Hear ye! Hear ye! All ye looking for merriment, adventure, men in codpieces, bodacious ladies, food fit for a queen (you know who you are) and general gaiety, the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire is the place for you.
But hurry: There are only four weeks left to indulge in this incredible feast for the senses. I went last weekend with friends and family and a good time was had by all. Now celebrating its 30th year, the Pa Ren Faire is like Disney for grownups with a dash of Halloween on the side. The fair is interactive, with costumed performers roaming along the shire’s streets, who utilize their improvisational skills to mingle with the guests, sing songs, beg or have spontaneous swordfights with one another. My nephew especially liked the drunken soldier who kept following us and singing songs about the wenches he’d conquered.
For more formal entertainment, there are 13 open-air stages with over 70 shows daily. The kids loved the sword swallowers, fire breathers, magicians, jugglers and daredevil tumblers, while the adults enjoyed the racy songs and double entendres that would make Mickey Mouse blush. There are a number of shows that are recommended for adults only!
The foodstuff is impressive as well, with an array of savory 16th-century foods. It was great fun to see kids trying to gnaw on giant turkey legs that were so big, Henry VIII would have had trouble finishing one. And of course there is plenty of wine and ale. The faire is located on the grounds of the Mt. Hope winery, so there are all sorts of libations for big people. It’s a little like New Orleans as people walk through the shire enjoying the music, drink in hand. The excitement and adventures of the day build up to the impressive and dramatic “Ultimate Joust,” in the largest joust arena in North America.
For those of you who are more Anthropologie than amphitheater, there’s plenty of shopping to be done, from Casta Diva designs with exquisite fashions to the Crown Jewels with upscale jewelry and gemstones. For the more earthy among us, there’s an herbalist complete with a medieval garden and a shop full of herbs, potions and handcrafted botanicals. If you’re just curious about how things are made, there are live demonstrations by glass blowers, two authentic blacksmiths (one of them who wielded his hammer shirtless, much to the delight of onlookers). For you butch types, there’s a shop called Leatherhead that does demonstrations in leatherworking, and for the less butch, there’s the Fairie Tailor. For those in the middle, there’s Forever Amber, run by life partners Joseph Bound and Tom Douthit. We took time to speak to “Amber Joe,” who broke out his favorite codpiece, “The Dragon Slayer,” for the interview.
PGN: Let’s start with work. What type of jewelry do you work with? JB: Mostly amber, though we have two other shops at the faire with a variety of jewelry, but throughout the year, we travel and sell amber jewelry.
PGN: Do you make the pieces? JB: With the amber, we do make many of the pieces. My partner, Tom, is doing a lot of the larger pieces right now. He’s self-taught and doing a beautiful job.
PGN: What’s so great about amber? JB: It’s the only stone out there that you can run a whole business on, other than diamonds. It’s a very warm stone and the colors go with almost anything.
PGN: Tell me something I don’t know about amber. JB: It comes in many colors. There’s red amber and green amber, yellow — actually, seven distinct colors.
PGN: Any purported healing properties? JB: They say it’s good for thyroid problems. It has a lot of magnetism: The word amber comes from a Greek word meaning electricity. If you rub amber with a soft cloth, it will become heavily charged with static electricity and will easily pick up small pieces of loose paper.
PGN: I read that ancient Scandinavians called amber the “gold of the North” and that ancient Greeks believed that amber’s source was the tears shed by the sisters of Phaeton, a boy who died while driving his father Helios’ chariot too close to the earth, scorching it and causing the desiccation of the Sahara. Where do you get the stones? JB: We go to Poland and other parts of Europe once a year to buy settings and stones. We’re members of the International Amber Association based in Gdansk, Poland, and have been certified by them to sell genuine Baltic amber. There are only a handful of people in the U.S. who are part of the association.
PGN: Do you enjoy traveling? JB: Oh yes, we’ve been to 42 countries in 12 years.
PGN: With all the travel, do you speak any other languages? JB: I don’t; Tom has picked up a few languages here and there.
PGN: What was a favorite adventure? JB: In January, we took a 32-day tour of Asia. Some friends from the faire, Lady and Lord Blue, made me a scarf before I left and asked me to send a picture of me wearing it on the Great Wall of China, so I did. I took a picture of me wearing the scarf — and nothing else: I was on the wall totally naked. It was memorable and, thankfully, I managed to do it without getting arrested!
PGN: What was a favorite souvenir? JB: We collect art and, while we were in Bangkok, we met a gay sculptor. We bought a couple of his pieces, which we have in the house and yard. I’m looking at one of his pieces right now. We call it “Horny” because it has a cow’s head with huge horns and a male body with a very large penis.
PGN: How long have you been at Ren Faire? JB: For 18 years.
PGN: What’s one of your favorite parts of the faire? JB: Probably the camaraderie between the vendors and with the staff. I’ve made a lot of good friends over the years from all walks of life. They don’t care who you are or what you do. I went through coming out, getting divorced and finding a partner and they were very supportive all the way. Tom’s been there with me for 12 years and we’re accepted as a couple by everyone. We’re like family there.
PGN: What’s the craziest incident you’ve seen there? JB: Years ago, on the last night of the faire, the male actors would take off their clothes and streak in their underwear or totally nude from one end of the grounds to the other. They don’t do it anymore, but it was fun while it lasted!
PGN: Where are you originally from? JB: I was born in Levittown but grew up in Richboro. I’m the third of four boys.
