Where else can you see a kitten playing the piano, a man wearing tubs of peanut butter for shoes, an angry motor-home salesman, or a vibrating face exercising mask? The Found Footage Festival has arrived.
On Tuesday 10th July my
brother told me that he had won tickets to The
Found Footage Festival being
held in The Black Box and asked if I wanted to go along with him. I
didn't really know what I was getting myself into, but I happily agreed and
soon found myself in The Black Box in the Cathedral Quarter sipping on a cider.
The room was quite full for a Tuesday night and shortly before 8pm the lights
went down and the projector screen at the front of the room lit up. What
followed was an hour and a half journey into amusement and madness.
I really didn't have any
idea of what to expect, and for some reason I literally thought that they would
just play funny movies, one after the other and that would be it. So I was
surprised when two American guys stepped out to compere. It soon became
clear that these two guys, Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett had dedicated their
lives to finding the most unintentionally weird and funny VHS tapes from around
the world and their witty banter between videos really tied the night together
and made everyone feel a part of their descent into weirdness. As a
massive Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan I was very excited to
find out that these funny guys had contributed, and their other comedy
credits also include The Onion, Late Show With David Letterman, and The
Colbert Report. So you have some idea of the hilarity which
ensued throughout the night.
Personally, I think that
the two rules stated on The Found Footage Festival website really sum up what
The Found Footage Festival is all about: "Two rules govern Found Footage Festival: 1) Footage must be
found on physical format. No YouTube. 2) It has to be unintentionally
funny. Whatever it’s trying to do, it has to fail miserably at that."
These videos aren't of posers trying too hard; they are genuine, serious
videos which people have produced. Which to be honest, makes them all the
funnier.
The night was filled with weird and wonderful videos, most of which were
montages which the guys had compiled over the years and we saw such classics
as: magic rainbow craft sponging, exercise videos, public access footage, a song about every single astrological sign,
Arnold Schwarzenegger at Rio Carnival, various home movies, "Rent-a-Friend",
How To Seduce Women Through Hypnotism and a dating video montage.
Between videos, we were told the history of the video we were about to
watch and some funny anecdotes to match. These were very entertaining and there
are all kinds of extras and interviews on the 5 volumes of 'The Found Footage
Festival' DVDs, which are available to buy. The sixth volume is due
to be released on 28th July and can be pre-ordered here.
The quality of the comedy was spectacular, we didn't see a single
un-funny video and the room was in stitches all night. It's basically like
someone showing you the funniest videos on YouTube and weeding out the stuff
that it isn't worth seeing. Joe and Nick have done all the work - so we don't
have to.
By Laura Caldwell
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