I just came across this odd coincidence: Both Adam West and Burt Ward performed covers of Nat King Cole's ORANGE COLORED SKY.
Here's Adam West performing as Batman in the television variety show "The Hollywood Palace" (This aired October 8, 1966.)
Now here's a recording of Burt Ward speak-singing the same ditty, recorded in June 1966. In his memoirs, Boy Wonder, My Life in Tights Ward humbly calls himself "the world's worst singer."
The Ward recording has a bit of a cult following, partly because the record was arranged by Frank Zappa. "Orange Colored Sky" was the b-side to the novelty tune "Boy Wonder I Love You" (and you can hear young Frank as one of the screaming teenage girls.)
Given that Burt Ward had recorded it first, I really wonder what was going on with the Adam West cover. Was it a coincidence, an inside joke, a rip-off or a put-down?
In 1975, after JAWS defined the term "summer block-buster" there were dozens of B-movie rip-offs rushed into production. But there were also some JAWS-inspired comic books, here are a few...
Artist Jerry Robinson created The Joker. Even though Mr. Robinson is no longer with us, his creation will live on in comic books, graphic novels, blockbuster movies, Big Gulp cups, Converse All Star Hi Joker Batman Athletic Shoes, childrens' bedsheets, action figures, Mark Hamill voice recordings, Pez dispensers, Christmas ornaments, novelty records, fake vintage T-shirts, carnival game knock-off plushies, bobbleheads, queer fan fiction, illegally downloaded TV shows, Japanese collectibles, questionable tattoos, Simpsons' references, un-funny political cartoons, well-intentioned youtube tribute videos, cereal bowls, shot glasses, overpriced posters, Fisher Price playhouses, back-to-school supplies, college thesis papers by nerds, kids' Halloween costumes and the unreleased (but written) obituaries for Jack Nicholson, Alan Moore and Frank Miller.
Here's R. Sikoryak's recent illustration of Robinson (this first appeared in The New Yorker)
Kevin Maher is an Emmy-nominated comedy writer, whose work has been seen on HBO, AMC, CNN, Comedy Central, VH1, TV One, FEARNet, and Nickelodeon. His short films have been shown everywhere from MOMA to Troma, with screenings outside of Sundance and Cannes.
Working with Kanbar Entertainment, Kevin co-authored seven treatments for animated feature films, developed two animated television series and co-wrote a sequel/Holiday special to the hit animated movie Hoodwinked!
Kevin created three original web-series including AMC's The Sci Fi Department (short-listed for a Webby) and Comedy Central/Atom's Old People News.
On stage Kevin created the multi-media shows Video Vaudeville and Kevin Geeks Out, a monthly confabulation of vintage film clips, guest experts, interactive games and curiosities. Over the course of the run, Kevin "geeked out" about Bigfoot, Robots, KISS, Video Games, Dummy Deaths, Alien Encounters and Batman. (For that show he wrote 100 haiku about Batman.) The show was a favorite of critics, from The New York Times to Scientific American.
Before that, he performed solo comedies including the off-Broadway show "Lone Drifter." Before that, he was one-third of the sketch comedy trio TV Head.
Journalists have compared Kevin to Ernie Kovacs and Jonathan Winters, but his highest praise came from Tiger Beat who called him "funny!"
(preface: KEVIN GEEKS OUT is a monthly video-variety show which showcased off-beat film and TV clips around a given topic. The shows featured guest speakers, experts, performances, as well as themed-snacks, trivia and prizes. This K.G.O. was devoted to the subject of SHARK CINEMA, it was hosted by Kevin Maher and Matthew Glasson, as "Kevin & Matt Geek Out About Sharks")
July's GEEK OUT was a massive success, we crammed dozens of clips into a 2-hour show for a packed house. It was a great crowd and a fun night. Thanks to everybody who took part in the evening. For those of you who couldn't make it, here's what you missed....
Since moving to Brooklyn in 1997 I've met alternative comedians, downtown performance artists, alcoholic poets, content generators, flaky folk-rockers, the list goes on and one. One of the most slippery of all walks of life is anyone who calls himself an "independent filmmaker." I could tell you some awful stories, but that's for another post. Today I'm going to share something that's truly exciting and it was made by a writer-director who can deliver. (Don't take my word for it, just watch this trailer and see for yourself.)
