The Dream Of Portlandia Was Alive In Philly Last Night
Posted: 02.20.2012 Filed under: 2012, Carrie Brownstein, comedy, Eleanor Friedberger, Fred Armisen, live performance, Portlandia 1 Comment »
In March 2007, two of my friends, Jim and Ken, and I went to Portland, Oregon, for a week to visit two other friends, Jacob and Steph, who had moved out there on a whim simply because they heard it was a pretty cool place to live. To say the trip was a revelation might be an overstatement, but not by much: I immediately planned on driving cross-country to move out there, but, for some stupid reason, I ended up chickening out and buying a house instead.
Still, the dream lives on in my mind, hoping that one day I’ll make my way out there to live and work for at least a year. Until then, I live vicariously through Portlandia, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s irreverent and hilarious satire that, much like a Christopher Guest mockumentary, doesn’t cruelly ridicule its subject matter, but pokes gentle fun while embracing its oddness. Portland is a city that is genuinely odd; in the opening credits, a graffiti-ridden wall proudly proclaims “KEEP PORTLAND WEIRD”, and the show makes it a point to showcase the weird – to the point that the viewer is left saying, “No, there’s no way there’s people like that out there.” (Oh, but there are.)
Thank you, Instagram, for your immediate photo editing capabilities!
When tickets were announced for a Portlandia tour, I immediately jumped at the chance, and quickly purchased two general admission tickets to the February 19th show at the Trocadero in Philadelphia. The tickets sold out so quickly that a late show was added for that same night, which only shows how popular this little show has become. (And to think it all started with a YouTube channel called ThunderAnt.) On the night of the show, Meredith and I hopped on the 47 right around the corner from our apartment and, after defying the laws of physics and humanity with a bus driver who was apparently trying to outrun mythical bus-consuming demons, arrived at the Troc with plenty of time to spare. We got in line just in time to hear two St. Vincent lookalikes whining unironically over the recent Grammy win of Bon Iver. “Best new artist?” one sniffed derisively. “Yeah, welcome to four years ago,” the other retorted. “Then again, Arcade Fire won last year…”
Once inside, Meredith and I found two spots in the balcony, and she ran off to purchase a poster. I whipped out my iPhone to play a round of Words With Friends, and saw that a lot of people around me were doing the same: in the seated area below, at least half of the crowd were dicking around on their smartphones. I Tweeted sarcastically about it, then realized the soul-crushing irony: despite my best efforts, I’d become a modern-day pseudo-hipster (a word I hate using and I fear is becoming our generation’s “hippie” to describe anything that is quirky, off-beat, or unusual, and I genuinely hope the irrational hatred of hipsters dies off pretty quickly). I was even wearing Chucks, though I’d eschewed the plaid shirt and cords in favor of jeans and a sweater.
After sitting around for an hour, the lights dimmed and a screen behind the stage illuminated with a video of Portland’s mayor, played by the wonderful Kyle MacLachlan, who welcomed us to the show and had us repeat a few lines of general courtesy. Then, Armisen and Brownstein ambled onstage to a standing ovation and engaged in a hilarious bit of banter about the differences in text messages between the two: the former tends to send flowery, overly verbose admissions of love and admiration, while the latter sends generic, boilerplate texts. Feeling like she was being taken to task, Brownstein cheerfully offered to text Armisen to right wrongs, and he held up his phone and mumbled, “It’s a blank text.” The audience laughed, but apparently not hard enough; Armisen and Brownstein joked that they weren’t good at endings (which is occasionally evident in the show), and embraced awkwardly.
Taken by Meredith
Armisen (on Rickenbacker bass), Brownstein (on guitar), and their two supporting musicians – Rebecca Cole, from Brownstein’s Wild Flag, on keyboards, and Michael Benjamin Lerner, from Telekinesis, on drums – then performed the debut episode’s ‘The Dream Of The 90s Is Alive In Portland’, complete with the running commentary as Jason returning to LA from his trip to Portland, who tells friend Donnie all about it. After the song, Brownstein announced that they had it wrong, and showed a video of the season 2 sketch, ‘The Dream Of The 1890s Is Alive In Portland’, which got huge amounts of laughter. The two addressed asked if we’d prefer to see new videos or already-aired videos; the audience cheered unanimously in favor of the former.
