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How Was the Show?An open thread for reports from tonight’s Cinematic Titanic show in New York City.
44 Replies to “How Was the Show?”Commenting at Satellite News
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Really enjoyed it, although I really didn’t understand the opening acts – singing, Trace’s odd poems, and Frank’s political rantings, magic show, I really didn’t get the humor, and seemed to just kill time before the main event – the movie.
Two things I have to say about the show that I didn’t expect nor did I like: Anti-Conservative/Republican Comments (it was all FoxNews this or Chris Christie that) and the amount of swearing. I don’t understand why they have to include political rantings, it’s just polarizes the audience and it simply doesn’t fit. Once in a while fine, but it was constant.
I really love Rifftrax & MST3K because they don’t use curse, they must have sweared or used toilet humor over a dozen times, sure people laughed but there are obv ways of saying the same thing without using language that can be far humorous. I am not from another century or something, I just felt it didn’t match with MST3K and Rifftrax.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the show, the riffing was non-stop from beginning to end. Made me laugh a ton of times, so in that aspect of trying to entertain me and have a good time, it def succeeded :-). The mute character, the flashback scenes, the characters keep getting off and then getting on cars, the movie was total nonsense and they did a good job of making jokes.
PS: I don’t understand why the CT team gets offended when the movie characters use derogatory terms to describe blacks, but in the same context, they use derogatory terms to describe white men. Furthermore they use a ton of negative terms or opinions when Chinese men enter the scene. Now I am not one to be PC, but why is one “race” regarded as more off-limits then another. But that’s just how I saw it.
FYI since the main post doesn’t say, the movie they riffed was “East Meets Watts”.
This was our first CINEMATIC TITANIC show (hopefully not our last!). The drive to NYC was harrowing- delays, roads closed, and an old lady crashing into a taxi cab right in front of us- but once we got there it was swell!
First Dave “Gruber” Allen came out and did a funny Brazilian Spanish bit with their guest guitarist (I forgot his name!) to the tune of The Girl From Ipanema, then Mary Jo came out dancing and read a funny introduction to Gruber (her only contribution to the opening act, I was hoping she would come back out later and do some stand-up). Gruber did some funny bits, climaxing with a great stream of conscious riff on Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat” with Josh doing the vocals. Then Frank did some killer stand-up (probably the source of the majority of the “Anti-Conservative/Republican Comments” the above poster complained about). I would love to see him do a full set, he’s hilarious, and it was great to hear TV’s Frank say punchlines like “Mmm, I love the taste of cock!” Trace read 3 of his poems, then Josh did a funny bit about his hair loss, then did a spot-on Elvis Costello impersonation while performing the MST theme, then Joel did his magic trick with the newspaper and we were off to the “****ty movie” (Joel’s words).
I would’ve preferred to see them do a movie not out on DVD already, but it was interesting to note the differences. Some jokes I think were new was “Hey, San Francisco, that’s where Tony Bennet left his… inappropriate 9/11 comments” and “Tyler Perry’s Children of a Lesser God” (both lines from Frank, I think). The spit take didn’t go over as well as on the DVD (the lighting made the spit look like a fine mist) and the bit where they turn off their lights to “embrace the darkness” only to have Trace disappear didn’t work in the venue- Joel started it but aborted it. We had great seats, third row from the stage on Joel/Trace/Mary Jo’s side, with a great view of Frank & Josh on the other side.
The meet and greet afterwards was kind of rushed by the venue staff, and it was pretty awkward- how do you convey to these people in a few seconds how important they are to you without coming off as a psycho? So it was pleasant but awkward, but we got a lot of stuff signed and everyone was nice. Didn’t get a chance to speak to Mary Jo and Joel was kind of grumpy, but Frank, Trace, and Josh couldn’t have been nicer. Wish we got to take a photo with someone, but there wasn’t really time/room to do that. Ran into Gruber on the way out and chatted with him for a few minutes and got his autograph, super nice guy.
