While many Americans have been socially isolating at home, they're also consuming media at a massive rate, many of them binge-watching "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness" on Netflix. Even if you haven't, you've certainly seen memes and posts about it. In case you haven't checked it out, the series centers on the private Oklahoma zoo of Joe Exotic, his beef with a big cat sanctuary in Florida and features a bizarre cast of characters who worked with him -- as well as his eventual jail sentence in a murder-for-hire plot.
For local musician Nick Morris, the series served as an inspiration to create some content of his own. Enter Nick Exotic: The Chicken King of Ocean Beach. Morris is in local bands like the Screamin' Yeehaws and Nick Bone & the Big Scene, but you he might be most well known for his stint at the Ocean Beach location of Hodad's, where he's worked for 15 years. All the Hodad's locations are closed due to the current pandemic, so Morris has been making short videos for YouTube featuring his three backyard hens and his dog -- who makes cameos in an alligator costume -- as well as the occasional off-camera interaction with wife, Brandy, who doubles as director and videographer.
“[She] is turning into damn Scorsese over here ... picking out outfits, making animal costumes.... She's making me nuts,” Morris joked via text.
In the "Chicken King," Nick Exotic dons a mullet wig and outlandish clothing, while speaking, and sometimes singing, endearingly to and about his chickens, while also occasionally warning them with the catchphrase, “I will shoot yer ass!” The first episode of the "Chicken King," which was posted March 27, has more than 43,000 YouTube streams. Sadly, there has been rather a precipitous dropoff in streams of the subsequent four episodes, all hovering around 2 minutes long.
The response has been so strong, though, that Morris is selling shirts so "fans" can support Nick Exotic during this “cornteen.” He hasn't sold a lot of them yet, but hopes it will pick up as he adds more episodes.
“If I weren't outta work I would not give two s***s, ya know?” Morris texted, adding that his wife continues to work but her daycare is down to just one child.
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For his part, Morris remains upbeat.
“Millions are in much worse condition," Morris texted. "We gonna be aight!.... In the end, if I made some folks laugh, then that will suffice."
You can place an order for a Nick Exotic shirt here
The brand-new SoundDiego Podcast hits different -- guests featured in this music-focused-but-not-music-obsessed series include Slightly Stoopid's Miles Doughty, CC from Little Hurricane, IB Mayor Serge Dedina and Sonny Sandoval from P.O.D., among others -- listen up wherever you get your podcasts.
