Posts Tagged ‘Tv’
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Here we are at the end of our first 3 part series and the beginning of week 3. This strip brings together three things that I have an abnormal amount of obsession with, Dopplegangers, The Venture Bros, and John Travolta. While we plan on getting back to our regularly scheduled program of having new subject matter in each strip we hope that we can get one of these multi-parters in every couple of weeks or so. I know a lot of other comics will get some niche subject matter or format and run with that, however I’m really trying to keep myself from being pinned down in that way.
Getting into a doppleganger discussion. It’s fun to have one in a DnD campaign every once in awhile, shape shifters in general can really spice up the trust factor. Either as big baddie, assassin, or may the in group double agent. One of my favorite tricks as a Game Master is to tell one of my players before the session starts that they’ll be playing a duplicate of themselves at some point during the night. I’ll use a code word or use a fake roll to queue them. I’ll ask everyone what their spot checks bonuses are and roll some fake rolls behind the DM screen. This let’s the player know that it’s time to get his Player Killing boots on and to carry out the instructions I gave him before the game started. Just to spice things up I typically offer the shape-shifted player a 500 xp bounty per player he kills as the doppleganger–this is usually a strong enough motivator for my group. Keep in mind it’s best to do this with only experienced players so no one feels too screwed by the surprise when it happens.
Once as Game Master I was role playing a shape-shifter in a Camarilla Campaign (the shifter was a Tzmisce with Thamaturgy and some fun merits). I had the shifter teleport into a room full of the PCs, grab one of them and then port out. The players then found a video tape in the room and played it. It was the Tzmisce changing into each of the players while taunting them. The player he had originally abducted was then ported back into the room with the PCs. You can imagine that this caused some trust issues and added an extra layer of intrigue. Again, this all depends on the group, it’s not fun to tear at the trust of a group of players that already have trust issues with one another at the start. But with the right group of experienced players the trust no one scenario can be one of the most fun roleplaying experiences there are, especially once alliances start forming.
You can now buy the Venture Bros Awesome Soundtrack, here’s the news. If you’re like: ‘Hey who are those Venture Bros. assholes?’ I would suggest going to the website of your favorite DvD retailer and buying all 3 seasons. Normally I don’t say something is for everybody, but if you like laughing at things that are funny, then Venture Bros is something you want to be a part of. It’s like 1/5 parts Johnny Quest 4/5 parts awesome. No pressure, but if you don’t like them, either you didn’t watch from the beginning (please see above instructions about buying all 3 seasons) or are a bad person devoid of good things.
As for John Travolta, I lied. I felt the sentence above flowed better with three things in it. I really can’t think of anything good he’s done since Pulp Fiction. Oh I guess, Get Shorty was pretty good, beyond that he’s pretty awful.
-Matt
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<p style=”text-align: left;”><img class=”alignleft” src=”http://straightfacecomics.com/avatar/matt_avatar80.jpg” border=”2″ alt=”" width=”80″ height=”80″ /> My new roomate Richard, this weekend, said that he more defines himself by the things he hates than the things that he’s interested in. He said this while we were at a post moving day dinner. He proceed to order a burger all business, meat, cheese, ketchup, hold the fun. I on the other hand like just about a little bit of everything and will give just about anything a go, at least once.
The reality of the situation is, that if I did have to pick off the top of my head one thing that I did hate that I felt helped define my person, I’d say I hate reality television. Don’t leave just yet, if you enjoy reality television, I don’t hate you, because well I can’t hate everyone, it would kind of defeat the purpose of putting out comics. I do promise that I get enough reality television intake to make more comics about the subject. I’ll catch some at a friend’s house occasionally and my girlfriend loves a couple of them.
Off the top of my head I can think of two “reality” based shows that I do like, so I guess I’m already a liar. I like stuff like Mythbusters and Man Vs Food. And I really want to like Ace of Cakes. Man vs Food and Mythbusters I know you’re saying ‘Geek stuff and Food stuff, I’ve seen your comic caricatures and that friend makes sense, and frankly why not a little cake to go with that fatty?’ Chef Duff seems cool. I could see myself having drinks and bullshitting about music, our mutual hatred for cupcakes, or whatever. The cakes they make, well quite a few of them are ingenious–I myself love building things and knowing how they work. The car engine cake (I couldn’t find a video so you get Harry Potter Cake) he made for Leno was the bees knees.
I just hate the fake drama that goes on. The building music, the long cuts to commercials about hair dye for the ladies at the end of the show before the reveal–that and the show is deliberately cut to show an out of proportion amount of pained expressions on people’s faces. I have a new title for the show–Oh fuck not again: Will they or won’t they be able to fit the cake in the car/truck/elevator/fat kid? I heard Chef Duff fired a guy for bringing a tape measure to work once.
Then you have Mythbusters, when something doesn’t work out, they just blow a cement mixer into the fucking sky. Man vs Food is about eating the biggest damn plate of food(or several) a restaurant serves in a time limit while not blowing chunks, that’s drama a fat man can get behind. I root for that crazed pudgy bastard every step of the way. When Adam dies of a coronary and someone else replaces him I will mourn him. He must work out the other six days a week to stay in as good of shape as he’s in.
At my core though, there is one constant about reality television that I enjoy. When something awful happens to someone I giggle, we all do. This is what they signed up for when they agreed to be on film, for there misery to bring me, Matt, the customer, joy. I remember when I found out that American Idol was going to have people that sort of have talent on it. I stopped watching as soon as the auditions were over. So I guess the best diagnossis for me is to watch one of the week in review shows like The Soup. And before you stop to argue that reality television isn’t awful, just remember now we reference Flava Flav, again. AND we’re not even talking about his giant retarded clock. Now we talk about how retarded the girls are that were heartbroken by him, or the fact that he looks like a fucking gremlin. I know you’ve seen the photo.
When you think about it Dorothy would have probably laughed, but not as hard as Sophia–man she was a pistol. Think of it like this, when a comedian dies, it’s god’s little way of being selfish and really why should he be the only one that gets to laugh. I think George Carlin for instance would be really pissed if we retired the seven dirty words in his honor.
I don’t really have any fond memories of Lake Placid other than giggling at Betty White cussing. In fact I’d like my time back–up until the point where she feeds the croc. I do remember watching the Golden Girls a lot with my grandmother as a kid. And well, they’re fond memories–so unlike my bravery when browsing Hulu the other day with the Karate Kid Cartoon–I’m going to let sleeping Cobra Kai lie this time. Ah, I think I just found where my subconscious added ninjas in with the Golden Girls. Oh and my Official Comedy Central Bea Arthur Roast Joke before I stop blogging: I’d like to think that if Kill Betty were actually made that Bea Arthur would be Black Mamba if for nothing else other than her giant man penis.
PS If you’re still hissing at me with TOO SOON!!! At least I’m not dry humping her coffin like T-Shirt Hell.
PPS If you pay overnight delivery on that sucker to be more comedicly relevant you’re probably are going to Tshirt Hell, to stamp prints of Larry the Cable Guy on Baby Tees for all eternity.
Footnote: Apparently Hulu links to karate kid on crackle.com, I was watching my Karate Kid minisode on the Ps3 in the living room (my cable box broke and decided to leave me stranded a week before my move.)