I recently got to speak to Joel Hodgson from Cinematic Titanic and the cult hit, Mystery Science Theater 3000. Here’s a rundown of our discussion, paraphrased from my notes. My questions in bold.
You got your start on UHF. What’s it like, moving from indie work upward?
The biggest difference is, we weren’t full-time. We’d get together with a movie, set the camera up and riff. It was a lot of improvisation. Once the Comedy Channel picked us up, we hired a staff of writers. This is where Kevin Murphy and Michael J Nelson came on board.
What was the biggest influence to get you into entertainment?
Woody Allen, Jim Henson and Doug Henning (the Canadian magician.) I had a lot of interest in magic.
What’s your favorite good movie?
A Thousand Clowns.
What’s your favorite terrible movie?
Manos: The Hands of Fate.
You’ve got something of a cult following. What’s the weirdest fan moment you’ve ever had?
When we were with the Comedy Channel, somebody sent us a box of toenail clippings. I don’t know if they were all toenails, they might have been fingernails. But we sent him a nice, thank you restraining order.
You can find the rest of the interview here.
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