#every ensemble number in this show is an absolute banger

[disappointingcabbage]

Fellas, is it gay to live inside another man forever with Satan himself by my side?

#shitpost #jekyll and hyde #dr jekyll and mr hyde #henry jekyll #jekyll and hyde the musical #edward hyde #confrontation #fellas is it gay #guess what musical I’m rehearsing for this time folks #I play some fuckass board of governors asshole #who Hyde stabs in the first scene of act 2 #every ensemble number in this show is an absolute banger #also it is very gender of me to say my lines as a male character and then immediately turn around and sing a high D6 bc soprano 1 vibes #theatre major #musical theatre

[considerablecolors]

can we get your saf songs ranking?

Absolutely!! This was so difficult because tbh I just want to put them all at number one lmao- But here u go! Also went ahead and put quick explanations for why each song is where it is

1. The Torture Tango (are we surprised? perfect act 1 finale, perfect trio, reprises so many songs, vocals killing it, listening after you know the plot twist makes you wanna cry. musical theatre peaked w this song don't @ me.)

2. Doing This (not only is it hilarious, espec as a gay person, but genuinely really sweet and everytime I hear "you're cool with me? "til the end" "cool" I fucking tear up. god I love curt and tatiana's friendship. ALSO MRS. MEGA MAKES ME LOSE IT EVERYTIME GOD BLESS. and the soft piano fits perfectly.)

3. Eyes On The Prize II (THIS SONG IS ALWAYS SO LOW ON EVERY SAF RANKING I SEE. Y'ALL WTF. I quite literally cannot listen to this song without getting chills it is so perfect. plenty of comedy from the casino workers at the beginning but really sets the tension of the next scene perfectly. also I say this with 100% sincerity- the bit where curt sees owen and you hear the Spies Are Forever motif with that gorgeous instrumental and the chorus vocals- only to end with a whispered "keep your eyes on the prize"- genuinely one of the best moments in all of musical theatre. I said what I said. I could write an essay on this one moment and yknow what? I might. just... chills man.)

4. Spies Are Forever (this song gets me AMPED. I could literally be doing dishes to this song and still lose my absolute shit and feel like a badass. a perfect introduction to the show, and exactly what you imagine when you hear "spy musical". mkw's vocals are OFF THE FUCKING CHARTS WTF and hearing the ensemble join in? ahhhhh!! the bits of dialogue are also great, and I love hearing that little bit of singing from curt and owen at the end and the contrast between them. awesome opening and literally makes me happy-stim half the time I hear it.)

5. One More Shot (My Shot whomst? sorry hamilstans I only know this absolute bop /j. SUCH a good group number (which I'm always a sucker for) and gets you hyped to see how this finale is going to go. fucking hilarious, and gives all four characters several moments to shine individually. THAT part (we all know what I mean) of everyone's rounds overlapping is chef's kiss. also love how we get to see curt's character growth here and how much more confident he feels- hell yea!! basically, it's a banger.)

6. Spy Again (holy crap!! this song makes me lose my shit everytime I listen to it. the perfect introduction to the curt we're going to be seeing throughout the show and the perfect summary of curt in general- it's tragic, it's insecure, but it's also really fucking hopeful. the fact that curt still wants to get back in the field after what happened- "too optimistic for this line of work" is right!! I know we joke abt the "spy is a spy is a spy is a spy" but damn this song has genuinely good lyrics and I love the music itself. curt mega's vocals are amazing ofc (the "get my life RIGHT again"- enough said). also unrelated but I love the piano version from the trailer sm???)

7. Spy Dance (IT'S A MUSICAL. IT'S ABOUT SPIES. so fucking good I'm so happy they kept this song in the musical itself. hearing this almost immediately after One Step Ahead on the soundtrack gives me emotional whiplash in the best way.)

8. Somebody's Gotta Do It (so in musical theatre, you have "I Want" songs and "I Am" songs. this straight up might be my favorite I Am song in musical theatre. it's SO good. sergio is hilarious and the DMA strikes the perfect balance between hilarious and terrifying. it's unreasonably catchy and gets stuck in my head constantly. [if you're curious, teachers tend to get very concerned when you mutter "this is my calling, and though it's appalling, I love making people bleeeeed" under your breath. fun fact!] so so good.)

9. The Coldest Goodbye (AHHHHHHH. mkw's vocals are incredible!! these lyrics are incredible!! the composition is incredible!! the layers and foreshadowing are incredible!! the tears rolling down my face are incredible!!)

10. Pay Attention! (pains me it isn't placed higher but at least it made top ten- I love this song!! it's such a good intro to barb, it's fucking hilarious and also a little bit sad, just like barb lmao. love the idea behind the song and the lyric "while you're saving the world, who do you think will be saving you" is a stroke of genius- as is "who do you think will be shaving you". also love the synth bridge it's so good??? god I love this song.)

11. One Step Ahead (watch how hard I can cry! this song is SO epic, there's no other word for it. beginning with a Spies Are Forever reprise as we see how much has changed between curt and owen since that song- p a i n. every line in this song hurts like I'm being stabbed 58 times with a blunt knife..... but like in a good way? curt mega and joey richter both sound great here, you can hear the emotion perfectly. ALSO the sound of music ending makes me lose my shit god bless.)

12. The Coldest Goodbye (Reprise) (HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SH- OH YOU THOUGHT THE STAIRCASE SCENE COULDN'T MAKE YOU MORE EMOTIONAL??? YOU THOUGHT WRONG!!! JOEY RICHTER SAID RIGHTS. SAD IT'S NOT ON THE SOUNDTRACK BUT ON THE BRIGHT SIDE THAT MEANS I DON'T HAVE TO CRY AS MUCH.)

13. Eyes On The Prize I (ok. so. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT KILLS ME TO PUT THIS SONG SO LOW? ALL OF THESE SONGS ARE SO GOOD AND DOING THIS PAINS ME PHYSICALLY. a PERFECT set up for cynthia, the back-and-forth between giving genuine support and then immediately doubling-back to harsh is golden. love curt's little Spy Again reprise and LOVE susan's "you gotta"s and "thE prizE". a short and snappy song, just the way cynthia would want it 👏.)

14. Mrs. Mega's Lament (funny and adorable. needs to be on the soundtrack smh. but yea mrs. mega is a treasure and this song makes for a perfect ending to my favorite scene in SAF. This Is A Safe Space supremacy.)

15. Prisoner Of My Past (sounds exactly like I would imagine a tatiana backstory sounding. love the almost 'haunted nursery rhyme' vibe. sad it's not longer but I honestly think the length fits it well!)

16. Barb's Lament (short, sweet, and does exactly what it needs to do! tessa netting's ability to crack me up and make me emotional at the same time is unparalleled)

17. Overture (absolute banger but I miss the singing :( lmao)

18. Spy Again (Reprise) (gets me VERY pumped, but i want an extended versionnn.)

19. Not So Bad (they're well-written songs, I just can't listen without getting uncomfortable personally [which is probably the point tbf]. points for sheer nerve and sound of music references lol.)

20. Not So Bad (Reprise) (see above. also points for the informant's uncomfortable "and I love this song!" and lauren lopez's deep voice, both always crack me up)

ANYWAYS in summary- SAF is an incredible soundtrack for an incredible musical and if u haven't watched it ur legally obligated to /hj. TalkFine and TCB are geniuses and the people behind SAF deserve all the praise and more!!

#spies are forever #cc speaks #asks #*paul voice* promise me you'll think about the implications (saf meta)

[deonideatta]

hi hi i heard you like chief kim and i'm here to get all the intel on why it's a good drama 😊 and what you love about park jae bum's other dramas 😊 pls let me know if there's romance bc that's the oxygen i breathe when i watch a show 💕

Hello!!! Thank you for asking me about Chief Kim!!!! I can go on about it for ages lol. This got a bit long so i’m putting it under a cut

Chief Kim (aka Good Manager) is a comedy office drama with 20 eps, and it aired in 2017. There isn’t a main romance plotline, but don’t let that put you off! It’s an incredible drama in so many ways. (tho there is a subtle romance side plot, but it doesn’t involve the main character and it’s never the main focus, though it is cute). It does feature a bromance that was so great that the two actors literally won an award for it tho lol, so there’s also that!

In a way, the general premise is somewhat similar to Vincenzo in that it’s the main character and an unlikely team of others fighting a big corporation. The comedic tone is also more or less the same. The drama follows Kim Seong Ryong (the titular Chief Kim, played by Namgoong Min), a man with a talent for handling numbers who goes from running a seedy accounting firm to quite accidentally becoming a champion of employees rights in one of the biggest corporations in the country. He originally joins the company with the goal of embezzling a lot money and moving abroad, but he gets swept up in office politics surrounding high executives and the sinister goings on surrounding the position he was recruited for, as well as the shady things the higher-ups want him to do and the suspicion of the other members of his department. Eventually he starts to work alongside them to fight the corruption of the higher ups, and quickly becomes the bane of top management’s existence by being so incredibly annoying that they begin to regret hiring him.

It’s the kind of drama that really gets you to laugh, while still being incredibly heartwarming. The main character is so unashamedly funny, and the character dynamics are all so warm, and none of it ever seems forced. The first tag for the drama on MyDramaList is “character development”, and that says a lot! There’s so much growth that goes on for all the characters, even some of the villains! It’s especially funny because to begin with all the good things Kim Seong Ryeong does are completely by accident, and he’s annoyed but also pleased with all the attention it gets him. Over time he begins to own it, and begins to actively try to stand up to the corrupt people at the top of the company. The other highlight for me besides the humor is definitely the characters. From the eccentric main character, to the no-nonsense second in command in his department Yoon Ha Kyung, to the aggressive finance director Seo Yul who is always eating (one of my all time favourite characters, played by 2PM’s Junho), to the janitor lady who always roasts everyone, there isn’t a single dull character, whether good or bad. And Seo Yul gets one of the best character arcs I’ve ever seen in a kdrama. You get to watch the characters struggle and triumph, and you feel for them because their struggles feel so real, and the drama really gets you invested in them. You see the ways in which they fight to survive as normal working class citizens and you want them to win.

It differs from Vincenzo in that the main character isn’t considered evil and loses his less savoury traits over the course of the drama (his character arc is one of becoming a more upstanding citizen), and the message is one of fighting against corporate greed using the corporate system against itself in order to make things better for the average working citizen. But there’s the same plotting, and the same feeling of rooting for the protagonist team to win as you watch them plot and plan. I never rewatch things, but i’ve rewatched Chief Kim twice already and i’m looking forward to rewatching it again soon (just writing about it is making me want to rewatch it right now lol). It especially hits well for me because i love office dramas, and the humor and the bromance are just right. (Also, not entirely related, but it’s the first drama Kim Seonho was in!)

