TRIPPING THE RIFT - SERIES 1 [2004]

Sometimes this planet of ours can feel like a small place.  Television brings the whole world into our living rooms and squeezes it into a box.  We can hop on a plane and in a matter of hours step off on the other side of the Earth.  It is easy to loose track of the scale of things.  You can visit a city and claim to have seen it, but there is so much more to a place than monuments that make for a pretty postcard.  Every building in a city tells something of its character, and like fractals, if we look closer, a whole new world is revealed again at the next level.  Buildings are filled with offices and apartments, offices and apartments with people, and these people overflow with curiosity, and interests of a myriad varieties.  It is the possibilities inherent in this that make me truly appreciate the incomprehensible scale of our little world, which in the great scheme of things, is itself just a drop in the ocean.
  As movies are one of my favourite pastimes, the things people choose to watch are of great curiosity to me.  Our interests are so diverse, it boggles the mind.  While populist entertainment does what it says on the tin, there are endless subdivisions and genres, where the connoisseur can indulge the most obscure of tastes.  This is, of course, not exclusive to movies.
  There are many reasons why niche hobbies do not float to the surface of popular culture.  Some of them are too dark for public consumption (exploitation cinema, cock fighting, pornography, dwarf tossing).  Much are too esoteric to generate mass appeal, which gives us the nebulous area of cult entertainment.  But the main reason certain things remain in the shadows is that they are just shit.  I've endured a lot of stink while researching Stitches, but that is not what we are going to look at today.  It is always a pleasant surprise to discover something that has been around for years, yet it has somehow managed to escape your notice (unless it's cancer).  So without further ado (and I appreciate that I've just spouted much ado-do), I give you Tripping The Rift.

The image above probably tells you all you need to know in order to decide whether or not this show is for you.  Of course, I've never been one to use an image when a thousand words will do.

  Tripping The Rift first appeared on my long distance scanner (I really hate myself sometimes) at the Dublin Circus Skills Convention.  While I chatted with Mr. Balloonatic, I told him of my intention to, over the coming months, watch as many killer clown movies as was humanly possible.  To that end, he recommend Tripping The Rift.

  Tripping The Rift is Canadian animated sci-fi comedy series that ran for three seasons between 2004 and 2007.  Created by Chris Moeller and Chuck Austen, it started off as two short Internet films, the first of which was released in 2000.  Chris Moeller began his career as an animator on The Simpsons, before he moved on to direct episodes of King of The Hill.  There he met storyboard artist Chuck Austen (for dramatic purposes, I'm assuming they had never met before).  Between them, they developed an idea which can be summed up as 'Futurama with dick jokes'.  And rape jokes.  And anal sex jokes.  And gruesome deaths.  Did I mention the dick jokes?

  The first of those Internet shorts was  Love and Darph, which you can see here.  Love and Darph is very rough around the edges, but it certainly shows the potential in this idea for a series.  It introduces us to the surly and sex obsessed star ship captain, Chode McBlob (Stephen Root from Office Space, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and Cedar Rapids), gay robot and chief engineer, Gus, and sex cyborg and chief communications officer, Six (Terry Farrell from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).  We also meet - most importantly for my purposes - Chode's nemesis, Darph Bobo, whose introduction here delivers one of the best moments in the entire franchise.

  The second short, Oh Brother (which you can watch here.  Only kidding; it's here) is actually a trailer, and while the animation is far better, it is quite misleading, in that both the tone and the story are completely different, not just to Love and Darph, but to the entire series.

  By the time Tripping The Rift made it to the screen in 2004, some major changes had been implemented.  The animation quality was vastly improved.  The dark tone of Love and Darph was substituted for a more light-hearted approach.  That is not to say that the makers in any way comprised their vision; just that it was all delivered in a brighter, more agreeable package.

