Dancing Outlaw II: Jesco Goes to Hollywood

The second glimpse of the character Jesco does not deliver like the first. In DO2, Jesco travels to California. Funny that in California, his behavior doesn't seem as eccentric compared to that of some southern California's residents'. Jesco's "big city" experience and tattoo removal does not make for a very interesting documentary. Seeing Jesco on his own terms and his own turf surrounded by family and friends who know and love him is much more interesting than this attempt to make him a "fish out of water".

Dancing Outlaw II: Jesco Goes to Hollywood opens with our title character, infamous Boone County, West Virginia tap-dancer Jesco White, tapping his way down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with numerous passersby looking on with perplexing curiosity as our hero then bows with his hand square on Elvis Presley's star. The shot is whimsical and projects a nice feeling of seriousness in the documentary's source material, and it shows the confidence and the lax behavior of White himself. I can barely walk down the street without fearing someone is judging me in some way. I could never imagine dancing down the Walk of Fame.

This is the sequel to the documentary, Dancing Outlaw, which premiered in 1991 on PBS. This is a twenty-eight minute long-endeavor, yet it feels under-stayed as we still find White being an enormous enigma just as much as he was at the beginning by the time we reach the final frame. He told us in the first documentary that the next time we'd see him he would be larger than life, and as the title spells out for us, Jesco is leaving behind his roots in Boone County for a trip to Hollywood to guest star on Roseanne and meet Roseanne Bar (at the time "Roseanne Arnold") and Tom Arnold. This is Jesco's biggest break and it's undoubtedly one of the happiest times we've seen in this man's life, considering the up-and-down nature of his emotions in the first documentary.

News reports tells us that Jesco has become something of a cult phenomenon in West Virginia, and is known to make several public appearances for pizza and a six-pack of Coke. He does it for his fans, and they wave goodbye, some with tears in their eyes, as they see him board the plane for Hollywood. When he arrives, before shooting his scenes for Roseanne, he tells us he desperately wants to give Hollywood some of that "Boone County rhythm," which explains why he feels the need to dance in public so often.

What is the most surprising about this short is not only how kind and genial Jesco becomes around even celebrities like Roseanne Barr, Tom Arnold, and John Goodman, but how comfortable and seemingly excited about everyday life since his last documentary. He doesn't take anything for granted, and makes very clear that he believes in treating everyone the same, despite noticeable differences. "You think there's a lot of nuts in Boone County, but you go to Los Angeles, you got the whole nut city." The adventures we have with the known dancer himself are fun to watch and easy to get into, and the interactions with the cast of Roseanne are warm and filled with positivity. By the end, we are benefited from learning about two different cultures and seeing what occurs when they clash unexpectedly, and our main character learns just exactly what a swastika is and who exactly Adolf Hitler was. In the end, both parties come out fulfilled.

Starring: Jesco White, Roseanne Barr, Tom Arnold, and John Goodman. Directed by: Jacob Young.

I'm a West Virginia hillbilly who came to Hollywood 25 years ago, but I still got that ol' mountaineer spirit in me, so naturally I loved the two Jesco White short films, "Dancing Outlaw" and "Jesco Goes to Hollywood." Jesco is generally treated like some white trash savant, but in fact he's not all that unusual if you go up into the hollers of southern West Virginia. Jesco doesn't live too far from Hasil Adkins in Von (near Madison, WV), who was similarly "discovered" about 20 years ago when the Cramps recorded one of the crazy songs he recorded in his bedroom back in late '59 or early '60s. Picture a guy singing about cutting off his girlfriend's head and putting it on the wall, so that she "cain't eat no more hot dogs." That's Hasil Adkins, and he's just as much an unpredictable and volatile backwoods character as ol' Jesco. As for Jesco having "LOVE" tattooed on the fingers of one hand and "HATE" tattooed on the fingers of the other, well, that's a West Virginia prison tradition. Check out a 1953 novel by Davis Grubb (or see the film) called "Night of the Hunter," in which the antagonist, a jackleg West Virginia preacher who kills people (Robert Mitchum in the 1954 movie) has those words tattooed on his fingers so that he can use his hands to demonstrate the eternal battle between God and Satan. What is this review all about? Simply that Dancing Outlaw I & II are freak shows that allow us sophisticated folks to see and smirk at true hillbilly culture in all its glory, and it ain't purty. But it's sure entertaining. Jesco could teach us a thing or two about keeping it real.

This follow-up to "Dancing Outlaw" feels far more unnatural than the original, but it's just as fascinating. The short documentary follows West Virginia dance whiz Jesco to Hollywood, where he's booked to perform on the TV show "Roseanne."

Most of the scenes depicting Jesco in his native Boone County are blatantly staged. This seems a bit tacky at first considering that the strength of the first "Dancing Outlaw" was the fact it approached Jesco on his own terms.

But the 'sanitized' depiction of Jesco ends abruptly once Jesco arrives on the sets of "Roseanne." Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold had been charmed by the first documentary and thought Jesco would be perfect for a 'white trash/hick' show segment. At the time the episode filmed, her relationship with Tom Arnold was disintegrating. The venom exchanged between Roseanne and Tom on the sets is often excruciating to watch.

Roseanne, already in a heated spat with Arnold, flies into a rage when she sees Jesco's prison-styled swastika tattoo. The couple takes public swipes at each other, now using Jesco as a scapegoat for what were obviously pre-existing problems. Oddly, the only person who carries himself with dignity is Jesco.

In the end, Hollywood can adore The Dancing Outlaw as a cult hero from afar, but they can't accept Jesco on his own terms -- which was the whole point of the first documentary. In a land of glitter and not gold, Jesco is just too real even for those who embrace controversy.

I was introduced to this unique film a couple of weeks ago by a family friend. I have to say I was less than thrilled to be getting ready to watch the short films Dancing Outlaw and Dancing Outlaw 2, but once I began watching them I was laughing until the end of 2.

Sure the obvious dynamic between the two films is that in the first one Jesco is in his zone, his territory and in the second film he is surrounded by a different culture which makes it more interesting but other than that it was definitely fascinating to watch to say the least.

Any film that really has no story line, no plot, no real direction and is completely banking on the fact that Jesco himself is interesting enough to carry an entire movie says something when it becomes this popular.

I am not saying it needs to be nominated for an Academy Award or anything, just acknowledging that for it's category which is a cheaply made and completely "real" it far outweighs the competition! Go Jesco :)