A great night out, but I hope the next time I see them is not in the city, and if it is, I’ll take the train!
sigh…Where do I start?
I previously caught their first NYC show at the same theater (then named the Nokia Theater, now the Best Buy Theater) in April 2010 where they riffed the Danger on Tiki Island. The house was pretty packed for that show, at least 95% and they totally killed.
When this show was announced in late May/Early June of this year, I did not hesitate to snap up my Orch Center 5th row aisle seat. At that time I’m pretty damned sure the movie to be riffed was not announced yet on the event page or on the “on tour” section of their website. I thought someone had mentioned that Rattlers would be on tap, which I was psyched for.
Fast fwd 3+ months later when I go to confirm the time and date of tonight’s show, print out my tickets and I was surprised to see they are now billed as riffing East meets Watts.
I was taken aback, but that’s OK because I believe back in the mst3k days they did Time of the Apes and a few Gamera movies twice with different riff scripts.
Upon arriving, off the bat it was way less crowded, no line outside, just presented my ticket and had a seat at the bar with lots of elbow room half hour before showtime. But the second the very talented David Allan came out, the dread of deja vu set in. Some of the jokes sounded strangely familiar and then he does a duet with J. Elvis which again felt again familiar. Josh also sings the MST3K theme while playing bass in the voice of Elvis Costello. Not a repeat bit from last time, but cute for nostalgia’s sake. Frank Conniff comes out and does 5-10 minutes of standup which was cool. Then Trace comes out and reads three or four poems from his book “Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children”. Again, I love the guy, but it now feels like a B&N book reading and I’m paying for this privilege as I squirm in my seat when Trace reminds us that the book is available at the merchandise table in the lobby.
So now Joel comes out and does a neat magic trick where he appears to tear the NY Times into strips and then *kapow* unfurls the scraps and it is whole again.
Joel introduces each of the cast and the movie begins. Now my worst fears are realized as I hear the exact same jokes that open the DVD of East Meets Watts that I bought for $20 and have watched at least 6x in the last year.
As the opening credits continue I pathetically rationalize that “Hey, maybe they’re keeping the killer stuff in, but will swap out half of the older stuff with newer riffs”….But alas, no. The DVD script was 95+% identical.
Needless to say I was bummed, I tried my best after the first 10 minutes to chill out and enjoy the show, which I did manage to get into. But I couldn’t help thinking now and again how I took the night off from work and add to that the $60 ticket price + drinks and I was $200 in the hole which could have been more usefully applied to the mst3k box sets that have been released this year.
Once the house lights went up at the end I left quickly to beat the escalator traffic up and noticed the whole
rear left and right sections totally empty. That would mean maybe only 60-65% capacity sold.
Also noticed at least one of the crew (Mary Jo) was using an iPad to scroll along to her parts in the script. Did not hang around for the meet & greet in the lobby.
Hey, maybe shame on me and I should have known better. I mean maybe it’s like someone bitching about going to see Book of Mormon a second time and expecting something different? Or seeing a comedian live 2x within a year, you are bound to hear the exact same set,(with the exception of Louis CK who comes up with a new hour every year). But I figured since Rattlers hasn’t been released on DVD that they would do that instead of a movie they released over a year ago. Maybe the majority of the folks in attendance also own the DVD and loved hearing the same jokes, I just didn’t, I was bummed.
Then again I’m probably just spoiled because CT has been around for 4 yrs and has 10 releases plus 3 or 4 in the live tour rotation not released yet (if ever). Compare that to Mst3k which had 75 episodes after 4 years and Rifftrax has over 100 movies riffed and tons of shorts and they only have been around longer than CT by a year and change.
I think CT should ditch the live show and go with the satellite movie theater simulcast thing Rifftrax does, more people would see it and if I paid only $20 for tonight, I wouldn’t feel so grumpy.
Again, sorry to be so negative…In spite of all the above I love all these guys dearly (CT and Rifftrax) for all the laughs over the years and whatever they do I’ll be on board.
