Pleaseeasaur :: Action Spectacular DVD Review
2005-09-20
Re:Up Magazine #008
Comedy ages badly, but absurdity is timeless. Dude from Pleaseeasaur
is absurdist theater incarnate. Projection screens, 1950s robot
space-hero suits, costume changes, and inane stage banter ("Cuz all
the droids are happy! Like Joanie and Chachie!"). It's like Devo
fronted by Andy Kaufman—Devo, who promptly oust Andy and then try to
do the songs he wrote for the band on their own (still following me?)
but not really knowing—per se—the lyrics or choreography. Action
Spectacular, released by the spectacular electronic label imputor?, is
a live set with videos. It's shot clear and steady, with good color,
sound, and switching camera perspectives (A fixed camera angle is the
death of so many live DVDs—just yawning you into oblivion). All this
is good since the Pleaseeasaur (don't make me type that again) trip is
visual—the bad lounge singer dance moves, the funny unfunny costumes,
the tie-dye stretch pants... you need to be front row, literally or
figuratively (In my favorite moment, the guy ducks offstage, comes
back in a white furry eagle costume and yells to the crowd, "You guys
ever been to elementary school?!" like he's AC/DC or some stupid shit
asking folks if they're "ready to rock.") The videos, though, are
where homeboy shines. Limited by the constraints of time and DJ'd
backing tracks, his live show can only get so effed up. But on
video—what with editing, special effects (more like special ed effe!
cts) and time to tweak out ideas—it's unrestrained transgressional
madness (Best one, "Johnson and Johnsonstein," is a rock opera done as
a commercial for a personal injury law firm with breakdancers, burning
bodies and panel vans plunging off cliffs.) So, Pleaseeasaur: packed
with vowels, absurd as fuck. Lovely.
— Adam Gnade
