Andre Leon Talley's life devolved into slapstick comedy at a fashion show where observers sat on bleacher-style benches. Vogue's wearer of capes was apparently seated at the end of one bench when "Everyone got up really quickly, and he's a large man, left alone at one end, so the bench acted like a seesaw." He landed on his side on the floor.

After he found an exploding cigarette mixed in with his Gauloises and a whoopee cushion sewn into the ass of his chinchilla shorts, he thought maybe it wasn't just coincidence.