Joe Frank: Off the Radio

“I’ve heard people say they’re not afraid of death but I never believe them — I don’t even believe religious people aren’t afraid of death,” he adds. “When a pope dies, people grieve. If they believed what they claim to believe, they would be celebrating the fact that the pope has gone to heaven. And the pope doesn’t want to die, either.”

One of Frank’s other major themes is romantic love, and it’s a subject he paints with a disillusioned brush. Is romantic love always destined to be disappointing? “Yes,” he replies, “because it’s based on unreality. When you fall in love with somebody, you don’t see the whole picture; then, as time goes on, deeper truths are revealed.”

Issa Sharp

Joe Frank

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More About

• Joe S. Frank
• Ruth Seymour
• Northampton
• Hofstra University
• Radio

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The subject is at the core of Just an Ordinary Man, which could be described as a study of loneliness and romantic obsession. “The central character in the piece has created a fantasy about a woman he doesn’t know, but he’s created a fantasy about himself as well,” Frank explains.

“I think we all create a fictional version of ourselves, too,” he concludes. “I know this is bizarre, but when I look in the mirror, I see this handsome man looking back at me. But if I see a snapshot of myself that somebody took at a party, I see a pallid, grossly unattractive old man. It’s like when you walk down the street and catch a glimpse of yourself reflected in a store window and think, ‘God, who is that?’ A different version of ourselves exists in our minds and our imaginations — and who’s to say which self is the real one?”

Joe Frank will perform Just an Ordinary Man at 8:30 p.m. on October 1 and 8 at Largo at the Coronet, 366 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets are $30. (310) 855-0350 or largo-la.com.