Jeremy Carr's LUCID is like a David Lynch Batman movie, if Batman weren't in it.
Just think of the money you've spent on seeing bad movies over the years. Now here's your chance to put ten bucks towards a great movie that needs some help. The producers are raising funds to finish shooting LUCID, you can join the online fundraiser on Kickstarter. Every pledge helps -- seriously.
Learn more about the project here and see what you'll get by pledging: you can get an on-screen credit, a copy of Jeremy's short film ICE CREAM ANTS (featuring me as The Drunkard -- pictured above, this is one of my favorite roles), and a few people will get this cool T-shirt:
If you're crazy about movies, help this one get made. You won't regret it.
Kevin Maher and co-host Matthew Glasson look at the history of JAWS rip-offs, from the Golden Age of Shark Cinema, the Silver Age of Sanctioned Sequels and the Bronze Age of Documentaries and CGI Sharks. Plus the adult-movie inspired by JAWS, the National Lampoon parody that never was (with a script by John Hughes), and incredible shark scenes with zombies, superheroes, Jackie Chan, Burt Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, the Olsen Twins and the Harlem Globetrotters.
Special guest Karen Sneider (The New Yorker) shares a shark comic strip.
Comedian Ritch Duncan addresses a plot hole in the JAWS quadrilogy.
And Sara Reiss will serve Shark Cupcakes.
This show WILL sell-out. Buy tickets in advance here.
This morning I had a dream that I made my kids some Batman pancakes. When I woke up, you can imagine my disappoinment that it was just a dream. (And I can imagine your disappointment in my dream-life. Get over it. I married my dream girl, so now I have to fantasize about delighting my sons with novelty superhero breakfasts.)
When I googled the phrase BATMAN PANCAKES I hoped to find an inexpensive kitchen tool, like a cookie-cutter in the shape of the Bat-logo, but for a griddle. (I've seen the same thing with making eggs in the shape of handguns.) But instead, I came across this online diary about a transgendered college student - and while the headline is about "homosexual non-demoninational batman pancakes", it's not a queer reading about Batman and Robin. As a matter of fact there's no mention of the Caped Crusader outside of the attention-grabbing headline.
For now my quest continues to find the easy pancake maker that strikes fear in the heart of criminals.
we should note that The Coen Brothers did let character actor Peter Stormare get his pancakes two years later in The Big Lebowski when the German Nihilists eat at Dinah's Original Pancake & Chicken House.
Lastly: Stormare played Dracula in the 2005 movieThe Batman Vs. Dracula. It always comes back to Batman.
Friday’s show was one of our best geek-outs yet. The 2-hour tribute to America’s favorite horror icon included trailers, TV and movie clips, and rare footage of Vincent Price. The night's co-host, Tom Peyer (comic book writer of Silver Age: Doom Patrol, Tek Jansen), shared some stories and clips of VP playing Egghead on Batman. During out salute to Vincent Price: The Gourmet (which featured the wine-tasting contest from Tales of Terror) Lisa Beebe served TWO kinds of Vincent Price cupcakes (portrait cupcakes as well as “fly” cupcakes with a plastic fly caught in a web of icing).
Writer Eric Drysdale (The Colbert Report) edited down footage from the promotional film for Sears' Vincent Price Collection of Fine Art, followed by clips from a Price-hosted instructional VHS tape that came with the Nishika 3D Camera. (At the end of the segment, an audience member won said camera!) Playwright Bob Satuloff screened scenes from two essential films that bookend Price's career as a horror star: House of Wax and Theater of Blood. Actor Arthur Anderson provided a video-interview where he reflected on working with Price in Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater, and he showed photos from VP’s wedding. Nathaniel Wharton (fromThe Jim Henson Legacy) shared rare musical footage of Vincent Price on The Muppet Show (featuring a song that wasn’t released on the season one DVD.) And Media Historian Heather Hendershot (dressed as one of VP’s tragic dead movie wives) read a thought-provoking essay about VP’s on-screen persona being compared to a hysterical woman. (read the essay here – scroll down, it’s a post-script following her piece about Don Knotts being a reluctant sex object.)
