Fan as guest riffer?

[Darth Geek]

I know this has been suggested in the guest riffer topic. But I thought I would start a new for this particular subject.

I think this would be very cool, considering how supportive of their fanbase Rifftrax (and MST3K) has always been.

I would have to surmise that the price of a plane ticket and hotel  would be cheaper than the cost of celebrity guests.

The question is how to do it. I know that Rifftrax moderators keep track of various stats on who posts the most and such. Perhaps they could choose it based on number of post or something like that (I would be way out of the running on that one). If there was such a contest it would have to be behind the scenes, as if they let us know, there would be a flurry of pointless postings (theres a relative term!).

What do you all think?

[RVR II]

I'm In! It'd be like a Dream come True!!
I'd be happy with a brief tour of RiffTrax Land!

And, I'd even cover my own expenses (flight, hotel, meals)

[GregMcduck]

If they ever tried to do this, which I doubt, it would have to be in the form of a contest. The forum doesn't included to everyone, there are people who go to Rifftrax but not the forum, so going by post counts is highly unfair. So they would have to put a big contest announcement on the front page, and it would probably consist of posting a short or something and having people send in audio files riffing it, and the best one comes riff. Again, super-highly unlikely.

[RoninFox]

Yeah, if they did this and they made it based on a random or meaningless criteria like post counts it could result in a bad riff, which should be avoided.  If anything it should be based on what fan can be funnier, if there was a way to make a level playing field to test that, picking one subject like a short, and having contestants record their own riff of it like Greg's talking about.

[Steve-O]

Or they could just go with the guy who works the closest to the RiffTrax office.

[nummy muffin]

I'm In! It'd be like a Dream come True!!
I'd be happy with a brief tour of RiffTrax Land!

Yeah, probably all wishful thinking.  Still, who wouldn't like to have that Joe Montana moment, exclaiming, "I'm going to RiffTrax Land!"

[RoninFox]

Oh don't get me wrong, even as I say how unlikely it is, I'm having a Scrubs-like fantasy sequence of what it would be like to riff with Mike Nelson right up to the point where it would  get creepy, there'd be a flashing light, and John C McGinley starts insulting my manhood.

[RVR II]

I'm In! It'd be like a Dream come True!!
I'd be happy with a brief tour of RiffTrax Land!

Yeah, probably all wishful thinking.  Still, who wouldn't like to have that Joe Montana moment, exclaiming, "I'm going to RiffTrax Land!"

I'm 'hoping' I'll be able to drop by and at least say 'Hi' next June as I plan to be in Hawaii for my 40th and plan a stop over in San Diego for a day or two in route

[gammer]

I agree with wishful thinking here.

You can already see the complaints when the guest riffer is not a former Mistie...can you imagine if it was one of us? And to compound the issue, you will have folks who feel that they deserved to be guest riffer over whoever is chosen.

I mean, deep down, wouldn't you feel a little resentment for whichever fan gets to riff with Mike?

To be honest I think the closest we should get to riffing, is doing the fan writing for more RiffTrax projects. That way we all can input.

[Raven]

I don't think posting a ton should be a requirement, but I think purchasing the majority of the rifftrax releases could be a factor deciding who's eligible.  Not necessarily all of them, because that wouldn't be fair to foreign purchasers.  And not everyone can find that copy of Glitter just lying around. 

It would be kinda cool if we could write another one as a group and have everyone record the same small sample to see who would be the best at performing the riff and that person got to record with Mike or something like that.  That would probably take too much time though.

I'll just be happy when the site is able to host riffs for us.  I've sent out quite a few copies of my riff but I'm really curious to see how many people would be interested who've never checked out the forums.   

[nummy muffin]

I've sent out quite a few copies of my riff but I'm really curious to see how many people would be interested who've never checked out the forums.   

I watched your riff of Hollow Man before I started reading the forum.  You did some nice work.  ^_^  Thanks.

[DarthChimay]

They could always auction the opportunity off and donate the proceeds to a charity or something.

[GLaDOS]

I would have a problem maintaining my sanity and objectivity while riffing a film. I certainly don't consider myself a person who should riff alongside Mike or anybody else.

[peterb]

I'm going to be the contrarian and probably make everyone think I'm a jerk:  I hate, hate, hate this idea.

RiffTrax's magic, in my mind, comes from the fact that it feels like it's just a bunch of guys sitting around making fun of movies, but it actually is a carefully scripted, rehearsed, and most of all professional comedy show.  Turning the performance, even partially, into amateur hour can only make it worse.  As a fan I can see how this is a nice fantasy.  But as a customer, I think this is something that is best kept as a fantasy.

[RoninFox]

I don't think you're a jerk, but I will say that we have a very funny group of fans around here, and some of them are in fact comedians in their own right.  I don't think you should judge the idea on the basis of Mike Kevin and Bill=Professionals and all fans=amateur hour.  The first half of that is obviously true, but untried does not mean bad and sometimes talent can be found in unexpected places.  Instead guest riffers should be judged on that elusive question "would they be funny?"