Also: Philip Potempa of NWI.com (in nearby Indiana) needs a fact checker but his heart is in the right place.
Also: A nice little review by Jef Burnham at Filmmonthly.com
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Update: How Was the Show?An open thread for reports from this weekend’s Cinematic Titanic shows in Chicago. If you have any photos, send ’em along and if we like ’em, we’ll use ’em!
27 Replies to “Update: How Was the Show?”Commenting at Satellite News
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I’m going to the show on Saturday, are the guys doing a meet & greet before?
Sorry, this isn’t really related to tonight’s show! I can’t wait to hear about it, though!
East Meets Watts is hilarious. Loved it. Talked to RAD before the show, it’s ALWAYS wonderful to meet him. Mr. and Mrs. Beaulieu were as wonderful as always! Good to see everyone again. (I think they really like Chicago.)
Shan, they do the meet and greet generally after the show. I always bring my stuff for them to sign on the Thursday night show. There’s more time for them. There are two shows Friday and Saturday, but, being the troopers they are, they will meet and greet the fans. They really are appreciative of our support.
I’ll post again tomorrow night about this time. Unless, of course, I run into people from the Boards and we may be late.
I just returned from “East Meets Watts.”
The house was mostly full, there were two seats in my row open, and some others on the sides.
Mary Jo opened with a short, snappy few minutes, followed by some great bits by Dave (Gruber) Allen. Frank came out and performed “Convoluted Man,” aided and abetted by Josh and Gruber. Joel rounded out the opening segment by answering some questions – solicited from the audience by Gruber and RAD.
After a brief intermission – a short promo loop featuring performers coming soon to the Lakeshore – we experienced “East Meets Watts.”
I think they’ve honed this one to the razor’s edge. Some of the puns were painful, but hilarious nonetheless. Both Joel and Trace traded MST callbacks – well received by the audience – that were dismissed by Frank as “pandering.”* Frank later dropped in a callback of his own.
Frank also appeared to commit the only flub: he stumbled over his signature “Danger In [Famous Percussionist] Canyon!” line three times, finally giving up to even greater laughter. (If it was a Kaufmanesque gag, all the better.)
I laughed my head off – so if someone else reports in that there was some really loud laughing guy near the front, it was probably me.
This one was the only show I’ll be able to attend this weekend, but if the other two are as sharp as this one, it will be one hilarious weekend.
*I was with two friends who, while they liked MST wouldn’t be called big fans, didn’t get the references at all. They leaned over after Joel said, “Watch out for snakes!” to uproarious laughter, and asked me, “What does that mean?”
Encountering traffic problems, me and my boyfriend still got there in time for the show. In comparison to last December, it was emptier, but nonetheless, still awesome. I chatted to a guy who questioned how I heard about the performance, and it turns out the guy went to college with Joel and that they lived next to each other.
East Meets Watts was so amazingly hilarious. It was pretty funny on its own, but of course, dash on some commentary and it gets all the better. I remember howling in laughter when Trace (I believe) made a joke about Joliet prison, but I also remember being one of few to be laughing at it. And yes, the “pandering” riffs went over big (at least with me).
Since I’m attending all three nights, the afterward part was more of a “hey guys you were awesome” kind of thing. It resulted in both parties just sort of looking at one another before laughing. Good times.
Great fun last night at “East Meets Watts”. I wish the sound quality was a little better in the theater. I was sitting front row, extreme right, and some of the dialog from Joel, Mary Jo & Josh was at times hard to make out.
Great new gag: When Stud & Larry are confronted on the truck by the rednecks, Frank says, “Don’t you guys have a town hall meeting to go to?!” Loved the quintuple spittake at the first use of the n-word. Also, Trace going, “Why are you still trying to outrun him? You’re in the same car!”
Oddly enough, I wore my Camp Lazlo shirt because my weird intuition thought it would get recognized. (It’s a former Cartoon Network show animated by Joe Murray.) Sure enough, Gruber pointed out that he knew the guy who did the music for the show. Also, I inadvertently dissed Joel’s hometown of Arena during the show. (oh poopie!)
I’d be curious to know how many people have had that “only one to get the joke / only one to laugh” experience. Katana (post number 4) mentions having this experience, though I’m not sure if that experience was based on being the only one to get the joke or the only one to find it funny (I, admittedly, don’t get what the reference to Joilet prison is about).