^^^ Everything shypop said I agree 100% except that, since it was announced early that “East Meets Watts” would be the movie riffed (which didn’t please me at all), I didn’t bother to reserve tickets because I knew I didn’t want to blow Ticketmaster-fee money on something that was likely to be a rethread. Bought my $30 ticket at the box office tonight around 7PM for the way back section (empty chairs outnumbered paying customers at least 10-to-1) because I didn’t want to spend more than I had for something that I’ve already seen and enjoyed on DVD many times. I also didn’t bother to stay for the meet-and-greet (had tickets for “Drive” at the AMC 25 a couple of blocks from the Best Buy theater… terrific movie BTW, a little too violent but well-shot and something Michael Mann would be proud to call ‘inspired-by-Thief’) and, overall, the whole evening felt a little flat and by-the-numbers even though many of the killer jokes from “East Meet Watts” held better than I thought. Still no answer to the movie’s most vexing question: who stabbed the duck??!! :rotfl:
The closest I can compare this CT show to (not the “EMW” CT DVD show but the live one in NYC) it would be to one of those disposable middle-of-the-road “MST3K” Season Six/Ten experiments that were OK and had nothing wrong with them, but afterwards you struggle to remember anything remarkable and funny about the whole thing. Hey, even Titans are human and have an off-night. Too bad it had to be this one! :struggle:
^^^ P.S. Forgot to mention that I was also at the April 2010 Nokia Theater performance of “Danger at Tiki Island” (the Titans’ first Gotham event) and the atmosphere of that event compared to this one was totally different. There was excitement and electricity at having the guys come to NYC and do their thing with a rarely-shown-up-to-that-point movie that was just goofy-as-heck horrible. Last night felt like an obligation of us (the diehards) to show support for the Titans’ and them basically dusting an oldie to justify the return trip to the Big Apple. I think the choice of “East Meets Watts” hurt the event considerably because fans of MST3K/Rifftrax/CT have had plenty of chances to see it, and blaxploitation just doesn’t go down as well on repeat live performance as a rubber/monster flick. The opening skits/jokes/music were similar to last year’s but different-enough (Frank wasn’t nearly as political in his jokes as last year, when Keith Olbermann was in the audience) that I didn’t mind. Nobody sang (or asked the audience to sing along) the “MST3K” song on the April ’10 event, so that alone made the evening’s opening acts better, IMHO. Guess we’re going to have to wait for the new-to-DVD “CT” shows taped last weekend in Minnesota for the true taste of new-to-some-of-us material that was almost absent from last night’s performance.
Instead of doing magic tricks, poem readings, and political rantings, they should have just riffed on a short. That would have been FANTASTIC.
That would be great if they did do a short instead of what they always do,but maybe they would have to get the rights to a short and then spend time writing jokes for it.And how long would that take,since all of them live in different states? Maybe someone should ask them that the next time they meet them after the show at the meet and greet.Plus,it would take a little bit more time for them to write new jokes to a movie that’s already out on dvd as well.They could also be spending their time writing jokes for the new movies they’re doing,too..Someone could ask them that the next time,too…As far as one race being off limits as opposed to another,do you think it would really be necessary if someone from CT referred to a Chinese person as a “chink” or used the N word just to try and get a laugh? That’s not their style for one thing.I mean,when was the last time a black person didn’t get offended by the N word? Or a white person being offended by honky? Not going to happen…As far as MST3K using curse words,they have used b**tard and hell,but not all the time.Besides,MST3K was more aimed at kids..I don’t mind CT being a little edgy or using curse words because it separates them from MST3K and from Rifftrax and they don’t use them in every riff,which would be gratuitous if they did.Sometimes it’s more funny with those words.Try telling a joke,especially a dirty joke without those words.Not going to get a laugh..Anyway,sorry to ramble and hope everyone had a great time.I’m just looking forward to the new dvd’s coming out this year!!
This was my first chance to get to a CT show and I was really curious about the whole process. I haven’t seen East Meets Watts because I purposefully have held out from purchasing the LIVE DVDs because I know they repeate themselves (point for me). I went into the show open-minded and it was a blast from the start to finish.
