Howard Marks – Black Box 3/5/10  Admission £8

By John Quinn

When I saw Howard Marks was playing the Cathedral Quarter Arts festival I immediately bought a ticket.  I was also immediately distracted by something, forgot to invite any friends and so attended on my own, I am not a pothead, but I do act like one sometimes.

Marks has been a hero of mine since my mid teens, when I was first introduced to the product he infamously sold, and, I stole his first book ‘Mr Nice’ from my sister’s bookshelf.   The book paints him as heroic, charismatic, intelligent, witty and a genuinely ‘nice’ guy.  A Robin Hood-esque figure, he travels the world selling and smuggling large quantities of dope, evading the law and seemingly having a great time.  How on earth could this be a crime?

Eventually caught and banged up in Terre Haute Penitentiary in Indiana for 7 years (originally sentenced to 25 years), Marks was released in the mid 90s and was approached to write his life story.  He has been touring this spoken word tour ever since, with various changes and updates

The Black Box is full as I walk in, stoners of all descriptions have left the safety of their bedrooms and living rooms to worship at the feet of their hero.  Ex-stoners stand in their shirts and nice jumpers sipping pints of Coors light.  A bunch of spides are huddled in the middle of the seated area, probably plotting to ambush and steal some poor stoner’s stash as he leaves.  I settle at the back with a pint of Guinness and await the arrival of the great man.

Marks, now 65 waddles to the stage like Ozzy Osbourne, he looks good but moves slow.  I can’t imagine this guy has moved fast in a very long time.  He says hello, pours himself a beer and plays a video from American television about who he is/was back in the 70s & 80s.  At this point we are reminded of how notorious this guy is, how big his smuggling operations were and the span of influence he had.  The footage also reveals the admiration and high regard the US authorities held for Marks, the gentleman, charismatic dope dealer, able to use his wit and intelligence to squeeze out of any situation.  When the video finishes we applaud his exploits.

The show continues with Marks recounting tales of how, whilst in prison he would go through phases of depression and sadness, regretting his past ‘crimes’ and promising never to touch dope again.  These thoughts were short lived, what he really wanted to do was get out, and get one over on the ‘bastards who put me in here’.  He talks about life after prison, about growing marijuana in Switzerland (where its legal to grow, but illegal to consume) and selling the product to the Italian government to prescribe legally.  He talks about visiting Jamaica,  Welsh influence throughout the world, and the merits of tobacco smoke for shaman throughout the ages.

After a brief break, presumably for a joint!  He returns, recounts a few more anecdotes and tales of his exploits, then shows us the trailer for his up and coming movie, it looks good I must admit, all sex drugs and rock and roll.

These spoken word tours are very popular now, Marks says his came about from not wanting to promote his book in bookshops, he wanted to go meet his people in the bars and clubs they hung out in, smoke with them and drink with them.  Marks has a good point, he stands on the stage like a preacher with people hanging off his every word, amongst his fans Marks has omnipotent air about him, this man can do or say no wrong.

Having said that though I think I have grown out of Marks, in fact I am sure I have.  In fact I think Marks has a problem, what he did before prison was exciting, thrilling and illegal, what he does now is not so much.  I bought a copy of his latest book and he signed it for me and we exchanged pleasantries, he does come across as a genuinely nice guy, but he has no danger anymore, he has genuinely turned into Mr Nice.

[Rating: 7/10]

The Official Website of Howard Marks, aka Mr. Nice

John & Howard, how lovely :]