Found Footage Fest @ Asbury Lanes 11/14/09 Asbury Lanes has always been an interesting venue for shows. In addition to the normal rock concerts you’d expect, they’ve had John Waters, burlesque shows, alterative comedians, and now the Found Footage Fest. The brainchild of Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett, the Found Footage Fest “is a one-of-a-kind event showcasing videos found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout the country.” It could just as easily be called “America’s Unintentionally Funniest Videos”, with Nick & Joe introducing clips of videos that included long forgotten 1980’s cartoons (Rubik’s Cube had a cartoon, as did Chuck Norris, and Rambo, because ‘R’ rated action heroes should have cartoons for kids)…excerpts from a video dating tape (where one guy actually said, “no fatties”…I’m not kidding)…portions of celebrity workout tapes (including Dolph Lundgren, and Milton Berle?!?!)…and raw footage of a furniture salesman making an ad about wanting to save me money while making a gesture that you have to see to believe how awkward looking it truly is. The highlight for me was during clips of instructional videos they showed footage of a tape showing you how to use the Venus II. Now most people have probably never heard of the Venus II, and for that you are lucky. 15 years ago however, I worked at a commercial radio station when a press release came in for a male sex toy, the Venus II. The fully electric penis pump described in the press release was so bizarrely funny that I made a photocopy of the press release and showed it to my friends. For years it became a running joke, with us always wondering why it was ‘II’…did the Venus I do damage instead of pleasure? And does anyone really want an automated pump on their penis? While the answer to our first question I may never know, Nick & Joe actually found the inventor of the Venus II and interviewed him, and based on the fact that he lives in a trailer in a warehouse, I’d say the Venus II did not sell well. No surprise since according to Nick & Joe is was priced at $1,200!?!?! They then proceeded to pull out an actual Venus II that the creator gave to them. Everyone in the audience laughed, but I don’t think anyone could have been laughing more than me at the culmination of a 15 year old running joke. By the way, should you want to see the instructional tape for the Venus II, the entire video is online here: www.videosift.com/video/Venus-II-Penis-Pump-Infomercial NOTE: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS NUDITY Even without the inside joke of the Venus II, the Found Footage Fest was a fun and funny hour and a half. The ticket price was the same as going to see a regular film, and I think you can count on more laughs from the Found Footage Fest than you can from the average Hollywood comedy. Check out the Found Footage Fest at http://foundfootagefest.com