Whatever Don was saying is total crap. The opening acts were refreshing to say the least. Trace doesn’t just read from the book he is hocking, there is a slideshow and musical accompaniment, and the way he delivers the lines is just amazing. Josh plays the original MST3K theme. Frank comes out and tells some pretty funny jokes.
Joel comes out last and does a fantastic Magic Trick.
What is there to not like?
If they riffed on a short instead the event wouldn’t be as personal, and we wouldn’t get to know the gang as well.
As far as Political rants and swear words… Don… you have got to be fraking kidding me!
They made fun of Fox News a couple times and Republicans, get the frak over it.
No one else in the entire theater seemed to be upset about the jokes or swear words, in fact
they were all pretty drunk and having a great time.
On a personal note, I think the live show is far superior to the DVD and if you haven’t seen CT yet because you kind of don’t like the Concept, or the shows themselves, go to the live show… it’s worth it.
On another personal note… Trace has got to be one of the sexiest, cordial, funny, responsive, people I have ever met. I got the whole gang to autograph a vintage HERCULES UNCHAINED poster from 1961 that I found at a garage sale in Albert Lea, MN. They seemed impressed… especially Trace and Frank.
LOL, I think you just proved my point. There is no reason for name calling nor cursing. An opinion is an opinion.
I just simply didn’t get the humor when Frank read off “historical” tweets from his phone since especially it wasn’t even his own work. It just seemed lazy for cheap laughs.
I liked the show and BTW I was not drunk! However, I was not happy with the meet & greet set up. I agree with another poster saying the the “event staff” rushed this. At times it was like “OK, get your poster signed and LEAVE!”. I felt a bit like I was at that Trocadero show in Philly a few years back! The Event Staff also just about stood over us at the line thinking we were nut jobs. TSA officials would have treated us better! As much as I love going to CT shows I doubt that I’ll go to another one in NYC!
Man, some people will complain about anything.
Funny, when I saw Paul McCartney in July, no one complained because he played songs he had played before.
I mean, really, people.
And if you don’t know by now that Frank is a proud, unabashed liberal, then you’ve been living in a cave somewhere for years. Funny, how conservatives like to pose as tough guys but get their poor widdle feelings hurt so easily.
Anyway, there were lots of new gags for the movie, hearing Josh sing the MST3K theme is always a treat, and it turns we made the right decision not to stick around for the meet-n-greet (I never know what to say anyway).
We had a great time and the next time they come back, we’ll be there!
@Don #1 ‘but why is one “race” regarded as more off-limits then another.’
It’s pretty simple. The European colonists who started this country were, in the majority, either directly responsible for, or knowingly benefited from, the systematic abduction, rape, beating, enslavement and dehumanizing of other races. This resulted in race-based class distinctions that are still apparent today. It took a war to convince us that slavery was wrong, and 150 years later, while the trend is generally downwards, institutional racism still exists in some places.
You don’t poke at a wound that’s been festering for 300 years.
@Don..It depends on the situation in regards of name calling and cursing.Like I said,certain jokes don’t work or aren’t funny if you take out the curse words.Take out all the curse words that Richard Pryor,George Carlin,Lenny Bruce,Robin Williams,Joan Rivers have used throughout their whole career and they’re not as funny or not funny at all.Replace those curse words with darn and shoot and you won’t get laugh..
DON
Any grown man who uses the “LOL” should be ashamed of himself.
Of course you don’t understand why Frank’s bit was funny because you have no sense of humor, you use LOL.
I am so sick of ultra-PC, Libertarian assholes complaining about “polarizing political commentary,” you sound like a really boring, BOOORRRING! person yourself.
If you are really going to complain about cheap laughs, then I can’t possibly understand how you could be a fan of MST3K… which is 75% “Cheap Laughs” as you would say… I don’t, I call them laughs, because that’s what they fraking are.