PGN: That must have been a crazy household. JB: For my mother it was. That was back in the day when most of the mothers were stay-at-home moms. My father had a jewelry business. I started out working with him, so I’ve been doing it pretty much all my life.
PGN: Tell me a little about yourself. JB: I got married when I was 21 and have a daughter who is 23. She has a daughter too, so that makes my partner Grandpa Tom and me Uncle Joe because I refuse to be old enough to be a grandfather!
PGN: When did you come out? JB: Well, I got divorced about 12 years ago, after I met Tom. I told my father about it, and the first thing he wanted to do was send me to a priest. I told him that I’d been but the priest was naked, so it didn’t help. He refused to have anything to do with Tom for the first couple of years, but he eventually came around and we actually all vacation together now. My mother was just scared at first. She wanted me to be happy, but was very concerned because she associated homosexuality with AIDS and didn’t want me to get sick. I think a lot of mothers have that fear. She’s way beyond that now. In fact, when she calls the house now, she asks for Tom more than me! They talk two or three times a day …
PGN: So you came out late. When did you have your first inklings that you were gay? JB: [Laughs.] When I was about 7! I also remember that in grade school when the boys were playing “show me yours, I’ll show you mine,” I think I was definitely more interested in seeing theirs than they were in seeing mine. I knew early, but I thought I could suppress it by getting married.
PGN: How did you meet Tom? JB: I was doing a jewelry show up at State College. I had a business transaction I was doing at one of the bars and he was in there visiting a friend. It was literally love at first sight. I came out to my best friend at the time the next day and told her I was in love. It was the first time I told anyone that I was gay.
PGN: Something great about him. JB: He’s a wonderful cook. He’s actually a former chef so he knows what he’s doing in the kitchen and other parts of the house, if you know what I mean. He’s the perfect guy. We don’t fight; disagree at times like any couple, but we never fight. We’re committed to each other and we run three businesses together, so we’re together 24/7 and we never get tired of each other. It’s fantastic.
PGN: What’s a favorite fall activity? JB: [Laughs.] As many pleasures as possible with Tom.
PGN: No wonder you two are so happy! Who’s a historical figure you admire? JB: Well, that would have to be Queen Elizabeth, since I know her personally. She lives right here in the shire, so I get to see her every weekend!
PGN: Since you sell gift items, what’s the best gift you’ve ever given? JB: I took Tom to see his first Broadway show. I bought him tickets to see “Phantom of the Opera.”
PGN: Do you keep a diary? JB: [Laughs.] No, I’d be afraid someone would find it.
PGN: Any crafty stuff other than the jewelry? JB: I do a lot of woodwork. I make our signs for the faire and stuff like that. We use a dragonfly with a rainbow on it as our symbol and I have a wooden sign that I made with our logo over the shop. We also always have a rainbow flag of some kind flying at each of our shops or booths.
PGN: Do you do your own jewelry designs or are they commissioned? JB: Both.
PGN: What’s a favorite piece? JB: Tom’s been doing some really interesting pieces lately. Some really “wow” designs.
PGN: Do you wear a costume? JB: I do. It’s like Halloween every day. I have some great hats I get to wear and some fun codpieces!
PGN: If you had to compete in a sporting event, which would you choose? JB: We went to the Gay Games in Sydney in 2002 and everyone kept asking us what event we were in and if we were runners, swimmers, etc. We told everyone we were jock supporters.
PGN: Favorite meal? JB: Anything Tom makes, but I especially love his soups.
PGN: What’s your ancestry? JB: Polish. My family in Poland is also in the amber business.
PGN: Ever been in a car accident? JB: When I was a kid I had a head-on collision with a car. I was riding a moped and I actually hit the car. Luckily, I got out of it with just a few scratches!
PGN: Have you ever been gay-bashed or discriminated against? JB: Verbally, yes. We were just in Chicago on Michigan Avenue and there was a panhandler asking us for money. He looked like he was more than able-bodied, so we walked past him without giving him any money and he shouted the gay “f” word, faggot, which I don’t even like to repeat. And it was like, “You know, there was a reason we felt we didn’t want to give you money.” That’s about it though, an occasional comment. We’re very lucky, we’ve never really had any problems. We’ve been pretty much accepted everywhere.
PGN: If you could imagine yourself as an animal, what would it be? JB: I don’t know. Maybe a horse: They’re hard working and dependable.
PGN: What music would I find on your iPod? JB: A lot of Sarah Brightman, Josh Groban, maybe a few showtunes. We’re not really into technical gadgets: We don’t have a TV and I love it.
PGN: Who’s the most famous person you’ve met? JB: I sort of accidentally went to a celebrity roast for Clint Eastwood. I was on vacation in California and I had a very large camera that I was carrying. They must have thought I was a photographer and let me into the pressroom for the event. It was neat. I met Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart, Ava Gabor, Merv Griffin. Florence Henderson was there and I called her Mrs. Brady all night and I went up to Jimmy Stewart and told him how much I liked “On Golden Pond,” and he graciously told me that he liked it too and thought that Henry Fonda did a great job.
PGN: Do you believe in angels, heaven or hell? JB: Yes, yes and yes.
PGN: Favorite cartoons as a kid? JB: “Speed Racer.” I think that’s a gay male staple.
PGN: Describe yourself in three words. JB: The Purple Prince.
For more information, go to www.parenfaire.com.
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