In the middle of the show, audience members got to share their personal memories about Vincent Price: we heard tale of VP’s verdict on an early Michael Jackson trial; we learned the real reason one professor never finished his academic art history book with Vincent Price; and we heard a first-hand account of a teenage boy writing a fan letter to Vincent Price (promising him a role in a horror movie) – which was met with a heart-warming hand-written reply from the 82-year-old actor.
The video-variety show also included some of Price's finest audio recordings: First we heard Price reading the poetry of Percy Shelley. And later, one lucky audience member got to perform a scene from Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Ernest”, thanks to the audio-magic of the record CO-STAR WITH VINCENT PRICE (Price released a high-concept album where he delivered half the dialogue in dramatic scenes, the consumer would read the script and play the other parts. Kind of a non-ironic version of Albert Brooks' Comedy Minus One.) The night’s audience was a who’s who of geek super-stars, we had a writers from The Daily Show, DreadCentral.com, DC editors, AMCtv and indie filmmakers.
Plus the good folks at Trailers From Hell let us screen Josh Olson’s commentary track for Witchfinder General. Our friends at Blue Water Comics gave everyone in the audience not one but TWO issues of "Vincent Price Presents..." And all audience members received a complimentary pencil mustache, courtesy of super-producer M. Sweeney Lawless. Meg also crafted a first-class paper-program that featured Vincent Price haikus, Price’s recipe for Pump Room Chicken Hash, and a collection of quotes with VP talking about everything from Dracula to expressing love. Super-producer Jay Stern edited together thematically arranged footage, like "Vincent Price Murders his Wives", "Vincent Price Drug Freak-Outs", "Vincent Price Mourns His Wives" and "Vincent Price Out of Context." And if that's not enough, we included Vincent Price tributes (a Bugs Bunny cartoon and a short subject film by Tim Burton.)
Sorry you missed it? That could be YOU munching on a humorously-decorated cupcake while watching Price play Dracula's cousin in an episode of F-Troop.
At Friday's Vincent Price Night we'll pay tribute to the many faces of Vincent Price: mad scientist, fiendish fop, leading man, self-parodying guest star. But we'll also take a moment to honor the man who loved fine arts and gourmet food.
Vincent Price cupcakes will be served. (I have to mention this after we got so much press from last month's Werewolf Cupcakes!) And the program will include a recipe from one of Mr. Price's many cookbooks.
You might be surprised to learn that Mr. Price authored several cook-books. But what's even more surprising is that he didn't use the medium as a platform for his signature self-parody.
Here are some Dishes NOT Found in the Vincent Price Cookbooks.
Masque of the Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream and Cream Again The Beef Brisket of Dr. Phibes Meatloaf to Heaven Beans of Wax The Five-Alarm Chile on Haunted Hill The Pit and the Portabella The Flank Steak of the House of Usher The 6-course meal loosely inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe vignette The Last Manwich on Earth Wife-Mourning Casserole Egghead's Eggstrordinary Quiche Lemon Ginger "Hollywood" Squares Edward Scissorham thanks to M. Sweeney Lawless for some titles.
Now click here to buy advanced tickets (no service fee) for VINCENT PRICE NIGHT
Yes, from the people who brought you HULK Night and KISS Night comes the ultimate video cavalcade of off-beat Superhero clips.
Featuring stuff you won't find on TV, YouTube or Hulu... including scenes from The 1979 cartoon show FRED & BARNEY MEET THE THING.
...scenes from The Spirit TV movie
...and a view-master reel of Superman Vs. The Computer Crook.
Special guests include James Dean Conklin, the animator of WONDERMAN (TV Funhouse) Professor Geoff Klock (who contribued to MOMA's Superhero fashion book) Matthew K. Manning (writer for DC's Batman Strikes) M. Sweeney Lawless (curator of BIGFOOT Night) Jay Stern (producer of FRANKENSTEIN Night) Craig Wichman (who played Batman in BATMAN Night's Fan Fiction)
and co-host Nick Nadel (from the AMC super-hero blog)
It all happens this Wednesday, March 18th @ 7 PM.
