From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V7 #160 Reply-To: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Sender: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk chakram-refugees-digest Monday, January 21 2008 Volume 07 : Number 160 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] Con 07 Chicago Ted Raimi Part One [KTL Subject: [chakram-refugees] Con 07 Chicago Ted Raimi Part One Subject: Con 07 Chicago Ted Raimi Part One Realizing that the NEW con will be held in later this very week, I thought I just might get around to finishing up the last one. . . Here's one more piece. Truth time. I loath Joxer. After about four or five eps, I begrudged every second he was on screen. Because I didn't find the character funny or sympathetic. And every second of celluloid they spent on Joxer, was every second less time spent on Xena. And over the years, nothing ever changed about Joxer. He left the series the same character he was when he first appeared in it. Blech. However - two things. Joxer was incredibly popular with the massive fan base that never got on line-the ones that kept the show on the air by keeping the ratings up. And so, many of us owe a debt of gratitude to that dork. And two-Joxer is not Ted. Ted is a hilarious raconteur. He's extremely witty, wry, intelligent and sharp-it's delightful to watch Ted work. In person, his "rubber face" and his quick changes of character in response to real life, face to face, unscripted interactions are wild, wooly and very, very watchable. Ted is so hilarious that transcribing these notes was one of the hardest con reports I've ever had to write up. I was laughing to hard and so often that either I missed a lot or I just can't read my wild handwriting. You try writing on your lap, squashed in with no elbow room while laughing like a hyena. I mean I was laughing so hard I just involuntarily found myself leaning over to howl. The only other person at a con who came even close to being as funny as Ted was Jay Laga'aia-who has worked as a professional stand-up comic at times. And sometimes Kevin Smith-his stories were also gut-bustingly funny at times. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture just how funny Ted was on stage in this report. I got his words (sorta, laugh) but Ted like Lucy, acts out a lot of stuff-facial expressions, body language, playing both themselves and the person they're talking to, with all the accompanying nuances and subtexts you get from seeing both sides of a conversation. And truly for Ted, "you had to be there" and see him to fully "get" him and to fully enjoy The Ted Show. Also, sometimes his words are more harsh just written down than when he was engaged in storytelling us about things. He's didn't appear to be taking himself seriously at all and while yeah, harping on himself being a kind of haphazard victim of the Kiwi down to earth, non-glamorous, just get the work done NOW values, the things he said about being on set didn't come across as mean when he said them. It was more just talking about the much more easy-going laid back style of filming in En Zed, compared to filming on a pampered yet strict American big studio set. Since Joxer was such an extraordinarily popular character, there was a lot of excitement in the audience as we waited for Ted to show. Lots of happy talk and giggling and yeah, expectation. Ted came out to rapturous applause. First thing I have Ted saying is, "Low". ? Maybe the stage was low? He looked out at us and said we were like a United Nations. A fan asked him something and Ted mumbled, "No, no, I don't watch Xena." Not sure if he was teasing or not. He said that Xena was "Old fun. Ten years ago." Either someone asked or he told us he was from Detroit. He talked about watching some of his early work on video. And thinking, "Is that ME? (pause) He added in a wondering tone as he mimed looking at himself on screen. "What happened?" Ted said it had been four years since his last con, but a number of my friends think he's wrong-that he was around more recently. I don't remember exactly because I missed his last appearance due to going to what turned into a VERY LONG dinner with friends. But I do remember that I had to call a friend back at the con during the dinner (and Ted's guest shot) to tell her that I would be back late and I could barely hear her over the roars of laughter from the audience. It sounded like a place you'd really like to be. But dinner with friends you don't see often was nice too. Ted was asked what he's doing now. "Since Xena ended, I've joined the Merchant Marine." He talked a little bit about Spiderman. "If you miss Joxer-don't. He's that character." He brought up something he'd worked on and said, "Priests slaughtering everybody." Then he shook his head and said, "Priests just can't catch a break." He talked about "Xena the show" how he couldn't believe so many fans are still left after all these years. He mentioned a few other genre, cult hits like the "Six Million Dollar Man". How that was a big show-but there are no cons now for that one. He said he's amazed at the cult status of this show-"I get fan mail from all over the world." End of Part One KT ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:35:41 -0900 (AKST) From: KTL Subject: [chakram-refugees] Con 