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OK, Good evening, everybody. If I can ask, please, that'd be great. Thank you. Grab a seat. Sit down, make yourselves nice and comfortable. And look, honestly, when we suggested doing this, it was, as we all know, Johnny passed away very, very quickly. And, um, it was a shock to all of us. And just by looking around tonight, I think it's really restores your faith in human nature that all you people have turned up tonight. It's truly fantastic. It just goes to show the way that Johnny touched us each and every way each and and, you know, like [00:00:30] all of us individually, she touched us in some way. And when we went to Johnny's funeral as we know, it was a very limited funeral. It was very, very small. And after the service, Bill said to me, It be really nice if you guys could do something down in the bar for Johnny, for the Met, the people that couldn't make it to, um the funeral. And so it's good to have you all here. Welcome. And thank you for taking the time for being here. We had the idea of doing this and not knowing how many people were gonna turn up? So we're gonna We've put on a few little nibbles as we go through the night. We want to keep this really relaxed, Really informal. [00:01:00] Um, it's more of a remembrance service than a memorial service because we've got a bit of fun and a bit of a And, um, if you've got anything to say, it's an open mic. Get up and talk about some times that you spent with Johnny, OK? And and remember the fabulous person that she was and that fabulous, gorgeous trademark red with hers and, um, dynamic, dynamic person. Um, I've known Johnny for years and years myself and purely. We were working through the hospitality industry and going way back to the bamboo bar days when Peter and Johnny used to come and and they were regulars clock work in the bamboo [00:01:30] bar and II. I can honestly say I've never heard Johnny say a bad word about that Anybody She just had the most amazing prison personality and and dynamic absolute dynamic. We're gonna get some food going very, very shortly. And just before we start through the magic of of a blast from the past. Um, Gareth has kind bought in a little bit of a CD for us to play, and it's actually Johnny telling a couple of anecdotes, so we're gonna play that now. So if you'd like to listen to that, and then we're gonna throw the floor open, and I'm just to get you going with a few stories that you may remember. [00:02:00] I remember working with Johnny on numerous occasions at the old Dorian Club when it was in the Wall Street Village and down in Lampton Quay. And every time we were doing a fundraiser, Johnny and Frankie would come along and they'd throw on their gowns and always do fabulous buddy shows. Um, the devotion parade was absolutely fantastic. And I got to drive around in a little bit, um, Roadster convertible MG Roadster convertible with Johnny looking absolutely repent in this beautiful big lime green dress with this big red wig and all these little white puppies fluffy puppies in the car as well. It was absolutely [00:02:30] gorgeous. And that was it. That the little fun things that I remember about Johnny and sharing the times with her and doing shows and and just loving sort of person she was. But OK, so what we're gonna do right now is switch on the sound, so please just relax and listen to it. And then we're gonna throw the floor open for you guys to get up and say something. OK, so think why you're doing this. Why are you listening to this? Think about what you would like to say. OK, Cheers. Well, my pets. Yes, I I'm rather crazy. They're they're not really my pets. They're my Children. Um, they they're Maltese Maltese dogs. [00:03:00] Absolutely divine. I would take them on the floats when I was doing the devotion parades in Wellington. Um, they always looked glamorous. They always sat in well with a white fox fur because they looked the same as but they were alive, you see? Yes, that they're rather wonderful, but, um uh, very, very gay looking dogs. They are. Yeah. It seems as though as they pass on [00:03:30] to their reward in heaven, I seem to be blessed or whatever you like to call it with more that arrive. I think the word has got around that people who can't cope with them anymore, they know that there is somebody who can and I seem to collect them. Yeah, Another thing, which was rather I mean, I think this was quite funny. My partner and I were This is quite some years ago. We were walking down, um, Wakefield Street and [00:04:00] on a Saturday afternoon and there was quite a lot of cars, and they they they stopped at the lights and one of them pulled the window down and yelled out, Oh, look at the que you know. Well, II, I just thought I always thought this type of thing was quite funny when it happened. So we just walked on and everybody in that car, including the driver, had turned around and the ones behind, too. And all of a sudden, there was this own mighty God Almighty crash and they smashed into each other [00:04:30] because they were looking. And I have never moved so quickly. I. I don't want to have been a witness to this bit. What a hell of a distinctive voice, I can tell you. You