I avoided the LIVE DVDs of the movies I wanted to see CT perform, that way it would be fresh and sincere. If you purchased one of their shows and then complained that the LIVE version was the exact same thing, well then the joke is on you.
Cinematic Titanic has obvious flaws that only a REAL asshole would bring up on a fansite messageboard, it is pathetic. Just be grateful we have anything coming from these people at all.
Do I really have to say any of this? Do I actually need to reiterate a line from the MST3K theme song that so many of you people have lost sight of over the years,
THEN REPEAT TO YOURSELF “IT’S JUST A SHOW”
I SHOULD REALLY JUST RELAX
I have to say honestly I had some apprehension to going to this show at first. I’ve grown into a huge MSTie over the past few years after rekindling my love of the show from my youth in the 90’s on Netflix. I have never watched a clip of Cinematic Titanic nor have I purchased any dvds because I didn’t want to taint the experience with expectation, the mother of all disappointment. I wasn’t sure if the live format would live up to my enjoyment of Joel/Mike and the bots, but I have to say I had an AMAZING time.
For those of you who were in attendance, when Frank made the Tweet joke about Lincoln I was one of the two people who shouted “Too soon!”. As a resident of NJ, I loved Franks jokes about Christie, regardless of how budget minded the man is.
I loved getting to see a different side of the people behind MST3k(learned last night to attribute that to David Allen) and while there were some low spots of comedy, I still appreciated the candid nature of the entire event. Also, while Trace’s readings were spot on, I cant help but feel that the content of hit book actually IS aimed at children. That being said, I felt like someone was reading out of a Farside comic which is definitely not a bad thing. It’s simply not the sort of comedy that will make you split your sides.
The movie was absolutely wonderfully terrible on nearly every front and it made for amazing riffing. I wasn’t drunk, but there were a good few who were. I was frankly surprised by the gratuitous amounts of laughter. There were points where some of the riffs were hard to catch due to people howling, but it was still a great set of riffing, IMHO. I myself attempted to get a “Deep Hurting” out when, I think it was Trace, reminded Joel of rock climbing, but it was overrun by laughter and the movie itself. Now that I think about it, the venue had the movie in some areas over took the riffing as well so I missed one or two that the up front crowd responded to.
I didn’t stay for the meet and greet because I had a train to catch. I actually ended up staying at the Seacaucus Junction stop for over an hour because we just missed the train to Fair Lawn. :-\.
All in all it was a great experience. When they come back next year I will easily drop the cash for all three nights simply to support these awesome guys. While my hopes to ever see everyone on stage together may never happen, I can only hope that support from us fans will continue to drive CT/RT on until they’re all too old to stand on the stage and come up with witty one-liners!
Came from Brooklyn to Midtown which I haven’t been to in a long time since it has nothing to offer these days unless you are a tourist. Really, really enjoyed the show. I thought the opening acts were fantastic and were not only great for warming up the crowd but for introducing the cast. The movie was perfect for them. Horrible dialogue, acting and an off the wall plot. As for the opening acts and political jabs, I thought that they were perfectly fine and people were laughing. All in all it was in well taste (in a manner of speaking) and not overly political.
Bottom line is that everyone seemed to have a fantastic time and so did I. The riffing was a lot more solid and funny than their Rhode Island show from last October (not saying it wasn’t funny of course!) and more importantly I felt extremely privileged for them to be in New York City and I came to the show excited and I left the show feeling absolutely satisfied and then some. Meeting Joel and the rest of the crew and getting their autographs was a nice cherry on top I would say.
Alex, you should calm down and stop making personal attacks. I’m sure Don can discuss what he does and does not like about a show he attends, just like you did. Take your own advice dude and relax.
Hey, this sounded like a fun show! I didn’t see it though, so I can’t comment on all the political jokes.
I hope the Titans read these posts, I think Mary Jo’s husband has posted here once before. After a particular humor panel at Dragoncon this year, I had to tell Frank face-to-face that it was nasty. For any of you that make fun of movies or screengrabs you probably know it’s harder to riff staying PG. But I look at it as a challenge. Who could complain to the Titans, “hey, yall didn’t use enough vulgarity or curse words”. No one.
