Also, if anybody went to the John Hodgman shows this weekend where Bill and Kevin performed, we would love to hear about it.
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How Was the Show?An open thread for reports from this weekend’s Cinematic Titanic shows in Newark, N.J.
24 Replies to “How Was the Show?”Commenting at Satellite News
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Excellent as always. I drove from Brooklyn, New York and it was well worth it. I decided to book a hotel room right across the street from the theater since I am also going to tomorrows show as well. Frank made a few comments about Chris Christie (which were well received) and the rest did their usual fair. Is Joel not doing anymore magic tricks? At the New York show last September he was doing them.
Brooklyn!
Can anyone familiar with NJPAC recommend nearby parking that’s cheaper? Or free? Free would be nice.
The Kevin and Bill appearance at the John Hodgman show at the Majestic Theatre in Madison was quite wonderful. Kevin and Bill performed two songs, one about the Twilight series, another a rendition of the Game of Thrones theme song with lyrics (working in every single book title, impressively, and ending with “Hodor Hodor Hodor!” when they couldn’t rhyme “A Dance with Dragons”). They riffed two shorts, “What is Patriotism?” with a hungover-looking Bob Crane (lots of “Autofocus” jokes) and an educational short on safety, involving an alien abductee who dons a superhero costume and teaches terrified-looking children about the dangers that await them in the street and around the house. For the latter they were joined by George R.R. (“Railroad”) Martin, played by Hodgman in a fake beard. They also made an appearance during Hodgman’s set, helping out, along with members of the audience, during a script reading of Hodgman’s proposed reality series, misleadingly titled “Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson Starring John Hodgman.” All three were available to sign things after the show, which lasted about two and a half hours (!). Quite a good time.
@Sharktopus
There is actually a parking spot it seems right next to the hotel I am staying at (Best Western) which is directly across from from the theater. I can’t confirm the prices for that or the other ones though since I am using the free parking the hotel gave me.
@ Brooklyn: Thanks for the response. We’re thinking we’ll park at the the NJ Transit station – free parking on weekends – and take the light rail to the theater. Two round trip tickets is still ten bucks cheaper than parking at NJPAC. It may sound petty, but $16 for parking, on top of the $7 “internet ticket handling fee,” is just going too far.
It’s bad enough we have to drive into godforsaken New Jersey, but they want us to pay for the privilege? :-P
IS IT ME OR DOES ANYONE ELSE THINK MOST OF THESE SHOULD BE UNDER THE HOW WAS THE PARKING? OR WHERE CAN I PARK? NOT UNDER — HOW WAS THE SHOW?
DID THE CT CREW ALL HAVE GOOD PARKING? I WONDER IF KEVIN AND BILL FOUND GOOD PARKING? DID THEY CAR POOL AND FIND GOOD PARKING? DID ANYONE GET FREE PARKING IN MONOPOLY? DID ANYONE WATCH SUBMARINE RACES WHILE THEY WERE PARKING? OR DID ANYONE SEE PARADISE BY THE DASHBOARD LIGHT WHILE THEY WERE PARKING?
Second show.
Once again, nothing but absolute brilliance. The riffing came out strong right from the start and I was in tears almost at some points. I will say it once again they are some of the nicest people I have seen and they really do love their fans.
Dave Gruber Allen is also fantastic and he goes as far as to come off the stage to shake hands and talk to fans. Really an outstanding guy. Please come back to the New York area again soon CT! :-)
DAVE GRUBER ALLEN IS ONE COOL CAT. AT THE FIRST SHOW THEY DID IN BOSTON HE WAS TALKING TO MY WIFE AND I LIKE WE WERE IN SCHOOL TOGETHER. I TOLD HIM HE WAS GREAT IN FREAKS AND GEEKS AND HE GOES UP TO THIS GUY THAT HAD HIM SIGN HIS FREAKS AND GEEKS YEAR BOOK SET AND HE SAYS “CHECK THIS OUT.” AND HE STARTS SHOWING US STUFF IN THE GUYS BOOK AND HE POINTS OUT PICTURES OF J.ELVIS’S HIGH SCHOOL PICTURE IN THE SET AND HE SAYS “GUESS WHO THIS IS?”
EVERY TIME WE’VE SEEN THEM HE IS SUCH A GRACIOUS CAT TO TALK TO. AND SO IS MARY JO’S HUSBAND. I WANT TO BUT HIM A LOBSTER DINNER AND HAVE A FEW IPA’S WITH HIM. HE’S SUPER NICE AND HE TALKS TO YOU LIKE HE’S A GOOD FRIEND. GREAT BUNCH OF PEOPLE AND I HOPE THEY CONTINUE TO BE ENCOURAGED BY THE MEET AND GREETS WITH THE FANS. BIG PART OF MY LIFE AS I’M SURE THEY ARE TO ALL FANS OF THEIR WORK.