UNDER St. Mark's 94 St. Mark's Place (between 1st Avenue and Avenue A)
Tickets are $7 (admission includes a Hostess Fruit Pie)
January’s HULK Night! featured nearly every version of the animated Hulk (1966 - 1996), plus clips from the 1977 pilot movie and the climax of 1990’s Death of the Incredible Hulk. Our feature presentation was Metamorphosis, an amazing 1979 live-action episode packed with glam rock, death fantasies, an indictment of the music industry and an LSD freak-out (Banner hallucinates that his alter-ego is chasing him across the desert, only to morph into a stoned Hulk!) Live entertainment included Hulkus (Hulk haikus) and a Hulk piñata smashed by an actor as the Green Goliath.
Thanks everybody who came out to KISS NIGHT! For March’s KISS Night! Kevin (and co-host Rob Gorden) donned face-paint to present the 1978 made-for-TV movieKISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. The screening included clips of Gene Simmons in the futuristic thriller Runaway (1984). Audience members were challenged to a beer-guzzling contest against Rob’s robot-clone. Kevin read KISS-ku (KISS haikus.) The after-party included KISS make-overs, a KISS tribute Band (Creatures of the Night), a costume contest and DJ Joey Nova.
In April, Kevin and co-host Raven Snook covered themselves in glitter for THE APPLE Night! The feature film, The Apple, is a flamboyant, dystopian Adam & Eve story set in a nightmarish future of 1994 (as imagined in 1980.) Raven led the crowd in a sing-a-long and gave an audience member a futuristic glam-rock make-over. After the screening DJ Joey Nova hosted a glam-rock party at Beauty Bar with apple-flavored drink specials, glitter manicures and lots of David Bowie music.
May welcomed BATMAN Night!, showcasing everything from the 1943 serial to 1998’s New Adventures of Batman (with an animated version of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight.) The feature presentation was a rare 1978 Challenge of the Superfriends episode where Batman and friends get turned into Hobbit-like trolls. Co-host Nick Nadel interviewed Batman Strikes writer Matthew K. Manning. Kevin shared poetry as he’d collected over 400 original Batman Haikus for the event. (He hopes to publish a Bat-ku page-a-day calendar.) There were Batman-themed trivia games and a dramatic reading of fan fiction. The after-party, at The Hangar Bar, served Batman-inspired cocktails.
Die hard fans turned out for June’s ROCK & RULE Night! when Kevin (and co-host Dekker Dryer) screened 1983’s Rock & Rule. The film was preceded by a retrospective on Nelvana animation (including the Boba Fett cartoon sequence in The Star Wars Holiday Special and clips from The Care Bears Movie.) Trivia prizes included CDs by artists from the movie, including Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. DJ Joey Nova kept the evening going with an all-night after-party at Beauty Bar.
DAMNATION ALLEY Night! was a September screening of the second-greatest fantasy film from 1977, Damnation Alley. The post-apocalyptic adventure paired Jan Michael Vincent with George Peppard and futuristic Winnebago known as The Landmaster. Clips included an episode of ARK II and the episode of Get a Life where Chris faces off against Paperboy 2000 (a paper-delivery robot played by the Landmaster.) The evening featured only one haiku (about George Peppard’s moustache) because Kevin had never seen the movie before.
October’s FRANKENSTEIN Night! was a 3-hour bonanza starting with a video cavalcade including clips from Frankenstein Vs. Baragon (1965) Blackenstein (1972) and Thomas Edison’s original 1910 Frankenstein. Tom Carrozza sang Mel Torme’s "Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives" and Marian Brock read an epic poem about the Creature. Kevin showed a 1976 view-master reel and Maura Madden (author of Crafternoon) provided tips for Halloween crafts and costumes. The video show was followed by the Quicksilver Radio Theater Company’s 60-minute adaptation of Mary Shelley’s original novel.