Another Park Jaebum drama i can definitely recommend is The Fiery Priest! It’s also a comedy action drama with 20 eps (released in 2019), and it follows Kim Hae Il (Kim Nam Gil), a catholic priest with a real temper, as he works to solve the mystery surrounding the death of a senior priest. No romance there either, but it’s got the same humor as Chief Kim and Vincenzo, and the same overarching found family trope (that really shines for this one). It’s darker than Chief Kim, but not as dark as Vincenzo. The plot is very intriguing, and it’s the kind of drama you feel compelled to keep watching to see what happens next. And the host of characters in that drama is still one of my favourites to this day. Every character was incredibly written, and they all played vital roles in the overall story. Again, lots of character development all round, and great character arcs not just for the main character (even for a few of the villains!). Plus it was lovely to watch the various characters interact, get closer, and build relationships. Such an iconic squad. Not to mention how funny it is?? And the fight scenes??? In fact, I enjoyed it so much that when I checked Park Jaebum’s page on MyDramaList after watching it around June last year and saw Vincenzo as an upcoming project, I added it to my plan to watch list immediately even though there was only a single line of synopsis lol. It’s also got an absolute banger of a soundtrack!

When you think about it, all three (Chief Kim, TFP and Vincenzo) can be simplified to “guy with dubious past sets out to fight corruption and creates a great support circle in the process”. All three are dramas of finding people who care about you and are willing to fight alongside you, and fighting for your convictions/what you think is right. Each main character starts out as a somewhat solitary figure, and you get to watch as they each find people who are willing to fight alongside them and support them. What exactly those specific convictions are varies in each drama, but Park Jaebum writes the character development arcs incredibly each time, and the relationships between the characters are so real and so satisfying to watch. And yet the integrity of the main character in each drama is never compromised either, it’s shown that they can grow and become better without losing themselves. The growth is also in the way that they learn to work with and rely on others, because teamwork makes the dream work. And then to cap it all off he lets them have victories, and he makes it SO satisfying??? There are highs and there are lows, and you feel all of those right there with the characters, which makes the victories feel so so good. In each we see the ensemble cast get involved with the fight and the plotting, and we get to see all their epic plans and their execution, and the victories they win that build up over time. And it’s so satisfying to me! I love it a lot, just thinking about it is making me smile lol. It also shows how well humor and darker/more serious plotlines/events are balanced in the dramas, neither is compromised in favour of the other, but it always works so well that the humor never feels forced or out of place. As someone who doesn’t like overbearingly dark shows, I really appreciate that. They all give you lots to laugh at, while not losing any of the plot to the funny.

Of course there are differences, notably the romance, and the fact that Vincenzo is bad vs bad rather than good vs bad like the other two. They deal more with redemption (especially The Fiery Priest), but that works for the stories that are being told, and it’s very well executed.

It’s worth noting that Park Jaebum also wrote Good Doctor and 4 seasons of God’s Quiz. I haven’t checked those out yet, but I’ve heard good things about all of them. He also wrote Blood, I haven’t seen that one either but opinions seem to be split on how good it was. All of those are medical dramas (which is the reason I haven’t watched them lol, i can’t stand medical dramas) from before 2017, when he wrote Chief Kim. It seems he’s been on a roll since then, good for him and good for us lol. You can see everything he’s written on his MyDramaList page.

Overall I enjoyed the Park Jaebum dramas I have seen for first and foremost the comedy, but also for the warmth of the character relationships and for how well developed/written each character is. And I love how he balances the humor with more poignant/darker moments, I laughed a lot watching all three dramas, but I’ve cried over each of them as well. It’s a good balance to have, it gives you a good plot to be interested in, but doesn’t keep you stressed and sombre the whole way through. I’ve seen people say that Vincenzo wouldn’t be as good if it wasn’t so wacky, and I fully agree. It’s the same for both TFP and Chief Kim, and that balance is definitely what I appreciate most in Park Jaebum’s dramas. I know I will laugh, but I also know I will get an incredible plot and incredible characters, and that’s really important for me. Plus I know I can trust that there will be a good ending because the writer cares about his characters.

I definitely recommend checking out both TFP and Chief Kim after Vincenzo is done, especially since they’re so similar in terms of comedic tone and basic plot direction. If you ever get to watching either of them feel free to hmu to chat about it!! There’s lots of plot stuff that can be can discussed.

lol this got v long (i have lots to say about how much i love these dramas haha), but I hope it’s helpful!!!

#a breakdown on why i love the park jaebum dramas i've seen so far #it was nice to sit and actually think about it/write the reason out lol #im very passionate about it sdfsdf #chief kim and the fiery priest are perhaps my favourite dramas ever #and vincenzo is looking to join them #vincenzo #the fiery priest #chief kim #kdrama #no spoilers

[forestwater87]

Every episode of Camp Camp ranked: A very (non)objective list

It's well past the time of year when Season 5 of Camp Camp would've dropped. I fully understand and support it not coming out; the crew's health and safety are much more important than a comfort show.

However . . . man, would it be nice to have some comfort right now.

So I'm reliving the entire series! I've been known to share with the world a whole bunch of Spicy Hot Takes, but I've never really sat down and talked about my feelings about the show as a whole. 

And what's the best way to do that? Well, just ask Jenny Nicholson: a numbered list! That is, here's the series ranked from worst episode to best, because I want to get the negativity out of the way early and focus on everything I love (and because people enjoy complaining, so let’s frontload all that). 

The takes will be hot. The feelings will be intense. The post, I'm assuming, will be largely unread.

Let's do it!

Oh and duh, there are spoilers. I tried to keep it pretty chill, but you’ll want to have watched the whole show or just not care about spoilers before going forward.

Also slashes in the middle of “naughty words” are meant to prevent this from being kept out of the main tags. Who knows if it’ll work? I don’t.

60. Who Peed the Lake? (Season 4, epis/sode 3)

Ah, good ol' Pi/ss Lake (or as @hopefullypessimistic84​ calls it because she's funnier than any of us will ever be, “Pis/s Fe/tish Dot Com”). Terrible, one of the few I’d consider nigh unwatchable. I actually kind of love this episode for being such great shorthand for "the absolute worst one."

Who signed off on an entire episode centered around Sherlock Holmes meets a bad om/o joke? Give me names and addresses: I just want to talk.

59. Reigny Day (Season 1, episode 6)

And nobody was surprised.

I'll admit I'm more willing to defend this episode than many people, but it's not . . . like, good. It seemed okay when there were only 11 other episodes to compare it to, but now that there have been so many bangers, this comes across as extremely weak. 

And let’s just say the Na/zi jokes hit a lot differently in 2020 than they did in the summer of 2016.

I’m overall happy with the direction the showrunners have moved Dolph’s character in, and I can’t totally blame them for using a kind of humor that was fairly common in the pre-Trump era, but yikes, this has aged like milk. And it wasn’t even very funny at the time, so it aged like milk that was already pretty bad to begin with.

58. Squirrel Camp (Season 4, episode 10)

This is a dumb one.

Not much else to say; it’s just kinda stupid and lame.

57. Fashion Victims (Season 4, episode 13)

I love Sasha, but this is filler. Which isn’t in itself a bad thing -- I have a couple episodes near the top that could reasonably be called filler, and a valid argument could easily be made that “filler episodes” don’t actually exist in a show with no plot -- but as much as I adore the Flower Scouts and enjoy the handful of good moments we get in this episode . . . who cares? Does anyone really give a sh/it about anything that happens here? Does anyone get their life from this one?

I didn’t think so.

56. Foreign Exchange Campers (Season 3, episode 3)

I know, I know, your Russian waifu came from this episode. Why do you think it’s so low on this list?

Okay, for real: this is . . . fine. It’s fine. It’s fine? I’m not mad at it, it just feels tonally incongruous and not very memorable beyond the fact that the fandom got really weird and kinda gross about Vera. But the episode itself? There’s some cute stuff with Neil and Nikki being jealous, but for the most part it’s a big hunk of white bread with some super mild white cheese that’s kinda soggy from sitting in a bag for too long and getting all condensation-y. 

That is to say: it’s fine.

ETA: Space Kid does say “fu/ck.” I can’t decide if that’s a point in the episode’s favor or against it.

This is the last of what I’d call the “bad” episodes. Everything after this ranges from mediocre to mind-blowingly amazing. But whatever our failing tier of Camp Camp episodes is, it stops right about here. 

Onto the good stuff!

55. Night of the Living Ill (Season 2 Halloween episode)

I keep switching this with “Eggs Benefits,” which probably means they should be tied. But whatever, this is my list and I am in charge and I’ve finally decided, after like 5 changes, that I like this one a little bit less.

It’s a fun Romero parody with nothing I’d call bad. Really this one’s only so low on the list because I think it’s kinda icky, and looking at those green snotty faces makes me queasy. If you think this is a bad reason to put it near the bottom of the list, then make your own post.

54. Cameron Campbell Can't Handle the Truth Serum (Season 4, episode 11)

I . . . don’t remember this at all. I initially had it a bit higher because I tend to love things with Campbell in them, but then I realized that nothing about this episode stuck in my brain even a little bit. 

Oh, this is the “Dolph has autism” episode that made everyone either extremely happy or really mad? Okay. I guess that’s the most remarkable thing about it. Neato.

Cam, I love you, but this was just not the best use of your sleazy charm.

53. Eggs Benefits (Season 2, episode 9)

This is one of those episodes with enough cute moments and good ideas to save it from being totally unmemorable, and I mostly enjoy rewatching. Platypus being a mom is a fabulous idea, and pairing the campers the way they did was mostly really interesting and fun.

The Preston-Nurf stuff takes it down several pretty significant notches, though. It’s what the kids would call problematic, and while I normally enjoy how the show doesn’t skew away from darker themes and jokes, it didn’t really fit either of their characters and just . . . isn’t fun to watch. It’s not especially funny, it’s not especially tragic, it’s just uncomfortable.

52. Camp Campbell Wants YOU! (Season 1, episode 0)

Honestly, this would be a lot higher if it was a full-length episode. It’s funny.

The next 5 or so episodes fall under the “cute but not very memorable” umbrella:

51. Nikki's Last Day on Earth (Season 3, episode 4)

I love the ensemble episodes, so this was always going to score higher than any of the single-character “meh” eps. I didn’t see the twist coming, though I know a lot of other fans did. Textbook example of “cute but not very memorable” -- the Platonic ideal of that concept.

50. The Candy Kingpin (Season 3, episode 9)

A clever idea that plays on Max’s worst characteristics and then calls him out for them, while also giving Dolph some much-needed character development. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like it really picks up until the last third of the episode, leaving the rest just kind of sitting there.

49. Campfire Tales (Season 4, episode 13)

Who doesn’t love campfire stories?

That’s all I got. They’re campfire stories.

ETA: OH SH/IT THIS ONE HAS THAT REALLY SCARY STORY! Where David’s all like . . . Slenderman’d. Fu/ck, I didn’t remember that until I was writing out my thoughts for #35 or so. That definitely elevates it, but I’m too tired to try and re-decide where this should go, so just tie it with “New Adventure!”