@ Matt D
I’m calmer than you are dude.
and isn’t this thread for people that actually attended the show? hmm…
@Alex “Any grown man who uses the “LOL” should be ashamed of himself.”
And yet calling someone “dude” any time past the year 1988 is any more acceptable than using LOL.
“isn’t this thread for people that actually attended the show? hmm…”
Unless your screen name is Sampo then this really isn’t your call to make.
I agree with all… just relax.
If I may comment- I did not see the show, but I may if they ever come within a light year of me (west-central Ohio).
I follow all of them on Twitter (less Joel) and you can believe Frank delivers some amazing anti-Republican rants that are so dark they make me wonder if they are for real or a put-on. He’s of course so cool I continue to follow him despite these.
But I think if he rants like this at the live shows it had better be to comic effect. CT is a fine ensemble of comedians who have spent many years in the business. Frank’s parts need to be discussed and filtered before the show and edited thus *forced* to serve their ends- to make folks laugh. Anything less cheats the people who paid to see the show.
I don’t understand the repeated use of the word “rant”, Frank did a stand-up set, the first half of it was political, but there was a punchline every couple of seconds, it wasn’t like he was just up there talking. He was doing stand-up, very funny stand-up. If you don’t agree with his politics that’s one thing, but he wasn’t ‘ranting’
EVERYBODY CALM THE HELL DOWN!
The titans know what is funny, and they know what they think is funny. If you don’t agree, then LEAVE!
“If you don’t agree, then LEAVE!”
Not a problem. Unless they jettison or least try to balance out the one-sided political commentary, Cinematic Titanic won’t see another dime from me. It’s a shame, because I really like these folks. Unfortunately, they just don’t seem to like me.
“If you don’t agree, then LEAVE!”
That’s the point that any commercial venture such as CT has to consider. If a line is crossed (and where that line is will be determined by each individule customer)then people might just start leaving. If enough people leave then pretty soon it isn’t profitable anymore and CT ceases to exist.
Sure Frank’s liberal tendencies are no secret. There are those that admire him for it and those that like him in spite of it. I don’t know what his intentions are though when he makes those jokes. Are they just jokes to him or his he attempting to “campaign” through the use of humor? If his intention is to change minds (and I’m not saying it is as I don’t really know)then he is likely to fail. Studies have long shown that most people are either firmly liberal or firmly conservative. The swing voter is the smallest percentage of the three. So if that undefined line is crossed and people do leave then he ends up preaching to the choir and nothing more.
My stance here is pragmatic: Since politics are so sensitive, why risk alienating (roughly) half of your potential audience? Just avoid it so NO ONE has to leave. If no is offended to the point of leaving, CT stays profitable and we all benefit by its living on. Do the cost/benefit analysis. I think we can agree CT’s primary mission is to make us laugh not change political views.
Kill Don!!! Kill! Kill! Kill! Manos has decreed it. Kill! Kill! Kill!
I don’t know what his intentions are though when he makes those jokes.
His “intentions” are the same as any comedian’s — to make the audience laugh.
And he did a pretty good job of it, too.
It’s hard to judge Frank’s routine as it isn’t posted nor are any examples of his jokes. If they consisted of smart political observations then there’s really no foul. If they came off as a greater-than-thou diatribe then that’s not really comedy. But without most of us seeing it, let’s not judge without examples.
A prefect correlation would be Emo Phillips last CD. On it he made a few political jokes aimed at Democrats (i.e. “I was in Massachusetts the other day and I was swerving all over the road as I had drank a bunch of cough syrup, a cop pulled me over and said ‘do you know what you get in Massachusetts for driving under the influence?’ I said “re-election to the Senate?”). Read his Amazon reviews as they are filled with people claiming he “sold out” and was some sort of a right-wing spokesperson for this. No, it was a creative, funny joke. But some people were offended by him (and those people will always exist, sadly).