07 Chicago Ted Raimi Part Two Con 07 Chicago Ted Raimi Part Two I have written down, "I bet you were tired of doing the same thing over and over." I'm not sure if a fan said that or if Ted was talking about other people saying this to him. He said, "What's the difference? Every other show, I get the script and there are two lines. And then it says, 'Repeat'. How easy!" He talked about long-running shows. "By the fifth or sixth season, TV shows begin 'borrowing' from movies." He declared, "Make those eps as good as you can." Then he said in a very Joxerish way, "We made up our own lines." And he pantomimed a writer getting ticked off. And added, "In New Zealand, we were 3,000 miles from the nearest writer." I think he mentioned Steve Sears (who was in the audience taking pictures) and said, "We'd shift paragraphs around. I'd take Lucy's lines, she'd take mine." I think he was asked about "Been There, Done That". He said, "Rotten eggs. Whew!" And slapped his own forehead to show the eggs landing. "You guys like that one?" (There wasn't a great response.) Ted nodded, "Yeah-all 2 of you." He said, "Rob Tapert. One mad, fearless producer. He seemed not to care about the show. (Excited voice, imitating Rob) 'Let's make Lucy a weakling! Let's put her in chains! Then we'll do a musical! Then we'll make Joxer a triple!'" Then there was something, either Ted was telling a story or maybe a guy in the audience for some reason yelled out, "You go, girl!" Ted repeated it and then said something like only a male who was a transvestite-and black, could say that. "No white guys talk like that." Someone asked about "Lyre, Lyre". Ted said that he made a tape singing "Dancing in the Moonlight". "Rob heard it." Then, as do all the males on the show, he began to imitate Rob saying, "Do ALL of Jace like that!" Ted said he was concerned about maybe offending some people who were gay or Hispanic. So he called up a Hispanic friend of his and he acted out the telephone conversation for us. Ted (talking the way Jace did), "Marco? Eees zees offenseeve to chu?" Marco, replying in just as thick an accent, "No, eet's not. Why?" These are my next garbled notes: "Brownies. No dirt. Cigarette in mouth. Shovel it in. Nice fantasy. Wish I remembered it that way." Anyone is welcome to construct a story out of this paragraph. But DO remember, we may see it on a DVD some day. . . He said that Rob called him one day and informed him he'd be in "Old age make-up till the day the show ends." Someone brought up "Diamonds and Guns", Renee's movie which Ted worked on. He directed a new beginning for it and also makes a cameo appearance. He said, "That was two years ago." And then asked in what sounded like a surprised tone, "It's out?" And he talked about lag times. He was asked about Joxer's costume. "Same six pieces of junk I wore for six years." He said Joxer was "A brilliant concept. RJ came up with it-the worst warrior in the world who thinks he's the best." He was asked what his favorite ep was. "The underwater one. (Fishsticks) Or 'For Him The Bell Tolls'" BIG applause for that one. Ted talked about how when he runs across a downer in life, he'll think, "God-that's just like Joxer-I thought I was better than that." He told us that he "was a wallflower-I pulled that in there." There was a little amused rumble in the audience and he looked at us and said, "I WAS." Then added, "I got out of it." "Lucy, Renee and I would waste a great deal of time. Not just ours - the crew's, the cast's, Universal's money. Lucy would dampen it." (Imitating Lucy), "Put a damper on it!" Then he pantomimed giggling to Renee. "When Renee and I were alone, we'd laugh, mess up ten takes, the crew would be. . ." (He crossed his arms, shook his head, got an exasperated, impatient look on his face.) "They'd like to go home." A fan asked if Joxer knew, deep down, the truth about himself. "No. He was of below average intelligence. Very ambitious. Dumb and ambitious. Basically a politician. He had inklings, but he couldn't follow through on the thought." (Acting as Joxer thinking to himself) "I lose every fight. I. . ." (silence) "But he never gets to develop that - he forgets what he was thinking about." He was asked about "Been There, Done That'. He talked about having to do a number of takes of the scene with the eggs sploshing on his head. "I stunk of rotten eggs all day". Between takes, he thought that he would be able to wipe the stuff off but he knew that "In New Zealand, you can't be a Nancy boy, you can't be too la-di-da with your clothes." So when he mentioned that he wanted to clean up, he got the reply, (in imitated Kiwi) "Jist iggs-let 'em stay there, matey." Ted repeated with disgust, "I stunk all day." He was asked if it upset him that Joxer and Gabrielle had never gotten together. "No-that's where you 'Jump the Shark'." He was also asked about a Joxer recipe book. "Even if there isn't, it's a good thing." Then he declared, "I am a better cook than Joxer." End of Part Two KT ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:45:10 -0900 (AKST) From: KTL Subject: [chakram-refugees] Con 07 Chicago Ted Raimi Part Three (final) Con 07 Chicago Ted Raimi Part Three (final) Ted talked about how in New Zealand everything for the set/show had to be built from scratch. And