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New Short from RiffTrax…

…or, “how I conned my dad into buying me a ladder for my bedroom window so I can sneak out at night.”

Download it here.

Weekend Discussion Thread: Most Memorable Cinematic Titanic Moments So Far

We want to know what you’re favorite Cinematic Titanic moment was, and we thought it would be fun, as a lead-in to that, to ask the Titans themselves what they’re most memorable moment has been so far as they’ve toured the country doing live shows. Here’s what they said:

Frank: For me, performing to a packed house in my hometown, NYC, on Broadway no less, was a definite highlight.

Trace: After years of writing and performing in a little room, getting immediate feedback from a live audience is a great reward.

Mary Jo: For me, it was doing our first “official” live performance at the L.A. Film Festival in the John Ford Amphitheater. It was beautiful – albeit hot – night, and getting to do it live made me realize how it could all gel. Before that, I’d been operating in a vacuum on our studio DVDs. Getting that immediate reaction struck me to the core of my performer soul. Also, that whole weekend was wild because Roger Corman had pulled a cease and desist about 24 hours before we were to do the show. We’d been slated to do “Wasp Woman”, his horde of lawyers descended, and we were able to switch gears immediately. All very thrilling! I still have the emails from his legal team, sent to each and everyone of us.

Josh: I couldn’t narrow it down to one, so here’s my best memory of each year we’ve been doing live shows:
2008 – Our show at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater. I’d wanted to play this venue since I first moved to LA and saw Elvis Costello play there. I always thought I’d have to rent it out myself to make it a reality – this was much better. That night was a huge confidence booster for us – both from the really fun, sold-out show, and for our ability to handle the legal curveball thrown at us from Mr. Corman and his legal team.
2009 – The Pastrami at Kenny and Zuke’s Deli in Portland. I’m sorry, but of all the fun we had last year and all the cities we visited, that’s the memory I return to most often.
2010 – Our trip to New York was packed with fun memories: visiting MAD magazine and having them know who we are, appearing on Keith Olbermann’s show, playing a sold-out show on Broadway, and the look of sheer joy on Frank’s face as he ate a chopped liver sandwich at the Carnegie Deli.
Also, I’d like to thank Dave (Gruber) Allen for being there at all our live shows the last few years as our opening act. His presence has added mountains of joy and fun to the adventure that has been CT Live.

Joel: I think some of my favorite moments were the special events we did for different
groups: such as our shows for Industrial Light and Magic, The USA Film Festival in Dallas, as well as performing at Pixar. These “out of the ordinary” events are a bit out of context as the expectation from the audience is never exactly clear – that is, until you’re right in the middle of it, also, at these demonstrations, it feels as if you’re being observed sort of academically: the audience is there to appreciate your craft as well as your ability to be funny. I like these events as they also include Q and A so you feel like you get to go a bit deeper with the audience explaining the story and hard work behind the making of a riff.

I have two most memorable moments from all the DVDs. From the live videos, the brilliant “group spit-take” in ‘East Meets Watts.’ Classic. For the studio titles I’m going to go with the first 15 minutes or so of “Doomsday Machine.” Some of the tightest, funniest riffing EVAH (in my humble opinion).

What would you pick?

Update: Cinematic Titanic Tour

Apparently the show at the Anaheim Grove has been canceled. More info when we have it.

Here’s a list of the upcoming Cinematic Titanic’s shows that have been announced:

• Friday, Oct. 15: One show (“War of the Insects”) at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St., NW, Washington, D.C. at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $35.
• Saturday, Oct. 16, at 8 p.m. at the Edwards Auditorium on the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston Campus (about 30 miles south of Providence). Reserved seating. Tickets are $35; $15 with a valid University of Rhode Island ID. Get tickets on campus and at ticketmaster.com.
• Friday, Oct. 29: One show, 7:30 p.m. at the Wilbur Theater, 246 Tremont St., Boston. Looks like assigned seating. Tickets are $40.
• Saturday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:40), at the Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, in St. Charles, Mo. Tickets are $50, $40 and $35 at metrotix.com.
• Saturday, Nov. 27 (that’s Thanksgiving weekend) two shows, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. at the Victoria Theater of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, One Center Street, Newark. Tickets are $33 and $36. Looks like general admission.
• January 29, 2011, two shows at The Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 South Main St., in Concord, N.H. Tickets range from $25 (the cheap seats for one show) to $67.50 (for great seats for both shows). The box office can be reached at (603) 225-1111.

Also coming up:
Feb. 18-19, 2011, at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee,
April 15, 2011 at the Community Theatre in Morristown, N.J. and
April 16, 2011 a the McCarter Theater in Princeton, N.J. More info on these dates when we have them.

Also, if you live in the St. Louis area, you’ll want to know that KETC-TV will be showing the Cinematic Titanic “Doomsday Machine” episode during its upcoming pledge drive (with breaks featuring Joel and Frank). We’ll post an announcement when we have exact dates and times it will be shown.

New Short from RiffTrax…

Or, life before 9-1-1.

Download it here.

In other RiffTrax news, the crew was asked by Chicago Time Out about their favorite movies to riff on.

Titans Interviewed on CNN.com

While they were in Atlanta this weekend, the Cinematic Titanic crew was interviewed by CNN’s Ann Hoevel.