When I saw the CT gang in Cleveland last February, I was the only one, to my knowledge, to laugh at Mary Jo’s “So THIS is what Hannah Arendt meant by ‘The Banality of Evil’!” joke during the very slow cave/snake scene. It was quite a guffaw, and I’m not one to guffaw easily, so I felt a teensy bit embarrassed, or at least very alone, when I realized absolutely no one else had any reaction at all that I could here.
During the meet and greet after the show I asked her if that line was going on the DVD, since it seemed to get no reaction (except from me; to this she said she did hear one guy laughing way out there in the back somewhere). She wasn’t sure, but Josh chimed in that it was, to my delight. She said that the inclusion of it would be dedicated to me. Aw, shucks, she probably says that to all the nerdy fanboys…seriously, she probably does, but it made my night anyway! :)
The moral: READ MORE BOOKS, PEOPLE! (So that I don’t have to feel like an idiot, odd-man-out when I burst out laughing at something obscure. Actually, ‘The Banality of Evil” SHOULDN’T be obscure…but..oh well.)
Just home from The Alien Factor.
First of all, I respectfully disagree with Joel. At the beginning, he said “AF” looked a lot like a John Waters movie. Sorry to disagree, but Waters’ films looked MUCH better. They’re competently lit.
AWFUL movie, hysterical riffing.
The opening act was completely reworked. (Except for Convoluted Man, which I have now seen 5 times.) The haiku (which really didn’t work last night) was gone tonight. The Clown Song was in, and Gruber did a great bit on Highlights For Children Magazine.
@Trumpy: I had a couple of those only one laughing moments tonight — they had quite a few . . . older . . . references that I got, but not many other people did.
Met a lot of people from the Message Boards — it was great! RAD introduced us around, and we had a ball.
Looking forward to Danger on Tiki Island tomorrow night!!
Re.comment #6
Quoting myself from my (very lengthy) post of the San Francisco CT presentation of Dynamite Brothers (now East Meets Watts) from the Feb. 13, 2009 How Was the Show? thread:
“Some jokes fell like lead balloons, others went right over our heads. Mary Jo’s crack about Hannah Arendt’s “Banality of Evil” got a laugh from about 3 people right behind me, whereas Joel’s “I’ve got tubes in my ears” got a laugh of recognition from me and maybe one other guy.”
Of course I had to look her up on Wikipedia, so now I get the joke.
I’ve since discovered that the Mike & the Bots riff on Mole People contains a reference to Hannah Arendt also, so it’s also a callback of sorts.
“Great new gag: When Stud & Larry are confronted on the truck by the rednecks, Frank says, ‘Don’t you guys have a town hall meeting to go to?!'”
‘Z’ounds. Speaking as a proud Democrat, may I briefly say, “UGH”. Dismissive and petty. Puerile bull****. Just gross. I saw footage of meetings in California, New Hampshire, Massachussets, New York, Maryland, etc., all attended by people of many different persuasions and walks of life. It appeared to me that forums in the deep south were the least virulent of all. I really wish people would stop thinking so catagorically about opposing viewpoints. I don’t care if this is “comedy”, it’s reductive and childish. It brings down the national discourse in a way that is just fascist and unacceptable to me.
Otherwise, sounds like a great night out. They simply must visit other parts of the country rather than hammering the same sites. I’d love to go see a show and be filled with righteous indignation and stuff in person.
I remember howling in laughter when Trace (I believe) made a joke about Joliet prison
The only Joliet reference I remember was when Stud and Sarah (Everybody, sing!) were approaching her apartment and someone (Trace?) located it in Joliet. I figured that line is a fill-the-blank-with-local-community-the-theater-is-not-located-in gag, so that it was something else in every other city where they performed “East Meets Watts.”
With respect for your opinion, NimblyRaven, are you really comparing a redneck joke to bought-and-paid-for insurance company workers infiltrating town halls and shouting down people who just want to hear from their representatives?
Really??
I’m guessing you didn’t go to the show. Or get it.
Another side note about Thursday’s show: While I was standing in front of the line on Thursday, I was surprised & impressed that Gruber recognized my face from last December’s Chicago shows. It’s just amazing how good a memory some entertainers have about their audiences.
