From: eichlerSPAMBGONE2@comcastsucksbecausetheydontsupportuse.net   
      
   On Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:19:01 +0000 (UTC), nebusj-@-rpi-.edu (Joseph   
   Nebus) wrote:   
      
   >In <4f1a3cb7.1886736448@news.eternal-september.org> eichlerSPAM   
   GONE2@comcastsucksbecausetheydontsupportuse.net (Bice) writes:   
   >   
   >>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.   
      
   Yeah, same here - I didn't have Comedy Central until long after they   
   cancelled MST3K, so I mostly know of the Higgens Boys and Gruber from   
   promos on some of the early MST3K tapes I traded for.  I recognized   
   him from his appearances on Freaks and Geeks, Malcom in the Middle   
   and News Radio.   
      
      
   >He's certainly funny enough, and I can't imagine fans   
   >protesting him riffing.  Maybe he just doesn't want to.   
      
   He was really funny, which is what tipped me off that he wasn't just   
   some local guy they hired to warm up the crowd.  Someone should have   
   introduced him though - I think most of the audience thought he was   
   a stage hand until he started telling jokes.   
      
      
   >        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,   
      
   Oh yeah, he did a whole bunch of Chris Christie jokes too, such as   
   "Sorry we're getting started late - we drove from New York and had   
   to take a 3 hour detour around Chris Christie".   
      
      
   >>  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 have to accept simply that Joel has magical powers which transcend   
   >natural law, and that they're mostly based around restoring torn-up   
   >newspapers.   
      
   From my mis-spent youth when I actually learned a bunch of magic   
   tricks, I think the way it's done is that he has 2 copies of the same   
   newspaper page.  One is folded up small and palmed.  He tears the   
   other one up, and at one point drops a piece and has to pick it up.   
   That's just to distract the audience while he replaces the torn-up   
   copy and with the folded up whole copy, which he then unfolds and   
   amazes the crowd with.  At least that's how I remember it being done,   
   but when he balled up the torn-up copy it seemed way too big to hide   
   in his palm, so...yeah, Joel does have mystical powers.   
      
      
   >        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.   
      
   We were in the second row of the balcony, but my eyes are crap,   
   especially in the dark.  So I could only see vaguely human-shaped   
   blurs on stage holding what appeared to be glowing pieces of paper   
   (which my wife later told me were iPads or something of the sort).   
      
      
   >>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.   
      
   After having the chance to meet Mike and Kevin at Exoticon, I   
   wasn't leaving the theater until I met the rest of the gang.  I   
   was about 3/4 of the way back in the line, but it still only took   
   about half an hour or so to get up to the autograph table - the   
   line moved pretty briskly.  It was really surreal when Joel (who   
   was first in line at the table) turned to me and stuck his hand   
   out.  After watching him on TV for 20+ years, suddenly being   
   confronted with an older-looking version was just...odd.  Still   
   a thrill though.   
      
   The whole cast looked really tired, like they couldn't wait to get   
   back to the hotel and get some sleep.  But they still did their best   
   to be friendly.  I noticed Joel was having his wine glass refilled   
   on a fairly regular basis, so that was probably adding to his   
   usual sleepiness.   
      
   My favorite comment was from Trace.  He was at the end of the line,   
   and by the time he signed my episode guide, it already had 6 other   
   signatures on it.  So he looked at it for a while, signed it and   
   said "That's everyone I think.  The curse is complete."  I said   
   "Does that mean I have to watch another 20 years of movie riffing?"   
   and he answered "I hope so."   
      
      
   >>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.   
      
   Yeah, I had no idea they've released so many movies - I haven't   
   been keeping up.  I think they had five or six available at the   
   show.  I only had enough cash to buy two.  I was going to get   
   Trace's new book, but it was the same price as the DVDs and I   
   went with a second movie instead.  Next time I'll take more money.   
      
      
   >        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.   
      
   I missed the Time Tube project entirely - what was that all about?   
      
   I wish they'd included the pre-show standup bits on the live DVDs I   
   bought.  Even just sticking them on there as a DVD extra would be   
   nice.  Oh well.   
      
     -- Bob   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)