| About Bobby Hailstorm: |
| Bobby Hailstorm was born in the south of Mississippi in 1958, ‘the marvel of Mississippi’ they called him because the young Hailstorm was born weighing an astonishing 15lbs.. The attention died down and young Bobby had a sleepy uneventful childhood. Mr. Hailstorm seemed to be like everyone else. That was until his junior year of high school when this modest bumpkin went on a field trip to New York. As the bus pulled into the station, the sky opened up and from it came the great rainstorm of 1975. Bobby didn’t bring a raincoat or even an umbrella. Soaked and pruny, Bobby wandered into a marvelous but run down department store and spent all his money on the ‘Academy Broadway fully loaded Elemental Ensemble’. That dumpy dusty incredible store was Bobby Hailstorm’s cocoon, for when he stepped beyond that stores threshold he emerged a beautiful butterfly, beautiful, yet masculine, more than mortal. Bobby owned New York that day and was noticed by a very prominent, very successful businessman, Mr. Academy Broadway himself. To make a long story short Bobby became the official model for Academy Broadway from 76-87, he was the only reason 90% of American women subscribed to the Sears catalog, bootleggers blew up rainwear spreads and sold life-size Sears catalog pages for hundreds of dollars. Bobby could afford to put his mother in the finest of retirement homes and had every single pair of shoes she owned remade out of solid gold. Yes, Bobby was gifted, he sold millions of raincoats, boots, ponchos and even a couple hats, but in the winter of 1987 the tarp was pulled from beneath him. When their sales began to slip, ‘Academy Broadway’ terminated his contract, it seems Mr. Hailstorm’s image no longer inspired the country even though Americans love of rainwear can only be likened to John Wayne and apple pie. To top it all off Bobby’s accountant had embezzled every penny he owned and was a former Navy SEAL making him as vicious as he was stealthy. Bobby took it in stride and was really great about how unfortunate it all ended up until one last straw broke this camel’s back. The retirement home his mother had been staying in was far too extravagant than Bobby’s current income could justify and due to this, she was moved to a state owned facility where her needs were neglected leading to her demise in 1989. Something went ‘snap’ in the mind of Mr. Hailstorm, after his mother’s funeral Bobby stole a mobile home and didn’t stop driving until he was in the Arizona desert. With no precipitation Bobby was free of the cross he had to bear for the rainwear industry, but in spite of this all he continued to wear were his raincoats and slickers in the sweltering desert. For years he lived in solitude and eating only his famous home made candy. But now in the year of 2007, Bobby’s got his marbles back and is part owner of a very distinguished and lucrative company specializing in his famous Cotton Candy. He’s also put some time into the live action sequences for this most prestigious presentation, please enjoy… Bobby made it for his Mom. “Bobby’s torment makes him pretty much the best artist on earth.” -Bill Cosby |
