Having met Mike Nelson, Crow and Tom Servo back in February the opportunity
to now meet the Mads (the mad scientist in the show) become available to us via
an Indigogo campaign, offering “UK
fans of MST3K - join Frank & Trace at the 18th SCI-FI-LONDON festival for a
live riffing show!!! Spend some time with the guys, laugh your arse off and
generally curl up in an event that will be comfort-rated to 10” Amongst the
various perks on the Indigogo page there was one on there that appealed to both
Mrs Jones and myself “Ok, how
about lunch with the guys? Limited to 15 people, Sun 6th may 2018. We meet
Trace & Frank at the London Eye then take a trip down the River Thames to
Greenwich. Followed by a lovely lunch. Boat trip, food and drink included. 4
Pin (badge) set and show ticket included. Very special limited edition perk” we
did just that and the campaign was a success! So it was back to London on the
18th of May to SCI-FI-LONDON
to meet Trace Beaulieu
and Frank Conniff!
Dr. Forrester (full
name Clayton Deborah Susan Forrester) the man, with the “vision” to send a man into space and forcing him to watch
the worst 'B' movies ever made is one of my all time favourite Mad Scientist. So when we arrived at SCI-FI-LONDON which was celebrating the 200th
anniversary of Frankenstein I couldn’t think of a more fitting setting to meet
him and his assistant TV’s Frank! Once again we joined a line of fellow British
MSTies as we made our way to the front to meet them, awkward, “errr...err... your my favourite
mad scientist muah-bla blu-blah!” out of the way we took to our seats for the show, I was
delighted that they also picked an Ed Wood movie perhaps not as popular as Plan
9 from Outer Space but an important piece all the same, Wood’s personal piece from 1953 Glen or
Glenda a documentary disguised as an exploitation film about a subject matter
close to his heart cross-dressing and trans-sexuality. Trace and Frank took to their seats at the front and the riffing commenced, much
like before it was a surreal experience hearing familiar voices but seeing them
in person before you, oh and it was very funny! They followed with a Q&A afterwards with host, Bunny Galore not even prizes they gave out for each question was enough to break my shyness,
no matter I thought- tomorrow we would be meeting them at the London Eye I will
ask them then!
 |
Trace Beaulieu, (TV’s)
Frank Conniff and Bunny Galore
|
A very hot day followed and we made our way to the
London Eye to meet the Mads, spirits were high (despite British Rail making us
ride by bus!) as soon as heads were counted we boarded the ferry and sailed
down the Thames and I had a really pleasant chat with Trace and fellow fans
about the show, robots, Frankenstein movies and Sci-Fi in general before we
arrived in Greenwich. Stopping briefly to admire the Cutty Sark we went into a restaurant
for lunch. As we awaited our meals conversation continued along similar lines
in relaxed surroundings, we had a blast. A nice meal and pleasant conversation with
like minded people about comedy, Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Frankenstein,
This Island Earth is one thing but to do so with the Mads was fantastic! We then
made our way onwards to Greenwich Park for a look around,
some photos and we educated Trace and Frank in the ancient
British custom of the’ 99’(for those of you also in the dark about such matters
a 99 is an ice cream cone with a Cadbury flake inserted in it) and that was it,
it was time to go home, but we had an amazing time doing something we never
thought we would get to do, and we thank Emm Ledsam for making it happen and of course
Trace
Beaulieu and Frank Conniff
for coming over to visit us let’s hope it happens again very soon! Well, unless
they all decide to come over again this year with Joel Hodgson, Mary Jo Pehl and Josh Weinstein I think it’s safe to say that, that
was our own little MST3K 30th
anniversary event!
Thanks to all involved, until next time....
Missed part 1? Here you go! The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 2018 Experience: Part 1
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