Venue
Seriously, I was in pain from laughing so much and so hard. The various shorts were pretty hilarious in their own right (especially the macabre "Shake Hands with Danger"), but even more so with the addition of riffs. I'm a MSTie from way back, veteran of both ConventioCons, plus Cinematic Titanic and RiffTrax shows, and I think this was the best event yet. Hugely looking forward to the new iteration of MST3K!
Not only were the 3 Mike, Bill, and Kevin there but also Mary Jo, Frank Conniff, and Joel Hodgson! They scripted most of it but some of the interaction seemed off the cuff. Best show I have been to!
MST3K stars from all iterations of the show, including creator Joel Hodgson and Jonah Ray of the 2017 reboot, were on stage riffing delightfully horrible shorts. The comics riffed most shorts in pairs or trios (the Rifftrax guys, Bridget and Mary Jo, Frank and Trace, Jonah and Joel) and joined forces for the last two shorts for Riffapalooza. They were all high-larious, not a weak one in the lineup. I loved More Dates for Kay and Shaking Hands with Danger, but if I had to pick a favorite...
A great event! Shorts have always been my favorite part of Rifftracks and MST3K and this was all shorts and a great reunion. The crowd was so into show and a great time was had!!!
As one of the original MSTie viewers of the original broadcasts from the St. Cloud station, I jumped at the chance to go to the Reunion. Three generations of my family went, and we all had a great time. I don't say this very often about shows, but it was better than I expected. The crowd was uproarious, really pumped, and ready to laugh. And laugh we did. It was wonderful to see so many of the cast together again.
I love these guys. Not some of 'em...not just in certain "groups", but all of 'em. Watching MST3K is like being snuggled on the couch, wrapped in my fave blanket, in my comfy pjs and eating the whole container of my favorite ice cream (AND there being NO calories and i can pig out to heart's content.) My only "complaint" was that there was so much laughter in the theatre that I missed some of the riffing. (I'm not a spring chicken anymore; ears aren't what they used to be. I'd curse rock and roll, but if given the choice to go back and save my ears, I wouldn't do a thing differently.) They're good folk. You don't hear about any of 'em getting into trouble. The show is PG with just a few hints of a line here and there that might have tinges of "blue". All of the shorts (movies) they shredded were classics and worth seeing at least once in your life. Love, love, love, love, love..... I'm still grinning ~ three days later....
The stage was set, rifftrax captions were play, the lights damned, let the riffing begin. In astounding coordination of handing off MC duties with a grand finale of a nine-MSTer super-riff and ending on the highest note of all, is corn a grass??
There is a reason why MST3K fans show up..... because the crew of MST3K and Rifftrax continue to do amazing shows! Everyone did a great job, including Jonah.
Loved the Riftrax Live: Anaconda! Had I known ahead of time that I'd be off that day, I'd've bought my ticket earlier! Would really enjoy it if they'd come back to NC sometime soon!
Even before the live show started, the audience was already laughing thanks to Weird Al & similar music plus silly trivia questions playing on the screen. And once the RiffTrax Trio stepped onstage the hilarity never let up. They made a great start riffing on a black and white Halloween short and then ripped into the feature, Anaconda. These guys are well rehearsed, full of sharp cultural references for a wide audience, and just plain FUNNY. And they seem to enjoy it as much as the rest of us. The venue suits them well - a renovated, classic theater that's small enough so that you still enjoy the full experience, even up in the balcony.
