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- [00:00]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Step into the world of power, loyalty and luck. I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse. With family, cannolis and spins mean everything. Now you want to get mixed up in the family business? Introducing the godfather@champacasino.com test your luck in the shadowy world of the Godfather slot. Someday I will call upon you to do a service for me. Play the Godfather now at champacasino. Com. Welcome to the family. No purchase necessary VGW Group void where prohibited by law 21/ terms and conditions apply. My brother called and said my mother was on her deathbed. So I flew back to New Jersey and luckily she was very unhappy in life. She just turned 89 and she just shut down. So there was no medical reason other than, I think I'm not happy here right now. And I think my mom just said, if this is what it's going to be, I'm out of here. So we all came home, she had six children and we started taking care of her and learned all the tips and tricks because we didn't know how long mom was going to be with us. I have a chapter in the book called A Silent Scream, so I think it was a cry for help. She wanted her kids back, if not her kids, at least some love in the house. Welcome to the True Fiction Project, a podcast series that explores the origins of fiction. Every week we begin with an interview nonfiction, followed by a creative piece, fiction inspired by something from the interview. The idea is to demonstrate, of course, that fiction is born out of our life experiences. Now, here's your host, storyteller, author, public speaker, health and wellness expert, Renita Hora.
- [01:39]
Renita Ahora
Welcome to the True Fiction Project. I am your host, Renita Ahora, and you know how much I love comedy. If you've been listening to this podcast, if you've read any of my work, I thrive on, you know, anything to that tickles the funny bones. So today I have another such guest who I am thrilled to interview. He is Mark Stephen Poirot. He is a New Jersey native, in fact, exit 163, that is very specific. But he doesn't live in New Jersey these days, so we'll ask him about that. But most importantly, he is an award winning writer, director, designer, and now an award winning author. So lots of jokes, several screenplays and an award winning short film. But we're here to talk about his new book, A Cup of Tea on the Commode. Hi, Mark. Welcome to the True Fiction Project.
- [02:36]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Bonjour. That's the hint. Thanks very much.
- [02:39]
Renita Ahora
That is definitely a hint to take the exit, meaning not exit 163. Is that right?
- [02:46]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Yeah, yeah. What exit would it be anyway? Yeah. So I live in a little village called Pezenas in southwest France, and it's in the largest wine growing region in the world, which is lovely. I joke. I tell people if you throw a grape, you hit a wine domain, and the wine's excellent, and it's actually cheaper than water here, which is scary if you can't control yourself. But they also say Moliere was born in this town. He wasn't actually born. The writer Jean Batiste, I think it's Pat Queen, was sponsored by Prince Conte to come down here, and he developed into Moliere here. He wrote Tartuffe and the Misanthrope here, and I think a few other of his big plays and became Moliere. So they say he was born here.
- [03:29]
Renita Ahora
So what you're trying to tell us is you move to this town because of Moliere and not because of the wine. Cheap wine. No, right.
- [03:36]
Mark Stephen Perrault
That's not true. The Moliere is the icing on the cake, but the cake is wine. Solid wine. Yeah, it's very cool. And my place is. They say it was built in 1540. There's a lot of stone, and the village is filled with cobblestone and a lot of architectural, political history and theater history, of course. And artists of all kinds are here. It's just a very cool, creative place.
- [04:01]
Renita Ahora
Yeah, I can see some of that stone and the wine behind you, and it looks incredible. I'm extremely jealous. I would much rather be there. Although San Francisco's pretty nice today. But you have done so much, Mark. I mean, I don't even know where to begin to ask you how you began or what. I mean, you're a writer, you're a director, you've done. Done some acting, you've been an entrepreneur. How did all of this come together, you know, as part of your storytelling journey?
- [04:31]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Well, I grew up in a very creative household. My mother was very much into the arts. We all got into. I mean, she was a painter. And also I went to Catholic school, and I was painting oil paintings in kindergarten. They were horrible. But we were working with oil back then, and it was just lovely. And then my mother got us all into the ballet, so we all started performing in the ballet. And I grew up in a suburb of New York City, so we were involved with some really nice productions. Actually. My start was in Lincoln center with the Royal Danish Ballet when I was around 7 years old. So it was a good start. And I got paid $5 a show and that beat some of my years in Hollywood. It was a good start, but I retired at around 11 from the ballet. It wasn't like shin splints or anything like that. I moved on to baseball and then I quit Baseball for Girls and, you know, we know where that ends.
