau (Paula) 43:04
Oh, yeah...
Bruno Banks (Ross) 43:04
And uh...
Margot Marceau (Paula) 43:06
Sure. Uh, did you think they were good?
Ross Bryant 43:12
He's looking at something else through his monocle, which you realize is a headshot of himself. It's like,
Bruno Banks (Ross) 43:17
Mmhmm. Very, very good. Very, very good.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 43:21
Great. Maybe one day I'll have time to actually paint them instead of gluing together detergent bottles and... [indistinct muttering]
Ross Bryant 43:31
Outside you've just missed the bus.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 43:35
Ugh, course, stupid walk. Blegh.
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 43:40
Excuse me,
Ross Bryant 43:41
There's a man with a rather, rather sharp and pointed Van Dyke-like goatee and like a dark overcoat, who has hailed a cab, but he's holding the door open.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 43:53
Oh, yes?
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 43:55
You seem to need this more than me.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 43:58
Oh, um.
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 44:01
Going uptown?
Margot Marceau (Paula) 44:03
Yes, I'm on a search for purple vinyl. Um.
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 44:09
Well, what's that in your hand?
Margot Marceau (Paula) 44:10
Oh, my... just some sketches I did. I guess they're not very good. I was just trying to capture the feeling of that something, you know that thing that you almost see, and then you don't see it. I don't think that makes any sense.
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 44:27
Oh, to the contrary.
Ross Bryant 44:28
He holds out his hand and is almost like helping you into the taxi the way, like a turn of the century footman would while holding your little-
Paula Deming 44:36
And I think, yeah, I'm being like, I'm kind of in the taxi before I even realize that I'm allowing him to lead me in,
Ross Bryant 44:44
It's like,
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 44:44
Yes, you show great promise.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 44:47
Oh, wow, really? Thank you.
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 44:52
I have to say, this is all too new.
Ross Bryant 44:55
You can hear like a little pop as something falls into your folder of papers.
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 45:00
I hope you do continue on this journey and know that there are patrons that could assist you, if you make the right connections.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 45:08
Yes!
Man with Van Dyke Beard (Ross) 45:09
Connections are everything in this line of work.
Ross Bryant 45:11
He whistles again and shuts the door.
Margot Marceau (Paula) 45:13
Wow!
Paula Deming 45:16
It's thoughts racing through my mind. No one has ever been this nice to me on the street of New York. And, wow, he really liked my stuff. And I think he got me and what is in my folder? And I look and I see,
Ross Bryant 45:27
Of course, the invitation.
Cab Driver (Ross) 45:30
Hey, lady, where are we going? We gonna sit there all day?
Ross Bryant 45:32
Says the driver.
Paula Deming 45:34
And I give him the destination.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 45:36
The first guy in this story I have liked. [laughter] The first guy in this story that I have had a positive reaction to.
Cab Driver (Ross) 45:44
Lady! This guy over here hails me. You hop in and nobody tells me nothing. Where are we going, lady? Uptown, downtown?
Margot Marceau (Paula) 45:51
Oh, yes, uptown, to the vinyl store. But not records, it's material.
Paula Deming 45:57
I give him the address.
Cab Driver (Ross) 45:58
To the vinyl store. Good gravy. You gotta be more specific. I know a place!
Ross Bryant 46:02
He pulls out. [laughter] We're in the back of an art gallery. Splatter paintings on the walls, swirls of neon-colored paint, non-figurative designs, Allen Clay, you see a collector walk through the door.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 46:27
I observe him waiting to see if he approaches any of the pieces with interest.
Ross Bryant 46:35
He's kind of looking at a floor-to-ceiling painting that is all white, except for five blue lines that just run through its center.
Allen Clay (Brennan) 46:48
I see you're admiring #13.
Art Collector (Ross) 46:55
Yes, it is a beautiful thing.
Allen Clay (Brennan) 47:00
It's a completely unique shade of blue. Never been created before.
Art Collector (Ross) 47:05
Oh. Novelty is half the battle with artwork, I suppose. That's the sort of novelty that um, freedom and free enterprise can afford one. Don't you agree?
Ross Bryant 47:18
He looks at you very hard.
Allen Clay (Brennan) 47:22
In addition to speaking to the character of the human spirit, art's greatest achievement, in some ways, is its ability to appreciate in value. Free enterprise being what we're after here. My name is Allen Clay. I'm the proprietor of this gallery.
Curtis Crockett (Ross) 47:42
My name is Curtis Crockett. I was wondering if we might have a little conference back in your office. If I can impose upon your time, Mr. Clay?
Allen Clay (Brennan) 47:52
I'd be more than happy to meet with you. Mr. Crockett, right this way. Would you like a cigarette?
Curtis Crockett (Ross) 47:58
Why, certainly. Nothing better than a fine Virginia leaf to get the day off to a good start.
Allen Clay (Brennan) 48:03
Oh, sure. Like to keep it nice and mellow. I only eat one meal a day.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 48:08
And I walk into my office with him.
