My exclusive interview with 1st place Riff-Off winner Tim Flanagan

[Tarantulas]

Greetings, True Believers!

Recently, I contacted Tim Flanagan about his 1st place win in the Rifftrax Riff-Off contest. I asked if he would be interested in sharing with the forum some of his inner most secrets and insights into good comedic writing and how to riff like a pro.

Instead he gave the following interview.

Without further ado, I present my short (yet sweet) interview with 1st place Riff-Off winner, Tim Flanagan.

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Tarantulas:   Tim, would you mind telling the folks at home a little bit about yourself?

Tim:   Here's, like, a "micro-biography-r?sum?". Mini-Me, if you will (hey, another Verne Troyer reference!):

?   Born 1965 in Portland, Oregon.
?   Reynolds High School class of 1983. Band, speech team, drama?you know?a nerd.
?   Reed College: BA in Political Science, 1988.
?   Spent two years in Taipei, Taiwan, teaching English and studying Mandarin Chinese.
?   1989-1991: Produced a radio talk show for KGW radio in Portland, OR.
?   1992-1994: Answered 911 calls for King County Police in Seattle, WA.
?   1994-2006: Editor on Microsoft Encarta.
?   Currently: I'm consulting for the company to which Microsoft outsourced my old job, and considering career options.
?   Family: married with children?two daughters, age 6 and 3.
?   I'm the Drum Corporal in the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band, and I'm building a garden railroad in my front yard.

Tarantulas:   WOW.. We?re not currently hiring, but I?ll be sure to your resume on file.  I?m just kidding, how about we go ahead and get to the questions.

What originally drew you to MST3K, and when did you first hear about RiffTrax?

Tim:   Actually, I DISLIKED MST3K when I first encountered it in the early 1990s. I loved bad movies, and I could not understand why these annoying people were interrupting these wonderful, horrible movies?just shut up so I can hear the crappy dialogue, would ya? Then in about 1996 a coworker lent me some of his tapes?and I was hooked. I wish I could say what changed my opinion, but now I can barely stand to sit through a crappy movie WITHOUT riffing!

I first heard about RiffTrax from mst3kinfo.com, and was immediately enchanted with the idea?I wished I'd thought of it, actually. It's a brilliant combination of simple elements, from the price point and revenue model, to the delivery mechanism and payment infrastructure, to figuring out a way to riff on movies without the need to negotiate licensing with the filmmakers.

Tarantulas:   What made you decide to enter the Riff Off contest?

Tim:   My lovely and talented wife MADE me do it! She said that I'd devoted so much money and so many hours to MST3K and RiffTrax that she would be very disappointed in me if I didn't enter.

Tarantulas:   How many rewrites did your entry go through, and did you use a test audience to try out your material?

Tim:   Some riffs received multiple rewrites, while a few remained untouched from the first draft. For instance, "Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Oracle?" was the first thing that popped into my head, while "Verne Troyer is Mahatma Gandhi in The Uri Geller Story" was at least the third or fourth attempt; I had a bunch of "mom says I gotta finish my report on Salvador Dali" jokes I was trying to refine, and then I decided to dump them all in favor of an archetypal MST3K riff structure.

My wife was my only test audience. That was very helpful, but mostly I just played the clip and delivered my riffs out loud in my best Mike Nelson voice. The kids thought I was nuts.

Tarantulas:   Did you fret and second guess your entry like many of us did?

Tim:   You have no idea! I tortured myself over the "Neo enters kitchen" riff, and went through I don't know how many variations, from "Wonder if I have time to grab a beer or a hotpocket?" to "This isn't Delphi?it's Frigidaire!" I wracked my brain trying to decide whether to make a reference to a Food Network personality like Rachel Ray or Emeril Lagasse. That one was especially difficult for me, for some reason. I just couldn't think of anything FUNNY to say, and once you get blocked, it's easy to stay blocked.

Tarantulas:   What is your favorite riff in your entry? What was your least favorite?