48. New Adventure! (Season 4, episode 4)

New trio! Focusing on these 3 was a definite risk, and I think it really paid off. While the “plot” itself isn’t anything special, there are a handful of really great side gags (hi, Dirty Kevin!!!!) and it’s fun to see these three interact. They all get some nice character beats. It’s a good time.

47. Something Fishy (Season 3, episode 8)

This might’ve hit me harder if I’d actually seen The Shape of Water, but the send-up works fine without having more than the seen-the-trailer level of understanding. Gwen dresses pretty, which I love; Max sucks, which I also love. What drags this one down is mostly feeling like the surreal aspects of the comedy go a bit too far into the “what the fu/ck am I looking at?” territory without really . . . making an actual joke beyond “look! Wacky!"

Why is David at the opera with a bird? Why??

46. City Survival (Season 3, episode 11)

Literally do not remember a single thing about this episode except David getting mugged and being called a “homeless twi/nk.” That should probably rank it lower on the list, but David being a fluttery mother hen saves it for me -- as does the fact that it leads directly into one of my favorite episodes, and the single best story arc of the series.

Next set of episodes is what I’m going to arbitrarily call “okay! but like the good kind of okay, not the bad kind.”

45. Bonjour Bonquisha (Season 2, episode 7)

Max and Sasha masterminding a scheme is really fun; their dynamic is great (though it won’t be fully realized until Season 4), and heartbroken David is so tragically cute it actually makes my heart explode out of my chest.

Also I can’t resist a good “3 kids in a trench coat” gag.

44. Anti-Social Network (Season 2, episode 2)

Neil is very relatable and I don’t have much else to say about this one. It’s fun to see an episode that more heavily focuses on our nerdy science boy, and Max and Neil teaming up to save Nikki was really charming and sweet and set my Makkiel ship out to sea.

43. A Camp Camp Christmas, or Whatever (Season 2 holiday episode)

Why does this episode have a musical number? It’s not good.

Okay, that was mean. This is fun and cute and Gwen wears a pretty purple sweatshirt and Space Kid gives her a present and it’s really sweet. But that musical number is an instant fast-forward for me, sorry.

42. Preston Goodplay's Good Play (Season 4, episode 7)

We get some Preston character development! Awesome!

It’s done in a really trippy and surreal way that totally fits his character and heightens the drama of the episode! Awesome!

David has an apparently-tragic history of being a French mime! Not a good call! 

Next tier: Some good sh/it! (Tbh, these could all be put in just about any order; they might as well be one massive tie.)

41. Cookin' Cookies (Season 2, episode 11)

I love the Flower Scouts. I love Dirty Kevin. I love the idea of accidentally starting a dru/g empire. Another weird, borderline experimental one focusing on side characters, and I think it works better than “New Adventure!” because the scale of the melodrama is just so over-the-top.

The fact that this is in the bottom 20 but I have nothing but good things to say about it illustrates how dang good this show is. It’s only getting better from here, folks!

40. Romeo & Juliet II: Love Resurrected (Season 1, episode 7)

Preston is a terrible playwright. This makes sense, because he’s like 11, but he’s the kind of hilariously bad I wish I’d been as a preteen, because his play is absolutely bonkers. Max fucking with David is great, Tabii vs. Bonquisha is great, Bonquisha in general is a giant amazonian goddess and I want to be swept up into her giant arms. Neil is . . . a robot, for some reason?

So much fun!

39. Camp Cool Kidz (Season 1, episode 4)

I don’t love Ered’s characterization in this one, but there are a lot of wacky hijinks in this episode that I think make it really enjoyable. Max’s wide-eyed revolutionary naïveté is a fun change from his usual dour pessimism, and Nikki’s loyalty to Ered is both very gay and very charming. Plus we get to learn a bit more about how the camp operates (and fails to operate), and it’s a nice way to better establish the campsite as its own setting.

(Definitely think “Cool” should’ve been spelled with a K though. But whatever, I don’t write for the show.)

38. Scout's Dishonor (Season 1, episode 3)

The birth of Neeancy! The introduction of the Flower and Wood Scouts! Neil saying “cu/nt” -- one of the first and only truly shocking uses of profanity in the entire show! ZUKO!

I don’t know if my fondness for this one is rooted mostly in nostalgia or if it was actually really fun, but I enjoyed the he/ll out of it. Not as highly-rated as some other episodes mostly because it doesn’t really do anything, character or story-wise, but not every episode needs to be a massive game-changer that drowns us in feels. Sometimes it’s enough to have a fun romp, and this is very that.

37. Ered Gets Her Cool Back (Season 3, episode 2)

Awww, Ered. I have a soft spot for her, because I love the archetype of a spoiled bit/ch clearly still figuring out how to be a person and have friends. You really get the sense of her as a teenager trying to sort her shi/t out in this episode, which I would love to see more of. Her interactions with Nerris are top-tier, and I like that it’s a continuation of how her character’s been softening since Season 1 into this kind of big-sister figure.

Also, all the female campers in this show are lesbians. I do not make the rules.

36. Attack of the Nurfs (Season 4, episode 2)

I feel like this is a pretty underrated episode. But then again, I feel like Nurf is a pretty underrated character, so maybe that’s just my own personal bias.

I really enjoyed all the different iterations of Nurf, and I think Blaine did a killer job giving each one its own personality and life. It’s a fun episode that plays hard with cartoon physics (a 3D printer printing people! I love it!) and has a surprisingly moving ending.

At least, that’s what I think. Most other people seem to find this one pretty forgettable. Again: make your own da/mn list. I liked it.

35. Mascot (Season 1, episode 2)

This entire episode is memorable for so many things, but a few of my favorites:

David is established as kind of a di/ck.

Platypus arrives and kicks all the as/s.

Quartermaster is the best.

Nerris, Harrison, and Space Kid all get little moments to show off how cute they are.

Neil and Nikki bonding.

This:

34. Quest to Sleepy Peak Peak (Season 2, episode 3)

I love watching Nerris and Harrison bicker, and Neil and Nikki fit really well into their group. It reminds me of being a kid, and of playing Dungeons & Dragons (as an adult, because I’m so cool), and of summer . . . which is a really good thing for this show. There are a lot of funny one-liners, and it’s just a good dang time.

33. Quartermaster Appreciation Day (Season 2, episode 6)

I don’t think this one is all that well-loved, but I thought it was funny. There are literally zero important plot or character moments, but it made me laugh a lot, and that’s all I need a Camp Camp episode to do. 

I love QM, and the more we learn about him, the more confused and disturbed we end up being. What a fu/cking champion.

32. Arrival of the Torso Takers (Season 3 Halloween episode)

I lowkey hated this one when it came out, because I knew the Daniel stans were going to be exhausting. And they kind of were? But looking back, it’s a great way to reintroduce this motherfu/cker. He’s a lot scarier than he was the last time around -- but also less competent, which is a great way to kick him in the proverbial ba/lls -- and while I wish it had a lot more Gwen in it, it’s a clever and creative Halloween episode. 

31. Operation: Charlie Tango Foxtrot (Season 3, episode 10)

Charlie . . . Tango . . . Foxtrot . . . CTF . . . OH! Capture the Flag! I never got that before. Oh, that’s neat. I love this show.

Listen, every time the writers decide to take a risk and do something bizarre and creative, I’m going to be here for it at least a little bit. An entire episode told from the POV of the Woodscouts, explaining how hard they failed in all directions? A great gag where everyone in Petrol’s story talks in grunts? The return of Jermy Fartz?! Fantastic. 

30. Panicked Room (Season 4, episode 16)

Listen. I’m a sucker for my trash grandpa; anything Campbell-centric is probably going to be pretty good (except #54), because he’s just one of the most consistently funny and engaging characters. Good times are had whenever this terrible man is on the screen, and giving him a romantic backstory? A tragic romantic backstory full of mistakes and emotional damage?? One where he waited 17 YEARS for the love of his life???

We have no choice but to stan.

29. Party Pooper (Season 4, episode 15)

I’m so predictable. If you put Gwen in something, I will be happy. If you make an entire episode about how Gwen is under-appreciated and overworked and just trying to do her best despite the circumstances, I will dedicate my firstborn child to you.

Anyway, this episode is really sweet, and I liked the unexpected direction the writers took her relationship with her dad. He seems like a nice guy, they seem like they have a nice relationship, and . . . well, an episode about how hard it is to be an adult millennial hit pretty hard. Plus this was just a really pretty episode -- and not just because Gwen was in so much of it! Seriously, that night sky was a thing of beauty.

Also if you say a fuc/king word about Max and that godda/mn dog I will choke you out with your own intestines. Few things are more hilariously, annoyingly ironic than the fact that the entire fandom ignored and failed to appreciate Gwen . . . in the episode all about how everyone ignores and fails to appreciate Gwen.

28. Culture Day (Season 3 holiday episode)

Now, would it be arrogant to point out that I had the idea for a Culture/Heritage Day back in September 2018? Yes, especially since I don’t think the writers ever read fanfiction and it has literally nothing to do with this episode. Will that stop me? He/ll no it will not! I am a creature of ego! Read my stuff! 

Anyway, this is a really fun look at Neil’s background, personality, and relationships. Max looking out for him is just . . . oh my god, I cannot, I’ve written like 30 of these and my brain is starting to melt, but these two are so cute. I love arrogant Neil, and I love protective Max, and I love QM and Gwen fuc/king over the Flower Scouts to save the day. Everything about this episode is lovely.

27. Cameron Campbell the Camp Campbell Camper (Season 3, episode 7)

This should not be ranked so high (even if these are all essentially tied). This is a dumb episode based on a really, really dumb premise. 

But . . . I don’t know what to tell you. “Samboy Kidwell,” Max realizing he and Campbell are disturbingly similar and not liking what his future could look like, David’s “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed” face . . . this episode happens to hit all of my favorite things. It had a really good balance of heavy-handed moralizing and goofs, it was part of the most graceful lead-up into a finale the show has ever had, and I’m just all about it. 

Excellent job, Samboy. Count Olaf would be proud of your disguise.

There ends the “some good sh/it” tier. We’re starting to get into the really excellent stuff now!

26. Parents' Day (Season 2, episode 12)

I know. You want this to be higher. I hear you.

Honestly I’m kind of shocked it’s this high; it’s my least favorite of the season finales so far, and I had to push past a lot of prejudice to actually rank this where I think it deserves to be, as opposed to somewhere in the like mid-40s. Mostly because it gave fuel to the raging inferno of “Max has terrible parents and David should adopt him” headcanons, which I’ve detailed my problems with extensively in the past (in a post that, statistically speaking, none of you have read).

But, trying to be objective: is this episode actually any good?

Well . . . yeah, it really is.