mentioned his costume again. "My hat was like a beanie hat costume-funny for one moment." He talked about how much he hated the hat and was always trying to take it off. "I'd say, 'Hey, Xena' and take off my hat. The costume department was very angry with me." He said they actually chose a person to keep watch on him to make sure he kept his hat on-they'd rat him out and he'd have to keep it on in the next take. Someone asked if it was true that Bruce Campbell was his baby sitter when he was little. Ted said, "He was always at our house. (Then he imitated his mother perhaps, saying) 'If you're here anyway, eating our food, do something useful-mind Ted.'" He talked about I think a project called "Prodigy". Ted said he tries to do things he wants to see himself. He talked about making suggestions to a director and being told, "Shut up! You're an actor! Sit down!" Then he started talking about how horrible TV is, the reality shows. "'That's How You Dance'. Wait-what is it?" (With a little help from the audience, we all got the title)-'Do (maybe 'So'?) You Think You Can Dance'". A fan asked, "Did Renee ever hit you with that staff?" "All the time. She had a softer one-but it wasn't up to L.A. safety standards." He was asked, "Did you ever get hurt by your costume?" "Those aren't Star Trek The Next Generation tunics." He talked about how in New Zealand, there was a real feeling that in the props and sets they were proving themselves as up to the job. "They wanted everything to look great at the expense of the actors." He talked about when they put Joxer in the stocks, "Joxer the perv". I think he asked or else was repeating a question, "What would Joxer be doing if he wasn't with Xena and Gabrielle? He'd be in a whorehouse, spying on Amazons." He said that the stocks they put him in were made of solid oak. "I had a vintage 1946 oak desk on my shoulders." And he bent forward, hands in the air and rocked around as someone would while trying to balance a huge load. Then he imitated a New Zealand crew person, "You okay, Teed?" He answered, breathless and groaning in a clipped, choked tone, "Yeah. Fine. Fiiiiiine." He told us there were a number of swords used on the show. "Some were wood, some were cheeseball foam swords. And some were real. If you plunged them into the director, he'd die. Sloooowly." He added that they had no weapons specialists on Xena to check for safety. He was asked about his last ep and he said that it was "Bittersweet" (No, not the ep, his feelings on the ep.) He joked about how Xena dies and "That's a WRAP!" and the show is over. "I die but then I get called back for two more episodes." (And again taking on a Kiwi accent, he mimics the crew on those episodes asking him), "Aren't you dead yet, mate?" He was asked about the Joxer the Mighty theme song. (Which has been playing in my damn head and which I've been helplessly humming all the way through writing this, to my honey's great laughing delight, DAMMIT!) Ted said that it was Josh's idea that they should do the theme in a 1920's male chorus style. "We gave it to Joe-got it back in like a day." A fan asked if he had taken martial arts classes. "No-my character didn't require that. He was dumb and bumbling." I THINK that a fan asked, "Was that you in 'When Fates Collide'?" He asked us to remind him which one that was. People yelled out, "The Romans!" And "You a Roman Soldier!" And "Xena married to Caesar!" Then he said, yes, it was him. Now, according to my notes, someone then asked, "Did the costume fit?" It's a mighty strange question if either Ted or the fan asked this, eh? Then he looked around at us and I think was referring to our loyalty and our continued fascination with XWP. "This show is getting O.L.D." Or maybe he was talking about himself appearing on stage that day-but I don't think so. Then he said something about "third billing" being the wrong "practice"? (I can't quite make out the word in my notes.) "Still gotta kneel down." And then he left again to thunderous applause and most likely a standing ovation-though unlike Burbank, the crowd didn't automatically leap to its feet at the end of each appearance. I don't remember if Ted got one or not. As I finished writing this up, I said to my honey, "You know, I can't remember if we sang the Joxer theme song this time." My honey burst out laughing-he was helplessly guffawing. But he managed to ask, "You guys sing that song at cons?!" You know, my honey has never laughed at me for my Xena obsession. Well, okay, a little bit, but always in a non-condemning, non "How moronic!" type of way. However, this was not that way at all-it wasn't an "I love you" kind of laugh. It was just a helplessly "That's so bizarre!~" type of laugh. So I got a little huffy and said in a dignified, haughty tone, "Yes. Yes we do." For some reason this tickled the heck out of him even more. Then I thought about it, about a hall filled with mostly tough looking women, with some kids and some young men along with a handful of older men dispersed among us, all becoming a mighty chorus and singing the Joxer the Mighty theme song. And yeah, okay, I could see how that might be funny. MIGHT BE. . . KT ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ End of chakram-refugees-digest V7 #160 **************************************