We live in a commentary culture with much appreciation for camp and snark, but something special occurred in the early ‘9 0s when Mystery Science Theater 3000 popularized this additive form of slapstick, where jokes are made during a full-length or short-lived film. Mary Jo Pehl was a writer and performer on MST3K and has all along been riffed with fellow MST3K alums for Rifftrax and Cinematic Titanic.
Mark, Erica, and Brian briefly debate the morals of talking over someone else’s art and then interview Mary Jo about how riffs get written, developing a riffing form and a persona that the audience can connect with( do you need to include skits to establish a premise of the reasons why riffing is happening ?), riffing films you love vs. old-fashioned garbage, the degree to which riffing has become beyond simply MST3K-associated comedians, VH-1’s Pop-Up Video, and more.
Follow Mary Jo @MaryJoPehl.
Here are a some links to get you watching riffing 😛 TAGEND
For MST3K newbies, you might want to watch some episodes, nearly all of which are on YouTube. The AV Club has recommended its top ten bouts. Mark makes a great introduction to the show( from a late season that pieces Mary Jo as a regular casting representative) is S10E03 riffing a rare peer movie, 1996 ‘s Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders. For a classic( i.e. peculiarity original multitude and author Joel Hodgson) occurrence, S03E03’s Pod People is much beloved. Watch samples of Bridget and Mary Jo riffing the blockbuster Gravity, Mary Jo with Rifftrax founder( and onetime MST3K multitude) Mike Nelson riffing Mariah Carey’s Glitter, the two of them doing a full short-lived at a Rifftrax Live event, and with Cinematic Titanic Live taking on Rattlers.
Different squads have different styles of riffing, so if you dislike MST3K, you might want to see if you exactly hate those people or hate the prowes anatomy as a whole. The alums themselves currently direct as 😛 TAGEND
Rifftrax( Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett, who were the stars of the final MST3K seasons, but the new exertion involves different columnists. They riff both old B-movies and Hollywood blockbusters like Twilight. Rifftrax Presents includes Bridget and Mary Jo( who among other things, are able to effectively treat suddenlies and cinemas that aim to discuss “women’s concerns“) as well as the very British Matthew J. Elliot and Ian Potter, Janet Varney and Cole Stratton, and Rifftrax novelists Conor Lastowka and Sean Thomason. Joel Hodgson owns MST3K and recently did his final tour as a riffer, though that entirely new group will continue performing without him and precisely problem the Live Social Distancing Riff-Along Special. Joel produced from behind the scenes the recent Netflix MST3K resurgence with legion Jonah Rey. Frankfurter Coniff and Trace Beaulieu( who participated with Mary Jo and Joel in Cinematic Titanic) tour as “The Mads, ” which doesn’t seem to have any clips posted, but you can hear their podcast Movie Sign with the Mads. Group influenced by MST3K that Mark checked out include Master Pancake Theater, Rangoon Riffs, The Guy with Glasses, Linkara, Snob Riffs, and The Last Angry Geek. Rifftrax countenances radicals like these to create and sell their own riffs.
Here are a few relevant articles 😛 TAGEND
“‘Mystery Science Theater 3000 ‘ at 30: How a Cult TV Show Changed Pop Culture” by Noel Murray “Color Commentary” by Tad Friend “‘Mystery Science Theater 3000 ‘ Returns with New Blood for the Turkey Day Marathon” by Meredith Woerner
Also, PROJECT: RIFF is the website/ database we talk about where a chap called Andrew figured out how many riffs per minute are in each MST3K chapter, which character spawned the joke, and other stuff.
Learn more at prettymuchpop.com. This episode includes bonus discussion that you can only hear by supporting the podcast at patreon.com/ prettymuchpop. This podcast is in relation to the Partially Examined Life podcast network.
Pretty Much Pop: A Culture Podcast is the first podcast curated by Open Culture. Browse all Pretty Much Pop posts or start with the first incident.
Is It Rude to Talk Over a Film? MST3K’ s Mary Jo Pehl on Pretty Much Pop: A Culture Podcast #45 is a pole from: Open Culture. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, or get our Daily Email. And don’t miss our big collections of Free Online Courses, Free Online Movies, Free eBooks, Free Audio Books, Free Foreign Language Lessons, and MOOCs.
Read more: openculture.com
Recent Comments