This is one of the songs that will be in my 2018 San Diego Fringe Festival show, “International Man of Mystery.” In fact, it features the title character.
I had the idea to write this over Thanksgiving when my college roommate came to visit. We were listening to music in my car and she cued up, “Taylor the Latte Boy“ on YouTube. When we looked at the suggested videos, there were several rebuttals where dudes sang from the point of view of this latte boy. That got me to thinking…what if someone made a rebuttal for my International Man of Mystery songs?
And then I thought…what if I beat them to it and make my own rebuttal? It will give me an excuse to dress in drag and be an asshole…
I watched this tutorial by King Faun to figure out the drag makeup. I also used this poem, No Ode to Uruguayan Men by Verónica Pamoukaghlian, to fill in some of the holes in my knowledge while writing the lyrics. Yes – the International Man of Mystery is from Uruguay. And on that note, I owe any Uruguayans who watch this video an apology, because I know the mate cup I am using is not accurate; I recognize that it’s more like the ones they use in Argentina. However, that was the best that I could do here in San Diego, California. If any Uruguayans want to trash talk me on social media or picket the opening of my show, I highly encourage that as it will generate a lot of publicity and may lead to more butts in seats.
Also, I recognize that not all Uruguayans are like this dude (I hate hashtags, but I can’t resist: #notalluruguayanmen). In fact, I can think of plenty of American dudes who are like this guy. After all, we have a confirmed sexual predator for a president, and we’ve never had a president quite as humble as Pepe Mujica, who is clearly one of the best dudes around. Unfortunately, there are dudes all over the world who behave like the International Man of Mystery…so make no mistake, I am not attributing his actions to his nationality.
I have two songs left to write for this show and two more songs to record. I still don’t know the exact dates of the performances, but there will be five performances total between June 21st and July 1st. You better believe I will post them on this website as soon as I know for sure. Keep checking back for updates!