What is the result of combining cheesy, unintentionally humorous
videos, two witty and entertaining hosts, and audiences that are looking for
some laughs? The
Found Footage Festival!
On Saturday May 22nd, the Found Footage Festival
(FFF) will come to Buffalo for the first time. The event, which begins at 8 PM,
will be hosted by the
Squeaky Wheel/Buffalo Media Resources.
The FFF is a “celebration of odd and hilarious found videos,” according
to its website. Co-curators and hosts Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher began searching
for and accumulating VHS tapes in 1991. Prueher, who had taken a job at
McDonald’s, shared the unexpectedly amusing training video he had seen, “Inside
and Outside Custodial Duties” with Pickett. From
then on, they began to amass countless videos found at garage sales, thrift
stores, and the like.
In 2004, Prueher and Pickett decided to watch and compile the
best videos within their treasure trove, searching for the illusive comedic
gold, ultimately reducing all of the tapes to 90 minutes of comedic clips. Thus,
the FFF was born.
The FFF is currently on tour, and since 2004 has toured all over
the US, Canada and the UK. It has received praise from various publications and
has appeared on television shows such as Jimmy
Kimmel Live.
The event will be emceed Prueher and Pickett, who will present a
guided tour of classic tapes and add their personal commentary and stories
behind the videos. “Joe and I have watched these videos hundreds of times, so
we feel like we’ve earned the right to poke fun at them a little bit,” Prueher
said.
Pickett and Prueher have deemed themselves “experts” of comedy. The
co-curators have written for the
satirical news blog
The Onion; Pickett
is currently a contributing writer. Prueher has worked for The Late Show with David Letterman and The Colbert Report.
Although they are on tour, the FFF co-curators are always on the
lookout for new videos. According to Prueher, he and Pickett arrive early on
the tour destinations and make an effort to visit all the sales and stores they
can.
The FFF abides by two rules: all video must be in a physical
format (no websites) and the video’s content must be inadvertently funny. If you have a video you would like to contribute
to the FFF, you can bring a video to one of the shows. If you’d like to send in
a video, mail to:
11-58 49th Avenue #3F L.I.C., NY 11101
Prueher and Pickett love receiving videos: “It makes our job
easier knowing that someone has already watched the footage once and deemed it
worthy of donating to the cause. Whenever we get a package of tapes in the mail
from someone, it’s like Christmas morning to us.”
At the online store, FFF DVD’s, t-shirts and ringtones are
available for purchase. The FFF website also features a blog that is updated
regularly. Soon, a blog will be introduced that will include 7-10 posts per day
about Prueher and Pickett’s “video scavenging adventures.”
Tickets for the show will be $8 both for Squeaky Wheel members
and non-members. If you wish to purchase
tickets through the FFF website, you can choose
to partake in a special offer which includes two tickets and the Found Footage Festival: Volume 4 DVD for
$30. The FFF show is not permitted for those under age 18.
Squeaky Wheel/Buffalo Media Resources
712 Main Street
First Image: Courtesy of Nick
Prueher
Second Image: Courtesy of Nick Prueher, A man
goes to great lengths to get noticed in a 1987 dating service called Video Mates