Armisen and Brownstein then engaged the audience in a bit of back and forth, asking us all where the “cool” places of Philadelphia were. Someone shouted Fishtown, followed by an admission that they grew up there, which got some boos (?!), while others shouted South Philly. (One drunken woman a few spots to our left shouted “West Chester!”, a suburb of Philly about 30 miles southwest. She would prove to be downright annoying over the course of the evening.) Two audience members were brought up and gently grilled about what makes Philly Philly, and when Brownstein asked what one generalization about Philly annoys them the most, they both – and several audience members – announced, “Cheesesteaks.” Brownstein laughed and said, “Yeah, I got, like, nine texts from friends saying I should get a cheesesteak!” Someone shouted, “You should!” to which Armisen mentioned, “Hm, a little contradictory there…” The one girl onstage said, “Yeah, we’re known for that.”
A three-part video (“saga”, as Brownstein called it) from an upcoming episode followed, which showed MacLachlan’s Mayor once again pitted against Armisen and Brownstein: the two approached him to steadfastly request that the Olympics never be hosted in Portland, to which the Mayor agreed and asked the two to spread the message. (A black PDX hat was offered to Armisen, who refused it by saying he doesn’t look good in hats. Upon their exit, the Mayor noticed Armisen didn’t take the hat, and messaged his assistant Sam – the actual mayor of Portland – to courier a box of hats of varying sizes to Armisen’s house.) Armisen and Brownstein ran throughout the city, spreading their anti-Olympics message, before running into Greg Louganis, who sat them down in a hot tub and lectured to them that the Olympics were a good thing, a veritable melting pot of culture and people – much like Portland. Convinced and converted, Armisen and Brownstein hopped on bikes to the Mayor, who had just taken an oath to never allow the Olympics to infiltrate Portland. After hearing Armisen’s and Brownstein’s appeals, the officiator congratulated them for winning Portland’s first triathlon (“Actually, we didn’t swim in a pool, it was a hot tub,” Brownstein clarified, which fell on deaf ears), and held a ceremony to present their awards. MacLachlan sang Portland’s anthem, an improvised aria that became progressively ridiculous.
Interspersed throughout these segments was another musical performance of ‘She’s Making Jewelry Now’, and then a slide show of pictures Armisen and Brownstein found on each others’ computers, complete with commentary. One notable moment was a young Brownstein proudly holding up a can of Tab, at which Armisen laughed and said, “Isn’t it ridiculous how children pose like that with everything?” Brownstein countered, “Yeah, but I was most proud of the fact that I was wearing a bathing suit nowhere near water.” There was a touching moment when Armisen showed two pictures of him with Brownstein, of the first and second times they met.
What was apparent throughout was the natural chemistry between the two. Nothing seemed scripted whatsoever, and everything flowed genuinely. When they were performing musical numbers, Armisen appeared gleeful to be holding a bass next to Brownstein, who commanded the stage with every strum of her guitar. They’re natural partners, and even if they aren’t romantically involved, they’re a cute couple, and you can tell there’s a great deal of love and respect between the two.
What didn’t flow naturally was the Q&A session, though that was to no fault of Armisen’s and Brownstein’s. A few decent questions were asked, and someone presented Brownstein with a vinyl copy of Bryan Adams’ Reckless, though the aforementioned drunken woman got the floor and asked, “Who enjoys it more – the hot dog or the person eating the hot dog?” There was a clear amount of confusion between the audience and the two on stage, and Armisen said, “Well, I guess the person, because the hot dog is being eaten…” Brownstein said, “I can’t believe you answered that,” to which Armisen countered, “Yeah, but I said I’d answer any question…” The woman, apparently undeterred by her inebriated idiocy, shouted, “Marry me, Fred!” to which her obviously uncomfortable friends shrunk and someone in the audience shouted back, “Shut up!” Never change, Philadelphia.
After the conclusion of the Olympics saga was another great sketch called “Canoe Dance”, where Armisen, dressed up like an older man, jumped into a canoe and, well, danced. Another one of those moments where you ask yourself, “This can’t really exist, can it?” But Brownstein asked afterwards, “Have you guys ever seen a canoe dance?” Getting a negative response, she said, “Oh, it’s something else.”
No Catnap?! Over it.
