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As a (probably) falsely sourced Albert Einstein quote goes, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Some people find their talent in oils and acrylics, others in athletics, others still in the written word. Some people, as it turns out, find their talent in recovering and editing together hilariously awful old VHS tapes.
Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett — of The Colbert Report and The Onion, respectively – are two such found footage savants. Like veritable Mozarts of terrible things, Prueher and Pickett discovered their likeminded passion for appreciating things ironically at a precocious age.
While suffering through the usual drudgery of being a high-schooler working at McDonald’s, Prueher had a breakthrough when he watched a training video that managed to be infantile and absurdly elaborate all at once. After seeing how quickly it caught on with their friends, Prueher and Pickett began hunting down old VHS tapes, editing the best of the worst together and weaving tapestries of tacky glory.
Prueher realized while working with Mystery Science Theater 3000 as a production assistant out of college that, “You know what? You can actually be a professional smartass.” It was while working for one of the best professional smartasses in the business, David Letterman, that Prueher dug up that infamous video of a very gropey young Arnold Schwarzenegger in Rio. After years of building up steam (and their collection), the Found Footage Festival was born when they first took their show on the road in 2004.
You’ve probably seen their work, even if you didn’t know it. Their first big hit centered on a man named Jack Rebney, better known as the titular star of Winnebago Man. After editing together footage—gleefully provided by a victimized, vengeful crew— “documenting this man’s descent into madness” while filming a 1989 industrial video, Prueher and Pickett created a majestically profane early entry into the pantheon of viral videos.
“One of our highlights,” Prueher said, “was being able to meet him at one of our shows two years ago. We shook hands, and it was like, ‘I’m never washing this hand.’ There’s a sort of celebrity worship, and that may have been the pinnacle.”
Prueher’s current favorite video on the tour is another one that went viral: the Magical Rainbow Sponge. Created by a company entitled, hilariously, Posh Impressions, the Magical Rainbow Sponge video celebrates the awesome power of making squiggles with paint on a sponge. The Rainbow Sponge Lady, Dee Gruenig, was edited into internet lore by Prueher and Pickett, who made a supercut of her squeals and coos at the most mundane thing imaginable. “Even at the birth of my child, I would not be that excited,” Preuher said.
“We heard about the Bottletree from our friend Gregg Turkington,” better known as the satirical standup Neil Hamburger. After taking his advice to check it out, they’d found their venue; Prueher called it a “shining beacon” and their “home base in Birmingham.”
It’s perfect that the Found Footage Festival has found a home at the Bottletree, since the club’s TVs play, among other things, old footage of ‘80s women’s wrestling between shows. It’s a place that has exactly the right sense of irony and fun for the occasion.
Prueher seemed somewhat surprised to find that it’s not all ironic appreciation, though—he’s found himself becoming legitimately thrilled by his work and with the people he features, like the Rainbow Sponge Lady, groin-punching martial arts instructor Bob Klein, and a very intoxicated man named Chris who believes he is Jesus Christ. Those feelings are often reciprocated: “As soon as people see that we’re celebrating the footage, that it’s not mean-spirited and all that,” Prueher said, “people are flattered by the attention.”
“We’re doing the job we were born to do. Which I guess is a little sad.”
The Found Footage Festival will come to the Bottletree on Sunday, January 20 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. The Bottletree is located at 3719 3rd Avenue South. Even though part of the show is entitled “Kidz Stuff Too,” it is not kid-friendly. For more information, call (205) 533-6288.