So much work was put into giving each of the campers families that make sense with their characters and bounce absurdly well off of them, ranging from wholesome and adorable (Nerris’s family) to quietly tragic (Harrison’s parents), and they’re all designed so well; they’re fun to look at and fun to watch interact with the kids and each other. (The only exception is Dolph’s dad, who is both kinda lame and misattributes the cause of the weird Na/zi thing because it did not come from Germany, I assure you. But things with Dolph are always a little off, and I don’t really know how you would give him a backstory that actually works with the character, so they were caught between a rock and a hard place there.)

The drama of David having to choose between the man he considers his father and the camp he considers his home is really touching, and him and Gwen choosing to take a sad camper out to get pizza instead of covering for their boss’s a/ss is such a beautiful moment for both of them that I can’t really blame the fandom for losing their mind over it. Campbell’s arrest leading into the arcs of the next two seasons was great as well, and the finale left us all with this weird sense of foreboding because we didn’t know what was going to happen next; it was the only finale that actually ended on something close to a cliffhanger, while still being satisfying enough to keep us all from melting down.

Plus, it’s funny. Carl and Candy are really funny and the idea of Neil and Nikki’s parents boning is funny in a horrible way. The joke about Quartersister is funny. It’s a good episode.

Should this be higher? Maybe, but I can’t bring myself to put it above the rest of these episodes. Again: make your own list.

25. Mind Freakers (Season 1, episode 10)

The episode that launched a thousand ships. Assuming those ships are all Harrison/Neil, anyway.

It’s hard to talk about these Season 1 episodes because they feel so classic. Like, what is there to say? You’ve all seen it a couple dozen times; I’ve seen it a couple dozen times. Harrison is a di/ck, Neil is possibly an even bigger di/ck, and magic may or may not be real. (Though spoilers for literally every season: yes, magic is definitely real.) It’s so much fun watching these two smug as/sholes snipe at each other in an almost literal playground hair-pulling way that could very easily be read as flirtation. 

And the fandom did most certainly read it that way, at least for a little while.

24. Gwen Gets a Job (Season 2, episode 8)

It’s Gwen. What, was I supposed to not put it this high?

This was the first Gwen-centric episode, and it absolutely slaps. She’s pushed to the breaking point and responds by being a cold-hearted BAMF, and it got her some pretty significant hate from fans but I don’t give a fu/ck, I loved it. We got to see her all dolled up, and then we got to see her all disheveled, and both of those looks were gorgeous. David gives her a tiny fragment of the love and validation she deserves (I don’t know if this is when gwenvid started taking off -- I think it wasn’t really until “Parents’ Day,” or even Season 3 -- but I ate that s/hit up).

Also, again: job hunting post-2008. It’s a bad time, y’all. Camp Camp gets it.

23. Follow the Leader (Season 4, episode 6)

Yeah, I was kind of surprised at how high this landed, too. I guess I’m just a sucker for unlikely companionships, and these three have a great chemistry. The combination of competitiveness, sass, and reluctant admiration make their interactions a lot of fun. Their motivation of doing petty errands for Campbell for the sake of getting at the Box of Illegal Contraband is a great framework too, with high enough stakes to justify all sorts of wacky shenanigans without causing actual anxiety.

I want to see these characters forced to spend more time together. Please, RT, make that happen.

22. Escape from Camp Campbell (Season 1, episode 1)

In terms of numbers, this feels so low, but considering everything from about #45 on is ranked as at least decent, this is actually a pretty high rating. There are 21 episodes I’d call better than this, but these decisions were all pretty painful.

This introduces us to everyone! The main trio, the counselors, Mr. Campbell; we get a snapshot of the major personalities running around the camp, the major points of conflict (Max vs. David, primarily), the major building blocks of future episodes, setting, and relationships . . . 

Again, I don’t know how much of my love for this episode is nostalgia -- there’s a lot of squeeing at familiar faces and gags; this is the first time David gets hit by a bus!!! -- but it was a fun and funny introduction to a series that’s ended up being so important to me, and I’m so grateful this wonderful, quirky little show with its wonderful and quirky little premiere. 

Of all the episodes, I really can’t look at this one objectively. It’s too important.

21. The Fun-Raiser (Season 3, episode 1)

David and Gwen scheming is my ki/nk. They very rarely scheme together, but every single time their teamwork makes the dream work (or, more frequently, makes the dream fail horribly and have disastrous consequences) my soul flies out of my body and takes to the stars, where I write another 500 first chapters to gwenvid fanfics I’ll probably never finish.

This is a great follow-up to “Parents’ Day,” where we immediately see the consequences of the previous season finale and what happens when the one adult in the camp disappears. Mr. Campbell was a terrible adult, true, but at least he was smart enough not to steal QM’s hook. Like . . . whose plan was this? It was so bad. These two are hilariously incompetent sometimes -- often when their bad ideas are feeding off of each other, actually, a la this and “Space Camp Was a Hoax” -- and watching them frantically try and keep all their balls in the air is so great. 

The ending is satisfying, too; a bit graphic, in keeping with a show that tends to keep the violence limited to periodic spurts of bloodshed 1-2 times a season and mostly pretty mild the rest of the time, but between Max stepping up and fixing everything while still being his shi/tty self to our dear dumba/ss counselors getting their dumb as/ses handed to them (deservedly so, if we’re being honest) . . . it’s such a great note to begin a new season on.

20. Journey to Spooky Island (Season 1, episode 5)

A classic.

We get to meet our spooky boy Jasper, we get to watch the comedy trio play off each other and continue to sketch out the general contours of their friendship, and we get to see the Quartermaster with a big purple dil/do for a hand. What’s not to love?

19. The Butterfinger Effect (Season 4, episode 17)

CONTROVERSIAL HOT TAKES! GET YOUR CONTROVERSIAL HOT TAKES HERE!

I’ve already gone into some pretty intense detail about why I think this one is actually really good and carries the theme of embracing change that everything about Season 4 was centered around, but none of y’all read that so here it is in short: this episode is super funny, almost all of the campers’ transformations work really well as extensions of their characters while still being strange and surprising, and the fact that Nurf creates all of these problems by trying to solve them is deliciously fun to watch in a karmic sort of way.

Or maybe it’s just because any Nurf-centric episode is going to rank pretty highly for me. That is also possible.

18. Space Camp Was a Hoax (Season 2, episode 10)

Our camp counselors being bad people: it’s my drug of choice.

We get Space Kid tripping balls in what might be one of the funniest sequences in the show, the entire camp coming together to try and pull off the stupidest, most impossible task (and kinda maybe almost nailing it???), and once again the fun of watching Gwen and David scramble to keep from getting caught in their boss’s shit/ty lies is so great. And Lindsay’s voice acting is absolutely killer, even more so than usual. 

17. Jermy Fartz (Season 2, episode 4)

I get the sense this might be a somewhat controversial one. 

I’ve written before about why I think this episode is a lot of fun, but it mostly boils down to two things: watching the campers try (and fail) to be nice to the most bully-able person on the entire planet, and the essential likeableness of Jermy. 

No, really.

I think a lot of people were put off by Jermy’s general grossness, because . . . my god is he disgusting, but he’s also polite and good-natured, and seems totally self aware of how difficult he is to be around, without letting it make him depressed. He’s cheerful in a weirdly downbeat way that’s impossible to understand until you see him in action. He’s so matter-of-fact about his own awfulness in a way that I found entirely endearing. I don’t think I’d want him at my camp, either, but get that kid to a good dermatologist and gastroenterologist, teach him some basic hygiene and social skills, and you’ll have quite a little gentleman there.

I do however find it hilarious that apparently David got the type of tree wrong when making fun of Jermy. Not only is that a great moment for reveling in David being an as/shole, but he didn’t even have the right wood. F/ucking idiot. I love him so much.

These last ones are my favorites! (Well, duh, that’s how this whole ranking thing works.) Maybe not perfect, but just really good and with limitless rewatch value.

16. St. Campbell's Day (Season 4 holiday episode)

They Grinch’d Camp Camp. Those brilliant bast/ards, they really pulled it off.

Ignoring the fact that David is truly frightening-looking for most of the episode, this is a great bookend to Season 4, following up on the theme established in the first episode about how David is a flawed and selfish human being despite trying his best not to be.

This is another one I was surprised to find so high on the list, but the more I thought about it the more I realizes how good it is. David being a jerk is always one of my favorite storylines, and the fact that the trouble comes from him trusting Mr. Campbell too little instead of too much is a nice twist on the usual formula. Gwen coming to help him out despite a blistering hangover gave me aggressive shipping feels, yes, obviously. 

Between a lot of really funny little gags like QM’s failed satanic ritual and the genuinely touching moral about the importance of spending time with the people you love, it’s just a really lovely episode that gets just the right amount of maudlin for the holiday season. 

15. Jasper Dies at the End (Season 2, episode 5)

I kept switching this and “Dial M for Jasper”; it was a really difficult decision to make, figuring out where these two belonged. I think in the end, while the John Dies at the End reference was very, very good, this one loses me a little bit by being told from David’s perspective. Now, normally the more David is in an episode the more I’ll be likely to love it (see my #1 for proof of that), but his blinders when it comes to the camp and Mr. Campbell result in a really funny story, but one without the same emotional heft as hearing about what happened from Jasper’s point of view.

That doesn’t mean it’s not perfect for what it needs to be: each Jasper episode builds on the previous ones, and having the same intensity of “Dial M for Jasper,” where we learn how he died and how his relationship with David fell apart, would be weird and heavy at this point. In Season 1 we just found out he’s a ghost (and eagle-eyed viewers realized he’d been a camper with David); in Season 2 we find out how David views their friendship and time at camp; and in Season 3 we get Jasper’s perspective. It’s an absolutely wonderful raising of the stakes (for lack of a better term), but the one that packs more of an emotional punch is going to rank a bit higher than the one that’s mostly just for laughs.

That being said: there are plenty of laughs in this one. Everyone -- Griffin, Miles, Travis, the animators -- nailed this one, and it gets funnier every time I watch it.

14. Camporee (Season 1, episode 11)

AKA the episode where Forest realized she was in love with Gwen. 

What a great idea for an episode, seriously. Every coming-of-age story has a talent show or a competition or a big game -- something where the kiddos can show off their improved skills and teamwork to beat their bullies or whatever. And this show has both kinds of bullies: the popular girly girls and the violent muscleheads. What a great moment to pull everyone together and show how friendship can help us accomplish anything!

Except . . . of course that’s not what happens. Of course they’re absolute garbage, and of course teamwork isn’t the answer. Gwen is the perfect foil for David here, being the anti-teamwork, anti-Camp-Campbell adult who can perfectly and effortlessly undermine David’s relentless optimism. David wants so badly for his campers to live in the same coming-of-age summer movie he did as a child, and their staunch refusal to do that leads to a really heartbreaking closer to the episode, as well as lead into the next one. Everything about this, from the challenges to the setup to Gwen shouting “we are winning this FUC/KING trophy!” is just gold.