Tim:   I was really happy with "Verne Troyer is Mahatma Gandhi in The Uri Geller Story", once it came to me. This frequently-heard MST3K riff structure is really powerful, and should not be underestimated. It allows you to juxtapose three associations into a riff that is "funnier than the sum of its parts." It takes only about three seconds to say, too, so you can use it a lot of places.

To see what I mean, just deconstruct mine: the Uri Gellar reference is kind of funny. The kid looks like Gandhi, and that's somewhat funny. And Verne Troyer is a short person associated with a bald character he played a couple times, which is also a little bit funny. Any one of these jokes would be OK on its own?but just OK. Put 'em all together, though, and?RiffTrax GOLD, baby!

Meanwhile, though, here's one that just never blew me away: ("Almost done?) [My big scene has barely started, yet I?m almost done.]. Um?OK. It's kinda cute, but it's not really drop-dead FUNNY, know what I mean? This is an interesting one, because although this was the first riff I came up with for this cue, I was never really thrilled with it. Yet it still made it into the final, because I wasn't any happier with anything else I came up with!

Tarantulas:   What would you say your single biggest influence was in writing your entry, what comedic tone did you hope to convey? Were you going for a more "heady" entry, or trying to hit the broadest audience possible?

Tim:   This is a good question, because at first I really had to think about this. When you watch MST3K or RiffTrax, you're a consumer of the content, and you just sort of accept that it is as it should be. Sometimes the riffs are sort of dumb (bald or fat jokes, for instance), and sometimes they go over your head because you don't know who or what they're referring to. But when you're writing, all of a sudden it's up to you, and?<gulp>?who are you trying to reach?

It's always about the audience, but it's a big audience! You have to amuse the folks who pride themselves on getting every joke as well as the folks who just watch and laugh along, and never bother to look up Verne Troyer in Wikipedia (I didn't know his name?I had to look up Mini-Me!). So as I wrote and rewrote, I tended to remind myself of a few things:

?   The point is not to impress people with how smart or clever or well-versed in pop culture you are. The point is to be funny.
?   Just because a joke is obvious doesn't mean it isn't funny. Don't go out of your way to be original. Go out of your way to make the delivery work.
?   It's not your voice, it's Mike's. How will Mike sound saying this? Will it feel authentic coming from Mike's riffer persona that we all know so well?
Actually, one thing I've learned about writing comedy is that it doesn't have to be super-duper clever or funny when you read it on a page. Fairly simply, straightforward jokes can be hilarious when spoken aloud, if the timing and delivery is right. The audience WANTS to be entertained, and essentially, they're just waiting for you to give them something to laugh at.

Tarantulas:   What was your initial reaction when you found out that you won, and who was the first person you told?

Tim:   Honestly, it's a clich?, but I went numb for an instant, and sort of expected to wake up from a dream. I could not believe it. In some ways, I still can't. Some of the other entries I read were very, very strong, and I can't emphasize enough how much respect I have for my fellow competitors.

I told my wife first, and I don't think I was able to sit still for the next two hours or so, I was so giddy. I called my sister next?she's one of the few people in my life who "gets" the whole MST3K thing the same way I do.

Tarantulas:   Do you like the direction that RiffTrax has gone in by featuring more contemporary "big budget" films compared to the B grade movies that featured prominently on MST?

Tim:   Absolutely. There is so much great material that becomes available when you are liberated from the burden of negotiating license agreements with the filmmakers.

Tarantulas:   What is your favorite RiffTrax so far?

Tim:   My wife and I were just discussing that. Roadhouse, easily. My wife's not even a big MST3K/RiffTrax fan, and she recently said "I want to watch Roadhouse," out of the blue.

Tarantulas:   Finally, what do you plan on doing with your prize?

Tim:   Oh, I know it's boring, but it'll go into the general household fund. I've spent almost $500 on MST3Ks and RiffTrax over the years, and after all, I'm barely employed right now. Believe me, I can use the money!