- [05:20]
Renita Ahora
Yeah, so interesting. Ballet to baseball decided that's baseball for girls. Okay. What took you to Hollywood when considering your very early retirement from ballet?
- [05:32]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Well, I think that, you know, I still had the creative bug and my family was all pretty creative and both of my parents were very funny people and luckily they passed some of that on to us. So I went to Ohio State and got a degree in industrial design, which is a nice mix of. I loved math and science, but I also love the arts. And so this was a beautiful fusion of, of three of my loves. And so that fed my creative side. And then I think it was. I had a receptionist at one design for my work for and she was modeling. And then she said, oh, you should, you should try modeling. And I was like, all right, you know, so maybe for some extra money. So I actually started doing that and then I started getting cast in commercials. And then I started thinking about, you know, I liked performing as a kid, so maybe I should try this. So I had a connection out in Hollywood, an agent. And I also had a really good design portfolio. So I actually landed a design job. So I didn't start, you know, being a waiter or anything like that. I had a good design job waiting for me and I started studying acting. And yeah, It's, I mean, LA was great. I went, I moved out there in 84 and I wanted to be a good actor. I didn't want to be a flash in the pants. So I started studying from day one and continued studying almost the whole time I was there. And my goal was to get on a show like Hill Street Blues because that was one of the top shows at the time. And less than two years later, I got on Hill street blues as Assistant D.A. yeah, it was pretty cool.
- [06:56]
Renita Ahora
My goodness. So you assistant D.A.
- [06:58]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Just one episode.
- [07:00]
Renita Ahora
One episode.
- [07:01]
Mark Stephen Perrault
One episode. But it was a lovely introduction because you're working, you know, with big time actors and a high quality show. And so that was a lovely start and you get kind of spoiled. So after that I didn't work for like seven months. And that's the normal acting life. So.
- [07:18]
Renita Ahora
So what might we have seen you in?
- [07:20]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Well, the Hill Street Blues. In fact, my nephew just, I think About a year ago he saw a rerun of this thing, which is like 35 years later. And he, he shot a picture of it and sent it to me over here in France, which was very funny.
- [07:33]
Renita Ahora
What episode? We got to check this out.
- [07:34]
Mark Stephen Perrault
It was, it's a horrible name. It was Case of Clap. Not clap as in a disease, but a clap was the name of a, I think a guy that was on trial at the time.
- [07:43]
Renita Ahora
So I see.
- [07:44]
Mark Stephen Perrault
I did a lot of television, a bunch of shows they can look up on IMDb. But my biggest TV role, I was the drug lord on Walker Texas Ranger, I think their second to last season. And I don't want to ruin it, but I get killed at the end. And my sister, when she saw that, she said, I know it's acting, but my gosh, it's hard to watch your brother get shot on tv. That was lovely and Chuck was a lovely guy and his son directed that episode. But that same year, that was in 1999. That same year I also had a very small part, though it's been a wonderful financial success. I had a small part in Castaway with Tom Hanks directed by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg produced it. So you're working with these guys. And Spielberg was on set for a couple of the days I was there and it was lovely. And Tom Hanks is as lovely as everybody says he is. He's just a really good guy. But you're sitting at a chair like when I was getting you sitting in the makeup trailer. And I'm in a chair and I'm getting paid, you know, a few thousand dollars and you got Tom Hanks a chair away. It is making like 20 million. And it's just hard to put that into perspective because he's such a nice guy. If he was a jerk, it's ah, you're such a lucky guy. But he's I guess a lucky guy also. But he's just a sweetheart, a nice lucky guy.
- [09:00]
Renita Ahora
Well, you have an award winning short film of your own though. Tell us about that.