13. David Gets Hard (Season 1, episode 9)

We have David. We have Nurf. We have Gwen. We have Max trying to be helpful in the shi/ttiest way possible.

We have all the makings of a da/mn good episode. And they deliver. Not a very emotionally intense or moving one, but so, so funny.

12. Dial M for Jasper (Season 3, episode 5)

This isn’t the fate any of us expected for Jasper, and it’s not the fate of a lot of people wanted. But godda/mn it, it worked. The constant bait-and-switch the episode keeps playing with, where you keep waiting for something really dramatic and tragic to happen . . . and then the reality is that Jasper died because Mr. Campbell was stupid and careless, and it was all just a horribly sad accident.

It’s anticlimactic, but in a way that suits the series, both as a comedic counterpoint to all the hype throughout the episode and as a way to establish that Cameron Campbell is a bad man first and foremost through selfishness and laziness, not Daniel-esque sinister evil. Jasper’s death was totally avoidable and totally Campbell’s fault, and while that’s sad, it also adds a weird sort of lightness to the episode. David didn’t do something terrible to kill his best friend, Jasper didn’t kill himself, and without having actively chosen to murder a child (well, not this time), the door remains open for fans accepting Campbell’s later pseudo-redemption. It was just an accident, and Jasper was “haunting” David to tell him that he was sorry for how their friendship ended. That’s really sweet, actually.

I think it’s the best way this reveal could’ve gone, and I’m so impressed with how they pulled it all off.

11. Into Town (Season 1, episode 8)

This might actually be the only flawless episode in the entire show. I mean, I call a lot of them flawless, and I mean that on an emotional level -- “I love this so much I cannot see anything wrong with it” -- but this one is a masterpiece of storytelling. All the technical jumbo I’m bad at, like planting and payoff and tension and all of that, is just perfect.

I feel like this is the kind of claim that needs to be backed up with a long-as/s essay full of citations and video clips and references to, like, Joseph Campbell or something, but this is my 49th entry in the list so I am not going to be doing that. Besides, I don’t think my English degree qualifies me to critique film/animation; I don’t even entirely know half the terms I’ve used to compliment this episode. Someone else please explain why this is such a good one.

10. The Quarter-Moon Convergence (Season 4, episode 5)

I’ve mentioned in other entries that the weird, surreal humor sometimes doesn’t work; it feels too much like being odd for its own sake, and sometimes gets so distracted in being surreal that it forgets to include anything funny or meaningful. 

This . . . is not one of those.

Putting Harrison and QM together is a stroke of genius; the two of them are literally the most magical beings in the entire show, and using them as the conveyance for this great Lovecraftian horror-comedy was such a good idea. I don’t know if we’ll ever see these two interact in another episode -- honestly, this felt a bit like lightning in a bottle, and I have a hard time imagining what could possibly bring them together again -- but if this is the only episode we get, it is such a fantastic one.

Harrison makes a really good everyman, despite his powers; he’s just the right amount of confident and insecure to pull off that wide-eyed apprentice to QM’s grizzled wise mentor. (The fact that QM is objectively a terrible mentor is beside the point.) I still don’t entirely know what the two of them accomplished, but it feels baffling and momentous, with the perfect amount of gravity to make things extremely tense all the way through to the end.

Also, I guess God is an octopus? That’s kinda cool. I like octopuses.

9. Camp Corp. (Season 3, episode 12)

Another unpopular opinion? Oh ho ho, I am so contrary! I am Not Like Other Fans! I am the Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way, refusing to have the same opinions of all you prepz.

I know this wasn’t the most well-loved episode, but I think it did a really great job tying together story threads woven throughout Season 3: Max’s selfishness leading to him hurting other people, his growing realization that he cares about his friends and the camp itself, the parallels between him and Mr. Campbell (and the fact that they both get this redemption moment in the finale). 

This is the most Max-centric season, focusing on his flaws and character growth, and they pulled it off in a really organic way that felt faithful to his character, touching without being too maudlin. The fact that his feelings about the camp are echoed in Gwen, Neil and Nikki, the other campers, and even Mr. Campbell drives home how important the camp -- and David -- are to this strange little family. 

Each season, Max reluctantly becomes a better person, without changing the fundamental core of who he is. That’s a really hard putt for the writers and Michael, and I’m blown away every finale by how they so consistently nail it.

8. Time Crapsules (Season 4, episode 18)

Gwen-centric? Check.

Max learning how to be a better person while still being the bratty kid we know and love? Check.

Looks at one of the most under-appreciated character dynamics in the entire show (i.e., Max and Gwen)? Checkity check-check-check.

I don’t really have much to say about this one, which I should: it was considered a pretty serious letdown to a lot of fans, and I’m not sure how to explain why I loved it so much. 

Comparing Max from “The Order of the Sparrow” to Max from this episode is wild. It’s not like 2 different characters: they’re still very obviously the same cynical, self-absorbed 10-year-old trying to survive summer camp. But he’s become a more considerate friend and decent version of that kid, and it’s great to watch. The moment where he and Gwen go too far and immediately regret snapping at each other is still painful (on my god, the VAs in this show, they’re so talented), Nikki and Neil both get nice subplots about how they’re also growing up, and the ending is fuc/king hilarious, perfectly breaking the tension from Campbell’s speech, which is both beautifully done and important to hear, especially if you’re in a period of uncomfortable transition (like, say, in your late 20s, or living through about 5 different national and global catastrophes).

And okay, I found that speech on the wiki for this episode and it made me deeply emotional, so here:

Here's the thing: you've got to take your failures and make something out of them. Take Camp Campbell for instance: a lot of poor decisions went into making this place what it is today. Sure, somewhere along the line it maybe strayed from its path, not living up to the camp it wanted to be. At some point, the camp realized that the camp would never reach the end of its path until it was ready or until it gave up. So, if the camp wanted to keep embezzling money and dealing with foreign powers, so be it! But, at some point, it didn't anymore. I never saw this coming, but I'm starting to think this camp is the best it's ever been.

If this is the last episode of Camp Camp we ever get -- and for at least a little while, it looks like it’s going to be -- I can’t think of a sweeter, funnier, and more lovely bittersweet note for this show to go out on.

7. The Lake Lilac Summer Social (Season 3, episode 6)

And again: No one was surprised. 

This is the longest non-finale episode of the show, and it uses that time perfectly. Rather than having some big emotional moments and character arcs -- which are great, don’t get me wrong -- the writers use the extended time to build a series of shenanigans as complicated as Gwen’s matchmaking web, and watching her try to set up a series of dominos (with David, for once, being the responsible, level-headed one) is almost as satisfying as the catastrophic results. 

Neil and Snake steal this episode, even from someone as in love with Gwen as I am, and for an episode that’s largely about making fun of shippers, there hasn’t been one that launched nearly as many ships as this. Neil/Snake? Tabii/Erin? Max/Nikki? GWENVID?! It’s all here, and I am here for it.

It was also fun to get a traditional episode setup in a very non-traditional show. I assume this means the beach and/or hot springs episode is forthcoming. (No, Pis/s Lake doesn’t count. Obviously it doesn’t count.)

6. Keep the Change (Season 4, episode 1)

Again, this is an episode I’ve said a lot about in the past -- and I was pretty uncharitable toward Season 3, which in retrospect was very unse/xy of me -- but I stand by a lot of my opinions then: this is a fu/cking great episode.

David is an as/shole, Max is an as/shole, Campbell is an as/shole. No one escapes the as/sholery. David schemes, Max catches him in the scheme, Campbell gets drunk and kind of gay . . . I’m 54 entries into this list and I don’t have much to say anymore: it’s just really good and fun and I love it.

5. Camp Loser Says What? (Season 4, episode 9)

This is another one I kind of hated when it came out, and again for fandom-related and personal-grudge reasons.

Fu/cking Daniel. That motherfu/cker. He shows up for 12 minutes and Tumblr bursts into flames. Every single time.

However, it’s really hard not to love this one. Daniel-as-Trump is a clever but subtle -- I mean, for this show’s definition of subtle -- allegory, and it’s amazing how much this slimy freak and the Woodscouts slot into it. David is a bise/xual disaster with the absolute worst taste in men, Dirty Kevin and Daniel are onscreen together for all of 2.5 seconds and the kevdan shippers lost their minds, and Xemug looks like Megamind for some weird reason.

My only minor complaint is that the ending is a bit anticlimactic, but it plays on Daniel’s stupidity and the value of teamwork, so it’s a very small nitpick in an episode that mostly works like gangbusters.

4. Cult Camp (Season 2, episode 1)

Duh. There’s a really good song and we’re introduced to a charismatic, sinister, and totally dumba/ss villain. What’s not to like?

I don’t think I even need to say anything about this episode. Season 2 started off the summer by throwing a lit firecracker directly at the viewer’s face, and ignoring the fact that we as a fandom proceeded to eat each other, it’s impossible not to get caught up in the episode’s wild energy.

And dude, that song. Fabulous. Fu/ck Daniel, but thank god he’s around to be such a prickly little pri/ck.

Now for the top 3: Literally perfect, wouldn’t change a single solitary thing.

3. After Hours (Season 4, episode 8)

I’m not sure anyone loved this episode as much as me. But this is my list, and I will put this up at the top if I want to and you cannot stop me.

It’s much easier in a lot of ways to talk about the episodes I hated than the ones I love this much. What do I say besides “literally everything about this fills me with joy and my life is better because it exists”? I don’t know. The counselors are my favorite characters, and between Gwen and QM having the weirdest bonding experience, Gwen getting to meet up with people who care about her silly fanfiction, Mr. Campbell being the trash grandpa of my dreams, David getting in way over his head . . . it’s the episode I always wanted, and they made it work so well.

Also, I just discovered that “Gwen Isn’t Your Mother So Stop Asking Her to Rinse Your Dishes” is an actual song and I am overwhelmed with delight. Here, I’m embedding it as well as linking because it’s so good:

God. This show. What the fu/ck even is up with this amazing, weird-as/s show.

2. The Order of the Sparrow (Season 1, episode 12)

Duh.

The entire first season is a great time (except “Reigny Day”), but it’s a pretty low-stakes kind of great time. There isn’t much in terms of emotional depth until the very end of “Camporee,” despite some hints at darker themes in one-off jokes and quick asides, so this episode comes a bit out of left field, tonally speaking.

But that’s not a bug, it’s a feature; if the show had been this overtly emotional from the outset, this finale wouldn’t hit as hard, and the rest of the season wouldn’t be as funny. 

This manages to serve as a capstone to the conflict of the first season, building on episodes like “Into Town” and “Escape from Camp Campbell” in a way that feels totally natural for both David and Max’s characters while revealing new sides of them. It works because it’s so unexpected, but it doesn’t come across as incongruous with their personalities. It’s the first and only time David swears in all 4 seasons, and that line -- I don’t even need to say it, you know exactly what I’m talking about -- still gives me chills.

