FOF #526 - Heads or Tales: Jo-Jo Finds a Skull - 05.03.07
By Fausto Fernós on May 3, 2007 | Share & Save | Link | Print |
Our beloved Jo-Jo Baby, who works as a doll maker, club kid, artist, stylist and drag queen went onto eBay to look for mannequins. He found a guy who lives in his neighborhood who was selling three full-sized vintage African-American female mannequins. Jo-Jo just had to have them and made an appointment to view them.
Although Jo-Jo was expected, there was no one to greet him at the door upon his arrival so he entered into what was the kitchen. Upon the stove sat a large boiling pot. Always the curious sort, Jo-Jo spied into the cauldron and to his surprise he saw an actual human skull rolling about with flesh still on it! Yes, a human skull.
At that point, the owner of the mannequins came into the room and saw Jo-Jo looking nervous and tried to calm him down by saying “It’s okay, they are from Tibet.”
What would you do in this situation?
We would have run away, but Jo-Jo REALLY wanted those three mannequins, so he followed the man into his basement to retrieve the dummies. He is that committed to his art that he’d have risked his own head by following a man who has a head in a pot boiling on his stove to get what he needed to do what he does. Wow. When Divine shouted “Who wants to die for art?” in John Water’s film Female Trouble, Jo-Jo certainly would have been the first to jump up and be shot by the gun-wielding trampoline-bouncing drag queen.
Jo-Jo’s friend’s convinced him to go to the police and they could hardly believe his story. Yesterday, Jo-Jo spent the entire day talking to news reporters and camera crew from his studio in Wicker Park in Chicago to end his day, he talked to us.
Join us today as Marc Felion and me, Fausto Fernós travel to the Wicker Park neighborhood in Chicago to talk with Jo-Jo in his studio about this incredible story. His friends from the band Black Box Fever were over at the studio as well. Check them out and we might play their music real soon. We’re also counting down the days until Law and Order turns this story into one of their “shows ripped from the headlines.”
How will this affect his costumes? Will he sleep at night? Is Jo-Jo going to be all-right? Find out on today’s Feast of Fools podcast.
There’s no bones about it- it’s the Feast of Fools!
Click here for photos of Jo-Jo’s Wicker Park studio and his infamous mannequins.
Click here for the CBS Chicago news article and be sure to see the picture of his blurred out tshirt.
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Fausto Fernós (with Marc Felion): “Hey Jo-Jo Baby”
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Leslie Ann Levine says:
May 3, 2007 at 06:23I couldn’t believe the show notes when I read them as I downloaded the podcast this morning. I felt the story all the more eerie because I recently read an article on Jeffrey Dahmer. I’m glad Jojo is okay, no matter what happens to this guy. Have you guys seen NBC 5? Their website lists him as ‘drag queen Jojo Baby.’ *eye roll* By the way, Jojo–I love your puppets and dolls that were in the background of the interview! Oh, and the ‘Taste of Chicago’ shirt. Very stylish. XD
David-That Blue Jeans Guy-Byrd says:
May 3, 2007 at 08:28*A male doll maker/drag queen/stylist/club kid/all around cool guy.
*Shopping for mannequins on eBay.
*Human skulls boiling in a pot.
*Possible origin of either Tibet or China.
*”Taste of Chicago” t-shirt with an arrow pointing to the genitals.
I agree with Fausto that this story has “Law & Order” written all over it, but Jo-Jo MUST play his own part!
This show was an instant classic, and definitely on my list of memorable moments in the podcast’s history.
Brad says:
May 3, 2007 at 09:48Wow. I posted a link to this show on every article that was submitted to Digg.com, if any of the make it to the front page, this show could be the most downloaded show ever.
Yashira says:
May 3, 2007 at 10:01O_o…I’m glad Jo-Jo is okay just because this entire thing is just plain weird and not like funny wierd but just plain creepy weird…and by the way I love your altar Jo-Jo it’s beautiful….and I agree this has Law & Order written all over it O_o….
trullyandutterly says:
May 3, 2007 at 10:02OMG I heard about this and totally didnt make the connection. That was on CNN last night. Wow thats nutty. And they actually do sell them on ebay, gross. The link is below.
