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BRAIN TRUST BRAD KEELY - PART 2 During the long hiatus after Comedy Central cancelled the series, Keely found work as a freelance video editor. "I tried to get some experience on computer-based editing machines. Hopefully someday we'll get one here. The problem is that the show is so long that it takes a huge amount of hard drive space." Such a machine was used in the making of "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie" where Keely -- among other duties -- worked with the movie's editor as "something like a liaison between him and cast. I was there to help him understand the sensibilities of the show." Asked how the new series compares to the Comedy Central-era show in terms of his job, he says things are "significantly different. It's a much more complicated show to edit. The show used to involve only one or two cuts. Now there's a lot interplay, and that makes it a lot more interesting to edit. Also, I think the shows are a lot funnier." Still, it can be a stressful job, he reports, "especially when the equipment breaks down and you're scrambling to fix it while everybody is waiting for you." But while his role is largely a technical one, fans of the series probably know him best for two instances. The first came in episode 507- I Accuse My Parents, when Keely played a cake-encrusted exotic dancer. Keely remembers it fondly. "Joel came up to me one day and said, (and here Keely does a remarkably accurate impression of Joel's voice): 'You wanna be in the show?' I said: 'Sure!' Then he described what I had to do and since I'd already said I'd do it, I couldn't back out." Later, Keely says, it came out that the reason he was chosen for the bit was "everybody thought I was the only one on the staff with a good enough body to play an exotic dancer. I do work out, but I thought that was kind of a sad testament about the condition of everybody else." (Editor's note: To answer what will surely be the next question on the minds of some female readers, Keely is unmarried and Info Club Poobah Barbbb declares: "He really needs a bride.") Keely's other moment of fame came in the closing credits of the feature film where Mike, riffing on Keely's credit, took on the tone of an ice hockey announcer, shouting: "Nice assist by Brad Keely!" "Being a former hockey player, I especially liked it," he laughs. Those two brief instances have been enough to create a small following among MSTies. "At the last convention, people actually came up and asked me for my autograph," he says. "Nobody's ever done that before." Fans who attended the last convention might also be interested to know that the marvelous video tribute to Trace Beaulieu that was shown was put together by Keely. "It was really a labor of love for Brad, and he did such a great job on it!" Barbbb enthuses. Keely fans will get another chance to cheer him soon: He's been tapped to appear in a host segment once again. In episode 815- Agent from H.A.R.M. he'll be appearing as "a little Amish boy. It was much harder than the first time," he admits. "This time I had dialog and I had to remember it while all these people were watching me." Still, Keely says if he's asked to make another appearance some time, he'll do it. "As long as it's three years apart," he says. | BACK | | VISIT PREVIOUS FEATURED ARTICLES |