I started a blog and then moved the blog on to DA when I first joined up called THE LAST REMNANTS OF COPS, ROBBERS & HOLLYWOOD COWBOYS.   I got great feedback from the DA Community and I started to adapt the short stories into monologue form for the stage.

Cops Robbers and CowboysTHE LAST REMNANTS OF COPS, ROBBERS & HOLLYWOOD COWBOYS
(INTRODUCTION)
By Tom Cavanaugh

"Going on Safari" is what I use to call it in New York. I would put on my Walkman and venture into the concrete canyons of Manhattan. I'd look for a target. Sit down next to them and turn off the Walkman. Keeping my headphones on I'd listen to their conversations, their arguments, their insight into the world and learn about things I knew nothing about. Sometimes, if I was lucky they would talk to me and tell me their stories. Amazing, scary and heartbreaking they'd be, but more importantly they were real!

Los Angeles is different. You can't "Go on Safa

THE LAST REMNANTS OF COPS, ROBBERS & HOLLYWOOD COWBOYS is a collection of short stories based on the people that I've met living in Los Angeles.  The cast of characters are amazing and range from a Hollywood Stuntman to an High Priced Escort to a Retired Police Captain to an Out of Work Actor.  The piece is different because not only are the stories true, but the people they are based upon are my friends, all still living, except for one.  As most of you know, most of the time we don't write about the living, but I personally find the living way more interesting than the dead.  I always tell people "Being dead is easy… you never hear anyone complaining about it!  LIVING IS HARD!"  I really believe that and well…. Listening to my friends… and their amazing stories proved it… and well; now we will see if this theory holds up!

Cops, Robbers, Cowboys prt 1The Last Remnants of Cops, Robbers and Hollywood Cowboys

Part 1

SUNSHINE
By Tom Cavanaugh

Did you ever wonder what life was like on L.A. Skid Row? I always did from my home in NJ thanks to the writing of Bukowski and the first time I saw it... SKID ROW L.A. shocked the hell out of me. More people on the street than you could imagine just walking around like zombies. People living in tents set up on the sidewalks... NYC was NEVER like this!!!

So for three years now I have been writing this beautiful girl on myspace. She's got modeling and club pics like almost any myspace girl. Her pictures range from every day shots to intense modeling s

My theory being is that some of the greatest stories are sitting right next to you on the subway, movie theatres or are walking next to you down the street.  I believe you don't have to go further than your neighbor to find truly great stories.  I have a friend that is a producer / director and he is always leaving the country to find a story and film it.  I never understand why!  I think he just uses it as a reason to take a "working vacation", but… well…. I'm not built for that!  I want my vacations for vacationing and I want my work when I'm not on vacation!!!

Cops Robbers and Cowboys Prt6The Last Remnants of Cops, Robbers and Hollywood Cowboys in L.A. (Prt 6)
by TOM CAVANAUGH

I HAVE THIS FRIEND...

I have a friend, a girl i met at Kinkos 4 years ago who is a rocker and well... it went like this....

I would go to her gigs and take her out and have the best time, but she would never let me pay for anything. I thought this was BEYOND strange, but didn't have an inlking of why. I took her to the Basquiat exhibit when it was downtown and then lunch.... she paid. We went to lunch another day... she paid. We went somewhere else... she paid. I didn't understand why. Then her and her band were playing The Whiskey. She needed help f

I also don't want to be so ignorant that I miss the great stories that are right under my nose!  I mean… I know it's very "en vogue" to do pieces based on Africa, the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan, but I've never been there and know nothing about them!  I only know what is around me and right now what is around me is the Hollywood Crowd and their stories range from STARSTRUCK to HEARTBREAKING and… well… isn't that what storytelling and the drama of story is all about?
If you ask me…  ABSOLUTELY!!!!

Cops Robbers and Cowboys Prt 7The Last Remnants of Cops, Robbers and Hollywood Cowboys
by Tom Cavanaugh

CAPTAIN BOB and REAL WAR STORIES

I was in this Weight Loss Boot Camp for a year. It was the best thing I ever did and got me in the best shape of my life. I was being trained by Captain Bob. He is a Retired L.A.P.D Captain and in Police circles that can be "royalty" or even "celebrity" like. I didn't know the guy from the start, no prior contact, he was just my trainer, but as we would workout he would do what Cops do... tell "WAR STORIES"!

