Satellite News - Cinematic Titanic LIVE! in St. Louis Report

Cinematic Titanic performed live at the Family Arena in St. Charles, MO on November 1, 2008. I was fortunate enough to attend the sound check a few hours before the show actually took place. Click on the following images for larger views.

Note: I was using a new camera and toying with different settings to avoid using flash. So the quality and light levels of the following pictures might vary wildly.


The Family Arena welcomes Cinematic Titanic.	The venue.

Waiting for the movie to start.	Finally!

Mary Jo and Joel look through scripts. Josh is off listening to sound levels.	Frank and Trace wait their turns.

Kimar eyes his next kidnap victims.	The calm before the storm. The lone audience member is Dave (Gruber) Allen.

A few hours later the entire seating area on the floor of the arena was packed. The seats were placed a little too closely together, forcing everyone to squeeze in and get a bit more acquainted with their neighbors than they might have liked. But that didn't seem to dampen anyone's mood and at 7:30 pm, the show started. First Mary Jo came out to introduce the warm up act, Todd Carlin. Todd did a brief, and very funny, standup routine before being joined by "assistant" Josh. Josh performed a jazzy number on guitar while Todd recited several humorous haikus. Josh then displayed a surprisingly wide vocal range while singing a number of songs in another hilarious routine. Todd and Josh were soon joined by Frank, who performed a song of his own.


The crowds arrive.	Mary Jo introduces Todd Carlin.

Todd does his (very funny) warm up act.	Todd is assisted in his haiku recital by Josh.

Josh exhibits an amazing vocal range while singing a selection of greatest hits.	Frank sings a "convoluted" song of his own.

After a short break, the Cinematic Titanic crew were introduced. Joel took a moment to address the crowd and tried to point out several friends in the audience. Unfortunately, no one was manning the spotlights and the audience couldn't see who Joel was pointing to, so he gave up. "Screw them" said Frank.

As you're no doubt aware, the movie riffed this evening was "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians." Some people have expressed their concerns about this choice, and have wondered if there were any riffs left to do that hadn't already been done in the MST3K episode. I am happy to announce that there are. The CT crew brought an entirely new take on the movie and did not repeat a single riff from the MST3K version. And nearly every riff was a hit, bringing waves of laughter from the crowd. Plus they had the added bonus of not having to edit the movie for time, like they did for MST3K, so there were scenes they were able to riff that weren't included in the previous version. I can honestly say that I enjoyed the CT treatment immensely and was not disappointed in the least. I look forward to seeing it released on DVD.


Joel addresses the audience.	The main event.

Not a rehearsal, and Josh is in his proper spot.	Frank and Trace still wait for their turns.

Goodnight everybody!	We'll see you outside for the signing!

The show ended and the post-show autograph session began. It seemed that nearly everyone in the audience was lined up for an autograph. The line started at one end of the lobby, stretched to the other end, went around a corner and down a hallway for a ways, then made a U-turn and followed its path back to the beginning. One of those people waiting for an autograph was Jason Sklar of the late, lamented "Cheap Seats." Jason and his brother Randy are originally from the St. Louis area and Jason just happened to be in town when he heard about the show. This was the first time he'd met Joel and Josh.

Although he was part of the show, Grube did not participate in the autograph session, opting to stand in the back of the lobby to keep the focus on the main CT cast. But that didn't prevent people from approaching him for pictures and autographs. He kindly fulfilled all requests, being sure to ask each person their name and sincerely thanking them when they left. When one audience member mentioned that his daughters were fans of Grube's appearances on "Gilmore Girls," Grube made it a mission to hunt down a spare piece of paper so he could write a special message for the girls.


The lobby is packed with people waiting for autographs.	The crowd fills the entire lobby.

Our own Daddy-O (with camera) meets Josh for the first time.	This was also his first time meeting Joel.

Waiting for the next person.	Josh signs a decapitated Servo.

Trace and Joel talk to each other about whatever it is Trace and Joel talk to each other about.	Satellite News continues its tradition of including at least one solo shot of Mary Jo.

Jason Sklar meets Joel for the first time.	Josh and Grube at the end of the evening. Where would Seth Rogen be today without these guys?

The creator of "MST3K"

We all know that Joel Hodgson created the concept for "Mystery Science Theater 3000" and that he came up with the title for the series shortly before the first episode aired. But have you ever wondered who coined the term "MST3K"? Meet Dave (Gruber) Allen*, aka Grube. As Joel tells me:

"We were working on the 'Higgins Boys and Gruber' pilot for the Comedy Channel and we started talking about Mystery Science Theater. Grube called it 'MST3K' and the name stuck."

So thank you, Grube, for coming up with an extremely useful abbreviation. Not to mention half of our site's URL address.

The Cinematic Titanic LIVE! St. Louis Photo Report