Also, Gwen sings the camp theme song. Impossible not to cherish.

1. The Forest (Season 4, episode 12)

I’m not sure if this one is a surprise or not. It might be the obvious first place, or it might be a bit of an oddball for some people.

I had a really hard time choosing between this and “The Order of the Sparrow”; I switched their places half a dozen times, and the difference in quality between the two is razor-thin. I think part of that is because it accomplishes a lot of what “Order of the Sparrow” does: puts David in a situation where he’s pushed to his absolute emotional and physical capacity, crushes every shred of hope he has left, and sees what he’s actually made of when you strip everything away. It’s much more dramatic this time around, but it’s the same basic concept.

And just like in the Season 1 finale, what we see is a man who’s determined to do good even when he isn’t rewarded for it, even when he’s actively punished for it. Who wants to love nature, and life, and make the world a better place -- despite his faults, his selfishness and thoughtlessness and anger, David proves that he is fundamentally kind. He’s not nearly as deludedly optimistic as he seems; he just refuses to stop trying.

Because somebody fuc/king has to.

I’ll admit, some of what puts this one in first place is that I’m a sucker for whump, and David really goes through the ringer. However, I also think it’s important to acknowledge the risk Joe Nicolosi took with writing this episode: it’s all centered around a single character, it’s darker and more viscerally bloody than any other episode in the show’s history, the art is focused on these grand sweeping backgrounds that must’ve taken forever to paint, and there’s very little talking in a show that runs 99% on clever dialogue. This could have so easily backfired -- and for some fans it did -- but it was brave and beautiful and breathtaking.

I’ve actually only watched this in full once. It’s really hard to get through; it’s just so intense and even disturbing. But if there’s one episode I'll remember for the rest of my life, even when I’m 80 years old and haven’t seen the show in years, it’ll be “The Forest.”

It’s funny how such a sharp departure from the format and style of the rest of the show somehow manages to perfectly capture the heart of it. Talk about a fuc/king achievement.

So what have we learned?

I don’t entirely know what the purpose of this whole exercise was. I think it was mostly to get myself a nice Camp Camp fix that came from something other than slogging through 20 different fanfic WIPs, and to remind myself of what a strange and fun ride the last 4 summers have been. 

I also wanted to take a moment to acknowledge what Camp Camp means to me. This show has been hugely important to me on a personal level: I met two of my best friends through this fandom, and I’ve never been more connected to a community or readers than I have with CC. I know I bi/tch about this fandom a lot, but it’s a big extended internet family, and I’m so happy to be a part of it. Going through all these episodes, getting the chance to ramble about the things I liked and the things I didn’t, was a great way to reconnect with a series and community that I love.

So . . . what have we learned?

1. Season 4 was all over the place.

Some of this has to be due to the sheer volume of episodes, but when I sat down and organized everything into tiers:

There isn’t a single category Season 4 doesn’t have at least one episode in. I was surprised to see how high a lot of them ended up; it really was the best and worst of the show so far.

For the fun of it, I decided to give a number to each placement -- 60 points for the #1 episode, 59 for #2, etc. -- and see how each season broke down. Because that’s that kind of thing I think is worthwhile, apparently. And . . .

2. Seasons 1 and 4 are really good, actually.

Well, I don’t think anyone’s surprised to see how well Season 1 stacked up; it was amazing. But I was surprised to see how much I ended up enjoying Seasons 3 and 4, when if you’d asked me before this little project, I would’ve said they were the most underwhelming. Maybe I messed up the numbers a bit -- I’m no mathmagician -- but not only are they all really close, but Season 4 was one of my favorites.

3. This entire show is really good, actually.

One thing that really struck me when I put it all together visually is how most of the episodes sit in the “good,” “really good,” or “amazing” categories. The amount of episodes that are memorable, fun, and/or emotionally resonant is crazy. I don’t now how many other tiny cult-hit web series can say the same, honestly, and all of the writers, animators, directors/producers/other people whose jobs I don’t really understand, and voice actors should be commended for their outstanding talent and hard work.

4. Thank you, Camp Camp.

It was a real pleasure to relive all of these episodes again and think about what they meant to me. It won’t be the last time I sit down and watch this show -- and it certainly won’t be the end of my being a shrieking fangirl over it -- but with this break, where we have to get through a blazing, extremely difficult summer without a new season to fawn over, it’s nice to stop and appreciate what a precious gem of a show this is.

I hope everyone involved with Rooster Teeth is taking a much-deserved rest and prioritizing their health and well-being. Thank you for creating something truly special, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

#campcamp #camp camp roosterteeth #thank you RT Animation for giving me my life these past 4 years #cc david #cc max #cc gwen #i'm not tagging all the characters #campcamp masterpost #i really hope this doesn't get hidden from the tags but #guys this was a super intense labor of love please check it out #but also reading it is also a super intense labor so i get it if you don't XD

[brothermarc7theatre]

“Mamma Mia” #787

There is an air of nostalgia, a percussive toe-tapping, and a contagious check-to-cheek grin that will inhabit audiences when watching Hillbarn Theatre’s super trouper production of Mamma Mia! Led by an infallible Merrill Peiffer as Donna, the “who’s your daddy?” musical gets the full ABBA treatment, made complete with a worthwhile book by Catherine Johnson. Made more streamlined by Dan Demers’ clipped-pace direction, the talents of the cast are highlighted well in this fun, fun, fun production.

(Merrill Peiffer (Donna); Photo credit: Mark and Tracy Photography)

Ms. Peiffer embraces Donna’s quirkiness with an ease and flow between work-hard landlord, loving mother, former-Dynamo diva, and longing-for-love woman. Her vocals are tops throughout the show, and especially in a stirring, powerful “The Winner Takes it All.” The endless musical interludes between lyrics, especially where Donna is concerned, can only be reduced in awkwardness when the right actress and right director fill the lyric-less void with vulnerable takes and astute acting chops; such is the case with Mr. Demers’ direction of the talented Ms. Peiffer. Sofia Constantini delivers a genuine, lovely performance as Sophie, the bride-to-be and daughter of one of the three invited, potential fathers. Ms. Constantini’s vocals are very well-suited for “I Have a Dream” and its reprise; in leading the fun-loving trio, “Honey, Honey;” and the otherwise-groan worthy “Under Attack.” Ms. Constantini pairs well with groom-to-be, Sky, played with charm, if not a bit too animated, by Matt Ono, in an alluring, well-sung “Lay All Your Love on Me.”

(Sofia Constantini (Sophie) and Randy Allen (Sam); Photo credit: Mark and Tracy Photography)

Randy Allen delivers a perfectly adequate performance as Sam Carmichael, the potential dad who bears the biggest burden for breaking Donna’s heart. Mr. Allen’s vocals in “S.O.S” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You” do the job of singing the tunes and exuding some turmoil, though those aforementioned interludes without lyrics are only filled with a stand-and-look mentality rather than letting the audience into more of Sam’s journey. Lawrence Long delivers a wonderful, commanding performance as Bill, the ever-lonely, always-travelling writer. His vocal contributions to “The Name of the Game” and “Take a Chance on Me” make me wish the writers had given Bill much more to sing. Not just a vibrato-delight, Mr. Long’s performance is an altogether solid performance in comedy and commitment to being a soothing potential father figure to Sophie. Brandon Savage does well as Harry, the British banker who falls back in love with his head banger days when reunited with Donna on the Greek Isle. Mr. Savage’s vocals do the job required for pulling of a serene “Our Last Summer,” and his charming smile and enthusiastic presence make his Harry one to root for.

(L to R: Lawrence Long (Bill), Randy Allen (Sam), Brandon Savage (Harry); Photo credit: Mark and Tracy Photography)

Christine Capsuto-Shulman is a dynamite Tanya, providing some stellar vocals in “Does Your Mother Know.” Her comedic chops, enhanced by the littering of f-bomb infused ad-libs galore in the book scenes and musical numbers, are a laugh-a-minute effort that pays off every time she walks on stage. Jacquie McCarley is a fun, rambunctious Rosie, matching the Dynamo-diva energy exuded from Ms. Peiffer and Ms. Capsuto-Shulman with pinpoint comedic and vocal precision in Act One, especially in the trio’s excellent performance of “Dancing Queen” and “Super Trouper.” However, when it comes to Rosie’s big song, “Take a Chance on Me,” Ms. McCarley loses the spunky, flirty nature she established opposite Mr. Long’s Bill earlier, making the song a bit more underplayed without a decipherable reason why.

(L to R: Christine Capsuto-Shulman (Tanya), Merrill Peiffer (Donna), Jacquie McCarley (Rosie); Photo credit: Mark and Tracy Photography)

Paige Collazo and Samantha Ayoob are great as Sophie’s friends, Ali and Lisa, respectively. Their dancing and harmonies are well-highlighted in “Honey, Honey” and in the all-call bash of a party number, “Voulez-Vous.” Jepoy Ramos and Jorge Diaz are featured highlights as Donna’s main hotel boys, Eddie and Pepper, respectively. Both have the gift for bro-comedy, delivering some of the more flirtatious cringe-worthy lines the book has to offer. The hardworking ensemble absolutely kicks butt in their execution of Zoe Swenson-Graham’s fantastic choreography. Even subtle movement numbers like “Honey, Honey” are given the precise look that gives off the laid back, party atmosphere Mamma Mia! provides its audiences. But numbers like “Money, Money, Money,” “Lay All Your Love on Me,” “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” and “Does Your Mother Know.” are given the full dance ensemble treatment, complete with some terrific towel-ography in “Voulez-Vous.” 

(L to R: Paige Collazo (Ali), Sofia Constantini (Sophie), Samantha Ayoob (Lisa); Photo credit: Mark and Tracy Photography)

The technical design, as a whole, does the job in portraying a kick back island hotel without making the stage seem too squished. Michael Palumbo’s lighting design is perfectly matched with Mr. Demers’ highlighting of intimate solos and Ms. Swenson-Graham’s exciting company numbers. Y. Sharon Peng’s costumes are universally great, giving a nice variety of colors and styles which all match the Greek isle vibe.

At the time of this review, there has been an added performance for Wednesday, May 22nd, (to the otherwise sold out run) so if an evening escape to ABBA, dancing, and figuring out who the dad is suits your fancy, go book your ticket and go see this show!

