Oh Great, Now What?
Artists Paul Velick and Francis Shishim joined forces in 1975 to create the personae of "Bob & Bob." As Bob & Bob they engaged in performances such as the following:
Text from Source book of California performance art.
I'm surprised the restaurants only threw them out. I figured an expensive restaurant would report you to the police, at the very least.
A piece called Oh great, now what? consisted of eating lavish meals at expensive restaurants in Beverly Hills, then "discovering" they were broke, saying "Oh great, now what?" and being thrown out.
Text from Source book of California performance art.
I'm surprised the restaurants only threw them out. I figured an expensive restaurant would report you to the police, at the very least.
image source: BobandBob.net
Comments
Check out their next performance piece named "Washing dishes in a swanky restaurant".
Posted by Yudith on 03/30/23 at 11:52 AM
Most upscale places didn't report such things because having a cop interviewing the maître d and/or waiter kind of spoiled the ambiance for the other diners. Also, defrauding an innkeeper isn't, in most places, a "take them away in handcuffs" type of crime. To cap it off, if the were charged, they had a right to a jury trial. That would mean several of your staff having to spend half a day in court, way more expensive than a meal or two.
Doing dishes to pay for a meal mostly went out of style because of liability and labor law concerns. One "a friend of a friend of a friend did it" story was someone crushing poison ivy leaves, putting them into a little bottle, eating a meal, getting sent to wash dishes, and when no one was watching, pouring the juice on their hands. The reaction would be very fast. They'd claim it must be the soap/bleach/disinfectant, and the owner would pay them off to keep them from suing.
Doing dishes to pay for a meal mostly went out of style because of liability and labor law concerns. One "a friend of a friend of a friend did it" story was someone crushing poison ivy leaves, putting them into a little bottle, eating a meal, getting sent to wash dishes, and when no one was watching, pouring the juice on their hands. The reaction would be very fast. They'd claim it must be the soap/bleach/disinfectant, and the owner would pay them off to keep them from suing.
Posted by Phideaux on 03/30/23 at 05:33 PM
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Category: Restaurants | Performance Art | 1970s