The problem exists when performers use their status to promote their ideology. Jim Cornette is a legendary wrestling writer and promoter who used to have a popular podcast in which he told great stories of backstage booking and trivia. Then… he started devoting half his show to rants against Republicans. Not little snippets but full blown rants. The show? It’s gone. He ignore the postings by people asking him to just make them laugh and stop with the political tirades. He didn’t listen and half his audience left along with a lot from “the other side of aisle” that also wanted to be entertained.
TCT and RT are forms of escapism. People go there to laugh for a few hours. If you go there and get bombarded with political commentary then you’re not really escaping. If you go there and hear a few creative jokes with a slight political twinge then it’s ok. Anyone that takes holds their political beliefs so high that they can’t joke needs to calm down. But at the same time performers need to understand that there’s a difference between insight and polarization.
Again, I’m not going to judge Frank’s routine as I didn’t see it. But I do know that if Frank’s comedy solely consisted of humorous digs, then some people need to calm down and learn to laugh at their beliefs. On the other hand if he did engage in a political diatribe then he needs to realize he is alienating patrons and ultimately costing CT fans.
SO HOW WAS THE SHOW???????
@ Captn Ross Hagen. Good question. I hope most attendees enjoyed themselves as thoroughly I as I have at every CT live show I’ve been able to be at.
My stance here is pragmatic: Since politics are so sensitive, why risk alienating (roughly) half of your potential audience?
Because comedy and political commentary go together like Lenny and Bruce. Like George and Carlin. Like Richard and Pryor. Like Monty and Python. If you feel passionately about something, it is the braver course to use it in your work, provided you don’t stop being funny about it. Sure, you risk alienating some of your audience — that’s why it takes balls to do it. The ones who can’t handle it have their own comedians to listen to, like Michele Bachmann.
but political humor is not why I like MST, CT or RT. I like funny commentary for bad movies. Of course a political jab or two is humorous throughout a movie. That was part of MST and I still think they’re funny.
I think it’s also important to remember that these are the opening acts.
As I understand it the opening acts are the *individuals* chances to do what they want to do.
In the world of stand up do you think that Carlos Mencia would ever walk up to Chris Rock and say “You know dude, your stuff if funny but you might want to lay off the racial gags — that sort of thing might alienate your audience.”
It’s also important to remember that all of these guys started their lives as stnd-up comedians and to greater or lesser degree they still are. The opening warm-up is their chance to flex those old muscles or try something out or do what they want to do.
In short it is *their* moment to be themselves outside of the collective of CT.
If you don’t like Frank’s stand-up then simply leave the room while he’s performing and come back in after he’s done.
It does no one any good to blame *all* the CT-ers because someone doesn’t like *Frank’s* routine.
And actually, I think I would have *less* respect for Joel and the gang if they *did* try to tell Frank how to run his own, personal stand-up.
These guys aren’t a hive mind. They may come together and be of like minds on the movie riffing but outside of that they have their own interests, their own styles and their own lives.
Political views? All Frank did was make a couple fat jokes about Chris Christie from what I remember.
“In the world of stand up do you think that Carlos Mencia would ever walk up to Chris Rock and say “You know dude, your stuff if funny but you might want to lay off the racial gags — that sort of thing might alienate your audience.””
This is not exactly an apples to apples comparison. Chris Rock does what Chris Rock has always done. It is trademark. MST is not known for political stuff.
And CT is not MST3K and also CT is not what these guys did or do as stand-up either.
The CT movie riffs don’t have a lot of political content either
But if I were watching, say, J Elvis, onstage doing stand-up I wouldn’t expect him to be the same persona as he uses for CT necessarily.
It’s like Bob Saget. People who have seen the man live report that his stand-up persona is waaaayyyyy different than his sitcom dad role or his host of AFHV role. And that’s fair — he should have the right to do what he wants to do.
