Like so many of these blogs, this
one starts with a familiar scenario: something I watched or listened
to as a kid. Because comedy has been in my life a long time, the
points of reference are extensive, and I think it's probably typical
of people my age to be nostalgic for the comforts of youth. One of
mine was my parents' 8-track player. It sat on a small, dark brown
record stand that housed the family vinyl collection. Sliding open
those doors was like slipping through a magic portal into cathedral
halls and polka tents, maritime museums and, thanks to the 45s of my
older siblings, the occasional classic rock concert. While the vinyl
ultimately turned me into the woman I am today – and inspired the
new blog I'm working on – there came a point where the hassle of
unstacking crochet patterns, school yearbooks, extra pillows, the
green glass rooster candy dish and all the other stuff we kept piled
on top of the stereo console, was too much effort. A Sears
solid-state 8-track player became our primary sound system. Despite
the range of acts we had to tolerate to listen as a family, there
were a few classics that made everyone happy.
“Zingers From the Hollywood Squares” was one of those tapes. A collection of the funniest bits from the classic tv panel game show, Zingers was released by Events Records in 1974. The first quip on the tape, after Peter Marshall's intro, is a question to Paul Lynde. “In Alice in Wonderland, who kept crying 'I'm late, I'm late'?” Paul's response? “Alice, and her mother's just sick about it.” Innuendos and double entendres with some of the funniest comedic actors of the time: Rich Little, Rose Marie, Red Foxx, Karen Valentine, Charlie Weaver, Burt Reynolds, Mel Brooks. Heck, there's even a clip from Freddie Prinze. My family loved this tape and played it most weekends, when the actual show wasn't on the air. At some point, though, the tape heads dried out and I had to give up this precious piece of comedy history.
According to Wikipedia, that bastion of genius juice formed from our collective kool aid and the occasional splash of actual research, “a panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates.” Panelists may compete with each other, play with/for guest contestants, such as on Hollywood Squares, Match Game or Password, or do both. “The genre can be traced to 1938, when Information Please debuted on U.S. Radio... The modern trend of comedy panel shows can find early roots with Stop Me If You've Heard This One in 1939 and Can You Top This? in 1940. While panel shows were more popular in the past in the U.S., they are still very common in the United Kingdom.”
With Evan Rowe as their technical director and Kelsey McClure in the role of tour manager, Loser hit seven cities in seven days and had some cool adventures along the way. You can go to http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/rftmusic/2014/06/losers_on_the_road_day_1_-_days_of_wine_and_rosie.php to read their own account of the journey.
“Zingers From the Hollywood Squares” was one of those tapes. A collection of the funniest bits from the classic tv panel game show, Zingers was released by Events Records in 1974. The first quip on the tape, after Peter Marshall's intro, is a question to Paul Lynde. “In Alice in Wonderland, who kept crying 'I'm late, I'm late'?” Paul's response? “Alice, and her mother's just sick about it.” Innuendos and double entendres with some of the funniest comedic actors of the time: Rich Little, Rose Marie, Red Foxx, Karen Valentine, Charlie Weaver, Burt Reynolds, Mel Brooks. Heck, there's even a clip from Freddie Prinze. My family loved this tape and played it most weekends, when the actual show wasn't on the air. At some point, though, the tape heads dried out and I had to give up this precious piece of comedy history.
According to Wikipedia, that bastion of genius juice formed from our collective kool aid and the occasional splash of actual research, “a panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates.” Panelists may compete with each other, play with/for guest contestants, such as on Hollywood Squares, Match Game or Password, or do both. “The genre can be traced to 1938, when Information Please debuted on U.S. Radio... The modern trend of comedy panel shows can find early roots with Stop Me If You've Heard This One in 1939 and Can You Top This? in 1940. While panel shows were more popular in the past in the U.S., they are still very common in the United Kingdom.”
And those shows are how I get my
Brit wit fix today. Thanks to 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week, Have
I Got News for You and the one I adore most, QI (Quite Interesting),
my list of favorite comics includes Jimmy Carr, Bill Bailey, Dara
O'Briain, Ross Noble, Jo Brand, Sue Perkins, Phil Jupitus, Sandy
Toksvig, Sean Lock and a bunch more to whom I may otherwise never
have been exposed. It's my personal belief that these regular
appearances on panel shows help comics stay in the public eye and
build their fan base. I often wish some producer would revive a few
of the classics, so I could spend the 7 pm hour watching a Keith
Alberstadt or a Tom Simmons try to match a contestant's
fill-in-the-blank answer, or hear a Paul Hooper rant from the top
left corner and a Pat Dixon innuendo from the center square. Alas,
those shows are still just playing in my brain, but Loser – A Live
Action G(sh)ame Show is a great substitute.
