REALM OF THE UNREAL

Travis and Kyle began their collaboration with Realm of the Unreal, part of the 2002 Queer@HERE festival at HERE Arts Center. Realm introduced Bogie the Faggot, rock star detective (played by Travis), one of the favorite characters of the TFE ouvre. Bogie was accompanied by the chain-smoking, piano-playing prodigy P-Man (played by Kyle). Set in an existential universe plagued by surreal crimes and populated by largely gay characters, Realm began Bogie's never-ending quest to find the perfect gay-noir love. The principal plot line involved a villian named Jimmy Zhivago who kidnapped children and harvested their dreams into a drug known as Z, which caused one's skin to glow.

Photo from the Village Voice

With influences as diverse as Henry Darger, Dennis Cooper, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Raymond Chandler, Realm was a strange ride indeed. It introduced the classic TFE tunes "Emily the Moon" and "Bogie the Faggot." Charles McNulty of the Village Voice praised the "definite promise" of Kyle and Travis' "willfully sloppy" developing aesthetic.