Thanks to Jason for the heads up.
The tour begins in two weeks and press is definitely starting up. If you see or hear any press, let us know.
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Joel InterviewJoel gave a radio interview on 97.1 in St Louis on the Dave Glover Show on Tuesday. Joel discusses his life in the church when he was a kid, his early days in standup and, of course, the upcoming tour.
11 Replies to “Joel Interview”Commenting at Satellite News
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I did not know about Joel’s evangelical family roots, but it explains his focus on childhood experiences with shows like Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, Beanie and Cecil, and the Art Clokey productions like Gumby. If the phrase “Don’t do it, Davey” brings back memories then you know what was on the Hodgson family television back in the day. Did you have to be a shepherd in the church Christmas play, too?
Gee Day-vey, we’ve only had less than a half-dozen Goliath refs in the CC series, Eegah and Rocket Attack USA for starters.
As for press, saw the local area Northampton, MA venue getting a newly-added “No Retreat, No Surrender” performance for Sept. 17: https://www.aomtheatre.com/event/mystery-science-theater-3000-live-the-great-cheesy-movie-circus-tour/
(How about that, they weren’t snubbing our little college-town all those years on the Titanic tours after all–Probably was just the jerk owner of the other local band-venues that kept them away.)
I remember hearing an interview a few years back, I think pre-reboot, where Joel mentioned his Baptist upbringing and his grandfather preaching, and that he was afraid he would get “the call” and have to go into ministry, since in his upbringing and culture if your God called you to do something, you obeyed, never mind what you wanted to do. But to be fair to Joel, religious fundamentalism was quite a different creature in the 1960s and 70s than it is today. You could be very religious (Christian, of course) without shunning popular culture or having to consume only approved Christian Media(TM).
Just FYI, you can still be very religious/Christian today without having to shun “popular culture or having to consume only approved Christian media”.
I cannot speak for others then or now, but in my house growing up we got to watch what Mom said it was okay to watch. Of course, in later years I read Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, etc. comics, too. Happy Birthday R. Crumb.
Agreed …my sister and I were raised Catholic (in the state of Iowa), and sent to Catholic school until high school age, where our parents left it up to us if we wished to continue, or shift gears into public schooling. And my experience with a Catholic school education as a kid in the ’70s and into the early ’80s was that it was actually quite progressive in terms of curriculum. The social-strata climate was awful, because small schools still have all the usual hierarchical peer pressure and bullying, only it’s intensified because of the number of students …more people aids in dispersing aggression.
So, when people find out I attended Catholic schools (and was even an “altar boy” in the church, ha) they assume I was battered about the head n neck with yardsticks by surly nuns …not so. They mostly held administrative positions, while regular civilians were teachers, many of them, especially the women, were very pro-feminist and progressive in how they approached things.
Anyways…my two cents on that. Thanks for the interview w/Joel!
Yeah, that was pretty much a relic of the 90’s: The Southern Baptists thought they weren’t getting enough press, compared to the big entertainment franchises, and thought they could grab a cheap microphone by claiming that Harry Potter or Lion King were evil or gay-subtexted. Also, they had to convince parents why keeping their kids away from Playstation or Pokemon was a good idea, as kids might find out from their friends that there was something a lot cooler out there than worrying about the Rapture.
Me, I’m just surprised there were Baptists in Minnesota. Usually it’s the Lutherans, who are everything that Garson Keillor says they are.
And given Joel’s upbringing, except for said regional Minnesota Lutheran-poking, he’s been pretty restrained and stayed away from religious-issue jokes on the show. Even Kevin Murphy’s given into the temptation of Catholic-upbringing jokes on occasion (just watch him light up when the nuns appear in “Girls Town”).
And now you add religious intolerance to the misogyny.
Not Southern Baptist, Baptist. There is a huge difference. Joel went to Bethel College (now University), which includes a Baptist seminary of the Baptist General Conference, which was founded by Swedish Baptists emigrating to the Upper Midwest in the 19th century.
It seems that there is quite a few parallels between Joel and Jeff Dunham. Both had a religious upbringing and started performing in the church. And, most interesting, both took ventriloquist dummies to their school pictures in middle school for publicity shots! You wonder if they had crossed paths somewhere and that is why there are all the ‘Woozle named Peanut’ references in the early years.
Unlike Joel, Jeff decided that he had to deviate from a PG type performance if he wanted to be successful. I am glad that Joel has maintained the family atmosphere for the MST3K tours and new episodes.
Sorry, I got off topic. Have I mentioned how the Baptists once condemned my tiny penis?