I think the Brains’ have always made a few political jokes, I can’t remember the episode but there was some kind of apocalyptic scene on screen and Servo said something about “the Reagan years,” I think there were a few others like that. They have also made lots of fun of white people like all the jokes in Catalina Caper that some still complain about and there were some anti-Christian jokes that bothered people in Night of the Vampires. Unless Frank was going on a rant (not actually doing standup anymore but ranting), I would argue that there was probably nothing in this show that should have surprised anyone, although I certainly can’t be sure since I didn’t see it. People should be secure enough in their opinions that an occasional joke about them won’t hurt their feelings, obviously you don’t want to see an hour and a half set of jokes making fun of your opinions/ideals but I find it hard to believe that’s what happened here.
“Funny, how conservatives like to pose as tough guys but get their poor widdle feelings hurt so easily.”
Yeah, and it’s also funny how liberals never, ever get their panties in a wad about “climates of hate” and “incendiary statements.”
Oh, wait. They do. Every freaking day.
“Climates of Hate” would be a perfect name for a metal band.
#40 Hey Bruce did ya go to the show? How was the movie? Did ya enjoy the riffing? Conservatives? Panties in a wad? Lighten up will ya! For some reason, I look to these posts to see how people enjoyed the show not to hear some “piss ant” whining about politics and liberals. While you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders and have all the answers, find some place else to spew your bile! I want to hear about the movies and MST3K, Rifftrax, and CT. Why has this turned into such a “cry fest?” Did anyone take pictures of people at the show? When are the new movies coming out? I just feel that these or most of these posts have been people complaining. Why do they go to the shows? Do they know how to go on the road and riff movies and please everyone? What do they do for work? I’m already sick of all the politics in the paper, on the news. I don’t care who it is, they waste our time making promises they can’t keep and then who ever wins the election we automatically see people with bumper stickers saying “don’t blame me, I voted for….. who cares! I’ve always watched these movies and enjoyed this as comedy and an escape from the day-to-day crap we have to put up with! Let’s keep this about MST3K and the rest and leave politics out of it…..
This was my fifth time seeing a Cinematic Titanic show, and I found it a mixed bag. They must know by now that they’re getting repeat customers — we’re their own personal Deadheads — so changing up some of the opening act material might be a good idea. As much as I adore Trace, I have to agree with others who have posted that his pre-movie set seemed more like shilling than actual entertainment. But it’s all a matter of preference: I’d gladly pay to see Gruber or Frank do a full stand-up set, even if I’ve heard some of their stuff before.
In Frank’s defense, doing anti-Republican jokes in New York City is a pretty safe bet. Not to mention, I think he did maybe two jokes that were overtly political — the other Chris Christie jabs were just silly fat jokes that could’ve been about any rotund celeb.
I’ve watched the DVD release of “East Meets Watts” several times and still enjoyed the live show. It helped that I was with a friend who’d never seen a single episode of MST3K and wondered what all the hubbub was about. He was in hysterics, doubled over laughing at some points (particularly the “THAT’s what you want your hitchhiker thinking about!” line). It was a great reminder of just how clever and surprising these writers can be.
All in all, it was a chance to see some of my favorite entertainers doing what they do best, and enjoying the chance to perform in front of their fans. I’m never going to pass up a chance to see them.
I went in “fresh”, i.e. not having seen them do East vs. Watts before. I loved every last second of it, except for Trace’s poetry reading beforehand which I felt was a bit dull. My favorite part was the hurricane of mute jokes when it turned out one of the love interests couldn’t speak, and of course the “watch out for snakes/rock climbing” callback, which I think got some of the loudest cheers that night.
I had the pleasure–more like the embarrassment, actually–of meeting Trace, Josh and Dave (who I didn’t recognize at the time in spite of knowing “Freaks and Geeks” backwards and forwards”). I was behind the theater, finishing up my take-out, eating a cookie, when I saw them, and attempted to gush with a massive chunk of cookie in my mouth, which resulted in me having difficulty breathing, and they go “Eat, breath, eat, breath”, and now I’m laughing. I eventually managed to get some words out.