CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/25/20): FAN FICTION SHOWDOWN

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (5/25/20): 

FAN FICTION SHOWDOWN

by Chris La Vigna (@Chris_LaVigna)


The title card for the debut episode of FAN FICTION SHOWDOWN

I've written before about how much I love the works of the multimedia art collective known as WHAM CITY COMEDY. From the surreal and disturbing short films they've made, like UNEDITED FOOTAGE OF A BEAR and THIS HOUSE HAS PEOPLE IN IT, to their hilarious live shows and the call-in soap operas they've done on the [as] Streams, like THE CRY OF MANN, They continue to amaze me with their willingness to experiment with new styles and mediums, expanding the boundaries of their expression and inspiring countless others who create to try and do the same.

Well, while everybody is still doing their best to stay socially distant, the WCC crew have developed a new show for the Adult Swim Streams, one that allows them to stay at home but still have fun and perform together. Ladies and gentlemen, boils and ghouls, friends and fiends beyond the binary, allow me to introduce you to FAN FICTION SHOWDOWN.

The show features Wham City Comedy members Ben O' Brien, Robby Rackleff, and Cricket Arrison as they host a fan fiction script competition amongst themselves. Specifically, O' Brien acts as the judge while Rackleff and Arrison read their dueling scripts, making snide comments about the quality of each other's writing in between lending their voices to the characters in each other's screenplays. So far, the IPs they've made their unique marks on have included such pop culture classics as Batman, Fraiser, and Dragon Ball Z.

The show's fun comes in the way the WCC crew lean into playing caricatures of themselves; Robby is very stern and combative, Cricket is super energetic and quick with a passive aggressive quip, and Ben is just generally aloof. And yet, there's plenty of great moments where you can tell they're genuinely making each other crack up as they read through the absurd scenes and dialogues they've concocted. There's an effortlessness in how they riff and bounce off of each other, something that can only come from years of friendship and artistic growth.

Each episode also features a guest who comes in to get in on the fun. Guests on the show include Jenn Wasner of Bon Iver, Ed Schrader of Ed Schrader's Music Beat, and Luke Taylor of The Shrimp Boys. It's really great to see the folks from Wham City come through and deliver some deeply silly entertainment for all of us as we do our best to navigate the uncertainty of our current predicament.  The show airs live on the Adult Swim Streams at 11:00PM EST. They'll be off today for Memorial Day, but use the time to catch up, and tune in next Monday, June 1st, to watch them goof on SEX AND THE CITY! 






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