Rank a Live Theater Plan 9 RiffTrax!

[RoninFox]

Jonathan Coulton was an awesome surprise, my zombie wife just won't stop talking about him, Thanks alot 

Knowing that you guys were going to be at a showing too, my first thought as Jonathan was introducing that song was "I wonder how Erin is reacting right now."

[ShadowDog]

The most fun I've ever had at the movies!  And that's despite the fact that the STUPID Briar Creek Raleigh theater is hidden within a massive six block shopping center in such a way that it's impossible to see from the outside road.  The outside road is a divided road so the only to enter one of the shopping center's six entrances from the direction I was coming is to do a random U Turn and hope you picked the right one because there wasn't a fucking street sign in sight.  And God help you if you guess wrong, which I did.

Long story short, I was over ten minutes late by the time I finally found the theater even though I left the house an extra half hour early.  It's not Rifftrax's fault, I just wanted to bitch because it pissed me off so much.  But at least I know where the theater is now so next time I won't be late.

So anyway, I came in really late (missing the entire short) to find the theater was PACKED.  Since I watch movies in off peak hours, I'd never seen a theater this packed in my life.  I finally found one seat and then proceeded to really enjoy the entire experience.  The crowd loved everything (the biggest non movie laugh was the first commercial and the biggest movie laugh was the Transformers 2 line and one of the gay jokes, I don't remember which one.  All the gun pointing around reactions were also very well received) and that really heightened my own enjoyment.  There's just nothing like a live crowd all around you enjoying the same joke you are.

A perfect 10 out of 10.  I had a fantastic time and will be doing every one of these from now on, if we get any more.

Oh, since I was late I missed the introductions.  Who was the incredibly snackable female host cuz ... dayum. >:-P~~~~~~~~~~~~~  If she happens to be the daughter of any of the riffers then I'm sorry but still ... dayum.  >:-P~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Piobman]

The snackable host was a tv personality... I think she used to host/direct some cnet tv shows. She seemed really familiar. Anyways, her name was Veronica Belmont.

[Thrifty]

The new short was hilarious, the Lowtax sketch about the grain expo was hilarious too.  The second Lowtax sketch about berry watch was disappointing, due to the fact that it doesn't cover loganberries.  I didn't care for the Jonathan Coulton musical numbers.  The riff of Plan 9 was funny, but not as great as the short, since I'd seen it before.

Also, the whole thing was marred by technical difficulties at the theater.  Audio cut out for a brief period, and when it came back, the audio was out of sync with the video.  It was hugely distracting during the live host segments, but less noticeable during the riffing.  Also, Darth Geek and I were disappointed that we didn't meet up with Doc Who due to a communications breakdown.  Also, we had tenatively planned to meet Isaac there, but it turns out Conor banned him from the theater so that he wouldn't win the iPod Touch.

Still, worth the ticket price and the time.  I hope to see another soon.

[Hor-RIFF-ic Productions]

Jonathan Coulton was an awesome surprise, my zombie wife just won't stop talking about him, Thanks alot 

Knowing that you guys were going to be at a showing too, my first thought as Jonathan was introducing that song was "I wonder how Erin is reacting right now."

LOL!  I was totally geeked out!  The guy sitting next to me even mentioned I do a really good zombie. 

It's true he did.

[fsulaurel]

We were in Savannah, GA watching the show, and the theater was almost full. The show was great, despite the fact that the theater was having problems with the projector and the show didn't start until about 8:45. To make up for it, the theater gave everyone there 2 free passes. We thought the show was great, and we can't wait until the next live show!

[JoeNewberry]

I considered trying to make a Venn Diagram of the geeky preferences of the fanbase, but was too lazy to complete it.  Everyone seems to have loved the movie riff, but people are all over the place with the extra content.  Personally, I was pleasantly surprised that there was extra stuff because I was just expecting the short and the main riff.  Being a Jonathan Coulton fan already, I was thrilled to see him come out.  My only concern was that he kind of lost the audience by rambling on too long about how zombies sound.

I found both commercials hysterical.  Sure the second one wasn't as good as the first, but I still laughed out loud at the part where he calls the woman to let her know the berries are fine, then tells her he'll call back in 2 minutes.  The loganberries disclaimer made me think of the Monty Python sketch about how to defend yourself against fresh fruit.

The short and the main riff were great.  The only complaint I could muster about that is that it's a little light on gut busting riffs late in the movie, but it may just be I was ignoring the riffs because the movie gets so mind-boggingly funny on its own at the end and I'm always listening for "Your stupid minds!  Stupid, stupid!"

On that subject, does anyone ever just get appalled at Jeff suggesting, "So what if we do develop this Solaranite bomb? We'd be even a stronger nation than now."  It kind of makes Eros's outburst pretty reasonable when you think about it.  Imagine what the outcome would have been if Jeff had been Earth's representative in The Day the Earth Stood still.  Just picture him punching out Michael Rennie and burning down his ship.

[carlobee]

it was a pretty good experience!! memorable for a first time!

[Postmark]

I wonder how many people would actually have been excited about JC if they knew he wrote Still Alive.  I've watched all the Spiffworld videos and most of the live clips that youtube has, and was psyched to watch him "live".  I liked it very much (/adjusts small pants.)