The show closed with a trio of songs, with special guest Eleanor Friedberger, two of the songs coming from her excellent Last Summer album. After the second song, she thanked her new backing band, and Armisen thanked their new singer. The set closed with a rendition of ‘Got My Mind Set On You’, and, as they unplugged their guitars to a standing ovation, Armisen and Brownstein thanked the audience and ran off.
As Meredith and I exited into the hustle and bustle of Chinatown, I remarked that we should go to Portland for a week for vacation. “Doesn’t sound like much of a vacation though, does it?” Meredith asked, a point I conceded, and clarified that we should go for a week to explore the city. We hopped onto the 47 home and I heard the unmistakable sound of vomit hitting the side and floor of the bus, and as the stench overpowered us and people moved away from the unfazed vomiter with puke running down his sleeve or got off several stops earlier than planned, I realized that going to Portland would be a vacation at this point.
That dream is still alive in my mind.
RiffTrax Live: “Plan 9 From Outer Space”
Posted: 08.24.2009 Filed under: 2009, comedy, RiffTrax, something completely different 1 Comment »As I delay the further writing of actual album reviews, today I offer something a little different, in that this isn’t an actual album review; it’s not even a concert review (though some music was played); I would call it a live event. I offer this prerequisite to justify the fact that I sat and stared at a movie screen for 2 hours, though somewhere in the world – Nashville, Tennessee – it was being played live to a crowded theater.
I’m talking about RiffTrax’s brutal and hilarious slaughter of Ed Wood’s terrible Plan 9 From Outer Space, a 1959 flick so bad that it’s been called the worst movie of all time – with good reason: the plot is nonexistent, the acting is wooden, and the unintentional camp and hilarity levels are off the charts.
For those unfamiliar with RiffTrax, it’s from the same guys who were the masterminds behind Mystery Science Theater 3000, except with a twist (there’s always a twist): instead of the silhouettes of two puppets and a Midwestern guy sitting in front of a screen lobbing degrading insults at a movie screen, an MP3 file is purchased (for a low, low price of $2.99) of three Midwestern guys lobbing degrading insults at a movie. Except the movie is up to you to acquire: if it’s something you own, great!; if it’s something you’ve wanted to own, now’s the time to purchase it; if it’s something you can’t see yourself ever owning, but need to listen to the RiffTrax out of sheer curiosity – or devout fanaticism to these comic geniuses – then hit up your local rental establishment or, if you’re a shut-in, order it anonymously from Netflix.
It’s not as complicated as it sounds, and I gave it a try a few years ago when it was first starting up, though I eventually calmed down once I began saving money for other things. Still, it’s a logical progression to MST3k, and with Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett being the masterminds behind it, you know you’re in for a hilarious treat.
I wasn’t planning on going to the live event, because I had no one to go with. (No, I’m not one of those shut-ins I described above, though I did use Netflix because I wanted to give it a try. I just don’t like going to movies by myself.) But figuring I didn’t want to miss out on an event that promised hilarity, I hedged my bets and asked my friend Laura if she’d be interested in going. To my pleasant surprise, she said yes – all in less than 24 hours before the show was set to begin. She’s a good friend.
We met at the Regal 22 Cinemas in Warrington, which was the closest venue (a 10 minute hike for me, but closer to a half hour for her), at 7 30 and purchased the tickets. Considering I don’t see movies all that often, I got a little chatty with the girl selling me tickets (not in a “hey what are you doing later” kind of way, but pleasant, inoffensive chit-chat); I asked her if she knew if the RiffTrax was funny. “I honestly don’t know.” At least she was honest.
$12.50 later, Laura and I found our seats and settled in. We were entertained by a multitude of things, the least of which was the screen in front of us, which showed what I thought to be generic “Did you know?!” movie trivia games that they used to show before commercials and endless previews took over. One that generated huge laughs was for the “Movie Mistakes” genre: “Keanu Reeves starred in The Day The Earth Stood Still.” Take that, Keanu! Laura and I spent a lot of the time watching the people coming in, and I observed that you could certainly tell who was there to see “normal” movie screenings and who was there to see RiffTrax. Considering MST3k attracts a generally nerdier crowd, there was an abundance of neckbeards, potbellies, and snorting laughter. I say this not as a criticism – just an observation.