Details:

Mamma Mia! at Hillbarn Theatre

Runs through May 26th

www.hillbarntheatre.org

#mammamia #hillbarntheatre #musical #theatre #musicaltheatre #abba #fostercity #bayarea #bayareatheatre #theatrereview

[harryseyebrows]

give me your experience in full detail about harry’s show... i need to mentally prepare myself for msg

1. there is nothing that can prepare you for the moment he first comes on stage. its indescribable. we spend so much time on here reblogging pictures and videos and interacting with content about or surrounding harry, that you can sometimes lose touch with the actual human person who its all for and about. but when you see him, its just.... amazing. theres not a strong enough word for it. and to be in a room where everyone is feeling that way? the palpable excitement and joy?? you can feel it in your blood

2. i know this point has been exhausted by anyone and everyone, but he is truly meant to be a performer. we knew this from when he was in 1d but nothing will ever touch him being on his own. you can tell that having the band up there makes him feel more comfortable, and given how much he interacts with them and makes them a part of the show, you know that him doing his ~solo stuff~ is not about trying to hog the spotlight. he’s a self-proclaimed narcissist, but dont be fooled; harry styles is a ham but he’s not selfish or arrogant. he still needs his support group, he still needs to be able to shard a bond with the people he performs with so that he can be confident and comfortable, and try to afford them the same. he works the stage like its the only thing he’ll ever do, giving it 110% with the most genuine adoration for his audience that ive seen from anyone, ever. he doesnt just wave blindly or make grand sweeping gestures. he looks at people, really looks at people, and tries to make a connection with individual people in a room full of thousands. im pretty sure if he had the time to do that with every single person, he would. he’s chatty and loves to joke, talking to people like theyre old friends, and just for a moment, he turns the dynamic between fan and celebrity on its head. he’s hardly ever still, moving and bopping along like he’s in his own little world, but that world also happens to house the audience and everyone else in the room. youre standing there, 1 of thousands of people, and you can feel like youre one-on-one with him. he’s just incredibly personable and good-natured. and then when he’s not being a professional nice young man, he’s exploding with energy and utilizing the entire stage and all of his limbs. ‘born for it’

3. he’s so funny. he’s goofy and charming and not afraid to be weird or awkward, and its just really admirable, to see him up there, clearly having a great time, laughing and smiling. i loved seeing the more ~private~ moments between him and the band, if anything can be considered private when performing. but he’s constantly grinning at them and making faces, sharing silent jokes or saying things in passing that we cant hear. and of course, you never quite know whats gonna come out of his mouth next when he spots someone or something that earns his attention from the audience. he pokes fun at people but he also pokes fun at himself. it’s just nice. comfortable, even, when he talks to people from the crowd. if youre in the back and out of range for what he can see, and he can make you feel like the only two people there, i cant even begin to imagine what it must be like when he has his laser beam focus on you, directly. 

4. his voice is incredible. all of the little runs and ad-libs that he does are great. i remember reading a quote from a while ago, when he was still in 1d, and someone had said that harry has a great ear and that harmonies and other such things come really easy to him. and i always think about that when i hear him sing live, whether in concert or in a video. the tone quality of his voice is so beautiful, even when its being amplified to crazy decibels. you can tell he puts his whole heart and soul into every song he sings, whether its a slow one like mmith or the absolute banger that is kiwi. and its so fun to hear his renditions of old 1d songs -- the arrangements are so good and its so nice to hear those songs with just his voice. sott is still just That Song™ and hearing it live is something that stays with you forever. 

5. THE OUTFIT. when the screen went up, i was so excited to simply see him that i wasnt even thinking about ‘oh what is he wearing’ until about 5 minutes in when i realized that i was no other than harris reed. harry has always marched to the beat of his own drum, and we’ve poked fun at his fashion sense for years, from the toe-revealing brown boots, to the double plaid button downs. and it wasnt really until the white gucci floral suit that, in my opinion, he started to really come out of his fashion shell in a big, loud, in your face way. its been so interesting to watch him experiment over the years with different trends, different styles, different vibes, etc. but now he’s still just as adventurous, if not MORE, but in a really refined and arguably more cohesive way. because while all of his outfits are different and wild, the unpredictability and diversity make up a category all on their own; they common thread among them is that they’re all so unique. and while we might not like every single look or every single suit, no one can deny that he’s going out there and putting his own stamp on the men’s fashion world. look at the number of little boys who adore him and put on printed suits to be like him. what he’s doing matters. and he looks so comfortable and so in his element when he’s on stage, wearing whatever flowy or glitter ensemble thats on the docket for that evening, prancing around and looking like he doesnt have in care in the world that his trousers are flared and he has a giant silky bow around his neck. i love that he appreciates new and adventurous designs, and it really pays tribute to his character that he supports different designers, like harris reed, whos still in school and is getting the recognition he deserves, 100% on his own merit but also because harry helped boost his platform. harry is doing his own thing, doing the whole glitz and glamour performance thing, but none of it feels cheap or over the top. its just right and really reflects his personality and style. go on with ur bad self, harry.

6. the butt. what can i say? its now an element of the show. she’s plump and proud. he worked hard to get her where she is and she deserves to be showed off. like two beautiful melons draped in fabric, whether it be a solid color, black, a print, or glitter. she does it all. and she does it well. AND shes au natural. no fat transfers here. just smooth, firm but also pleasantly supple, muscle and butt meat. surely youve heard of all you can eat buffets, but his butt takes it to a whole new level. that is a multi-course meal and then some. the glass of water you have when you wake up in the morning, parched and in need of something to help your dry mouth; breakfast, something healthy but still delicious... some thick maple and brown sugar oatmeal; lunch, a perfectly toasted grilled cheese with tomato soup; dinner, some top sirloin steak because you need some MEAT, accompanied by potatoes and another less starchy vegetable, perhaps a green bean?; dessert, cake of course. and all the snack in between. delicious. 

#liz writes a concert review #someone publish this in a paper or something #my show part 1 #Anonymous

[courageiswhenwefaceourfears]

Why We Should Appreciate Spamalot More

there’s an entire musical number based on mishearing a word (”I said ENGLAND!”)

Tim Curry

Christian Borle plays basically every ensemble character

“My name is Lancelot. I’m big and strong and hot” *taps butt with shovel*

“Become a knight and you’ll go bald!” “Become a knight and you’ll go bald!” “In suspenders and a bra!” “In suspenders and.... a bra..???...”

“I saw a lady in a lake-” “dead?”

EXCAILBUR!! ahhhhh AHHHHHH!!!! *music stops*

“Please reveal to this Doubting Thomas-” “Dennis.”

Sarah fucking Ramirez

“The Song That Goes Like This” being a perfect parody of just about every musical ever made

The absolutely fucking ridiculous expressions on Christopher Sieber’s and Sarah Ramirez’s faces

“Now we’re into E! ... that’s awfully high for me.” “Everyone can see, we should have stayed in D.”

"For this is the song that is too loooooooong!” *yells at orchestra director* JESUS CHRIST, GOD DAMNIT

Sir Not Appearing In This Show (Don Quixote: “Oh sorry”)

“Why do they call it the middle ages when nothing yet comes after it?”

“What happens in Camelot, stays in Camelot.”

“Knights of the Round Table” keeping the silliness from the film intact

Patsy clapping the coconuts together because Arthur can’t tap dance

Lady of the Lake being a Vegas lounge singer and she pulls out a ridiculous microphone

“We’re knights of the round table, round table, round table!” (point to roulette table to make sure the audience gets its) “round table, round table, round table!”

The knights trying to spell out “Camelot” and spelling “Cameltoe” instead

John Cleese cameo

The lack of a fourth wall (”These people don’t have all night!”)

“The quail!” “No, grail. The vessel used at the Last Supper.” “They had a bot at the Last Supper?”

“God the Almighty and All Knowing has misplaced a cup?”

“We must look within ourselves.” “SOMEBODY’S SWALLOWED IT!”

“No body’s swallowed it. It’s a symbol.” *symbol crash* *glares at orchestra*

“Find Your Grail” actually being a banger and a damn inspirational song all at once

The Lady of the Lake going all Mariah Carey on “Find Your Grail”

The Lady of the Lake holding a grail and standing inside a larger hand holding a grail

the two knights wrapped up in the background scenery and spinning around to make the the canvas move and change scenes

Galahad doing a clog dance when it’s the Alps

The “Scooby stack” when the French knights stick their heads out the door to investigate the giant rabbit

*French taunter speaks French* Other French taunter: ... what?

The French people including a mime and Eponine

The French taunting being much more taunting when in song form

"Feche la can can dancers!” *screaming*

The musical keeping up with the double casting from the movie and certain knights are just inexplicably gone for some scenes

“Have a drink and a pee, we’ll be back for act threeeee!” “Two sir.” “Twooooo!”

“Dark and very expensive forest” *cha-ching sound effect”

Because of course “Always Look On The Brightside” is a tap number

Patsy being King Arthur’s sidekick and wanting to cheer him up

The Knights Who Say Ni joining in for a little kick line

Robin’s Minstrel (also played by Christian Borle)

“Arms for the poor! Arms for the poor!”

The mechanics of the Black Knight suit so he can have all his limbs cut off onstage

“You must put on a musical!” Sir Robin: YES! *minstrel band jump into place*

But not an Andrew Lloyed Webber!

David. Hyde. Pierce.

A 10 minute long musical number making as many Jewish jokes and references as possible

THE FUCKING BOTTLE DANCE USING HOLY GRAILS

“Hey!” *points to a bale of hay*

(honestly the use of visual puns in this deserved a Tony of its own)

The pure saltiness of “What Ever Happened to My Part”

The plot point of Lancelot being gay comes from the movie where Lancelot “rescues” Galahad from the girls in Castle Anthrax and Galahad just goes “bet you’re gay” and that’s what led to this whole plot point and a massive dance number that ends with Christian Borle in a fruit hat

(seriously tho we have all these fandoms who insist that their characters are gay (cough dear evan hansen cough) but it isn’t cannon when Lancelot is right here, there’s a whole dance number about it)

“How are we going to get to Broadway? It’s 1000 years in the future in a country that hasn’t been discovered.”

“I”m all alone. There’s no one here beside me,” Patsy walks up like wtf

“Sure, I’ve been offstage for far too long”

“Actually I’m Jewish on my mother’s side.” “Why didn’t you say?” “It’s not the sort of thing you say to a heavily armed Christian”

THE KNIGHTS USING THE COCONUTS AS FREAKING CASTANETAS AND DANCING TO “AMERICA” FROM WEST WIDE STORY

Sir Robin shitting his pants and excusing himself aka the complete lack of trying to hide the fact that Sir Robin also plays Brother Maynard

the overall hilarious “low-budget” special effects, like when the ensemble knight’s head gets cut off by the rabbit

“No, skip a bit” *Brother Maynard skips* (again the visual puns)

The rabbit puppeteer being revealed and running offstage

“Oh Lord, we’re a bit stuck with the clue things. Would you give us a hand?” (literal hand of God comes down)

Lancelot in a flower crown

“Just think Herbert, in a 1000 years time, this will still be controversial”

“And I too have found my grail!” “WHAT’S THAT?” “Musical theatre!”

