Sorry Fort Worth, the RiffTrax Live event was awesome!
Posted Friday, August 21, 2009 at 2:14 PM Central
by John Couture
(courtesy of Ryan Block)
Having been born and raised in Detroit, I let out a little groan when the RiffTrax crew, formerly of MST3K fame, went for the easy Detroit joke during their warm-up riff of the short "Flying Stewardesses," but it was nothing compared to what they must've been feeling in Fort Worth, Texas. The boys piled on early and often and the result was nothing short of comic brilliance.
If you're unfamiliar with the humorous stylings of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, I will never be able to do them justice in this piece, but one of their trademarks is the "callback" when they make reference to an earlier joke ad nauseam. Last night, Fort Worth was their callback and they milked it for every last laugh in front of the live audience in the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, TN.
I was one of the lucky ones to actually be in attendance at the Belcourt while the live event was beamed via satellite to 434 theaters across the country for simulcast. I can't comment on those other 434 theaters (obviously), but if the reaction was anything like the roaring laughter in the Belcourt, it's safe to say that a good time was had by all.
The event, hosted by the lovely Veronica Belmont, co-host of Revision3's Tekzilla and Qore on the PlayStation Network, also featured musical guest Jonathan Coulton who serenaded the crowd with "The Future Soon" and the more topical "Re: Your Brains." The latter song completely set the mood for the three part zombie (well six technically if you count all three Bela Lugosis) cult "classic" Plan 9 from Outer Space.
But, the real stars of the program were the three part harmony of the main comics and it was pretty apparent that they haven't missed a beat in all these years.
Kevin Murphy was stellar with his sound effect laden comedy which he turned into a running gag with each fast and loose handling of a handgun. Bill Corbett provided excellent reaction commentary and played the perfect foil to Kevin's many attacks.
As for Mike Nelson, his task is akin to that of a symphony's conductor. Some of the best written jokes were his and he was always there to maintain the pace of the riffs as well as the pulse of the live crowd.
One aspect of their routine that never came across properly on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and I'm unsure how much of it was readily apparent in the other theaters, but their physical comedy is also spot on. All three of them are animated in their comedy and this little subtlety alone should be reason for you to seek out a live performance if you can.
As for the routine itself, some of the jokes were retread classics that have stood the test of time, while others were more current ("Paul Blart: Cemetery Cop"). However, one of the lines that went over the best may have been their most recent gag when Mike remarked how an emotionless Tor Johnson resembled the masses that have propelled Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to the top of the box office. I think it's safe to say that the boys will be riffing that one soon enough.
I think the three of them could make a pretty nice living touring the country like a roving band of troubadours, or gypsies, regaling each unsuspecting audience with the funniest bits of some of the worst cinematic trash in history.
In the meantime, you can visit their site RiffTrax.com and download their commentary riffs for many older and newer movies among other comic offerings.