Corey in SF says:
May 3, 2007 at 10:07That is so freaky! I would have been afraid to go in his basement! Great show guys!
Mo says:
May 3, 2007 at 12:23Initially I had to listen to it twice to make sure that I heard correctly. I’m glad to hear that Jo-Jo is ok; I would still be freaked out too..
Juan Jaime says:
May 3, 2007 at 13:26ok, fist of all, the beginning song, is AMAZING!!!! so funny!!!
Jo-Jo! Why didn’t you run out of the house and called the police that second, that’s what I would’ve done.
Beside you went into his basement, you are fierce!
Why nothing this wierd happens to me?
That man is ofcourse into something shady, if you import bones from anywhere, they must be CLEAN, you cannot import/export human heads with flesh on them, that is obvious!
OMG! I love all that things Jo-Jo does, he’s a great artist!
Feast of Fools, the show so gay that makes your head boil!
Maia says:
May 3, 2007 at 13:41DAMN, Fausto, you can hit those high notes! You’ve been holding out on us! Falsetto for every opener from now on, pleeeeease…
What a bizzarro story. Poor Jo-Jo, to have to go through something like that. You never know what lengths you will have to go to in order to obtain great vintage mannequins. I was just downstairs in the mail room, and heard an update on the radio. They said that the skulls were not ill-gotten after all, because they were ordered over the internet. (And that makes it okay??) I don’t know if this is real news… it was WGCI or something like that.
I remember my grandfather had a human skull in his garage, and he wanted to give it to my dad, but my dad said no thanks. I have no idea where my grandpa got a skull, as this was before Al Gore invented the internet.
Anywho… Check’s in the mail, boys! Fifty dollars to support the cause. Keep fighting the good fight!
Mike J says:
May 3, 2007 at 18:55I can’t believe JoJo followed the guy into his basement after seeing that! Yes, he was hot, but Jeffrey Dahmer was kind of handsome too.. Scary. Glad to hear he’s okay..
I had a similar experience Marc. My best friend in elementary school was Egyptian, and I was over at his house playing when his mom was cooking dinner. When she left to answer the phone and he was outside, I peeked into the pot on the stove to see what was for dinner, and there was a brain inside! It scared the crap out of me.. Apparently cow’s brain is a delicacy.. Gross.. I’ll eat ass, but I drawn the line at brains.
Marc Felion says:
May 3, 2007 at 22:39I forgot to post this. It’s some of the alternative title we were
going to go with:
Ooh What’s that Smell?
What’s cookin?
Hey Ma’ What’s for Dinner?
Double Double Toil and Trouble
Heads, Wigs and the Angry David Lynch Movie Plot
Would You LIke Some Head With That?
Boil that Dustpeck! Wait It’s not a Dustspeck It’s a Human Head.
Head Soup for Your Damned Soul
Steaming Skull
Don’t Worry, the Head’s from Tibet
The Handsome Necromancer
How to Make Money from Head Soup
Recipe for Success
How to Get a Head in Show Business
Boy Does He Give Good Head
Don’t Mind the Head Boiling in the Pot, but Please Come Down into My Basement
Body World Exhibit in Your Own Home
Body Parts: Real and Fake
Would You Like Your Skull with or without Flesh?
Head or Tails?
James says:
May 3, 2007 at 23:59Wow, I had to listen to this episode several times to get it all to sink in. O_o I’m glad Jo-Jo is okay, and I hope the whole affair is resolved quickly so he can put it behind him and get back to life as usual(?). 
I am all wrapped up in Jo-Jo right now! I love the doll collection, esp. the dollfies. *lustcovet* And I hope that one day my altar will look even half as gorgeous as his. *sparkly eyes*
RcktMan says:
May 4, 2007 at 00:42Loved this one! Kudos to you for hopping right on that story, Fausto and Marc! And the song at the beginning was killer… er… hilarious!!!! We need to hear you sing more often, Fausto
Katers says:
May 4, 2007 at 04:22lmao the beginning was AWESOME. “…and it’s not a cupcake!” Who came up with that? Really?
StevenvanL. says:
May 4, 2007 at 10:11I’m with Fausto - JoJo, you should work on your survival instinct, sweetie! And I don’t understand how it would even be an option to NOT call the cops when finding a boiling head. How would you know he was not a serial killer off later that night to cheerfully bump off somebody else?
