Unaccessorized - extra credit please

Rich Kiamco
...The show was great.
I don't normally laugh at comedians, but I laughed at this guy. I didn't expect anything that he had to say. Pretty much he turned his life story into a short comedic piece. He made fun of himself and his family, but in a way where the audience could appreciate what he had been through. He spoke about himself as one of the stereotypical "overachieving asians." He was the guy in high school who made perfect grades, was the president of all the clubs, and knew everybody. [side note: I really liked his glittery silver pants...and he says that he designs all of his clothes.]

Something that I've always wondered about homosexuality is when someone actually learns that they are gay. Rich said that he idolized the Sears repairman as a young child. That most kids would play with toys and such, but all Rich wanted was to be the Sears man. He wanted to wear that tool belt. Similar characteristics that made Rich stand out as a child was his hometech class assignment. The assignment was to make a wooden piece of furniture. This guy made an entire kitchen with sparkling diamonds. Wow.

Later on Rich had the talk with his parents. You know the talk where a kid has to tell their parents something that he knows his parents will not accept. For Rich this was the talk to tell his parents that he was gay. His parents reaction was not the best, but better than some. They were not angry, they were not accepting, but they did suggest to search for a cure. I suppose they had more of a confused reaction than anything else. It made me wonder, if I was in their shoes how would I react. I would like to think that I would be totally accepting, but you never know. In general I accept homosexuality no problem. I am a very liberal person and acceptance comes easily so I'd like to think that I would be able to accept my own child being gay.

He then talked about how it soon became the cool thing at school to be "hip with Rich's diversity." Oh yea. If you were a cool person you accepted Rich as 'gay.' But then there were other people who thought differently.

In 1985 he was a guest speaker on the first televised show on homosexuality broadcasted by ABC. This not only made it public to his schoolmates that he was gay, but also brought about hatred towards him. One weekend when his parents were away some kids attacked his house damaging the windows and scaring Rich out of bed. (aww! so mean grrr).

Of course to seek..and obtain his dreams he moves to NYC as an independent. He goes to college on scholarship, and uses his parents money to help finance his dreams. In NYC he talked about how everything was a photoshoot. His life was going alright, but as time went on he wanted to get into a more serious relationship. As a result he set up one of those accounts online where you put up a picture in hopes that someone will come across it, and a date will ensue. Almost immediately a guy responded to his post by sending him a bouquet of flowers, and asking him to fly across the country to visit him. - what a bizarre concept. I would have never given up my life somewhere to fly across the country to get into a relationship with someone that I've never met before. What a crazy and scary idea. Or would I...if I was desperate enough. I don't know - To make a long story short they went on a honeymoon in Thailand that cost around $10,000, but soon after Rich found out that his man had another man. (oh no, heartbreak)

After that I got a little restless...I can't sit still for long and I don't really remember how the show ended. Of course Rich's life has not ended so the story has not ended either. I'm not srue that he was ever totally successful, but I really hope that he's happy with touring and performing. It was a good show, and it definitely got me thinking.