I saw the show in Philadelphia (or, rather, in a leafy Philadelphia suburb north of the city called Glenside), in a lovely old movie house called the Keswick.
The show was terrific and I laughed and laughed all night long. Joel was, of course, great, and Jonah was cool and relaxed and very funny. But I expected that. I want to praise Tim Ryder, who filled in for Hampton Baron and did splendidly, but especially Rebecca Hanson, who was, really a standout and who was completely unflummoxed by a couple line flubs (I’m sure Joel had some notes for his cast after the show was over).
The first movie was, as advertised “Eegah!” and the riffing was very very good, and I liked that in four or five places they just accepted that the funniest possible riff had already been written and just went ahead and used them, but mostly offered a brand new take on that terrible movie.
The “surprise” second movie was 1967’s “Argoman the Fantastic Superman,” sort of “”Secret Agent Super Dragon” meets “The Pumaman.” Again the riffing was very strong and I loved it.
One negative thought: I’m not sure “Clowns in the Sky” is the optimal choice for a big closer. I miss Lou Reed’s “Satellite of Love.”
My grade: A.
Your thoughts?
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For what it is worth, I believe all of the shows were separate ticketed events. I had to buy tickets for each show in Atlanta, even though they were on the same night, in the same venue. Hence why I was in the Orchestra for the early show and the Loge for the second show.
Sadly it got cancelled where I live and I missed out entirely.
I live in Denver thus saw Eegah! and enjoyed it immensely, though all things being equal would have rather seen the mystery movie. The live environment led to some jokes being missed in the laughter but that’s to be expected. I also hoped that they taped one of the mystery movie sessions. A short would have been nice, even a pre-taped one. I was disappointed that my Revival League card didn’t merit a discount on merch. It was amusing how long the mens room line was and there was no woman’s room line. All and all I hope they do this again.
A little late to chime in, I know, but I took in both shows at the State Theater in Minneapolis on Friday, August 4. My nephew just turned 15, and he has been a constant companion at all Rifftrax live events. We both enjoyed the evening– but he was particularly baffled by the surprise movie. It didn’t make a lot of sense plot-wise, that’s for sure.
I’m pretty sure we were the only place that got to see Har Mar Superstar sing the theme song LIVE. He was introduced by Joel at both the 7 pm and 10 pm show to lead the sing-along. It was an extra little treat. Joel also introduced and thanked a lot of other people, including Charlie Erickson in attendance as “the most musical person I know.”
I wonder if Joel did individual thank yous/introductions at other stops?
Joel’s interaction with the audience before the show started was pretty funny for both shows. One audience member started into a long statement about how he met Joel at a different show and just kept rambling for like a minute. The audience started murmuring and at the end Joel just said, “that wasn’t me.” Everybody cracked up.
I enjoyed the experience. I really do hope we get to see a VOD or some other incarnation of these movies. Fingers crossed for season 12 on Netflix.
As an aside, my wife (who was also in attendance) said she told her boss that she was going to see MST3K live. Her boss, in her mid 50s, said she dated Joel when they both lived in Los Angeles in the mid 1980s before MST started. All she said was Joel was a bit “daffy.” Could be worse! Small world, eh