Bill chats with Mary Jo about SPEAK UP, ANDREW, writing jokes, MST, and more!
Added 2020-09-17 21:29:56 +0000 UTCThis week the legendary and very nice Mary Jo Pehl joins me, her old fellow MST3K Mad, to chat about a recent short she and Bridget Nelson riffed: SPEAK UP, ANDREW! And yes, the short itself is as intense and emotional as its title. Everyone's on a knife's edge about Parent's Night!

Mary Jo and I also discuss their evolving process of writing jokes for RiffTrax, and what the hell was generally going on in the 1980s. Please check it out!
- bc.
Here's the video version, or you can download it here.
Comments
MORE! MARY! JO!
Dave Salamack
2020-09-29 14:36:11 +0000 UTCMore please!!!!! And, yes, I immediately bought that short.
Emily Brown
2020-09-20 02:51:03 +0000 UTCI think one of the highlights of a B&MJ riff is that it seems like two friends are hanging out and are watching a movie .. together. There's a give and take, and playfulness between them that just seems so natural. I love the guys, but like Bill said, it was often, "Here's a riff. AND another. AND a topper." I think the live shows really helped Mike Kevin, and Bill figure out the natural rhythm a bit more, and they've taken that pacing to the VOD movies, and made them better.
Derek Levesque
2020-09-18 03:01:05 +0000 UTCWow, loved this. Mary Jo is great! The writing process in the second half was especially interesting. Keep these coming! Thanks!
Josh Flowers
2020-09-18 02:47:16 +0000 UTCIf you need a relaxing gig, try playing a game, on the viewers' screen, and joking at your own pace. You no longer have to time yourself for a movie scene and script, You are the pace-setters. It's also a lot easier in post.
Bill Lemmond
2020-09-18 02:05:16 +0000 UTCYes! Mary Jo, I seek out every riff work, long or short, that you do with Bridgett. :D
Bill Lemmond
2020-09-18 02:01:45 +0000 UTCI don't mind you making an obvious joke, because your obvious jokes are better than others' obvious, and they keep up the momentum. (I'm a big fan of Incognito Cinema Warriors, and still support them on Twitch.). But I don't want any of you to be under pressure.
Bill Lemmond
2020-09-18 02:00:57 +0000 UTCI do love the inside info about your process, over the years, that you discussed. :)
Bill Lemmond
2020-09-18 01:57:30 +0000 UTCI didn't get the impression of Andrew not being nice. I just thought he felt so bad about himself that we was overly sensitive and defensive. I lived through a lot of mean, from first through 8th grade, and I can spot mean. Andrew never came across as mean. I'll admit, that's generally all I really want: don't be mean. Don't smile as you make someone else miserable.
Bill Lemmond
2020-09-18 01:50:05 +0000 UTC"She's been raptured." Good one, Mary Jo.
Bill Lemmond
2020-09-18 01:44:43 +0000 UTC