Glad to See You A-Go-Go

by Skylaire Alfvegren

After a decade operating out of a 600-square-foot storefront on Vermont Avenue, Mondo Video was "exorcised from Los Feliz Village" late Sunday night.

Rarely had a single city block been so polarized by a business, much less a video store. A video store that plays to particular fringe elements, yes—forget simplistic demarcations like comedy and drama. Mondo’s specialized sections include "Doomsday Cinema," "Delinquency, Booze and Dope" and "Spiritual Themes" (which includes Robert Duval’s The Apostle and Jud Suss). No less than three anti-Mondo petitions were circulated by local civic and residential organizations, although none would return phone calls.

It’s not Mondo’s merchandise--20,000 videos, mostly demented, amputee porn to lost episodes of The Twilight Zone and every possible cult film—that’s had the neighbors’ panties in a collective bunch. The cut-out penises glued to the cash register, the blow-up doll violated by GG Allin, the general bad taste of the mangy storefront didn’t quite jibe with the trendoid boutiques and upscale restaurants drawn to the neighborhood in recent years.

According to owner Rob Schaffner, Los Feliz was but a collection of "free clinics, prostitutes and homeless people living in alleys" when he decided to relocate from San Pedro in 1992.

The particular stretch of Vermont embodied the early to mid-90s zeitgeist; Amok Books relocated from little Hyperion circa the ’92 riots. Beck got his start at the open mic nights at the Onyx Café. "The people who lived here were real, poor artists, not trust fund artists," says Schaffner. It was a time when a minimalist, highbrow bong shop would’ve been laughed off the block. "It was an atmosphere that was inspiring, not perspiring."

The gang’s mission to "destroy every American holiday" by holding their own, including 4th of July transvestite Bar-B-Ques and greasepaint-coated re-enactments of the Easter story had neighboring businesses claiming Mondo’s activities have grown unbearably grotesque. "I grew up in Amsterdam. I mean, I’ve seen everything," says Lynn of neighboring hair salon Purple Circle, who’ve been on the block six years and initially tolerated Mondo’s antics. "They’ve just gotten completely out of hand in the last couple of years."

But who can fault the Mondo Family for having a sense of humor? Billy the Worm, who in the days proceeding Mondo’s departure, took to running naked up and down Vermont. Or Jimmy Beck, who caused hipster magician David Blane to explode after walking through their sidewalk card trick shoot and proclaiming, "The queen of diamonds, that’s the card they used in ‘The Manchurian Candidate.’" Blane’s crew were so insensed at having to reshoot they beat up some of the Mondo multitudes. Litigation is still pending.

1 | 2