  Chode, Gus, and Six all returned, though with some alterations.  Chode was virtually the same, though much of the nastiness evident in Love and Darph had been leavened.  Gus, who was originally voiced by Chris Moeller, was now performed by Maurice LaMarche.  Six changed most of all.  She was completely redesigned, and was now voiced by Gina Gershon.  The original crew were joined by tri-breasted cow/crab/scrotum/bitch T'Nuk (Gayle Garfinkle), and Chode's lizard nephew, Whip (Rick Jones).  The team was rounded out by Spaceship Bob (John Melendez).  Together they were to boldly (I mean that in the pejorative sense) go where no man has gone before, on a galaxy spanning quest for illicit sex, booze, and mild criminal behaviour.

  A story is only as good as its villain, and Darph Bobo (originally Chris Moeller, now Terrence Scammell), also made a welcome return. 

Darph Bobo is the head of an evil clown empire.  He and Chode are lifelong enemies.  They have known each other since school, and have even served time in prison together.  Darph Bobo is fantastic fun to watch, and is consistently one of the highlights of the show.  He's a twisted psychopath and a bumbling fool.  He philosophy is best summed up when he is training the peaceful Kubrickians (spot the movie reference) to be more warlike; 'In this training exercise, you will learn to kill an enemy in a way that is both painful, and comically amusing!'  Two of the most quotable lines of the series are his, 'Hello, Chode,' and, 'I'll get you, Chode!'  Written down, they have no power, but when delivered properly, they always provoke a laugh.
  There is a secondary opponent for Chode and his crew, in the form of Captain Adam, a limp William Shatter spoof.  He is pretty bland, and thankfully doesn't feature too often.

  Each episode of Tripping The Rift is cobbled together with references to the multitude of sci-fi movies and TV shows that have inspired the film-makers.  That, and innuendo.  There is no point talking about the episodes from a narrative point of view, as the story is only there to give the characters something to react to, and then move us along to the next gag.  It is the characters, and how they respond to the different situations they find themselves in, that make Tripping The Rift worthwhile.

  Chode is certainly the strongest character.  He is a completely selfish sex pest, but the writers, coupled with Stephen Root's performance, invest him with a surprising amount of heart, without ever descending into schmaltz.  Gus is a caricature of C-3P0, who despite his over the top camp behaviour, insists he isn't gay.  Six is the straight woman, a sex android with a conscience.  She provides the moral voice, at least, she tries to.  T'nuk is basically a horrible and vain bitch.  Her full name is T'Nuk Layor, which spelt backwards is 'royal kunt.'  Nuff said.  Spaceship Bob is their agoraphobic star ship.  He is prone to panic attacks, and his droll attitude gives the impression that he's really not that keen on being a space ship at all.  Then there's Whip, who is just a waste of space.  That isn't a character trait - the character himself is just a waste of space.  He is underdeveloped, and is nothing but a generic stoner teen.  You could edit him out and loose nothing.

  For straight up sci-fi comedy, one can look no further than Futurama or Red Dwarf.  What gives Tripping The Rift its edge is that it can go places those shows can't.  It works best when it is at its most offensive.  There are moments that are laugh out loud funny simply because you can't believe what you are seeing.  While it is certainly crude, it is so over the top, and performed with such affable cheek, that's it's hard to take offence.  The series doesn't pretend to take any moral stance.  Sure, there are some episodes that touch on having a message, but it is usually undermined with a crude joke.  There is no po-faced Prime Directive here; Tripping The Rift has a puerile directive, plain and simple.

  Like most cult entertainment, Tripping The Rift either appeals to you, or it doesn't.  There is no middle ground.  Here is your check list.  Print it out, laminate it, and keep it in your wallet, so that should you have a horrible accident, and end up in a coma, the nurse will know whether or not she should take advantage of you.

Sci-fi	Yes/No?
Dick jokes	Yes/No?
Scatological humour	Yes/No?
Boobs	Yes/No?
Clowns	Yes/No?

If you're not saying yes to at least two of those, then this ain't for you.  Perhaps you should play it safe, and watch 7^th Heaven instead.  If however you find yourself saying 'Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!' then Tripping The Rift is at least worth a look.  Series 1 is only okay - it has its some stand out moments, but can drag at times - but it is just the beginning, and better things are to come!