NOW PLEASE COME TO BOSTON AND I’LL BUY MARY JO’S HUSBAND A LOBSTER DINNER AND A FEW IPA’S.
So the parking was good then?
Manny Sanguillen, parking was plentiful and readily available, at all price levels!
… oh, and the show was a delight, too. Somehow I got it in my head they were doing ALIEN Factor, which would have been fine, but I was delighted to learn at the last minute that it was ASTRAL Factor, a movie I hadn’t seen them do before!
One of the things I love about CT shows is that they’re such casual affairs. While we were waiting to go into the theater (the Victoria Theater at NJPAC is a beautiful venue, BTW), we saw Gruber just hanging out and talking to some friends/fans. Throughout, he sets such a warm and easygoing tone for the evening.
Not much to say about the show itself, except that I laughed until I cried, which is par-for-the-course for a CT show.
#10 THE PARKING WAS GREAT. AND I WOULD STILL BUT MARY JO’S HUSBAND A LOBSTER IF I CAN FIND A GOOD PLACE TO PARK.
BUT HIM A LOBSTER—IS THAT SOME BOSTON THING YOU DO???
I MEANT BUY HIM A LOBSTER DINNER AND AN IPA OR TWO OR THREE FOR THAT MATTER.
@ Ross: We parked in the garage under the theater. Expensive, but very convenient. By the the way, there should be a button on the left of your keyboard labelled CAPS LOCK. PUSH IT.
I hate typing on this iPhone, so I’ ll share my non-parking thoughts later.
CONVOLUTED MAAAAAAN!
hey great advice about that button. all the time i thought it had something to do with teeth, didn’t know it made BIG LETTERS.
like no parking says what it means but not like— NO PARKING—-
THANK—-oops sorry, Thanks Shaktopus for Bee-in-on- top-o’this.
Also I chicken pick when I type so it takes me forever to chip out a message. I’m not like you young whipper snappers with your iPHONES and your Shake Weights,and parking under theaters on the Facebook with the Itunes blasting on your GPS things with the Wi-Fi fancy pants gadgets all you kids have. I chicken pick and use a rotary phone-8 Track-VHC-Beta-Max-Atari-2600 baby I’M OLD SCHOOL, CAP LOCK ON BABY!
I was at the second show, and I had a really good time. Adding the slides to the pre-show countdown worked fine, and the warm-up by the cast and Gruber was very funny. They always manage to make a few adjustments so that the material is never the same thing each time.
I’m glad the riffing was good, too, because the movie was an absolute mess. “The Astral Factor” is right down there with “Castle of Fu Manchu”, in my opinion.
And I parked across the street from NJPAC. $15, but I didn’t mind. When I’m in Newark, I want parking close by and out in the open (even if there were Newark Police officers nearby).
Oh, and a note to Frank: I immediately got the April Dancer and Hymie Kelly references and I thought they were funny, even if few others picked up on them.
I went to both shows on Saturday and had a blast! I do have the “Doomsday Machine” DVD but I haven’t watched it in at least a year so it was fresh to me. “The Astral Factor” was my first viewing and it was funny! I was among those who couldn’t stop laughing when Trace did the Frankenstein’s Monster grunts each time the Police Chief was on camera. {“FIRE!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!} In fact I had tears running down my face! I also think the Titans avoided the obvious by not making riffs about “Hart to Hart” and “Girl from U.N.C.L.E” when Stephanie Powers was on or “Prophecy” riffs during Robert Foxworth’s scenes.
{Or did they slip a few in & didn’t notice?}
I went to the first meet and greet and Joel was able to answer a question I had about “Amazing Colossal Man”. {Again with that profile pic!} I have the out of print Rhino VHS tape and when I play it through my hi-fi system, which has two subwoofers, I occasionally hear a low frequency roar like a truck or bus is going by! Joel said the studio was near a processing plant and sometimes they would have to stop taping when the outdoor sounds were too loud. Chances are they just went ahead and kept rolling when taping that episode.
I didn’t go to the second meet & greet. I was tired plus I drove a fellow CT fan back to Penn Sation to catch her train.
MarcusVermillion (#16),
They made one reference each to “Girl from U.N.C.L.E.” and “Hart to Hart”. So far as I know, there weren’t any “Prophecy” riffs; they’d be too obscure for even MSTies.
I’d say probably the biggest laughs were the “Blackenstein” riffs and Josh’s sound effect to Foxworth spinning that whatever-it-was in the researcher’s office.
Went to the John Hodgman show in Chicago on the 1st. I mainly went, okay, really the only reason I went was to see Kevin and Bill. I don’t know what I thought they were going to be doing, but for some reason I was surprised, and extremely delighted, that they did some live riffing of a couple of shorts.
