Jonathan Tiersten’s energy is palpable. We are about two hours into a shoot, and I have what I think is a really great idea. I share it with Brad, my producer, designer, director extraordinaire. He too likes the idea. My hang-up is we have asked and Tiersten not only agreed to be in our web series, but we were poor and couldn’t pay him for his time. I don’t want to overstay, or more importantly make Jonathan work harder than we already were making him. Although this is a silly short, we are asking Jonathan to already do stunts, memorize lines, hit me in the face with a giant dildo (true story), I now have another idea. And as I think of that idea, another one pops in my head. Did I mention these ideas popped in my head AFTER Jonathan cooked us barbecue and kicked his family out of his house so we could use his beautiful home as a location for the shoot? I didn’t? Well, this story needs a lot of context.
In the fall of 2012, our podcast started to catch on. We had just had a successful time at Denver Comic-Con and we were asked to podcast from the Mile High Horror Film Festival at the Sie Film Center. We jumped at the opportunity. We were also very green and new to the whole “celebrity” interview process. We did not want to put film actors or directors on the spot but we also were hoping to have some appear on our show. I asked my fellow Nerds, “How do you think we should ask them?” We debated and debated, never moving from our seats.
At the festival there were several people I really wanted to talk to. Jeffery Reddick is the screenwriter and creator of the “Final Destination” series. I thought he would be really fun to talk to, most writers are great interviewees. The other Nerds were not familiar with “Sleepaway Camp”, the notorious slasher film from 1983. I was. I had the collector’s edition DVD set that was in a “survival kit”. I also remember renting it from the mom-and-pop video store when I was younger. My mom allowed me to rent rated R movies, and she created a weird horror movie fan for life. While most people (and rightfully so) remember Angela and the twist ending, I was also drawn to Ricky, the smart-ass cousin of Angela. Ricky was a red herring and a funny one to boot. I told the other Nerds that Jonathan Tiersten who played Ricky was here as well, and I really want to get him on the show.
I just did not have the courage to ask him.
As I was grappling with how to approach Jonathan, I looked up from whatever I was doing, and I saw him standing right in front of our booth. Jonathan smiled and said something that I can’t remember but I do remember it made me laugh. I am pretty sure he teased me after that and asked about my podcast. I told him and I told him that I knew him from “Sleepaway Camp”. I was sure he got that all the time, but he just smiled. Jonathan said, “Why aren’t you interviewing anyone?” I candidly told him that I wanted him on my show, but I did not want to take away from his fans and his booth. Jonathan again just smiled, but this smile was more of “come on, just ask”. I still just sat there and Jonathan sensing my hesitation said, “I can record on your show, how about right now?”
After a long interview, I realized just how cool and nice Jonathan was (He will tell you differently, don’t believe him). After our interview with him, Jonathan acted as facilitator for us. He introduced us to Jeffery Reddick and Director Dan Myrick. Jonathan single handedly helped us have a successful podcast at Mile High Horror.
Flashforward almost a year and we were deep in pre-production of our web series “Reel Nerds Podshow”. I had this idea, that needed be fleshed out by a real writer. An overarching theme of our series was me being an asshole and doing whatever necessary to be famous. I had this crazy idea of asking Jonathan to play an insane version of himself that invites me over to his house to eat me. James hammered out a funny script, and now it was time to pitch it to Jonathan. I can’t remember how I got his cell phone number, but he did give it to me. I called Jonathan and pitched the idea of it to him. I told him that we are basically doing this guerilla style and we have no money, just a desire to make something memorable and funny. Jonathan not only agreed without hesitation, but he also offered his real house as a location. I sent the script to Jonathan, and we set a date to film.
We arrived at Jonathan’s house, he cut his jeans to make them “Daisy Dukes” and made a Reel Nerds t-shirt into a mid-drift. Jonathan changed the dialogue slightly and made it funnier. I also picked up that he was an amazing improviser as we went off script multiple times, much to the chagrin of Brad who was trying to direct while edit in his mind.
As we moved to the basement of Jonathan’s house where I am being held captive and cooked, we were setting up the shot and like a lightning bolt it hit me, Jonathan is an amazing musician as well. What if he grabbed his guitar and sang a song about how he was going to eat me. Keep in mind this was not in the script, and I am asking him to come up with a song on the spot. I was not sure if he would do it, but I knew that it would play really well when it all came together. I also had an idea of Jonathan chasing us up the stairs, tripping and falling on a fork, killing him with it going through his chin. The tag scene would be Jonathan waking up, still alive. Again, not scripted but would require Jonathan to have a sharp object buried into his chin. And who the hell was I to ask him to do this?
I asked Jonathan if he would be willing to do the new ideas I had. Again, no hesitation, he said yes, and delivered a bone chilling song.
When we were set to premiere the short, I asked Jonathan if he would be willing to be a guest judge at a screening of short films in Denver. Jonathan again agreed. We had dinner. We laughed. We had fun.
In between our silly short and premiere, Jonathan became a friend. I saw him perform several times live. His music is brilliant. Although Jonathan was a great actor, I always felt that his true calling was his music. Watching him perform live is watching an artist totally in the moment. He loses himself and lets his lyrics take over. I will never forget at Starfest that he was shredding so hard his fingers bled. And like all of his performances, he lost his shirt at some point.
Although Jonathan moved to California to pursue his love of tennis and teaching others the love of sport, he remained in contact with me.
Imagine my surprise that he shared with me his cover of a favorite Rod Stewart/The Faces song, “Ooh La La” that he recorded for my birthday. I could never repay that kind gesture. It was amazing. It rivals his cover of “Wicked Game”. I don’t think he has officially uploaded “Ooh La La” to his page yet, so I will just keep it for myself for now.
I was over the moon recently when Jonathan said that he has started to pick up his guitar again and is looking to performing a handful of special gigs. If he happens to be playing in your neck of the woods get out there and see him. I am not sure the last time he performed live, but it is a treat and should not be missed.
Thanks Jonathan for being a great friend, even though you never really liked me. *
*This is a long running joke that we have. Jonathan is sweet and funny but he always tells me that he never really liked me, AFTER he pays me a compliment.