Self-Made Man, Self-Made Anger: Biker Fox in Biker Fox

A A A Comments (3) By Vadim Rizov Wednesday, Sep 8 2010

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Biker Fox
Directed by Jeremy Lamberton
September 10 through 16
ReRun Gastropub Theater

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Self-made dealer of vintage auto parts, biking crank, health nut, and all-round angry dude: If you didn't know otherwise, Biker Fox (given name: Frank P. DeLarzelere III) would seem like he'd come straight from a "Tim and Eric" sketch. But he's real, and—aside from an opening-credits sequence blue-screened to '80s music-video hell, complete with a tacky zoom into Fox's spandex-clad crotch—this is no condescending comedy. Instead, director Jeremy Lamberton takes an unflinching look at a small-town guy who thinks of himself as an inspirational speaker, but whose overwhelming rage and weirdness (used as an aggressive weapon) are deeply frightening. Much of the film is comprised of Biker Fox just being Biker Fox: screaming at random, hectoring prospective customers, feeding wild raccoons no matter how many times he's bitten, etc. The footage is mostly raw, though the few clearly staged HD bits are flawlessly framed. The energy is in Lamberton's unwavering engagement with the question of what it means to be a genuine outsider in a place as inhospitable to weirdos as Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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Reesycup20 09/26/2011 6:30:00 PM

Actually, I believe Rizov point of view is true about Tulsa, OK. I too am an outsider. I am educated black woman from the Northeast with very eclectic taste and a passion for cultural enrichment. However, even with such high tolerance levels, I still have acquired no true acceptance on most levels. I have been living in Tulsa for nine years, giving the area a fair chance. The truth about Tulsa is that it is a struggling want-to-be big city with a small town mentality, the Village (as you put it). You proclaimed your last statement smuggly. However, to me it showed the true mentality of most Tulsans...the dislike or indifference to anyone different from the Okie culture. I can surely empathsize with Biker Fox on that level and believe that Rizov hit the nail on the head. Rather than getting angry about the dirty laundry being aired, maybe you should do something to change the prospective some people have about Oklahoma.
JF Hetherington 10/10/2010 2:07:00 AM

Mr Lamberton's dismissal of Tulsa,OK as a town with little tolerance for weirdos probably plays well in places like "The Village" where stereotypes of Tulsa are nodded to in condescending agreement by those who consider themselves beset with impossibly tolerant and uber-intelligent gifts from on-high. The truth is Biker Fox has enjoyed many years of public oddness and showmanship on the streets of Tulsa. Most just nod and wave with a smile. Those of us in the cycling community usually meet his outbursts with a smile and a wave. He's an odd character but one that reminds me of the "greeter" that stood on the streets of Laguna Beach, CA for so many years. An odd character you either laugh at or with but who is somehow missed when he disappears from the scene. Try spending a little more time in the real Tulsa, Jeremy. I know BF's self-imposed clown act gets more traction when portrayed as a sentence of social isolation by slope-headed, knuckle dragging, gap-toothed hicks, but it's not. Most Tulsan's tolerate the guy and even cheer him on. Every time I read an article where someone hopping to make points with an eastern elitist audience describes "Okies" with a condescending chuckle or wag of the imaginary head, I'm reminded of when I lived in NYC several years ago. I was in a conversation with a lifelong New Yorker who, at one point in the conversation, looked at me seriously and asked, "Are there still indians in teepees there on the reservations?" I laughed, "And to think, I answered, you guys actually consider yourselves the smartest people in America!"
JF Hetherington 10/10/2010 2:07:00 AM

Mr Lamberton's dismissal of Tulsa,OK as a town with little tolerance for weirdos probably plays well in places like "The Village" where stereotypes of Tulsa are nodded to in condescending agreement by those who consider themselves beset with impossibly tolerant and uber-intelligent gifts from on-high. The truth is Biker Fox has enjoyed many years of public oddness and showmanship on the streets of Tulsa. Most just nod and wave with a smile. Those of us in the cycling community usually meet his outbursts with a smile and a wave. He's an odd character but one that reminds me of the "greeter" that stood on the streets of Laguna Beach, CA for so many years. An odd character you either laugh at or with but who is somehow missed when he disappears from the scene. Try spending a little more time in the real Tulsa, Jeremy. I know BF's self-imposed clown act gets more traction when portrayed as a sentence of social isolation by slope-headed, knuckle dragging, gap-toothed hicks, but it's not. Most Tulsan's tolerate the guy and even cheer him on. Every time I read an article where someone hopping to make points with an eastern elitist audience describes "Okies" with a condescending chuckle or wag of the imaginary head, I'm reminded of when I lived in NYC several years ago. I was in a conversation with a lifelong New Yorker who, at one point in the conversation, looked at me seriously and asked, "Are there still indians in teepees there on the reservations?" I laughed, "And to think, I answered, you guys actually consider yourselves the smartest people in America!"