Of course, nasal naloxone (also known as Narcan) wasn’t designed to be a time machine – it’s an opioid overdose reversal drug. Explaining Narcan as a time travel device was theater maker John Michael’s idea to help make the topic of overdoses more approachable for everyone and is the basis of his interactive harm reduction comedy show, SPANK BANK TIME MACHINE, which played at Chicago’s Neo-Futurist Theatre in November 2023.
Access to sterile using equipment is essential in reducing HIV and HCV transmission. AFC’s Connection to Harm Reduction Program (C2HR) educates and provides participants with resources to mitigate this risk and offers a connection to treatment and other mental health support. C2HR’s services are provided in a client’s home with the understanding that housing and low barrier, person-centered services are one of many ways to support AFC’s mission to end the HIV epidemic by 2030.
Naloxone is an opioid antagonist – meaning that it binds to opioid receptors and serves to reverse or block the effects of other opioids (i.e., heroin, fentanyl, morphine). When administered to someone showing signs of an opioid overdose, naloxone serves to restore breathing — taking you back in time before the overdose!
John Michael created the show to honor the friends he had lost to overdoses during the pandemic, help fight stigma around drug use, and spread awareness about Narcan.
“One of the rules I had when making the play about honoring my friends who overdose was to not use the word addiction because I wanted to fight stigma,” he said. “I feel like I regained this story from the stigma, and I have the last laugh with my friends.”
SPANK BANK TIME MACHINE is a wild ride; it is a one-person show performed by John Michael that is raunchy, funny, sad at times, and manages to slip in an audience-led Narcan training.
The name of the show is intentionally elusive. “I don’t explain right away that the show is about drugs or medicine because that can deter people and make it seem like just another boring public health service announcement,” he said.
“I think it’s better than doing Narcan demonstrations or trainings because I think those words are unintentionally hierarchal, and I think they suggest that it’s harder to learn Narcan than a 15 second conversation – it is not,” he said.
“And the time machine concept makes people smile because it sounds outrageous, but what’s happening is outrageous.”
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed 2,000 opioid-related deaths in 2022, the highest number reported in the county in a single year. Preliminary statistics indicate that Cook County is on pace to match 2022’s record for opioid overdose deaths.
Over 90% of overdose deaths in 2022 involved fentanyl, and Black Chicagoans made up 56% of the deaths while Latinx Chicagoans accounted for just under 15%.
There’s no denying that these numbers and trends are concerning, and we can’t continue to talk about overdose in hushed tones. John Michael’s SPANK BANK TIME MACHINE is a celebration of his late friends and shamelessly depicts drug use. Through his character as a bouffon clown, John Michael even gets the audience to laugh and applaud an overdose. “My goal is to destigmatize something that scares us,” he said. “Once you laugh at something, it becomes less scary.”
The show promotes a harm reduction approach. Drug use is a universal experience that people have always used to mitigate their physical or emotional pain and/or enhance their joy. Experimenting with mood or mind altering substances can be fun and harmless for some, but also hold more dire consequences for others; SPANK BANK TIME MACHINE aims to speak honestly about the harm that comes from stigmatizing drug users but also provides resources to become an ally in our overdose crisis.
“My friends were so much more than the last moments of their life,” said John Michael.
During its four-show run, John Michael gave out 275 Narcan kits to audience members. You can find Narcan for free at Chicago Public Libraries. The Chicago Department of Public Health hosts monthly virtual Narcan trainings on the fourth Friday of every month from 12-1pm. Meeting ID: 282 288 292 038; Passcode: vptyta.
Currently, AIDS Foundation Chicago is working on passing a bill during the Spring Legislative session that would allow for an Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) to be piloted in Chicago. These sites have been shown to save lives, reduce the spread of communicable diseases, such as HIV and Hepatitis C, and link those with substance use disorders to behavioral and physical health care. Contact your legislative officials and tell them to support the Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) Pilot! Email your elected officials and urge them to pass HB2, the Overdose Prevention Site Pilot bill! (p2a.co)