Created by Jeremy Essig and Chris
Ward, Loser combines a little singing, a little acting, some trivia
and video gaming into a comedy event. Part scripted, part improv, the
show uses volunteer contestants and, at least in the touring edition,
local comics and improv performers to bring to life a twisted
episode of some popular tv sitcom that may leave fans of the actual
program permanently scarred. Personally, I'm grateful. The episode of
Loser that I had the pleasure of seeing at the Comedy Attic in
Bloomington, Indiana, removed all traces of “Saved By the Bell”
from my memory banks – with the possible exception of season 4,
episode 22. Because once you've heard “Snow White” rapped by that
cast, nothing short of a traumatic brain injury will take it away.
I've known for some time that
Jeremy Essig is a comic I'll see live every chance I get because I
really dig his material, and he's a great guy, to boot. He and Chris
have been performing Loser regularly at the Heavy Anchor in St.
Louis, which is a little farther than I travel for a comedy show on a
weeknight. When Jeremy mentioned they were planning a one week road
tour, I knew I just had to pick a city and go. Having a little
history with Bloomington made it the logical choice.
I gotta' say, The Comedy Attic is
worthy of all its recent hype. Low-ceilinged, intimate, with tables
in front and off stage right, there doesn't seem to be a bad seat or
dead spot in the room. A screen is lowered for tonight's accompanying
slides over what appears, from my vantage point, to be a real brick
wall. Maybe it isn't. I didn't go cop a feel. I'm simply saying, from
where I sat, it looked real. And I've been in plenty of clubs where
the bricks look like a backdrop from a middle school musical. Most
people wouldn't care, but if the comic doesn't grab me, the scenery
will, and I tend to notice the details. Open for only fiveish years,
The Comedy Attic is a great venue to see a favorite, as well as a
yet-to-be-known, and Dayna and Jared should be proud of the job
they're doing.
Ok. On to the show. For those of
you who read my blog, be aware I'm not going to do my usual
set-quoting analysis here. At 7, I wasn't aware of Bruce Vilanch and
the writers' room. Part of the joy of Hollywood Squares, for me, was
thinking all those celebrities were just that quick and funny. And so
it is with Loser: I don't need to know who wrote what, who made what
up, everyone seems quick and funny. On this night, Chris tells the
audience it's good to be in Bloomington for the first time, and asks
“What's your main export?” Someone yells out “Graduate
degrees,” and I know the audience is ready for this ride. Jeremy
serves as the host and welcomes everyone to this “game show done
poorly” where audience participation and enthusiasm are required.
On the screen, fake sponsors' ads are like Wacky Packages on meth.
Six contestants take the stage, and we get underway.
Part one is all about music.
First, a progression of clues are given about a particular performer
or band. This is followed by photo identification of the band
members. Finally, a team member sings a song from the band,
accompanied by Jeremy on guitar and Chris on a tiny drum kit.
Audience vote awards points for getting the lyrics correct. As
someone who spent most of her late teen years hanging with guy
friends and their garage bands, I've been waiting for this. It's one
thing to hear someone described as a rocker-turned-comic; it's
something else entirely to watch them play. Tonight's contestants got into their performances and the audience dug it.
Part two is called “Move out of
my fucking basement!” After a few questions about video games, one
member of each team goes head to head playing some obscure title
while trying to down the most Totino's pizza rolls (who, by giving
the guys a bunch of coupons for free product, have become a tour
sponsor). Tonight, due to some wild miscalculations about the
portability of delicious frozen snack foods, The Comedy Attic has
graciously provided fried mozzerella sticks for the challenge. The
contestants are a couple, who both manage to play admirably and swallow a
decent number of cheese sticks without the need for medical
attention. We are rightfully impressed.
Part three is a little number they
call “Shitty Accent Superhero Charades”, and it is just what it
sounds like. Two team members are given superhero identities,
regional dialects and a scene to improv, and the third team member
has to guess all three elements. Part four brings to the stage the
Intergender Sitcom Theater to perform a parody sketch from an '80s or
'90s tv show, filtered through the skewed views of Jeremy and Chris,
and presented by a collection of local comics and improv actors.
During this tour, the sitcom was “Saved By the Bell”. The sketch
was hilarious, fun for both the audience and actors alike, and the
final questions resulted in the spewing of the not-so-secret green
room antics of Dustin Diamond. Prizes for the winning team included
second-hand bras, Easter candy and pictures of the Pope (Chris,
thanks for the Sinead flashback!).
With Evan Rowe as their technical director and Kelsey McClure in the role of tour manager, Loser hit seven cities in seven days and had some cool adventures along the way. You can go to http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/rftmusic/2014/06/losers_on_the_road_day_1_-_days_of_wine_and_rosie.php to read their own account of the journey.
As I said way back at the
beginning of this blog, I have a warm spot in my heart for panel game
shows and the comics who make them so entertaining. I have every
episode of QI in my collection. I watch repeats of Match on the Game
Show Network. I even bought the rereleased “Zingers” on cd. And
now that I've seen Loser live, now that I know Jeremy and Chris can
move a room full of people to unbridled laughter with a few
instruments, some random trivia and a suitcase full of meaningless
prizes, this show will fall into my “must see” category every
chance I get.
I hope they tour again. I hope the
clubs are packed. I hope they start the comic game show revival.
No comments:
Post a Comment