MARDI GRAS COWBOY was described by the 1998 Adam Gay Video Directory as “a rip-roaring rip-off of Midnight Cowboy…this effort is almost laughable for its deep-fried Southern accents and acting that edges into self-parody. Jim Buck is the hustling hero who comes to Mardi Gras and ends up working men instead of women… he’s got a down-home charm many will find irresistible. And he’s definitely hot stuff in the sack.” Ultimately, the AGVD terms the flick “a noble misfire,” noting it has “far too much story and not enough sex.”

That complaint dogged Timo, Mr. Buck and Mr. West throughout their adult careers. There’s only so far the gay adult industry will allow anyone to push the envelope. Mr. West eventually learned how to tone down his audacious originality just enough to win awards and quiet his critics. Some reviewers (and fans) never quite clued in. But AVN, of all places, got the joke: “When Jim Buck serenades his pierced dick in the shower with ‘She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain,’ you know this is something exceptional… The softcore scene with him screwing a ‘woman’ while she plays with the dog and talks on the phone with her husband is one of the funniest in recent memory. Later, Timo enters the picture and the video takes a hot and humorous spin on Midnight Cowboy.”

TLA Video seemd almost taken aback with the tone of MARDI GRAS COWBOY, calling it a “surprisingly well-done parody… Simple stuff, but it’s certainly well-worth seeing.”

It was shot on location in New Orleans with a cast of unknowns, most of whom never made another film. You gotta give All Worlds Video honcho Rick Ford credit for rolling the dice on such an out-of-the-box proposition. It’s great that Channel 1 has picked this title for re-release from the vast AWV catalog.

Although Jim Buck has other flicks for AWV and Titan Media available, his strikingly original early work with Wash West is, remarkably, unavailable on DVD. This is especially odd given Mr. West’s mainstream-ish success, including winning at the Sundance Film Festival two years ago with Quincea√ɬ±era. 1997′s NAKED HIGHWAY (a 1997 GAYVN winner for Best Picture, Actor, Screenplay, among others) and 1996′s TOOLBOX and DR. JERKOFF AND MR. HARD were produced by BIG Video, which is long defunct and my efforts to track down the copyright owner of those titles have come up cold. Hey, Chi Chi! Want to acquire another company…?