I’d say seeing a friend’s body after they die is always a double-edged sword - you don’t want that image in your head forever, but it does make the reality sink in a lot faster.
TRMite says:
May 4, 2007 at 21:23also one of my favorites. it was so very weird but extremely funny all at the same time. folks in Chicago, keep us posted on how “death investigation” ends up!
corey says:
May 5, 2007 at 22:31This incident sounded like something straight out of Silence of the Lambs. Freaked me out.
Fausto Fernós says:
May 5, 2007 at 22:57If Silence of the Lambs was a slapstick comedy. Oh wait, it is a slapstick comedy!
Ok, this incident is like Silence of the Lambs, but instead of Jo-die Foster, it’s Jo-Jo Baby.
Curtis says:
May 6, 2007 at 10:33On the show you wonder why he’s boiling the skull as it likely wouldn’t have arrived with flesh still on it. If his intention was to carve designs onto the skull, perhaps boiling it for extended periods softens the bone to make it easier to carve. I understand Jo Jo’s reluctance to report the guy, as there are many legitimate reasons for his having the skull, and as an artist Jo Jo would be sympathetic. (that said I wouldn’t have gone to the basement)
Human bones and skulls are super creepy and scary to Americans (kind of like sex), but in other parts of the world they have different attitudes about them. In many european cities you can go on tours of very popular tourist attractions filled with human bones stacked to the rafters, arranged into elaborate displays and decorative poses. These places are called Ossuaries, and they have been part of human history for centuries. Skulls have been used for art by many cultures.
Here’s a few pics of the Paris Catacombs http://curtisjensenbrand.com/PgPortfolio/Pg_Ossuary.html
There is nothing illegal about owning or selling human bones.
That sai
Matthew says:
May 9, 2007 at 18:28As someone who lives on the other side of the world I found this episode frustrating. I wanted to know more about what happened with the guy but it was as if you expected everyone to already know that. It would have been good to get that detail out of the way before focussing on Jo Jo. It wasn’t until the end when I discovered he had not been arrested, so far, by the police.
BrewCityBoozer says:
May 10, 2007 at 14:24As a person who lives in Milwaukee, and has drank at the same bar (recently closed 219), and viewed the rooms that Jeffery Dahmer took his victims. It’s quite an spooky experiance. I was unaware that you were able to order human remains from other countries and have them shipped in. I thought it was horrifying to find a complete human skeleton for sale in a Antique Store here in town. I wish I could fully understand the mildly morbid fascination with human remains that some people have. Art or not, America like it or not is a modern civilization, and human remians I don’t feel should still be used as ingredients in modern art. Personal opinion only, look forward to seeing what others have to say.
Marc Felion says:
May 13, 2007 at 16:12It wasn’t until the end when I discovered he had not been arrested, so far, by the police.
from Matthew
That builds suspense honey and makes you listen till the end.
Annie says:
May 15, 2007 at 03:09This is so crazy! What ever happened to this guy? Did they find out they were stolen…? Thanks for sharing your story with us Jo Jo!
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Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Fausto Fernós created the Feast of Fools in 1998 as wacky artists variety show in Chicago, Illinois.
Along with his partner Marc Felion, he hosts the world's most downloaded talk show for gay people on the internet, Feast of Fools.
Fausto loves pomegranates, waterfalls and 70s retro funk music.
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Saulo | October 12, 2008
Another mega show!!! Levi is a very talented artist and thank you FOF for bringing him and his music to us! Kisses!
TrickyToro | October 11, 2008
Levi’s openess about sexuality and his philosophy about love are incredibly refreshing. And, its very hot that he hangs out at the Faultline. It was a hoot...
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Stalk away Tomaz! Thank you so much for the lovely compliments.
Marc Felion | October 11, 2008
Folks, tell your mommas to vote for
Mike from Bolingbrook says:
May 3, 2007 at 05:09I haven’t listened to this show yet but, every morning I watch the news for the weather and some headlines while I download the feast of fools, And this morning I read the title of the show, Jo Jo finds a skull, didnt think much about it and then the headline comes onto the news, Local area man finds a skull in a sculptors apartment. AND THERE IS JO JO on the news, talking about the skull that he found. It was pretty neat.