Curtis Crockett (Ross) 48:12
Well, let's just swell. Swell. I myself had my boiled egg already today. [laughter]
Brennan Lee Mulligan 48:18
All I want to do is walk into our office and have us both turn to each other and go [alien space-hugging-sucking face noise] , like weird fucking [laughter]
Ross Bryant 48:25
The nictitating membranes of our eyes open and shut.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 48:29
God, I hate communism. Let me lick your eyes! [laughter]
Ross Bryant 48:36
[gnawing noise] All of that happens. Of course, you reveal your lizard faces to each other. And no, no, no, he sits down and rests a little case next to him, on the chair, all very sleek, eames chairs, modular design and all.
Curtis Crockett (Ross) 48:52
I wonder if you don't get out into the field much anymore, Mr. Clay. Seeking new acquisitions, I mean.
Allen Clay (Brennan) 49:02
Well, I find these days I'm connected enough that the field comes to me, but I'm always looking for a new, hot thing.
Curtis Crockett (Ross) 49:11
Wonderful. Well, maybe I can put you on to an exclusive, Mr. Clay. As someone who's well known in the artistic markets, I think it would be best if you made the connection to the individual that I am eager to collect with.
Ross Bryant 49:30
He opens up the case, and you can see that there are photographs in the case. Kind of moves one aside, and it seems to be like a woman getting into a car. And then there's another of the same woman, kind of coming out of a what looks like a brownstone. And then he lifts out a little ticket.
Curtis Crockett (Ross) 49:51
Yes. Very, very hard to come by. We don't know where this Miss Wilde originally came from, but she does definitely have artistic connections in Eastern Europe.
Allen Clay (Brennan) 50:08
You don't say? Well, I would love to make her acquaintance. I try to keep tapped into the entire scene out here. Gets harder and harder these days with all the comings and goings, but a pretty little thing like Miss Wilde escaping my attention seems rather unusual. How long ago did she make her way to this glorious metropolis of ours?
Curtis Crockett (Ross) 50:31
Seems she's very good at escaping attention. She kept quite a manor, it seems, in East Berlin for a time. Apparently, also had some connections on the rather avant garde dance scene, as well. Into the plastic and performance and corporeal arts, as lovely as they are, I find that they are not as remunerative in the realm of free enterprise, as collectors like you and I tend to admire.
Allen Clay (Brennan) 51:06
Unfortunately, those works of art which are ephemeral do leave something to be desired in terms of the acquisition of assets.
Curtis Crockett (Ross) 51:16
Well, let's see if this is an asset worth our acquisition, Mr. Clay. Do we understand each other?
Allen Clay (Brennan) 51:22
Perfectly. I'm going to kill this woman. [laughter]
Brennan Lee Mulligan 51:29
Sorry, red light, red light, red light.
Ross Bryant 51:31
Easy, easy, easy.
Allen Clay (Brennan) 51:34
I think we understand each other perfectly well.
Ross Bryant 51:37
You get the sense that you believe that he's informing you that this Ivy Wilde may or may not be an asset of the Soviets.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 51:43
Yes,
Ross Bryant 51:44
And this means that one: that this may be an asset we wish to acquire. Could this be someone that we could turn and make an agent of our own, or if they're engaging in active measures, perhaps what you said in jest is more to the point.
Allen Clay (Brennan) 52:03
You know, it's always a big risk anytime someone comes over and sees the quality of life. Blue jeans and cheeseburgers have done more recruiting for our cause than any agent could ever hope to. I wonder if Miss Wilde couldn't be persuaded to open up a new line of credit and perhaps take on some additional employers. After all, this is nothing if not the land of opportunity.
Curtis Crockett (Ross) 52:29
Well, do your best to extend an opportunity. Since it seems you've had such good luck with so many other artists, perhaps you can add one more to your roster. And if she doesn't find the seductions of the cheeseburger and the Frankfurter beguiling, then I think we both know there are other ways. The art market is very dog eat dog. Here, today, gone tomorrow, Mr. Clay. What's that your friend Warhol says? "Everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame"? You just go and find out whether hers have struck.
Allen Clay (Brennan) 53:14
Let's see if this carriage is about to turn back into a pumpkin.
Brennan Lee Mulligan 53:20
I'm gonna leave and be like,
Allen Clay (Brennan) 53:21
I actually am pretty hungry. I talked a lot about cheeseburgers and hot dogs. [laughter] I might get a hot dog on my way. Pumpkin, mmm, pumpkin pie. What time of year is it? [laughter]
Ross Bryant 53:33
Yes, you walked up. “Oh, delicious pumpkin patch,” and we see Clay eating a delicious hamburger, and-
Brennan Lee Mulligan 53:39
Got my hands around a big raw pumpkin taking big old chomps out of it, going, I love America! [laughter]
Ross Bryant 53:46
[singing "America The Beautiful"] Oh, beautiful for spacious skies [chomping noise]
Brennan Lee Mulligan 53:50
Bleeding from my gums as hard pumpkin shell goes into my mouth [laughter]
Ross Bryant 53:55
Pumpkin goo falling down under your gray flannel suit. Great. And it is with that perhaps we now bring ourselves back up to the present, where you all have revealed that you all have tickets to the after party. And as things are wrapping up here at Bruno Banks's little happening, it may be time to go across town, deeper into downtown, to the Butterfly Factory and meet your estimable host, Miss Ivy Wilde.
Outro Music 54:50
["Only the Strange One Knows" - Aaron Kelley, Dante M Dufilho, Skinny Williams]