It sounds like it was the same show as summarized above, and they did a great job summarizing it, so I won’t repeat it here. The only thing that might have been different is when Hodgman did the bit about reality TV where he had Kevin and Bill join him on stage, they had some local Chicago actors come up and participate, including Jeff Garlin which was a surprise. He had a hard time getting through his part and kept laughing which in and of itself was hysterical. Overall a very entertaining evening. Altogether the show was about 3 hours.
Got to talk with Kevin and Bill after the show, both of whom were super gracious and nice as always. For my MST3K autograph project, I needed a few from Kevin and he was very kind to sign all of them for me (so if by chance you’re reading this, again a huge “THANK YOU!!!”). I had already gotten Bill in the past for my project, so he offered to sign a card promoting his “Super Powered Revenge Christmas” comic (the least I can do is offer a free plug!) which I thought was very nice of him. They’re both so easily accessible and down-to-earth, and of course when given the chance to chat with them I just get all star-struck and probably sound like an idiot. But hey, they’re legends to me.
Definitely great to see them live, and while it sounds unlikely, I would LOVE to have Mike come with them next time to Chicago to do a Rifftrax show!
I went to both shows on Saturday. The Titans are so nice and it is always lovely to meet them. I noted that Joel let his hair grow out a bit and it made him look like he did back in the day (awwwww so cute!). Also, Trace let the hair on his face grow out and he looked . . . well, sexy. That man looks better and better every time I see him.
Both movies were riffed to perfection. I have the Doomsday Machine on dvd, but it’s been a couple years since I watched it. The Titans pointed out that the ending of the movie was filmed ten years after the rest of the movie. It shows.
The Astral Factor . . . wow. I will buy this movie if they release it. While the Titans mention some of the stars appearing in this, they don’t mention that another one of the actors appeared in an MST3K experiment. Still another actor (one they made a hilarious riff on) appeared on Mission: Impossible several times. What I enjoyed most was the way the Titans handled a particular recurring theme in the movie. They kept silent about it, and let the movie take care of it. It got a round of applause.
I can’t wait to see another show already!
We saw 8pm showing of Astral Factor…..newer intro bits…no J.Elvis as Elvis Costello, no Joel Newspaper bit, T.B. Reading his book,etc. , Gruber played the Wavy Gravy jester, rather than Carlinesque rebel. he worked hard for laughs, but earned ‘ em./. J.Elvis did some good standup on entering middlle-age…..not as much politics (gov. Christie fat jokes were really just fat jokes) even from Frank ( we were close to the stage & I shouted “too soon” during his” Lincoln tweet” bit, which turned out to be the punchline….my apologies…wont do that again)…..riffs were good, though more at a leisurely KTMA pace…definitely more PG-13 rated, for language & adult humor ( and Stefanie Powers undressed), but that seems to part of the show now. Perhaps its just them trying to distinguish themselves from Rifftrax/ Mst3k . Trace B. Is now sporting a Dr Benton Quest look….something for the ladies…very good show overall ( p.s. Liked the Q & A , but these guys get squeemish whenever someone shouts “Mike” in a crowded theater….)
Sounds great. Very much looking forward to when the Rifftrax Manos tickets are going on sale. (Well, at least the Fathom screenings, since the theatre I used to work at has screened all three live shows.)
Both shorts mentioned are available elsewhere. The Patriotism one is part of Volume 1 of the Rifftrax Shorts DVD collection, and the Harm Hides At Home one is available on Hulu. (Showed this to a buddy, and he laughed his ass off.)
http://www.hulu.com/watch/278349/rifftrax-shorts-safety-harm-hides-at-home
I think I just may have to take the drive down to Tennessee (assuming that’s where the next live Rifftrax show will be broadcast from) so I can add Mike to the collection and be done so I can get everything framed up.
For anyone who has been to the other live Rifftrax shows, do the guys sign afterwards like they do at the Cinematic Titanic shows? I’d hate to drive 8 hours one way and not get to meet him!
This was my first time seeing both Doomsday Machine and Astral Factor. These guys knocked it out of the park, man. The feeling at the venue was very positive and energetic with barely any riffs falling on deaf ears. I didnt have upfront seats, but any seat at a Cinematic Titanic show is a great one. Frank did his Tweets from History, adding a bunch on top of the set he did last year at the Nokia Best Buy NokiaBestBuy Theater in NYC(;P).
I was dissappointed to not meet them last year, having a train to catch, but this year I stayed after both shows and met the crew. I have to say they are the most patient and friendly group of professionals I have ever met personally. I grabbed the two tour posters they had for that day and two DVDs. They signed everything I threw at them. I hope to see them more in the future, Princeton definitely, and can’t wait to throw more money at these hilarious and generous riff masters!
Only thing I have left to say is… more….. MMMMOOOOOORRRRREEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don R. (#20)
Re: the mention of Mike & Kevin during the Q&A, I figure they just don’t want anything they say to be misunderstood and used to start a flame war. History has shown us that such a thing can happen really easily. And, to both CT and Rt’s credit, both sides seem to be going out of ther way to avoid such a result.