know, it's a bit hearing that right now. Actually, Um, look, anybody. Bill, would you like to get the ball rolling? If you got anything you'd like to say, I think you'd be the perfect person to start the ball rolling here. And then after Bill's finished, please feel Just get up relaxed and tell the stories that you remember about Johnny Or any time you've worked with anybody [00:05:00] left from the AIDS Foundation Bill to you. Where to start? Um, I suppose I I've known Johnny for over 30 years, but there'll be people who have known him a lot lot longer. Um, and he was together with pet, you know, for 52 years. That's an awful long time. Um, a a And, um, they met. They met when Johnny had his first job, [00:05:30] uh, in the, uh, window dressing in the D IC. And and? And Peter was working for, um, one of the pubs, and he had to do the banking, and he'd be walking past the D IC, uh, take taking the money to the to the bank. And they saw each other through the window when Johnny was 17 years old. Uh, together, right to the end. I think it's pretty amazing. Um, and and, um [00:06:00] uh, they bought that house in Coromandel Street, like, four years later. And they were in a right through, uh, with those bloody terriers. And and And there were eight of them at one stage. And II, I remember the first time that, uh, Johnny invited Jerome and me into that that house. [00:06:30] And it was It was really quite an amazing house. Um, with uh, these sort of velvet opera curtains and, uh, and decorations and a special room for the pianola. And another special room for the sewing and the and the and the and the costumes. It's amazing. A lot of costumes. No. And, uh, yeah, other memories. Me memories of Johnny [00:07:00] as the Christmas Fairy, Uh, at the, uh, at the Victorian club Christmas party and the other presidents, Uh, and, uh, memories of him. They live to himself in the the devotion parade, uh, as the as sort of the Empress of Wellington And that fun that laughter, and they completely unserious frivolity so that if you didn't know him a little better, [00:07:30] you'd think that he was just a bit of fluff. And then there's the other side where he spent hour after hour after hour looking after people who are dying of AIDS, shopping for them, caring for them doing their house being a dedicated carer. So he was someone who was [00:08:00] fun and sparkle and guts and and life. He never sought to be a role model. I think he never sought to be an ambassador for us, but he was so conspicuous that he was inevitably an ambassador for us. And it's a bloody good one. Not stay. Yeah, [00:08:30] yeah, yeah, Johnny, I remember him or her so well doing homosexual law reform. I was running around like Cat. I met Johnny and Johnny said to me, I'm not political at all and I said, Hold on. I think you have done far more for the community than I've ever done. And yeah, I've just been Johnny for so long. Great. And I still remember Sister [00:09:00] Paul, Paula Brett Kelly. You all probably know how. She said she would love to borrow some of Johnny's gowns because they were magnificent. And I don't know how many of you went to our 130th birthday party at the boat. She the party. But there was Johnny, and Johnny was magnificent, and we got photos at home with that beautiful wig on. So anyway, great memories of Johnny and we miss you. [00:09:30] Hi, everyone. I've got some like everybody here. I've got some great memories of Johnny as well. Um, looking at the beautiful photo of Johnny. I remember seeing him him come out at the Newtown Fair a few years ago with the wig and the makeup and the beautiful sequin dress and standing in full sunlight on the steps. And there was not a flaw in [00:10:00] the makeup. And I thought, Now that's a work of art. And I think Johnny lived his life as an absolutely wonderful work of art because I think to stand in full sunlight with makeup and not have a line of blemish was amazing. And Johnny once said to me, He gets a lot of invitations to go out and be in drag, but he said, Oh, my dear people don't know the work. They don't know how long [00:10:30] it takes and how hard it can be. And so that's one memory of of Johnny. I'd like to reiterate what Mal said that I never heard Johnny say a bad word about anyone, and I think part of the the strength that Johnny had was that despite people yelling at him from cars or abusing him in the streets. You know, we've got the courage it took him to live. His life was really something. [00:11:00] And I think the amazing thing to me was that he never got bitter. He never got hard. He never got malicious. He was living his life, um, so that it was magical for him And for those of us lucky enough to be around it, I remember seeing him perform once where, um, one. The first act came out and stomped around to We love rock and roll, and part of the act was giving the finger to the audience. [00:11:30] And then Johnny came out in the beautiful sequin dress and the wig and the makeup and sang When you wish upon a star, you couldn't have got two more disparate acts, and I thought, That's how Johnny is living his life. It's It's it's Disney and it's wishing upon a star and it's magic. And it's about being kind. [00:12:00] And