Luckily for me, I have a mom who was out of diapers, watching, and enjoying the show for me at the time. She raised me on brilliant music, brilliant TV shows, and brilliant movies my whole life.
When Cinematic Titanic came out recently, I knew Joel, Frank, and Trace from MST3k. We bought the DVDs and my mom, my brother, and I each had our own geeky little meltdowns while watching something new from five of the funniest people we know.
Well, we've watched every Cinematic Titanic DVD that has been released with nerdy joy. And we found out that they were taking the show on a live tour. Needless to say, my mom had yet another meltdown and we bought tickets.
On Saturday, we went to see them in Philly.
The gig was sold out. The line to get in ran all the way around the block.
The theater was very cool. We sat in balcony seats on what were essentially red cushioned bleachers. I sat next to my mom. We were both shaking with nerves and excitement while we waited for someone-anyone-to come on stage.
Our prayers were answered when Gruber (as pictured to the left) came onstage and saved us! He warmed us up with some haikus and some stand-up, along with music from J. Elvis and TV's Frank!Finally, after an eternity of 10 minute warnings, Joel came onstage, sharply dressed in a suit and tie, with his microphone and introduced all of the Titans and the movie itself.
"This movie features probably the worst movie monster of all time. And I've seen some bad movie monsters."
We all cheered our hearts out as Mary Jo, Trace, Frank, Josh, and Joel all took their places and the countdown to the movie began.
The jokes were brilliant, of course. I wasn't expecting any less. They all had incredible timing. They were making the audience and each other laugh. I watched Joel drink his pop and all of them turn the pages of their scripts as the movie went on.
It was an incredible experience that I am so glad I got to share with my mom.
After the movie (and the Best Of reel) were through, we bought tshirts and got in line to meet the Titans.
My mom and I were still shaking as the line moved slowly (almost everyone who had attended was sticking around.)
At one point, we noticed Gruber working through the line and saying hello to everyone. He approached us and said hello to each of us individually, then started up a conversation with my mom. "You do a great job leading them in," she told him, and all of us smiled. (On the CT DVDs, Gruber leads them into the theater and introduces the movie.)
He was very gracious and said thank you. "You recognized me, huh? I think it was Joel's idea...You know, I've had my hair long for quite some time. He rigged up the ponytail with som cardboard." And all of us laughed.
He pulled out a small card that had the Cinematic Titanic logo on it with all of their sillohuettes. He drew himself with blue sharpie and signed it "Hey, from Gruber," then left us to wait in line again.
We were the last people in line, and as we got closer to the Titan's table, we notcied Trace was heading through the line and signing things for the people who were still waiting. He signed my DVD and my brother got a picture of him with his phone.
J. Elvis was first at the table. He signed my DVD and shook my hand. Then, Mary Jo. She signed my DVD and then paused, just looking at the disc itself that my mom had labeled 'Santa Claus Conquers The Martians.' "Have you been borrowing?" Mary Jo asked. My throat was dry, and I found I couldn't speak, but, I heard my mom answer from behind me. Frank was the last one sitting and he signed as well and shook my hand.
Last but not least, Joel was standing at the end of the table. He signed everything we had, shook all of our hands and said hello, then let us all gather around for a nice picture (which is yet to be uploaded to the computer).
In this picture, he is actually poking John's stomach as an alternative to standing awkwardly and waiting for a handshake.
Thinking about Saturday still makes me giddy.
In short: Best. Night. Ever.
I'm glad it was awesome.
ReplyDeleteSo am I. :)
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