  Here are the Series 3 opening titles.  I didn't rip Series 1's, as they are in German on my DVD.  These are basically the same as Series 1, but they were redone for Series 3 with fancier graphics.  They give a brief glimpse of the main characters, and clearly set out the spoof nature of the show:

Lastly, I want to talk to you about a special little place I like to call Germany.  Much like when I was trying to get my hands on Clownhouse, the only place I could find a Region 2 version of Tripping The Rift was through the German branch of Amazon*.  It seems that if you're looking for anything in this world, Germany is the place to find it.  Between that, and the fact that Berlin is one of the coolest cities on Earth, Germany, you rock!

Next up, I'm going to iron out some of The Kinks in this blog.

* The DVD is in German, though it is easy to navigate your way to the English dub.

CLOWNING THROUGH, Written by: Frank Foster [in collaboration with Willian G. Bosworth]

EDIT:  I am returning to this entry to make a slight edit.  I have made copious notes on the various circus books I have read over the past few months.  When I first posted this, I was eager to get a book review out, so before I had a chance to type up my notes, I went ahead and published the review.  Unfortunately, this resulted in a slight error on my part.  I mentioned how at times I felt the circus tent sounded like a ship at sea.  I thought this was my own impression, but it had slipped by me that this is in fact Foster's image.  I have edited the text below to reflect this.  In the immortal words of Madeleine McCann's parents; Oops.

Bizarre.  It was April 16th and I had just finished my first book on clowning.  I closed the cover, turned on my laptop, and clicked into the Google homepage, only to be greeted by the following video:

It was embedded above the search bar on the Google main page.  It seems April 16th is the birth date of Charlie Chaplin, and that 2011 is his 122nd birthday.  Why is this bizarre?  Well, perhaps that is too strong a word, but at the very least it was a highly unlikely coincidence.  Read on...

Apparently the beginning is a really good place to start, so I'll do that now, with the second paragraph.  When I got my hands on the first batch of clown and circus books I had ordered, I was faced with the difficult choice of where to begin.  Did I start with one of the pristine new editions, or did I go for the dusty old hardback?  Well, I am a romantic, so there really was no choice. 

  As Clowning Through is out of print, I had to secure a second-hand copy.  Though the yellow felt binding barely holds it together, and loads of the pages are printed crooked, it is quite a beautiful little volume.  There is something romantic about reading an old book: the smell and feel of the yellowed paper, the delicate touch required to turn the pages.  You feel like you are reaching into the past and grabbing it straight out of someones hands.  Imagine the look on that person's face, when the book they were enjoying is plucked from their grasp as if by nothing.  The thought of that was all I needed to make me begin my studies here!

  So, four paragraphs in, what of the text?  Clowning Through is a slender volume at 162 pages, and it makes for a very quick and easy read.  It is written in an unadorned and straightforward manner, and one could easily complete it in a day.  While you might be quick to laugh at the idea of a book about clowning, this is no comedy.  Clowning Through isn't about clowns, but rather the people beneath the make-up.  It's about the struggle to follow fragile dreams amid the harsh realities of life.

  Clowning Through isn't a single narrative, but rather is composed of a series of mini-biographies, each detailing the life of a different clown that the authors have worked with over the years.  Each biography is told in just a few short pages, and is packed with the details of their varied and unique lives.  No sooner have you learned about Joe Craston, and his disastrous attempt to direct a circus in Argentina, than you are introduced to Coco, the Russian son of a cobbler who ran away to join the circus, later served in the Russian Army in the fight against the Bolsheviks only to be captured, escape, join a band of Mongolian gypsies, and eventually manage to return home by disguising himself as a woman and sneaking over the boarder.  Coco has barely left the stage when McGeachie the Scottish dwarf steps forth, and you learn his tale of woe, about how he was so badly bullied as a child that it left him with irreversible spine injuries, which ended his clowning career before it could properly take flight.  Each story is short, well composed, and riveting, and though we only skip through these lives, they are never treated as trivial.  Not all of the accounts are as striking as the ones I have mentioned, but none of them bore.