as Bill said, you can't dismiss Johnny as a bit of fluff because the strength of character to live his life. And, you know, I'd like to pay tribute to his work at the AIDS Foundation, too. The amount of time and care that he spent with people on the last part of their journey. People were very fortunate to have Johnny with [00:12:30] them at that. At that stage, Um, the only time that Johnny threw me once I it still made me doubt myself quite a lot. We were at, um, a big function. And there was a magnificent portrait of Queen Mary who died in 1953. And Johnny and I would often talk about movie stars and royalty and all those fun things. And Johnny looked at this portrait and said, Oh, now she was a real queen. Said he looked at me and said, Do you remember Mary? [00:13:00] No, I didn't, Johnny, But, um, like you, he was a treasure, and we'll miss him. Uh, it's really interesting to hear the words kindness and fun come out because for me, they will be a couple of examples that I'd like to share with you tonight that reflect that very much. Um, for years and years, my elderly mother always came to the Queer Fair in Newtown, and she loved going, And, um, one year [00:13:30] we were there and there was Johnny and his beautiful red wig, and I think it was a lime green dress and she saw him and she said, Oh, I'd love to have my photograph taken with him And I said, Oh, you know, he's not here for people to line up and have their photographs taken with him And you know, he's having a nice day at the fair and she kept on and said, Oh, but I would love to have that. So I went up to Johnny and I. I didn't really know him then and I said, You know, I explained to him and he just said, Bring her over here And he stood with her and we took [00:14:00] photographs and I mean, what is that? The kindness? And I think that was totally fantastic. The other thing that I remember and this is a story that I will definitely always treasure. This must be about 10 years ago and I was coming out of a new world at Shapers Park, and in those days I was not. I hadn't got to the point where I knew that I needed to wear these glasses most of the time and as I was coming out of the supermarket, I looked across the road and then I saw this woman on the other side of the road who was looking at me, and she was almost [00:14:30] waiting and she was smiling. And I thought, Oh, she who's that lovely young thing over there. And and so I I have thought, Well, she sort of looks like she might know me. And I sort of got most of the way across the road and realised it was Johnny. And when I got to the other side of the road, he said, Oh, I was looking across the road and I thought, Who is that handsome young man on the other side of the road? We just grabbed each other and we we we literally danced around on the footpath and just laughed and laughed. And I mean again, that's Johnny being fun. But it was [00:15:00] for me. It was also something really special about that kind of queer unity that there we were dancing around the street, laughing at a joke that only we knew and why it was particularly funny to us. And that was I'll always always remember that. Yeah, Johnny you are a very kind, very special person. And I would also agree that, uh, he wasn't a piece of fluff. He was a strong person as well, too. [00:15:30] Oh, just M. I'm sorry. What was that? Um, des talked to you about, um, Johnny and his association with the AIDS Foundation and of course, sister Brett Kelly, who worked there. Now, um, Sister Brett Kelly, uh, was called back to the mother house about once a year, much to her despair to celebrate Christmas with the other nuns. And what they had [00:16:00] done for a number of years was, um, the big thing that they did was to splurge out and have a fancy dress contest. Um, and Paula met Johnny at the AIDS Foundation, and they were about the same size. And you can guess the rest from there on. Paula always won because she would go and select a lovely outfit from Johnny's wardrobe. So, once again, that's Johnny's generosity. [00:16:30] Alright. Would anybody else like to say a few words at all? No. Nobody's got any more stories. I want to relate. No. Alright. What we'd like to do then just raise our glasses and I think to Johnny. Thank you for being the fabulous person you were, darling. Thank you. You'll never be forgotten. Now, relax. Chill. Enjoy yourselves. Thank you for [00:17:00] your idea. And it was like And then we spoke to a couple of other people and they think, what a nice idea. Because, as we know, Johnny went quick, and there wasn't very many people that could get to the funeral. And, um, it's just really nice to be able to do something like this, actually, for Johnny, Um, I remember serving in the bamboo bars was a stunning person. Absolutely stunning. Always there when you need it. Always gave you demanded any money. Always worked for nothing, the sort of person she was. And she did so much of the AIDS Foundation as well, Always out there collecting, raising money, fundraising, You know, if we had a dozen more people like that. So to Johnny, [00:17:30] thanks for being here today. Very much appreciate it. I see. Yeah.
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