From: nebusj-@-rpi-.edu   
      
   In <4f1a3cb7.1886736448@news.eternal-september.org> eichlerSPAMB   
   ONE2@comcastsucksbecausetheydontsupportuse.net (Bice) writes:   
      
      
   >I just got back from the Cinematic Titanic show in York, PA, and   
   >it was great.  My first time seeing a live MST3K-style show, so   
   >I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be even better   
   >than I was hoping for.   
      
           I'm glad you went, and also glad you reported on it.  I've   
   been to several Cinematic Titanic shows in Princeton and Manhattan,   
   and hope to make Newark come March.   
      
      
   >The evening started with a comedian coming out and telling a bunch   
   >of jokes about York.  So I figured it must be a local guy, but he   
   >looked so familiar...eventually one of the CT crew identified him   
   >as Gruber from the old Comedy Central show The Higgins Boys and   
   >Gruber.  An unexpected bonus.   
      
           Gruber's participation surprised me the first time around,   
   but I didn't have Comedy Central until after the Higgins Boys And   
   Gruber was off-air, so I went in without knowing much of anything   
   about him.   
      
           I understand the value of having him around as warm-up act,   
   but I'm also a bit surprised he's not brought in as one of the   
   riffers.  He's certainly funny enough, and I can't imagine fans   
   protesting him riffing.  Maybe he just doesn't want to.   
      
      
   >I also didn't know that each of the Cinematic Titanic folks was   
   >going to come out and do a solo bit before the show.  Mary Jo read   
   >a few excerpts from her new book (literally a word from this page,   
   >a word from that page, etc).   
      
           Every show I've been at, Mary Jo's has been the killer bit.   
   I'm amazed by her comic presence.  It's attenuated horribly by the   
   TV cameras.   
      
      
   >Frank came out and did stand-up for   
   >a while, and then Gruber came out and joined him for a bunch of   
   >jokes about the Vietnamese new year or something like that.  It   
   >kind of bombed, but just watching TV's Frank kind of force his   
   >way through it while simultaneously acknowledging that it wasn't   
   >working was funny.   
      
           I've seen Frank do other ``bad standup'' bits in shows.  In   
   the Princeton shows they tend to run towards jokes about the weight   
   of Governor Chris Christie, which ... yeah, I get that they're self-   
   consciously bad jokes, but they're made up of bad jokes.  I think   
   he doesn't quite manage the twist that makes them gleefully bad.   
      
      
      
   >  Finally Joel came out and did   
   >a magic trick where he tore up a newspaper and then restored it   
   >to one piece right before our eyes.  Even though I know how the   
   >trick is done, he's so smooth with it that it caught me by   
   >surprise.   
      
           I've never understood how the newspaper trick is done.  I've   
   seen it explained some, but the explanations clearly have nothing to   
   do with how they're done because I can't even see how that would work.   
   I have to accept simply that Joel has magical powers which transcend   
   natural law, and that they're mostly based around restoring torn-up   
   newspapers.   
      
      
   >After that the lights went down, the CT crew took their spots   
   >at the sides of the stage and we were treated to first class   
   >riffing of a really lame 70s "horror" movie called Rattlers.   
      
           I haven't seen this one, but I'm looking forward to it.   
      
      
   >My only complaint is that it's often hard to tell who is   
   >saying what on stage.  It seemed like Frank and Josh hardly   
   >talked at all, but I'm sure they did and I just didn't   
   >recognize their voices and attributed their lines to Joel   
   >and Trace.  On the other hand, it was easy to tell Mary Jo's   
   >lines (as the only female voice), and Joel sounded like Joel   
   >and Trace often sounded like Crow, so they weren't hard to   
   >pick out.  And really, it didn't really matter who was   
   >saying the lines most of the time - it was still funny.   
      
           At the Princeton theater I found the balcony seats are   
   really great: it's easy to see who's saying what from that vantage   
   point.   
      
      
   >After the movie the members of CT all came out to the lobby   
   >to sign autographs and shake hands.  I was kind of surprised   
   >that about half of the crowd left right away, but the line   
   >to meet the cast still snaked all around the lobby.   
      
           This, I admit, I've never done.  The lines are just so   
   horribly long that I don't feel tempted to join them, so, I'm   
   missing the chance to have autographed copies of my Amazing Colossal   
   Episode Guide.  It's got a broken spine anyway, since they all do.   
      
      
   >Oh, and take lots of money.  I dropped $40 at the merchandise   
   >table and was wishing I had brought more cash.   
      
           I have that problem too.  I mostly go in for the DVDs, and   
   they always seem to have about eight more than I even knew existed.   
      
      
   >  -- Bob "Bice" Eichler, ex-r.a.t.m.m poster and long-time lurker   
      
           I kinda miss the ones with the subterranean lair framing   
   device, though.  The DVDs of the live shows are a lot of fun, but   
   the Time Tube Project was intriguing.   
      
   --   
   http://nebusresearch.wordpress.com/                             Joseph Nebus   
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