Holy 1960s Batman, Batman! is currently playing Saturdays at 8pm. Every show features a guest villain, and the fourth guest is Tom Booker, founder of the Institution Theater, friend to celebrities, and owner of a talking dog. So let’s talk to Tom!
Roy: Tom, in my experience you’re a pretty lovable guy. Do you have what it takes to be a villain? And what Batman villain do you identify with the most?
Tom: I think that I will be a pretty good villain onstage. In real life though, I think that I would be a lousy villain because it’s important to me that EVERYONE like me. So if I were a villain in real life I would probably say things like, “I’m going to steal everything that you own, if that’s okay with you.”
I’m not sure if I identify completely with any of the Batman villains. But I think that I have something in common with many of the villains that were on the TV show. Mainly the quiet, misunderstood ones that women don’t find attractive. My favorite villain was Egghead because I’m a huge Vincent Price fan. He’s amazing! Watch Vincent Price in a film called “Theater Of Blood”. You’ll become a fan, too.
Roy: As far as portraying villains, didn’t you once play Charles Manson in a musical put on by The Annoyance? Or was that a fever dream?
Tom: Not only did I play Charles Manson in “MANSON: The Musical!”, I co-created and co-directed the show with Laura Hall. (Laura also wrote the music.) I was really into serial killers at the time. I even wrote a letter to John Wayne Gacey. He quickly wrote me back but I decided not to continue the relationship.
I also played a villain in another one of the early shows presented by The Annoyance Theater. I played the part of Balloon Boy in a show called “Your Butt.” Balloon Boy would show up in this dive bar at the same time everyday and beat the crap out of all of the regulars. Balloon Boy became demented after a bus that he was driving went over the side of a bridge and all of the innocent little school children riding on the bus drowned. The only thing that rose to the surface of the water were the balloons that the children had brought onto the bus.
Roy: You’d think that the regulars would stop going to the bar at that time after the first few beatings. Also, I actually recently played a character called “Billy the Balloon Boy” in The Violet Underbelly. But I didn’t beat anyone up. I just got shot and killed.
It’s funny, because in the 1960s Batman, no one ever gets shot and killed. Or even beat up that badly. Most of the villains’ big crimes amount to annoying/mystifying pranks. You strike me as someone who has pulled a prank in his time. What’s the biggest/best prank you’ve been a part of? Bonus points if it involves a celebrity.
Tom: In Los Angeles, if you work in the Universal Studios Building, you have access to a blind spot in the fence surrounding the Universal Studios Theme Park. One day, a bunch of my friends met up with an employee of Universal Studios who drove us in a golf cart to the blind spot in the fence. All of us then climbed the eight foot fence to sneak into the Universal Studios Theme Park even though we all had plenty of money to buy tickets. Especially the most famous member of our trespassing posse, Tom Morello, the guitar player from “Rage Against The Machine.”
Roy: Always the rebel. Thanks for the insight into your darker side, Tom! Buy your tickets to Holy 1960s Batman, Batman! right now. There are still a few shows left, but they’re going fast!