I'd like to express my heartfelt thanks to Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy, and all the folks at RiffTrax and Legend Films. Disembaudio, too. This was a great contest, and I hope you'll consider holding something like it again. Thanks to my wife for her encouragement and inspiration. And also thanks to the other competitors; winning a contest is nice, but it ain't a contest if nobody else shows up! I think we've all learned a great deal about what it takes to write this kind of material, and I expect the overall quality of the entries will improve "next time around."

Tarantulas:   Tim, I?d like to thank you again for your time.  Congratulations again on your well earned win.

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I'd like to again thank Tim for taking time to answer a few questions and maybe give us all a little insight into his win.  I'd also like to congratulate all the winners on their entrys and thank Rifftrax/Legend for putting on this great contest.

Till next time... Excelsior!

- Tarantulas

P.S. Mods, how about a sticky for the effort?

[Joe Don Faker]

Hey wow ... I think I won the side-bet about how Tarantulas would somehow insert himself into the contest proceedings...

Yes, yes...  I had "Will conduct in-depth interview with proper winner, followed by predictable plea for Mod approval"

Where's my pair of plastic 'gag' buttocks signed in lipstick by James Lipton?

No, no bitterness here...

[mrbasehart]

Hey wow ... I think I won the side-bet about how Tarantulas would somehow insert himself into the contest proceedings...

Yes, yes...  I had "Will conduct in-depth interview with proper winner, followed by predictable plea for Mod approval"

Shoot.  I had "will conduct own riff-off competition".

Good interview by the way. 

[kodiakthejuggler]

I love how Tim added the "DisembAudio too" line in the thanks portion of his interview.

Kind of like Toto from The Wizard of Oz!



...and Toto too?

To-to-too!!!

[Tarantulas]

Hey wow ... I think I won the side-bet about how Tarantulas would somehow insert himself into the contest proceedings...

Yes, yes...  I had "Will conduct in-depth interview with proper winner, followed by predictable plea for Mod approval"

Where's my pair of plastic 'gag' buttocks signed in lipstick by James Lipton?

No, no bitterness here...

You're killing me, Smalls.

I contacted him with a few questions, and thought it might be more fun to do a little interview and give people some insight into the winner and his entry.

As for mod approval, I figured it would be good to sticky it for a day or so to let people read it.  Then banish it to the depths of those "What's your favorite..." threads.. or whatever.

Sorry for contributing something topical and interesting to the forum.

[mrbasehart]

Greetings, True Believers!

Till next time... Excelsior!

Y'know, for a fan of Stan Lee, you certainly skimped on the exclamation marks.   

[Tarantulas]

There is currently a shortage in Southeast Missouri.  We are limited to no more than 10 uses a day, and you never know when you might stub your toe or win the lottery.

[SaucyRossy]

Wow Tarantula's your awesome. Thanks for the interview......

[Tarantulas]

Thanks man... I thought that people would be interested in putting a human face with a name for the winner.

[gammer]

Its nice to hear that someone won who actually needs the money.

Good work Tarantulas.

[Joe Don Faker]

My initial reaction was fueled by bitterness, coffee, and 4 'fun-size' baby ruths.

The interview is topical and interesting.  And Tim's 'seduction by Mrs. Oracle' riff was incredibly well-turned, indeed. 

(I still want the James Lipton signed buttocks though.)

[Tarantulas]

Again, my intention was not to "one up" anyone or try to suck up to the mods.

I was curious , and thought that others might be as well.  Tim was very nice to have agreed to the interview, and just as easily could have told me off.  He seems like a very nice guy, and I'm glad that he won given his current pinch.

[Joe Don Faker]

So what you're saying is, there's no chance of me getting the signed buttocks.

[BlackbeardonGuitar]

Where's my pair of plastic 'gag' buttocks signed in lipstick by James Lipton?
No, no bitterness here...

it's kind've amazing in all honesty.

[Cap'n UKRiffer]

"I'm Peter Graves and tonight on A&E Biography we talk to Tim Flanagan..."



Nice idea Taratulas, it's something different at least, and was also pretty well done...