November was BIGFOOT Night! a delightful evening which brought out skeptics and honest-to-God Bigfoot fans. Co-host M. Sweeney Lawless treated the crowd to eyewitness accounts, original folk art and M&Ms. We screened clips from Bigfoot: Man or Beast?, The Legend of Boggy Creek, Bigfoot & Wildboy and the episode of The Six Million Dollar Man featuing Andre the Giant as the Bionic Bigfoot. (This is widely regarded as the best episode in the series. No duh!) Our feature presentation was the award-winning short film Skunk Ape!? Special guests included lecturer Doug Skinner and Australian journalist Dan Ziffer. M. Sweeney Lawless put together a kick-ass booklet of bigfoot haikus, true stories and fun-facts. That alone was worth the price of admission (it was $7 for believers, $10 for non-believers.)
In December Raven Snook returns to co-host SCI FI MUSICALS Night! It’s a collection of songs and clips from Sci Fi Musicals ranging from Phantom of the Paradise (1974) to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog (2008). The evening will celebrate the best numbers from cult favorites like Forbidden Zone (1980) and Xanadu (1980) to lesser-known films like the Alan Arkin super-hero parody The Return of Captain Invincible (1983) and the Pia Zadora-Craig Sheffer oddity Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1987). Plus TV clips like the episode of Buck Rogers that featured space rockers Andromeda -- and the overlooked Donnie and Marie Star Wars Special.
2009 will include: VIDEO-GAME MOVIE Night! and GODZILLA Night! and SUPER-HERO Night!
Last Wednesday Nick Nadel and I screened an evening of BATMAN videos, starting with an episode of the Batman cartoon called "Legends of the Dark Knight" -- in the 1950's story Gary Owens voices Batman opposite Michael McKean's Joker.
After that we let the audience choose a clip from the 1966 Batman movie -- the overwhelming majority wanted to watch the "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb" sequence instead of the "Shark Repellant" scene. Good call audience! It got the biggest laughs of the night. The second biggest laugh came when I read a Batman haiku which was penned by my wife. (She's funnier than me.)
Then we showed some of the 1943 Batman Serial, which is historically significant for: a drab Batmobile, slow pacing, and racism (the bad kind.) Following the dramatic cliffhanger, Nick read titilating passages from Dr. Fredrick Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent.
We lightened the mood by showing the 1978 WORLD'S GREATEST SUPERFRIENDS episode Lord of Middle Earth, which is like a Tolkien-ripoff by someone who hasn't read Lord of the Rings, but heard about it from an older cousin. This episode features many of the highlights seen in the show's opening credits. Then we took an intermission, giving people a chance to enjoy some BATMAN CEREAL (okay, it was Cap'n Crunch) and wash it down with beer.
Then it was back to the festivities with a staged reading of a pice of fan fiction entitled "BATMAN: Nemesis Fight". Actors -- you haven't lived until you've performed fan fiction before a live audience. It was a highlight of my career.
We kept the laughs coming with Will Carlough's short film "Robin's Big Date" where Sam Rockwell plays the Batman opposite Justin Long's Boy Wonder. We read some Batman haikus and then Nick interviewed Batman Strikes writer Matthew K. Manning, who shared the secrets of his Batman collectibles collection.
We switched gears into futuristic mutant cartoon mode, with an additional segment of "Legends of the Dark Knight" where the Frank Miller Batman battles mutants. Batman kicks much mutant ass.
Every show must come to an end, and ours ended with the conclusion of "Lord of Middle Earth" which had some amazing giant snails doing battle with spiders. (Spoiler alert! Snails win.)
After the show we hit the Hanger bar for some delicious Batman cocktails.
For more Batman haikus, you can email me to get a booklet mailed to you. Or check out Mike Whalen’s blog (scroll down). When I requested some Batman Haikus, Mike and slam poet David Hendlerchallenged each other to write 100 each. I also accepted the literary challenge and now we have close to 400 Batman Haikus. Can anyone recommend a good page-a-day-calendar publisher?
After the success of HULK Night and KISS Night, THE SCI FI SCREENING ROOM is proud to present...BATMAN Night!…
Wednesday June 4th @ 7:00 PM at the Theater Under St. Mark’s 94 St. Mark’s Place (btw 1st Ave and Avenue A) L-train to 1st Ave, F/V to 2nd Ave, R-train to 8th St, 6 to Astor Pl. Just 7 bucks!