- [09:05]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Well, okay, so the entrepreneur thing was a big deal. So since you have a lot of time in between acting, I was, I had a pretty again, pretty strong creative side. So I started a bunch of companies. I said I've started 5 non profits but none of them were intended to be nonprofit. So during one of my nonprofits, it was a snack food company I started to honor my dad and he had a half pop popcorn he invented in 1963 that was just a secret family recipe for Years. And before he passed, I said, you know, we should really do something with this. So I started testing it in Hollywood and it became kind of my calling card. It was lovely and people went crazy over it. And then I started doing research and found out there was still nothing 40 years later on the market. So it was very. A very cool product. It was originally called Nutri Nuts is what my dad called, but there was no nuts in it. So we changed it to Grandpapo's Originals and we went nationwide with it. We were the snack a day on Rachel Ray and we were organic. So we got into all the health food stores, Whole Foods and Wild Oats at the time, but also in major chains like Safeway. It was a good run, but again, I was an actor and this thing was pretty much 24 7. But I wanted to get back into it. So I wrote this short film which was a parody on law and order. Law and Order, you know, had several of them, but one of them was svu and everybody called it suv and a friend of mine was one of the executive producers and I said, wouldn't it be funny if someone shot the entire film inside an suv? And so that's what I wrote. And yes. So the murder takes place inside the suv, the courtroom scene and investigation hall take place. There's like 29 actors in that car. I think at one point, because we had a full jury or nine. Nine in the back and then four up on the moonroof that peeked in and the judge sat in the driver's seat and the witnesses sat in the passenger seat and the defense attorney and the prosecutor were in the second seat with the witnesses and the accused. So it was a lot of fun. It's on the YouTube. It's SUV, sport utility vehic. And so that won comedy award in a festival in Texas way back when. So that. That's my award making figure in in the film world. But it was fun and it was all union work. It was a micro budget and I got everybody, all my professional acting friends to jump in. Dasup Nazi from Seinfeld is actually in it. He's a good friend of mine, so he is a good partner.
- [11:28]
Renita Ahora
So more of your work that we just have to check out. So what took you to then writing a book?
- [11:34]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Well, I did some copywriting while I was designing and then I started greeting card company, so I started that kind of writing.
- [11:40]
Renita Ahora
Another one of your nonprofits greeting cards?
- [11:43]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Yeah, if you want to rub it in. Yeah. Oh, that was. It was potentially could have been great. But yeah, that Wasn't. So I got into all kinds of stuff. And then, and then when you're in Hollywood, you're improving and you're creating characters and things like that. And then I actually had an audition class where the, the teacher said it's a six week course to get you all prepped up for the cold auditions. And he said at the end of the class, you're all going to write a scene and you're going to cast it and have other actors perform your scene. And I'm like, oh my God, I'm in Hollywood. This is big time. So this is scary. I was very scared to do it, but I wrote a scene and I cast these two guys that were brilliant and I was hooked because it went over great and I said, okay, I think I can do this. So I started writing screenplays and I did stand up for a while. So you're always looking for the funny in anything, any situation. So in 2011, when everything was going great on the west coast, in my carefree bachelor life, I had no children, never married or anything like that. And my brother called and said my mother was on her deathbed. So I flew back to New Jersey and it was, luckily it was, I think, a kind of a self determined. She was very unhappy in life. She just turned 89 and she just shut down. So there was no medical reason other than I think I'm not happy here right now. And she was in the home we grew up in, but we had some people in there that were kind of taking care of her and they did not get along. And I think my mom just said, if this is what it's going to be, I'm out of here. So we all came home. She had six children and we started taking care of her. And my younger sister and I hung out with hospice and learned all the tips and tricks because we didn't know how long mom was going to be with us. So we wanted to take care of her as much as we could. So I think that I have a chapter in the book called A Silent Scream. So I think it was a cry for help. She wanted her kids back, if not her kids, at least some love in the house. And so we provided that. And about three weeks later, she kind of snapped out of it.
- [13:42]
Renita Ahora
I see.
- [13:43]
Mark Stephen Perrault
And later in the year I decided that she deserved better. And so I moved back into my childhood home at 55.
- [13:51]
Renita Ahora
Wow. So a Silent scream from a cup of tea on the commode. Is that what you're going to read for us today?
- [13:58]
Mark Stephen Perrault
No, that Was. No. Well, that's not actually the one I did. You shouldn't have built up the funny stuff because the book has a lot of funny stuff in it. And maybe as we're talking, you get a hint, but what I'm going to read is not funny, but it's an important part of the book, I think. And. And after I read this, I'll read another thing, which is actually the opening of the book, which to me, I kind of envisioned as an opening scene in the movie. And then at the end, there's a closing scene of the movie, which is a different interpretation of this.
- [14:28]
Renita Ahora
That's very interesting. Okay, so for the fiction piece, you're gonna read chapter 36 and the opening. Can we request the closing for our subscription audiences?