The theater was relatively full, but not every seat was occupied. Unfortunately for Laura, two larger people sat down right next to her, despite the abundance of open seats in our radius; I offered to move over, but she laughed nervously and said no. What a trooper. At various points, the sound of applause and laughter could be heard, though the screen was still showing movie facts; this was a little off-putting at first, until the visual feed kicked in, and the event started in full. Mike, Bill, and Kevin bounded out and set up the premise, telling some jokes to get the crowd in the mood, and they promptly took their places to the side of a movie screen. We were treated to a short from the 1950s: Flying Stewardesses, which was more of an instructional thing for stewardesses flight attendants that also featured a bizarre boating sidetrip. There were also a lot of jokes at Ft. Worth’s expense, followed by many apologies. (Favorite riff, as generic-looking businessman excitedly steps off the plane: “I’m Bob Executive. Which way is business?” Runner-up: “Thank you for keeping the plane snake-free.”)
The riffers were on fire, and the audience was loving every minute. Occasionally, the screen would split to show the three riffers, with the movie taking up most of the space; this was good, because sometimes their facial expressions said a lot, even if they weren’t telling a joke. Kevin was clearly having a great time, and you could even hear him laughing off-mike at a lot of the “action” happening on-screen. Bill and Mike, too, were enjoying themselves, and occasionally strayed from the script to throw in an impromptu joke; if it wasn’t impromptu, then they certainly made it seem so, and that takes talent.
With the short now over, emcee Veronica Belmont (apparently an Internet sensation, though I had never heard of her, and I’m the end all be all of what goes on on the Internet) walked onstage while the riffers took a break. She seemed a little out of her element here, but she might have just gotten a view of the front row, and didn’t quite know how to react to all the pounds of stinky manflesh that lurked beneath ragged, yellowed fabric proudly sporting faded MST3k images. I thought she did a good job regardless, and she introduced Jonathan Coulton, another Internet star who sang two songs: one about a zombie attack, and another about flying (I think). I liked Jonathan, but he was a little too mellow and laid-back for the crowd, who had just been whipped into a (relative) frenzy with the short. Needless to say, his call for audience participation went largely unanswered at the Warrington 22, though I did my best to play along. The best part was Kevin making an apparently unscripted appearance to get the audience to sing along, as he mimed along to Jonathan’s words for the zombie song, turning in a very credible and impressive stint as a mindless drone in search of gray matter. What got the most laughs were the mostly unsuspecting Nashville audience singing along, especially two girls who were really big fans of Jonathan’s and knew every word by heart.
Mike then walked back onstage to hand out gifts and introduce Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, founder of the comedy site SomethingAwful.com, of which I am a member/goon. He introduced two “homemade” commercials, one of which was a hilarious grain expo commercial in a ludicrously overdone style (shouting announcer, unnecessary explosions and screen graphics, overenthusiastic witness reports), which got huge laughs, though the second one about a berry watch wasn’t as funny. I think by this time, the audience was ready for some Plan 9 From Outer Space hilarity.
And boy did they deliver. I won’t go into specifics, mostly because I can’t remember a whole lot of it, but this is the perfect movie for these guys to rip apart, and they had the audience in tears. I know there were a few jokes that were “missed” because the audience reaction was so vociferous; sometimes, just the riffers laughing was enough to send the audience into gales of laughter. At one point, I was crying from laughing so hard.
After two hours, precisely, the show came to an end, and everyone at the Warrington 22 clapped and whistled. Laura and I walked out and chatted in the parking lot for a while, still marveling over the hilarity; I was worried at the kind of reception she would give the event, as I’ve noticed that when I watch some of the worse movies from MST3k, not even the riffing can save it, and I lose interest pretty quickly. (I needn’t have worried – she loved it.) Luckily, that wasn’t the case here; it was like Ed Wood created this movie just for RiffTrax to tear it to shreds. So thank you, Ed Wood, for your horrible delusions of grandeur, and thank you Bela Lugosi, for the minimal five minutes that had been filmed of you walking around a graveyard before, ironically, you died. (Thanks also to Mr. Wood’s wife’s chiropractor, who stood in for Mr. Lugosi following his death, even though you looked nothing at all like Mr. Lugosi.) And thank you, John “Bunny” Breckinridge, for your flamboyant smugness as the Ruler of Homotania.
More importantly, thank you, Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, Jonathan Coulton, Veronica Belmont, the people in Nashville, and the people at RiffTrax. We should do this again soon. How’s next week for you guys?
If you haven’t already, check out www.rifftrax.com for tons of information and sound files that will occupy you for hours – even days!
