It is simply a great time to be alive, especially if you love making fun of bad entertainment. It’s no secret that MST3K has influenced a generation of fans and comedians. One just has to look at the success of the crowd funding campaign for MST3K The Return. But what about those that choose to follow in the footsteps of Mike, Joel and the Bots?
Rifftrax, the official site for Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett has given voice to many amateur riffers on their site, but, like anything else, one particular group manages to stand head and tails above the competition. Enter the Incognito Cinema Warriors.
At a quick glance, the comparison to MST3K is obvious. A soldier is trapped in a movie theater by an insane scientist during the zombie apocalypse. In exchange for shelter from the hoards of undead, Rick Wolf and his robot friends are the subject of bad movies, shorts and video games and provide a running rifftastic commentary.
ICWXP, as the show is known in its short hand, takes its ques from MST3K, but ups the ante by providing a more adult oriented humor. They work a little bluer than the MST gang and seems to have more of a bite to it, but also like MST in its hey day, the show exemplifies the ideology behind independent cinema and the low budget, fly by the seat of your pants, doing it for the love of the craft style of film making.
Until very recently when they signed up for a patreon account, the show was done by people with day jobs, when they could do it, sacrificing time and money to pay homage to a show they obviously grew up with and loved. They are so good, in fact, that they even gained the attention of the Riff-Meister himself, Mike Nelson.
“These guys are good. Fast paced, funny riffing throughout. Now fellahs, would you please stop making my job look easy?”
And while their riffing of movies and shorts are fun and amazing, in my humble opinion, where these guys manage to make themselves stand out is their riffing of recent video games, especially on the Resident Evil remake.
If you have torn your way through MST3K: The Return and can’t wait between Rifftrax releases, why don’t you give these guys a chance. Check out their webpage here, and if you like them, consider throwing them a sheckle or two to show your appreciation and support this kind of indie entertainment.
I can’t remember how I stumbled on these guys, but I was instantly shamed.
I had been wanting to do my own homage to MST3K, and found a group already in existence doing that very thing. So I hooked my trailer to the Mystery Fandom Theater train and worked hard on riffing with others of the group.
But then I saw ICWXP and their HD resolution, and better lighting and sound and set, and hung my head.
Don’t get me wrong, I thought we the MFT people had done quite well, but you have to admit when you’re outclassed.
Now, I’m a proud Patreon supporter of ICWXP, and want them to keep up the good work!
Rikk Wolf is KING.
I dont know why they arent wildfire among those of us who dig this genre. But they should be!
In a day and age where homage can mean lazy rip off, ICWXP not only soars above the others in writing, production, innovation of set, puppetry, and world creation, it literally drops leaflets of jagged razor sharp wit laced with humble personality and heart upon all.
I had the chance to meet Rick Wolf almost two years ago, and have found not only a commonality in love of cinema, robots, pop culture of the obscure kinds, and video games, but an inspiration in the almost maniacal devotion to his craft and creation that Rikk puts in all he does.
ICWXP is profoundly funny, filled with almost as much subtext and rapid fire exchange as a Robin Williams performance, the scrappy tenacity and ingenuity of a fledgling ILM, and quality output and attention to detail that simply obliterates 99% of the riffing/roasting/toasting/boasting youtube community.
They may never get the attention deserved for the fire they kept alive, but never doubt the maelstrom of fire in the creative forge of Agonywolf Media. Rikk and company are destined for greater things yet.
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