  As these personal trials unfold, the authors paint the backdrop of the larger world of the circus.  Though all of these performers come from radically different backgrounds, the text conveys a real sense of community.  Despite their disparate lives, they were all united by the circus.  Frank Foster himself lived in this world, and while it is alien to me, the down to Earth homeliness of his prose made it feel warm and appealing.  It is not an easy existence he describes, but these people willingly 'clowned through' their struggles because this was the only life that made them happy.  I personally have great admiration for anyone who follows and achieves their dreams.  I found plenty to admire here.

  There is a certain romanticism here as well: the outlandish world of the circus, the life of the performer, living on the road, or more accurately, living in the ring.  For these people the road was just the mundane reality in between shows.  Foster opens up with a small piece of verse:

Sturdy "King-Poles" unpatched canvas,

Like a ship with expert crew

Where "Tenting" people live like humans,

And "Tober Homeys°" get their due.

  This image is further realised in the story of Beasy.  One night, while in the audience at a show in France, a great gale sprung up.  Everybody lost their heads as the wind whipped and tore the tent.  Beasy stepped in, took charge, and got everything under control as he roared, "Lower the necks!"  How could one not imagine a ship struggling against a storm?

  Each story in Clowning Through is preceded by a sketch by Clifford Hall, who spent time with all of the clowns involved before finally capturing their essence on the page.  This is a really nice touch.  I liked to flip back to this picture once I had read the story, and see how much of their tale I could detect in their faces. 

  If I was to level any criticism against Clowning Through  It wasn't written by novelists, but by circus men who wanted to capture something of the world they knew before it faded away.  While the writing is rather basic, it is frank, to the point, and most important, heartfelt.  It does not require reams of text to achieve its goal.  Much like the artwork, these stories are sketches.  Part of the magic is in letting your imagination colour them in.

  In conclusion (or should that be clown-clusion - holy shit; I'm hilarious; where's the nearest circus?!), Clowning Through provided me with several hours of worthwhile entertainment that I wouldn't take back.  I learned some things I wouldn't have otherwise, and I met a host of characters whose stories are worth hearing.  Many books deliver much less.

The last thing to discuss here is all of that malarkey I opened with, with regards to Charlie Chaplin. Halfway through Clowning Through there is mention of a style of acrobatics known as Risley.  Named for John Risley, it involves juggling things with your feet, you know, like balls, clubs, children.  Yes, children.  I'm not kidding.  They were known as Risley Kids.  This particular aspect of the routine has, unsurprisingly, fallen out of practice, due to the fact that it essentially involved kicking the shit out of a child in order to make people laugh (it's political correctness gone mad, I know).  It even inspired a rhyme:

Risley kids and slanging duffer*,

Lord only knows how much they suffer!

The authors imply, though do not explicitly state, that one notable Risley Kid was none other than Charlie Chaplin.  The veracity of this claim is unclear.  Chaplin was certainly born into a family of entertainers, but it is unclear as to whether or not he was involved in the circus.  However, (and again, coincidentally) earlier this year, a letter emerged which claimed that Chaplin was born in a gypsy caravan, which would lead credence to the authors assertions. 
  Regardless of his origins, Chaplin was essentially a clown, and this is true of many other classic performers and characters from early cinema such as Laurel and Hardy, and the Three Stooges.  The Marx Brothers began as a vaudeville act, a genre of theatre whose roots are firmly in the circus.  There is a strong argument to be made that this clowning tradition is carried on in modern times by characters such as Mr. Bean, Ace Ventura, and Enda Kenny.

  So that's what constitutes 'bizarre' in my world.  To close, here's a picture of a fantastic looking evil clown:

Next up, some korny music.

* A slanging duffer is a reference to the general Auguste or utility clown, and the rough usage he habitually received.
°  A tober homey is slang for the toll collector.