It really feels disheartening to me that so many people are actually getting somewhat angry about Coulton's performance, but then again this crowd was not an MST3K crowd comprised solely of geeky intellectuals.  Most of the people in my theatre were in their early 20s and looked more like Jr. investment bankers than fanatical, trivia and movie obsessed fans from that old show.  I think that Rifftrax has become more accessible due to the ability to mock new movies instead of whatever dregs they could afford rights to, and Mike, Kevin, and Bill will need to address that in the next event to ensure that the new fans are left wanting more.  I don't *want* that to happen, but it seems to be the general consensus

[Spike Nesmith]

It really feels disheartening to me that so many people are actually getting somewhat angry about Coulton's performance, but then again this crowd was not an MST3K crowd comprised solely of geeky intellectuals. 

That wasn't the case in my theatre, the crowd was very much an MST crowd.  Nary an under 30, that I saw, and lots of raspy laughs and thick-rimmed glasses.  Coulton wasn't especially appreciated with us, either.  One guy joined in once with the audience participation, three went 'yay' when there was a brief drop out, but it was mostly quiet tolerance.  That was the case with me, too, but I'm not much of a fan of "so... here's a funny song about chickens... and what chickens do!" comedians at the best of times.  I'd imagine he was put on there with the best of intentions, in order for the RT crew to give what they saw as value for money.  And gawd bless 'em furrit.

I'm not angry that he was there, I think that myself and many others are just suffering from Support Banditus.  If you don't know who the support band is when you've paid to see a concert, chances are you're not going to care, and that they're just getting in the way of what you paid good money to see.  Exponentially so if you're not especially impressed with what they're turfing out.

[derekl999]

That wasn't the case in my theatre, the crowd was very much an MST crowd.  Nary an under 30, that I saw, and lots of raspy laughs and thick-rimmed glasses.  Coulton wasn't especially appreciated with us, either.  One guy joined in once with the audience participation, three went 'yay' when there was a brief drop out, but it was mostly quiet tolerance.  That was the case with me, too, but I'm not much of a fan of "so... here's a funny song about chickens... and what chickens do!" comedians at the best of times.  I'd imagine he was put on there with the best of intentions, in order for the RT crew to give what they saw as value for money.  And gawd bless 'em furrit.

I'm not angry that he was there, I think that myself and many others are just suffering from Support Banditus.  If you don't know who the support band is when you've paid to see a concert, chances are you're not going to care, and that they're just getting in the way of what you paid good money to see.  Exponentially so if you're not especially impressed with what they're turfing out.

In Swansea, MA the crowd was mostly 25-40 in age, and about 50-50 in male-female ratio. It surprised me that quite a few women went by themselves. Like you, most people were like "huh?" when Coulton came out. I think he lost them during the rambling zombie prologue, since the crowd didn't seem to mind the 1st song about the young kid. Funniest thing though was seeing peoples faces when they saw people in Nashville singing along to the 1st song, like "is that he wife singing along?" cuz they had NO IDEA who the hell he was.

For the next one (there WILL be a next one right?) I'd love to see Josh Way or another iRiffer do one of their film shorts instead of Coulton. Either that or have a Q and A session with Bill, Mike, and Kevin and a good host. Honestly, that woman could've been anyone and done at least as good a job.

Best thing about the Rifftrax live setting in the theater was this girl that sat right behind me and laughed at pretty much EVERYTHING that was on the screen. It really made it infectious for anyone sitting anywhere near her.I'd probably have asked her to marry me right there if i wasn't (A) really shy, and (B) already living with someone of the feminine persuation.

[doggans]

but I'm not much of a fan of "so... here's a funny song about chickens... and what chickens do!" comedians at the best of times. 

I'm not sure how JoCo could be seen as being like this. His songs are more "Here's a song about a lonely kid/an annoyed worker/an identifiable human emotion of some sort, set against the backdrop of a robot war/zombie invasion/giant squid attack/thing a geek would think about". And even that's only, like, 5% of his catalog.

[ShadowDog]

Funniest thing though was seeing peoples faces when they saw people in Nashville singing along to the 1st song, like "is that he wife singing along?" cuz they had NO IDEA who the hell he was.

Yeah, I actually like him because I listen to Bob and Tom and he's been on there quite a few times (as have Paul and Storm) and even I was wondering who in the hell would have his shit memorized and be singing along.  But it's all good, he can be funny though I do agree his zombie prologue was way too long.  And Kevin spiced up that song was he actually started singing it.

and a good host. Honestly, that woman could've been anyone and done at least as good a job.

Yeah, but not just anyone can be as lunchable as she was cuz ... dayum. >:-P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Besides, we're talking about a host here.  You come out, you introduce the stuff, and you get the hell off the stage.  All of which she did without tripping and falling off the stage or looking like a sweaty trainwreck.  What was her total amount of talking time for the whole night?  Five minutes?  Eight?  Given that, I don't get why so many people are bashing her.  Coultran, sure, I get that even if I don't entirely agree with it.  The second commerical?  Oh yeah, I get that too.  But we're not talking an Oscar host here who has a 10 minute opening monologue and extended speeches the rest of the night.  So I dunno.

[JJohnson]

We were at AMC Orange Park, in FL.  Excellent show, very funny stuff.  Can you release it as a download sometime in the near future?  I would pay again to download this Plan 9 version.

[Invisible NanoGhost]

Veronica (the host) took a few pictures before and during the show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/earlysound/3843451483/in/photostream/

She's something of a fan of rifftrax.  Maybe she isn't as smooth as Billy Crystal as a host for a live event, but I suspect that most fans of Rifftrax wouldn't do all that much better.  And she's a fan of Rifftrax who has a lot of fans of her own, which helps to get the word out about the live event.