MST3K Reunion

End of June Eryn and I went to the MST3K reunion event at the State Theater downtown.  I sponsored their Kickstarter reboot and they had sent me a notice it was coming, but I hadn't thought about it until I realized Eryn might want to go.  The MST3K t-shirt she owns and frequently wears should have been a sign.  She encouraged me to buy tickets, so we made it a daddy-daughter night.

It was an excellent venue.  We could see (and hear) well, despite how far away they were from our seats.  We didn't sit here.  We sat inside.


Eryn's not always pleased to have her photo taken.  As Mean Mr Mustard said, teenage girls seem to want to be ironic about everything, even if they're having a kickass time.


Inside the theater.  That guy in front of us snuggled with his Tom Servo rather than his girlfriend for the whole show.  Although Tom's head came off at one point, so I wonder if he was full of hard liquor.  The real Tom would probably approve.


The pre-show trivia was excellent.


In the outer area where you could find a snack, there was a costume contest going on. I wasn't sure if this guy was supposed to be Mike or Joel.  Crow wasn't subject to the same confusion, although he didn't talk, so who knows which version he's representing.


Dr. Forrester.  He had the look down, but I didn't get the sense he had the attitude down.


Our closest seat neighbor.  I'm not sure where he had these hidden the first half hour - you couldn't buy them - but at some point he pulled out his plushy Crow and Servo.


Eryn, a little less grumpy at having her photo taken.  Sleepy looking though.  The show consisted of alumni riffing on shorts.  We saw Mike, his wife, Joel, Dr. Forrester, TV's Frank, Pearl...well, all of them, including Jonah Ray who will be the new castaway.  It was a busy show. They covered several shorts, but our favorites where: Industrial Accidents (don't stick your arm in a great big metal moving tube), Is it Corn? (we can't be sure...but it's good for art), the perfect 50s kitchen (housewives manipulating their husband to procure large appliances, starring the dad from A Christmas Story).

Eryn laughed like a maniac.


We parked several blocks away at the hotel I usually park at. It was a good walk and we saw this painting of Como, which I don't think is nearly as good as the photos I framed for Ming.  And we saw a piano on the street which confused us, but apparently it's art: http://www.downtownmpls.com/pianos

Manos: Hands of Felt and Other Puppetphenalia

I backed a puppet production of Manos: Hands of Felt, and this weekend they sent me access to a copy.  It's a popular motif.  I backed The Gamers: Hands of Fate as well.  No puppets in that production.

We sat down as a family to watch it.  It was much shorter than the MST3K version and lasted just over an hour.  That's plenty of time for a puppet show in my opinion.  However, it immediately remedies one of the issues with the original which is that it seems to go on forever.

Hands of Felt was very amusing, although my family stated many times during the show, "This is really confusing."  What's confusing about dead puppet brides strapped to stakes and movie directories slowly losing their minds?  I think it was less confusing than the original.  Puppets definitely helped rather than hindered.  It was slow in a few spots.  But invariably that was where Hands of Felt were making a joke that required knowing something about the original, so they worked it for a bit.  Supposedly a bots-type track will be added at some point.  So the MST3K guys will have riffed on the original and Hands of Felt will have riffed on MST3K and then Hands of Felt will riff on their own riff.  Who knew Torgo and The Master would ever get that much play.

While I can't give you a link to Hands of Felt, I will provide you with this video for a Magic the Gathering puppet musical (via io9). I like the first number the best.

Manos Hands of Felt

I sponsored the Kickstarter project "Manos: Hands of Felt" a puppet movie based on one of the worst movies of all time that was spoofed by the MST3K gang.  This is the new poster.  I'm very excited to see progress toward being able to sit down and watch the finished product with Kyle.  I might have to have a party when the DVD shows up.

MST3k - Eegah

Kyle and I went to Bryant Lake Bowl tonight to watch Eegah, the MST3K episode of the month. Made more enjoyable by chicken nachos and a wide selection of beer. A special surprise tonight was that Trace Beaulieu was there. In case you're not familiar with his role on MST3K, he was both Crow T. Robot and Dr. Clayton Forrester.  He was promoting his new book, Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children.  He read a few of them, including one that involved a tapeworm.  Seems like Christmas gift material to me.

My favorite quote from Eegah, "He's like a cabbage patch Elvis."