We Cut Heads

Cutting Dad's hair
Originally uploaded by Noranna.

I caught the tail end of an episode of the Showtime series Barbershop last night. All I can say is...shudder. Okay, I suppose that isn't fair, considering I didn't see the entire episode, but the dialogue and exchanges that I did witness rang completely hollow. I enjoyed the first Barbershop film, but I don't even think that movie was able to truly capture the atmosphere in "the Black Man's Country Club," as Cedric the Entertainer put it. And that's all right. Movies aren't real life anyway. Even if they were, I don't think one film could capture all of the myriad experiences of the barber shop.

The nature of my work means that I have moved around a lot during my adult years. But no matter what city I've ended up in, my first action has always been the same; find a good barber. It sounds simple, but it can be really difficult. You have to really be able to TRUST your barber, and that trust only comes over time. Your barber has to know that if he doesn't cut that swirl on the front of your head just right, it's going to leave a patch. He has to know whether you prefer being shaved with the electric or the straight razor. His politics don't have to be the same as yours, but he has to have the gift of gab to parry verbal assaults if you two happen to disagree.

Mirror Mirror
Originally uploaded by Shavar.

Once I manage to find those traits in a barber, I stick with him through thick and thin. Hell, if I happen to be traveling through a city in which I've once lived, I'll let my hair grow out just so that I can stop in and get a cut from one of my old barbers. There's Tone in Chicago. Big Mike in Minneapolis. John in Long Island City, Queens. Not sure if Shabazz Barbers is still around in DC, but that place was my haircut lifeline during college.

Being a morning haircut person, I also tend to gravitate towards certain kinds of barbershops. There are some that have really got their operations organized. I went to a place in Altadena once where you pulled a number when you walked in. Everyone had their barber school certificates up on the wall. It was nice and all, but not my vibe. My barbers tend to keep irregular hours. If the door says they open at 9AM, you're lucky if someone shows up by 11AM. A lot of them don't have certificates on display. The telephone number painted on the outside of the place tends to be either wrong or disconnected. It sounds bad, but those are my favorite barber shops because those barbers have the same kind of loyalty to their customers that their customers have to them. The ghetto barber has to be a hustler. If he isn't, then another barber whose game is tighter will take all of his customers. In those shops, you tend to get a card from your barber, often with a cell, pager, or even home telephone number. You call him up when you're on your way, and they get there when you do. Tone in Chicago used to live right above the shop. I'd show up in the morning, call him on his home phone, and he'd come downstairs in his pajamas to give me a cut. He kept a pool table in the shop, as well as some vintage arcade machines too. He was a good barber.

My current barbershop is Super Star Barbers on La Brea. I get my hair cut by either Carlton or Bruce. It's usually Carlton, since Bruce plays in a band and keeps odd hours. I'm convinced that Carlton is the world's greatest Lakers fan. How else can you explain a person who actually thinks the Lakers got the better end of the Shaq for Odom/Grant trade? He does have his barber certificate on display, by the way, but it's right below his more important certificate from the Temple of Hip-Hop, which certifies him as a purveyor of true hip-hop knowledge and culture. Super Star is a tiny shop, but they've got cable, which is nice because I don't have to miss the football game if I get a cut on a Sunday. Other than sports, they mostly keep the television tuned to The Discovery Channel and the History Channel, which can cause the kinds of disputes one only expects brothers to get into over sports. We're also pretty passionate about nature shows, it turns out. The writers of the TV series Barbershop should probably stop in sometime and get a cut...they might also leave with some fresher material.

Dad's hair
Originally uploaded by Noranna.