Kevin Maher (that's me!) and Nick Nadel share bootleg Batman, fan films, the 1943 serial, the 1980's cereal, as well as some Superfriends clips, 1960's out-takes, and other Batman rarities. Plus a visit from Batman Strikes writer Matthew K. Manning.
The evening will also include BAT-KUs (Batman Haikus), Bat-trivia, and Bat-prizes.
Plus an after-party at the Hanger Bar (217 E. Third Street) complete with Bat-cocktails and utility belt snacks. If Nick drinks enough, he'll do the Bat-Dance on the bar.
NOTE: This show is an editor's pick on BAT-BLOG.com, that's like the New York Times of Batman blogs.
Kevin created three original web-series including AMC's The Sci Fi Department (short-listed for a Webby) and Comedy Central/Atom's Old People News.
This morning I had a dream that I made my kids some Batman pancakes. When I woke up, you can imagine my disappoinment that it was just a dream. (And I can imagine your disappointment in my dream-life. Get over it. I married my dream girl, so now I have to fantasize about delighting my sons with novelty superhero breakfasts.) 
Friday’s show was one of our best geek-outs yet. The 2-hour tribute to America’s favorite horror icon included trailers, TV and movie clips, and rare footage of Vincent Price. The night's co-host, Tom Peyer (comic book writer of Silver Age: Doom Patrol, Tek Jansen), shared some stories and clips of VP playing Egghead on Batman. During out salute to Vincent Price: The Gourmet (which featured the wine-tasting contest from Tales of Terror) Lisa Beebe served TWO kinds of Vincent Price cupcakes (portrait cupcakes as well as “fly” cupcakes with a plastic fly caught in a web of icing). 
Writer Eric Drysdale (The Colbert Report) edited down footage from the promotional film for Sears' Vincent Price Collection of Fine Art, followed by clips from a Price-hosted instructional VHS tape that came with the Nishika 3D Camera. (At the end of the segment, an audience member won said camera!) 
In the middle of the show, audience members got to share their personal memories about Vincent Price: we heard tale of VP’s verdict on an early Michael Jackson trial; we learned the real reason one professor never finished his academic art history book with Vincent Price; and we heard a first-hand account of a teenage boy writing a fan letter to Vincent Price (promising him a role in a horror movie) – which was met with a heart-warming hand-written reply from the 82-year-old actor. 
The video-variety show also included some of Price's finest audio recordings: First we heard Price reading the poetry of Percy Shelley. And later, one lucky audience member got to perform a scene from Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Ernest”, thanks to the audio-magic of the record CO-STAR WITH VINCENT PRICE (Price released a high-concept album where he delivered half the dialogue in dramatic scenes, the consumer would read the script and play the other parts. Kind of a non-ironic version of Albert Brooks' Comedy Minus One.) The night’s audience was a who’s who of geek super-stars, we had a writers from The Daily Show, DreadCentral.com, DC editors, AMCtv and indie filmmakers. 
Plus the good folks at Trailers From Hell let us screen Josh Olson’s commentary track for Witchfinder General. Our friends at Blue Water Comics gave everyone in the audience not one but TWO issues of "Vincent Price Presents..." And all audience members received a complimentary pencil mustache, courtesy of super-producer M. Sweeney Lawless. Meg also crafted a first-class paper-program that featured Vincent Price haikus, Price’s recipe for Pump Room Chicken Hash, and a collection of quotes with VP talking about everything from Dracula to expressing love. 
Super-producer Jay Stern edited together thematically arranged footage, like "Vincent Price Murders his Wives", "Vincent Price Drug Freak-Outs", "Vincent Price Mourns His Wives" and "Vincent Price Out of Context." And if that's not enough, we included Vincent Price tributes (a Bugs Bunny cartoon and a short subject film by Tim Burton.)
Sorry you missed it? That could be YOU munching on a humorously-decorated cupcake while watching Price play Dracula's cousin in an episode of F-Troop. 
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