Now, for those of you who don't know, I've been working in Police Stations for over 15 years now... I'm a 9-1-1 Operator and Po

The other great thing about this collection of stories is that we're going to do them as monologues!  I have cast six actors, one being me/the narrator and the other five will tell stories of the characters… basically all the actors are me, but at the same time… they aren't!  Monologues on stage (On film is a totally different thing) are all about the actors interpretation.  It is truly a refined art form of storytelling because it is literally the actor taking the writers word directly into their body, translate through their mind and then deliver the message as they perceive it RIGHT BACK TO THE AUDIENCE!
I've lucked out and have six amazing actors on board, two of which just came off the film, A PLACE IN THE PINES with Brad Cooper and Ryan Gosling.   Four of them I have known for 15 years and one I've known for over 20, but that's the way show business works… it's all based on relationships!  You really have to work in this biz and get to know people you can trust!

Cops Robbers and Cowboys Prt8The Last Remnants of Cops, Robbers and Hollywood Cowboys in L.A.(Prt8)
By Tom Cavanaugh

STUNTMAN

I thought this would happen more once I moved here, but it doesn't happen as much as I like. I was having coffee at the little doughnut shop across the street from my house and I try VERY VERY hard not to talk to anyone there, not because I don't want to, but because I want to be able to anonymously and not talk to the whack jobs that are there every morning. You know who I mean, the conspiracy theory, sports guy that works as a bagger in the supermarket, the "old valley" people that complain how crowded it is here and how it use to be a better

So let me tell you how this all came about and the long distance way I'm putting it together.  I submitted sample of my work to an open call that The Theatre for the New City posted on line.  I got an email from the producer of what they call their SCRATCH NIGHT FESTIVAL.  A lot of theatres will do this now.  They have open space and time in their schedule and they open it up to self-contained productions that can use the theatre.

Cops Robbers and Cowboys Prt10The Last Remnants of Cops, Robbers and Hollywood Cowboys in L.A.(Prt 10)
By Tom Cavanaugh

JOEY "CHEESESTEAKS"

There's this thing that goes on in L.A. that I will never understand.  I know it happens all over the U.S. now, but the first time I saw it was in Los Angeles.  People throw their own birthday dinners in restaurants.  They invite fifteen to twenty of their closest friends to dinner; everyone pays for their own dinner, except the host!  The host who invited them all there in the first place, expects everyone else to pay for his dinner.  I still to this day do not understand this ritual.  I come from a place that if you invite a pers

I mailed in the material and they invited us to put up the show.  I cut the piece down to 22 pages and called the people I wanted to work with.  Next I will rent studio time in NYC and rehearse one hour each with each actor, one on one.  Then the day before the show, I'll put it all together with lights and music at the beginning and the end of the piece.  Then night of the show, we will run through it once and then the show at 7pm that night.
What happens after that?  Well… if the theatre reps like the show and they already like the material, they will ask us to participate in a larger summer theatre festival.  Should that happen and they like that show, well then they may ask to include the show in their season with a full production.  So you can say that, I'm doing this all for the possibility of a full production, but think of it this way… they do 20 new play productions a year, if I pull this off and they like what they see, I will have established a relationship and I can show them new plays on completion and they will be get serious consideration for full production, but the truth of it all, I love making this production work and casting friends to be on stage saying my words and showing their talent!  I love this!

Cops Robbers and Cowboys Prt9A follow up to Part 1, SUNSHINE from The Last Remnants of Cops, Robbers and Hollywood Cowboys in L.A. by Tom Cavanaugh

SUNSHINE is my nickname for her.  The Raver world knows her as KrEaturE.  Coincidentally, she was a model for several deviants as you can see below, but if you knew Sunny you knew how many lives she touched and how many lives touched her… it's an endless number.  Her real name is SUNNY RAE COON.

(GO TO MY JOURNAL TO SEE HER PICS THAT PEOPLE MADE YEARS BEFORE HER DEATH HERE ON D.A.)

My first experience meeting Sunny face to face is in my collection of short stories, The Last Remnants of Cops, Robbers and Hollywood Cowb

It's all about relationships… never forget that!