To [NimblyRiven]: I won’t address the political aspects of your response, out of respect for the webmaster’s wishes to keep political discussions off these boards. I just wanted to say that I think you misconstrued my one sentence recount of Frank’s remark: (1) The film takes place in Watts, California, hence it being in the title, (2) I did not refer to the south; I just said “rednecks”, (3) rednecks are not geographically exclusive to the southern USA. Even northern states like Wisconsin has them, and not far from urban centers like Milwaukee either.
Sorry, guys, my post was inappropriate. I was sleep deprived and feeling acutely weary of the cavalier application of hateful labels like “white trash” which you have to admit, is prevalent. It had very little to do with national politics OR comedy. I was lashing out, and I’m sorry. Dan, I only mentioned the south as a way of, I don’t know, contradicting common…whatever. Though there’s no evidence to be found in my post, I do understand nuance and was appalled at the way debate was co-opted by people with ulterior motives. I apologize for commiting something approximating the same.
My question was asked. That’s really all I needed.
If you were at the Friday 10:30 show, I was responsible for the “is Frank seeing anyone” question. Said friend is undecided as to whether she loves me or wants to kill me.
And I’ll be there tonight, again at 10:30. I’ll be wearing (non-swimming) goggles, and hopefully get some pictures. XD;
Thursday night, Trace recognized us as soon as he saw us!
@Katana – Did they have a good answer?
GersonK: It’s a story…Hope you don’t mind having to read it. There’s even more to the story than the Frank bit, so it’s like a twofer.
(I hope my comment goes through this time…)
@GersonK: It’s a story that’s a bit too long for the comment box, so I hope you don’t mind having to read it. And there’s story alongside that one, so it’s like a twofer. :D
@ NimblyRiven: Thanks for being so understanding. Also, I appreciate you being in the trenches at the Town Halls.
(I hope my comment goes through this time…)
@GersonK: It’s a story that’s a bit too long for the comment box, so I hope you don’t mind having to read it. And there’s a story alongside that one, so it’s like a twofer. :D
Saw “Danger On Tiki Island” last night. Wow. Joel came out beforehand to warn everyone what a stinkburger this film would be. He was right. Wow. As wretched as the film was, the riffing was hilarious. Had a great time.
I hung around and had everyone sign my 20th Anniversary set. The cast were all very nice. I’m still kind of awestruck, since this was the first MST3K related event I’ve ever attended. In retrospect, it was excellent. Would attend another CT show.
And I am so sorry for my comment being posted 485786103 times. :oops:
Dear Fellow Audience Member (Who sounded like she’d had quite a few to drink),
I appreciate that you – like me – are a dyed-in-the-wool MSTie from years back. You know all the more popular riffs from the old show like I do. Mitchell! However I came to the show to hear Cinematic Titanic riff, not you. In future please keep your riffs to yourself and confine yourself to laughter (where appropriate).
Had a wonderful time watching “Danger on Tiki Island.” Did anyone else get a Wicker Man vibe off this movie? Teeny bit? Plus I have a soft spot for busty young ladies who run smack-dab *into* the danger.
Anyway, the whole production seemed a bit mellower. Last year it sort of felt like a lot like a trial run, maybe it would work and maybe it wouldn’t, but this time around everything felt more established and relaxed.
Mary Jo, you *almost* had me during your monologue. You were very convincing!
My only regret is that I don’t have enough scratch to attend all three nights. CT did a great job and a fun time was had by all.
The whole weekend was great. The Titans were really on their game all three nights. It was fun to see them again through the meet and greet line. RAD was as cool as always and I had a chance to meet a really fantastic group form the CT forum. It felt like getting together with a group of friends I’ve known for years. I’m working on a page for my website filled with pictures of the shows, cast and other events from the weekend.
The Saturday show was amazing, the Titans were as cool and cordial as ever, and I can’t wait for them to come back to Chicago. Simply awesome! :mrgreen:
BTW it was great meeting you, Tom, and I can’t wait to see the page when it’s finished!!!
Hey Spooky. It was great meeting you too. I hope you and your siblings had fun. Glad we had a little time to talk at lunch, but next time we’ll have to plan more time to get acquainted.