MORE FUN WITH “FOUND FOOTAGE” GUYS: WEB EXCLUSIVE

The Found Footage Festival guys, Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett, reveal the best thrift store in America and more in this web exclusive.  For TheBPlot’s interview last week, also published in The Coaster, click here.

Nick and Joe’s brilliant show is this Saturday (Nov. 14) at Asbury Lanes, 10 pm.  Doors open way earlier.

TPB:  How do you two decide whether a clip makes it in show?  Do you guys wrestle if you disagree?

Nick Prueher (Co-Curator, Found Footage Festival):  For us, the litmus test on whether a video makes the show is whether it is unintentionally funny.  Whatever the video was trying to do, it has to fail colossally, but in an entertaining way.  

We came to heads recently over how much of this “Rich Little VCR Charades” video to include in our VCR Games montage.  Rich Little keeps breaking out into these terrible impressions for no reason at all.  It’s painful, so the debate was how much could people handle.   I lobbied for less, but Joe wanted more.  We settled on something in between.

TBP:  Does the clip have to be old school and on VHS to be considered?  Are YouTube and EBay part of your research or solely brick and mortar thrift stores and audience members?

Nick:  We are decidedly old-school when it comes to video procurement, so we don’t take anything off the internet.  All of our videos are turned up by digging through video bins at thrift stores, browsing garage sales and even searching in garbage cans.  To us, the story of how we found a video is just as important as what’s on it, so taking footage off YouTube seems like cheating.

If anyone has found a video in or around Asbury Park, we highly encourage them to bring it to the show.  We love meeting people and hearing the stories of how they found particular tapes – it’s how we keep the show going.

TPB:  What’s a clip that has not made it in the show but is memorable?

Nick:  There is one video that I’ll never forget, no matter how hard I try.  It was this tape that a fan sent in to guitarist Steve Vai to win his affection.  In it, this young woman performs various odd sexual stunts that I can’t really describe in mixed company.  It’s pretty goofy, but the woman clearly has a few screws loose, so it’s a little more disturbing than funny.

TBP:  Do you see current-day clips that would be in the show 15 years from now?  Ever think, “I wish I could put that in the show now” – like a clip with Paula Abdul?

Nick:  Oh yeah, sometimes you don’t need any time or distance to appreciate something ironically.  The one DVD I bought as soon as it came out was R. Kelly’s “Trapped In a Closet” opus.  And just a couple of years ago, we found a DVD in a thrift store that was a training video for Elvis impersonators.

TBP:  In the Found Footage Festival, you use clips featuring Rue McClanahan, Goldie Hawn and other celebs.  Do you ever hear from the celebs or other subjects in your show?

Nick:  We haven’t heard from any of the celebs in our show, but we love tracking down the subjects of our videos.  Hearing from Julia Roberts really wouldn’t do much for me, but meeting the stunt man in an insurance safety video was a dream come true.

TBP:  The Asbury Park area has some great thrift stores.  What are some of the best thrift stores across the country?

Nick:  We’re really looking forward to hitting the Asbury Park thrift stores when we get to town.  One of our favorite thrift stores of all time is this place called Bishop’s Attic in Anchorage, Alaska.  It was this untapped goldmine of awesome VHS tapes.

TBP:  If you found a Michael Jackson clip would you use it?

Nick:  Most definitely…I wonder is “Captain EO” ever turned up on VHS.

TBP:  Finally…Nick, you worked at The Colbert Report which is the absolutely most consistently brilliant show on TV.   How did you get the politicians to sit down with the show’s corespondents and answer those fab questions?

Nick:  I don’t know exactly how it works, but people love being on TV, even if it means they may come off as jackasses. That basic principle has fueled “The Daily Show” and “Colbert” for many years. 

Richard@TheBPlot.com

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MY MOM SHARES A CHILDHOOD MEMORY OF LIVING IN GERMAN-OCCUPIED POLAND

Last week, my mom, read a short story that she wrote, at a workshop at the Crain House.  Her writing was about her life in Poland prior to coming to America at 10 years old.  A lot of the difficult memories she shares at her own pace, in her own way, in her own time with me still pain her greatly. 

ANOTHER SECRETLY SELF-HATING HOMO… RESTAURANT MOGUL’S SECRET PAST REVEALED… HALLOWEEN ‘BRIDE’S’ TWELVE-WEEK-LONG SECRET… & MORE, err… SECRETS YOU WANT TO KNOW IN “YOU SAY WHO” NOW 

I am so proud of my shy-ish mom for summoning the strength to tell one compelling story publicly.  She has never, ever, shared any of her writing with anyone else before now.  It has been 50 years in the making.

With her approval, I wanted to share her true story with you.  It does not have a title.  I don’t think it needs one right now:

It was early evening.  Zosia (my cousin) and my Aunt Katherine were both trying to tie on the wings of my costume.  I was an angel in the school’s Christmas Nativity Scene.  We were sitting on the bed of what served as the kitchen / bedroom / living room of our small three-room home, located on a farm in Godowa, Poland. 

The Germans had invaded and occupied Poland a few years before. 

I was happy and giggling with pride over my costume.  To a five year old, to be an angel – with a speaking part in an upper class man’s play – was a great honor. 

Zosia and my Aunt shared my joy.  Zosia, a few years older than me, was a skilled seamstress.  She sewed the gown and made the fragile wings.  My costume was beautiful. 

As we fussed with the wings, we were startled by the loud bang of the kitchen door being thrown open.  A man came in.  He was a stranger.  In a small farming town not too many strangers come to visit – especially after dark.

The stranger was in a Nazi uniform – a uniform that I, by now, had learned to recognize. 

The stranger seemed angry and agitated and was shouting at us.  I could barely understand what he was saying; as he was shouting he was pointing to a round object in his hand. 

I realized it was a hand grenade. 

“One of your neighbors reported that you are hiding a Jewish family in your stajnia (cellar),” he said.  “Show me where they are or I will kill you.” 

Again, pointing at the grenade.

My Aunt pleaded with him saying that we are not hiding anyone. 

“Please take all the food you want,” she said.  “Please don’t hurt the child.”

The man kept on shouting not hearing her pleas.  He threw down the grenade into the center of the room. 

We sat there – very still, silent – not daring to breathe. 

The grenade was a dud.  The grenade was a dud. 

The stranger left as suddenly as he came. 

Zosia, Aunt Katherine and I went to the Christmas Pageant.  I was the best angel – I did not forget my lines.

By Sophie Stach Virgilio      

Do you have a story you would like to share with your community?  Email me:  Richard@TheBPlot.com

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THEBPLOT READERS: YOUR INVITED… FIRST

ArtsCAP and The Asbury Park Firefighters

cordially invite

TheBPlot readers

to the unveiling of the

2010 ASBURY PARK FIREFIGHTERS CALENDAR

Which month will your favorite firefighter represent?

Saturday, November 28.  7 pm to 10 pm

Third Avenue Pavillion, Asbury Park

===============

Light refreshments.  Live music.

Calendars will be sold and firefighting heroes will be in attendance. 

===============

Proceeds from the sale of the calendar benefit

the Fire Department Building Fund and ArtsCAP.

NEXT THURSDAY: THE COASTER & THEBPLOT TAKE YOU INSIDE THE FIREFIGHTER PHOTO SHOOT – BEFORE ANYONE ELSE – WITH THE FULL SCOOP AND MORE BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTOS!

For TheBPlot’s exclusive preview photos, published last week, click here.

Richard@TheBPlot.com

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