- [14:39]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Yes, you can. We can, yes. The first one. The first chapter actually is not fiction. This is an actual conversation. The fiction is the next piece, and then the last piece is also fiction.
- [14:52]
Renita Ahora
Okay, great. So we're gonna get the nonfiction piece followed by a fictional opening chapter that's gonna portion of this episode. And then for our subscription audience, you're going to do the closing. Okay, wonderful. So, everybody, I hope you're listening and you will subscribe, if you haven't already, to listen to that closing piece. But before we segue into the creative part, Mark, tell us where our audiences can find you. Your work, your book, anything you'd like to share.
- [15:24]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Well, the title of the book is A Cup of Tea on the Commode. And if they Google that, we're everywhere. I'm a pretty aggressive marketer, so the website is A Cup of tea on the commode.org. i have a YouTube channel, a cup of Tea of the commode. We're on TikTok. The official Facebook page has about 25,000 followers, but there's a lot of people around the world that like the story of a son taking care of his mother. It was a lovely thing for me to do. I mean, I got more out of it than I think my mom. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. It was the right thing to do. And I grew up in a very nurturing, loving family that we cared about others, and so this was not a big deal.
- [16:02]
Renita Ahora
Well, I'm definitely going to make sure that my son listens to this because this is music to my ears.
- [16:07]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Yeah. Yeah. It's a good. I think it's a. It's. It's not a how to book. I say it's a what I did book. And if people get something benefit. They'll get. I think they'll get a lot of laughs, they'll get a lot of tears. But they may get some tips that I think would benefit especially a mother, but also any loved one.
- [16:23]
Renita Ahora
Yeah, well, I'm. I'm from Punjab and I always say that the only asset, the true asset that have. That we can use. Utilize. Use whatever word you want to apply there is guilt. So I plan to lay it in.
- [16:40]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Good. Okay.
- [16:42]
Renita Ahora
Anyway, looking forward to it. This is Mark Stephen Perrault reading from a cup of tea on the commode. And Mark, we are in your hands.
- [16:52]
Mark Stephen Perrault
Okay, so the chapter title is you don't see them and I'll be doing my mother's voice.
- [17:01]
C
Time is precious and so are our pets. So time with our pets is extra precious. That's why we started Dutch. Dutch provides 247 access to licensed vets with unlimited virtual visits and follow ups for up to five pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments and shipping is always free. With Dutch, you'll get more time with your pets and year round peace of mind when it comes to their vet care.
- [17:40]
Mark Stephen Perrault
I don't know why, but I checked on mom earlier than usual. Most mornings should be sound asleep. Occasionally, she'd be up and calling for hot tea or cold juice. She had been a coffee drinker when she was younger, but lost her taste for it during the pregnancy with yours truly. Ever since, hot tea, skim milk, no sugar became her beverage of choice. Feeling partially responsible for the hit taken by the coffee market, I French pressed my fair share of ground arabica beans to make up for it. But on this particular morning, she surprised me. She was wide awake, unusually chipper, and not at all thirsty. Her hazel eyes twinkled as she gazed out the bedroom window. These days, any activity she saw out there provided more thrills than anything on television. Sometimes it was Dr. Irma, draped in her white lab coat, returning from a long night at Pine Psychiatric Hospital. Sometimes it was Betty, a retired nurse clad in one of her authentic Scottish Highland pure wool kilts, walking Scotty, her Welsh corgi, his belly hovering just above the sidewalk. Sometimes it was a brown cottontail rabbit hopping across the front lawn after gorging on Mom's daisies. But whatever she had seen that day was different. What's out there, Mama? You don't see them? She pointed to the window. I looked out and saw nothing but a crumbling sidewalk crying free rejuvenation See who? The children. Heavens to Betsy, look at them all walking by. She smiled and waved at them. I checked again. Still saw nothing with balloons. Oh, there's one with flowers. Lots of flowers have gone by too. You recognize anyone? I'm sure I do. Some of them. There's a yellow balloon. Any relatives? Maybe? Any inviting you to join them? She answered only with a sly grin. Mom? No. Good. You don't see them? No. I'm sorry. She says, well, if you go out in the sidewalk, you will. Well, maybe later. Ready for breakfast? In a minute. Okay. Call when you are. There's a girl with daisies. I love daisies. I know, Mama. Enjoy the parade. On my way out, my eyes landed on an old black and white photo hanging on the front wall. In it, eight year old Genevieve, dressed in a frilly white dress, white lace socks and patent leather shoes, sits on a bench holding a posey of daisies. The thought of how perfect this little girl would fit right in with mom's parade made me chuckle. Mom had many visions during early in our journey. Some were light, some were dark, others were damn entertaining. But this parade of children was the first she described in such detail. And though she would see them walk down Emmett Place many times after, I was relieved that none of the children beckoned her to join them. At least not on that day. So that was pretty much an actual conversation. And she saw this. It was very interesting. So that's true that she saw this vision and described it in such detail. So with that vision, I decided to open the book with a little bit embellished version of that. And what's interesting, I don't know if people can see. So this is the actual picture I'm describing. She's eight years old. This is my mom sitting on a bench holding flowers. And after I wrote the book, I asked I think my siblings if they had any photos. No, I think just out of the blue my one sister sent me this photo and I didn't know it existed. I had other photos in mind, but I didn't know this existed. I said, oh my gosh, this is what I wrote about. And so maybe I saw it sometime in my past that I just don't remember. And so that was the COVID shot and it was perfect for it.
