Alison O’Daniel: The Deaf Club

21 August -30 September 2025

The Deaf Club is a segment of the feature film The Tuba Thieves. The feature slips between Los Angeles in the early 2010’s when tubas were stolen from Southern California high schools and three historic concerts : John Cage’s 4’33”, the last punk show at the Deaf Club in San Francisco in 1979, and a Prince concert at Gallaudet University in 1984. O’Daniel filmed 10 short films between 2013 and 2018 that were shown in museums and galleries before completing the rest of the feature film. This 2 channel short slightly fictionalizes the last night at the now infamous deaf social club that opened its doors to the west coast punk scene in the late 70’s. The filmmaker and photographer Bruce Connor was a frequent attendee and paid for the final show. O’Daniel created this re-enactment with 60 people from the larger Deaf community in NYC and 40 hearing punks, representing the patrons as they mingle, drink, sign and dance.

Transcript of the conversation