Like the TV show, every live show ended with a ten-minute “Naked Time” wherein we stripped to our underwear (or, in some instances, even less) and urged the audience to follow suit. First came an appearance headlining the 25th anniversary bash of Patrick’s Cabaret, followed by appearances including a benefit show (for props and equipment) at the 7th Street Entry, a cameo at Bassgasm (possibly the only time the Freaky Deeky freaks were outfreaked), a gig hosting the Bomp dance night’s First Avenue Mainroom debut (the next day, my arms were sore from all the hyping I’d done), and an appearance at the Zombie Pub Crawl with 2 Live Crew as openers. The show sprouted a website, a Facebook page, a Tumblr, and a Twitter account.įreaky Deeky also performed five live shows, each very different and each appropriately ridiculous. Ultimately the show moved out of the MTN studios and into Hotbed Studios-home base of Savage Aural Hotbed’s Stuart DeVaan-where Hal and Hamil could further expand their digital toolbox. Prerecorded roll-in segments became more ambitious, reaching their peak with a two-episode superhero epic starring Erik and Vanessa as supervillains in a secret lair. During that period, the show introduced another host of innovations: with the help of David Rector, Hal eventually had three or more cameras on the action at any given time, and a camera pointed at a tabletop blue screen allowed another layer of live visuals. I appeared on the show regularly for the last two years of its run. A few callers were well-known to regular viewers, among them Ray McParlin (who liked to dryly recite song lyrics on-air) and “Biker Dad,” Lefavor’s father. The core cast included inventive, fearless, and wickedly funny people like Bobby Kahn, Carolyn Kopecky, Ashley Sierra, Eric Zuelke, Shawna Lee, Erik Tinberg, Even Lefavor, Camille Wormley, Kelly Day, and Vanessa Salour. By the time I first encountered the show in January 2010, the classic lineup was in place: Hamil producing and co-starring, Hal at the helm of a sprawling deck of video gadgets, Ray hosting and taking calls, “Papa” Matt Bardins on camera one, and Brent Koenig and Micah Buckley-Farlee alternately providing the music. Live music, typically improvised by electronic musicians, was added and the show’s visuals took a quantum leap with the recruitment of Hal “Time Squid” Lovemelt. Whalen quickly grew in scope and ambition while never losing its loose, iconoclastic spirit. What started as principally a collaboration between Hamil and underground filmmaker “Rock ‘n’ Roll” Raymond P. Eventually Hamil realized that callers didn’t need any prompts: they could just call in and say whatever they wanted while the visual pyrotechnics flew. It evolved from earlier shows created by producer Hamil Griffin-Cassidy in those early shows, viewers would call the show to sing or recite poetry while Hamil and various collaborators goofed around and deployed a limited arsenal of visual effects. What was Freaky Deeky? It was a free-form visual playground. After the show ended, we all went up to Hotbed Studios in Northeast Minneapolis for an afterparty and episode screening. I was there, along with such a huge collection of “freaks” (cast members) that we had to take shifts on camera in timed release, like clay pigeons. A year later, I was running across the stage at Patrick’s Cabaret wearing nothing but a Snuggie, yelling, “Get naked! Get naked!” Two years later, Freaky Deeky is over.Īfter four years on the air, Freaky Deeky broadcast its final episode on Sunday night, March 25, via the Minneapolis Television Network. When I stripped to my boxers and jumped around wearing a pair of Hulk hands at the show’s conclusion, I thought, well, I’ve probably just disqualified myself for every job I’d never want. It was on assignment for the Daily Planet that I had my first experience on the cable access show Freaky Deeky.
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