- [21:35]
Renita Ahora
So that is amazing and so inspirational to see that you have drawn this picture from a picture, you know, the picture that you just showed us of her sitting on the bench. So I cannot wait to hear the opening to your fictional opening to a possible screenplay.
- [21:55]
Mark Stephen Perrault
So this is called Genevieve's Vision. On a crisp, sunny spring morning, a merry band of well dressed young children parades down Emmett Place looking like they just escaped mass at Our lady of Mount Carmel. Some skip few hopscotch, others weave, but most march in unison. The girls, hair in pigtails, ponytails or pixie cuts, wear frilly white dresses, white lace socks and patent leather shoes. All carry flowers, a single stem or bouquet. The boys sport combed hair, dress pants, shiny black shoes and starch white shirts neatly tucked in. Neckties are the norm, but a couple flaunt their individuality with bow ties. Each clads a string anchoring a brightly colored balloon bobbing to and fro in the wind. The entire procession appears to be from an innocent time long past. As the parade rounds the cul de sac and approaches the second house in the inn, each child turns, smiles and waves towards the window on the first floor. Inside, behind a billowing white curtains propped up in a hospital bed, sits a frail 92 year old Genevieve. Her kind eyes dance with delight as she waves to the children. It's uncertain whether she knows any of them, but that doesn't matter. What does is the long absent and much needed joy these children seem to bring her. The last girl holding a single daisy stops and beckons Genevieve to join the parade. Amused and tempted, Genevieve chuckles for a moment before a wave of sadness erases her smile. Her eyes drift to an old black and white photo hanging on the front wall. In it sits a girl with a soft brown bond that frames her cherubic face. She too wears a frilly white dress, white lace socks, patent leather shoes and holds a posy of daisies.
- [24:03]
Renita Ahora
Wonderful Mark. Thank you so much. I cannot wait to listen to the closing scene. Now that of course is only for our subscription audiences, so if you're listening to this, please make sure that you subscribe if you haven't already, so you can be sure to listen to Mark's closing scene. Mark, thank you so much for being a guest today on the True Fiction Project.
- [24:29]
Mark Stephen Perrault
It was my pleasure.
- [24:31]
Renita Ahora
That was Marc Stephen Perrault, a New Jersey native who lives in the south of France. He's an award winning designer, writer, editor and now a best selling award winning author of a book called A Cup of Tea on the Commode. This is the True Fiction Project. I am your host, Renita Ahora. Here at the True Fiction Project we're always looking for great stories that make for compelling fiction. So if you have a great story, you know someone who does. Or if you're a writer who'd like to be featured on the show, then please do get in touch with us at renita.com forward/contact and if you haven't signed up for our newsletter, then you can do so by visiting substack.com/ford/@rinitahora all spelled out one word. That's substack.com/e e n I T A H O R A I'll be offering paid subscribers something a little extra special each time, including a video version of this podcast.
- [25:48]
C
Time is precious and so are our pets. So time with our pets is extra precious. That's why we started Dutch. Dutch provides 24. 7 access to licensed vets with unlimited virtual visits and follow ups for up to five pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments and shipping is always free. With Dutch, you'll get more time with your pets and year round peace of mind when it comes to their vet care.