Herbert’s father bursting in one more time

#Spamalot #tim curry #broadway #monty python #david hyde pierce #christopher seiber #sara ramirez #Christian Borle #Find Your Grail #Song That Goes Like This #You Won't Succeed On Broadway if you don't have any jews #always look on the bright side of life

[umusicians]

UM Interview: JAYO

Emerging recording artist and Los Angeles native, JAYO, isn’t afraid to speak his mind. The multi-talented artist traded his college running shoes for musical instruments and ensembles in 2013, a decision that led him into the right direction. Knowing dreams wait for no one, JAYO is living the best of both worlds, working a 9-5 job by date and pursuing his dreams as a singer/songwriter by night and rising YouTuber/Instagram personality in between. To date, JAYO has made a number of music releases including his debut EP ‘Say It’ in 2019, and his new single “HOODIE” which was released last week.

Amandah Opoku sat down with JAYO to talk about his new single “HOODIE”, dream collaborations, pursuing your dreams and more!

Amandah Opoku: JAYO, thank you for doing this interview today! Before we kick off please tell our readers about yourself and a new artist you’ve discovered in the last year JAYO: Thank you for having me! I’m a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California and I’ve been releasing music for 3 years now. I’ve found some success on Tiktok for comedy however my true love is music, so I’m putting a lot more focus on that this year! An artist I discovered last year was Push Baby, his song Thor is probably one of the best songs of all time and every detail of writing, melody and minimalistic production stood out to me and inspired me going forward. I want to achieve that same level of excellence.

Amandah Opoku: What inspired you to start writing and releasing music as an artist? JAYO: I never thought I’d be a singer-songwriter growing up. Everyone in my family is an athlete. I fell in love with choir in college and got scholarships to finish school. I was recruited from my school to sing background for Jordan Smith at the Radio Disney Award Show in 2016. Being on a big stage on national television after Ariana Grande and staring Lady Gaga and many other celebrities in the face just gave me a rush. I felt like this is what I need to be doing, I knew I wanted to be an artist, a performer, and sell out arenas! So, I started writing music that summer and releasing as soon as I met a producer willing to help my vision.

Amandah Opoku: What artists would you say have inspired you and influenced you musically both through your sound and lyrically? JAYO: Sonically I would say I’m influenced by Jon Bellion, Khalid, Justin Bieber, Lauv and KYLE. Lyrically I’ve always been drawn to the storytelling of Ed Sheeran and Frank Ocean. I used to listen to a lot of Jon Legend for my low end vocals and Gallant when I was trying to mimic falsetto songs.

Amandah Opoku: If you could describe your music in three words. What words would you choose and why? JAYO: Uplifting, Honest, Catchy

Amandah Opoku: 2020 was an interesting year for us, as we’ve had to adapt to our “new normal”. How has the pandemic affected you as a musician? What have you learned about yourself? JAYO: The pandemic has been hard on all of us. With all the doors that have been closed a lot of new ones have opened up. I’ve been put into a position where I needed to rely more on my artistic gifts on the internet rather than my job as a substitute teacher. Gold has to be put through fire to be refined and that’s what it feels like the pandemic has done to me as an artist. I’ve written some of my best songs in the last few months and I know its only the beginning.

Amandah Opoku: As an artist, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced? JAYO: As an artist having a creative block can be very frustrating and depressing. I was having a rough time at the start of the pandemic, and was facing thoughts of quitting, settling for a 9-5 and following the crowd. Patience is crucial, you have to have faith that things will fall into place, even when you can’t see that far ahead.

Amandah Opoku: “HOODIE” is your latest single and I love absolutely everything about the song. Lyrically, melodically and structurally. What was the inspiration behind the single? JAYO: Thank you! Yea so this girl “borrowed” my hoodie and just never returned it. We slowly grew apart and I really missed her… I mean it. So I wrote a song about how much I miss her… I mean the hoodie! 

As I mentioned before, Push Baby’s song Thor was a huge inspiration as far as storytelling in an honest way with minimal production style.  It was actually my first time meeting my producer John Samuel and he loved the inspiration. He started playing chords and we finished the song 3 hours later. Sometimes things just fall into place, so I knew I had to keep working with him, so we have a lot more stuff on the way.

Amandah Opoku: Did the writing and recording process for “HOODIE” differ from your previous releases? If so, how? JAYO: Yes and no! it was the same in that I usually start with the concept and then melody, but it was different and new because I was working with a new producer and cowriter, and everything happened a lot faster than normal. Chemistry was really flying.

Amandah Opoku: I can see “HOODIE” being pitched for a rom-com movie, or show centered around teenage love. If you had the chance to pitch this song for any television show and/or movie, what show would you pick and why? JAYO: I love that idea, I can definitely hear hoodie being played for a scene where the boy has to get his girl back after time apart or after she thought she moved on. Maybe on the next Spiderman or like Kissing booth.

Amandah Opoku: In the past you’ve collaborated with a number of artists including Curtis Roach, Jonmosslol and Max Stark. In the future, what artists would you like to collaborate with? JAYO: I love all those guys! My dream collab list is crazy but it includes Chance the Rapper, Justin Bieber, Jon Bellion, Ed Sheeran, KYLE, Khalid, Pink Sweat$, 24k Golden, Ariana Grande, Anne Marie, Alessia Cara, Julia Michael’s and some others!

Amandah Opoku: In true fashion you are living the best of both lives. Working as a substitute teacher by day, and pursuing your career as an artist at night. What advice would you give to any interested in pursuing a music career? JAYO: Make sure you prioritize your true dream. There’s been many times I had to not take a gig for subbing If an important opportunity for music popped up. I trusted that the money would come later. Also use your work to your advantage! I’ve learned so much about my audience and what they like to watch content wise because I work with them. This helps me with creating music and content. 

Amandah Opoku: As you continue to pursue your career as an artist, what do you hope to achieve? JAYO: I hope I can bring more light to people’s lives. I plan on being super vulnerable with my music in the future and I hope it helps even 1 person change their life for the better. My competitive nature also wants me to compete for awards like Grammy’s or best new artist, but I know I’ll be happy changing lives as well!

Amandah Opoku: For new fans who come across your music, what would you like them to take away from your music? JAYO: I would like them to walk away with the song stuck in their heads! I pride myself in being catchy but I definitely love being relatable too, so they never feel alone when listening to me.

Amandah Opoku: With “HOODIE.” out now, what can fans expect from you this year? JAYO: They can expect a high volume and quality of music! I’m bringing only bangers from now on! 

Amandah Opoku: JAYO, thank you for sitting down with me! Before we close this interview is there anything you want to say to your fans and our readers? JAYO: You are worthy of your dreams and goals. Everyone has imposter syndrome. I’ve been learning more that is normal to have doubts at times about whether or not you should be in certain rooms or circles. Don’t let those thoughts sit there, you are worthy, valuable and loved.

Connect with JAYO on the following websites: https://withkoji.com/~jayo https://twitter.com/jayothatsme https://www.tiktok.com/@jayo https://www.facebook.com/JAYO.ARTIST/

#Interviews #Amandah Opoku #Amandah #JAYO #Featured

[chrystalliize]

The Greatest Showman sets the stage with a fever dream — a high-octane number buzzing with energy as the cast sings to a fiery beat — just as the opening song promises its audience. And deliver its promise the film does for the rest of its running time as it goes on to tell the story of P.T. Barnum, an empty-handed but high-spirited visionary who turns into the impresario of a circus consisting of "unique persons and curiosities" when he is driven to provide a life of luxury for his wife and children. This film is his story, beginning from his humble origins to his rise as a master showman, and the people he met along the way who helped brand his name into the pages of history.

Being an original musical, the choice to make The Greatest Showman was a risk, much like P.T. Barnum's every decision is one, a gamble that will either end triumphantly or with a disaster. But all the hard work pays off when a crowd-pleasing extravaganza is what awaits audiences in cinemas (in Barnum's case, his circus), an effervescent and vibrant experience for the senses. The Greatest Showman is Michael Gracey's directorial debut and his experience as a visual effects artist prior to this film manifests in the smooth, elegant cinematography and colorful sequences. From Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the songs are infectious and memorable — from the Oscar-nominated anthem "This Is Me," the soaring duet "Rewrite the Stars," to the showstopping "Never Enough" — and instant hits for musical fans. As far as lyrics go, a good number of worn-out lines are there but the catchy tunes, moving instrumentals, and the heartfelt deliveries more than make up, resulting in a good case of 'last song syndrome.' But not only do these songs worm their way into heads but they also worm into hearts with timely messages that resonate with the modern audience.

Combining modern sounds with the 19th century setting fuses well (it's quite appalling to see how not enough attention is given to the costumes and production design) but what truly gives the film its spirit is its cast. Yet despite the versatility of the actors, their characters are given little space to grow into, with majority of the focus driven into the ensemble numbers rather than character development. Still, it's hard not to be drawn in when it is the cast's sincere performance that contributes to the film's charm and euphoric tone, their lyrics and lines connecting with the people around them, whether within or outside the screen.

At the helm of the cast is Hugh Jackman, newly-retired from the mantle of the hard-as-nails Wolverine and looking right at home in the shoes of the starry-eyed P.T. Barnum. In The Greatest Showman, Jackman is absolutely bursting with gusto and gives a fueled performance, reflective of the passion Jackman put into trying to have this film made since 2009. Zac Efron returns to the musical scene as he plays playwright Phillip Carlyle with flair, and being paired off with the Zendaya's trapeze artist Anne Wheeler brings sparks to the screen. Who can honestly forget their captivating number "Rewrite the Stars," complete with breathtaking rope work and glides and swings in the air? Michelle Williams, Keala Settle, and Rebecca Ferguson (with the help of Loren Allred) are all as riveting in their own ways in supporting roles. All together, the gifted cast and crew indeed make for quite a stunning spectacle. But have they truly given the greatest show?

Beginning from that banger of a start, everything about this film feels too good to be true. The whirlwind pace of the storytelling does not help, leaving a trail of questions in its wake, and the rather predictable plot only dampens the mood. It all feels like something from a fairy tale book. As it turns out, what is shown on the silver screen is nothing more but an embellished reimagining of P.T. Barnum and his circus' rise into becoming a worldwide sensation. The film's first act pivots around Barnum's recruitment of various "freaks" and outcasts for his show, but how close to reality is his claim of empowering them by putting them on a stage for people to gape at? One cannot help but wonder if, even for all the film's modern sensibility and anachronistic swings, such an act back in the 19th century veers closer to exploitation. Much like Barnum cons his way into success, The Greatest Showman may have just done the same with all the glitter and gold veiling the sinister but accurate part of the truth.

Yet The Greatest Showman is not a biopic - it strays too much from reality to be one, with Gracey maximizing his artistic license to tell a story that is nonetheless an enthralling and entertaining watch for even the casual movie-goer. As Barnum says to a derisive critic in one scene, "Do these smiles seem fake? It doesn't matter where they come from. The joy is real," maybe accuracy does not matter in the end when people are leaving cinemas with genuine smiles. Not only that but, in spite of all its flaws, this film carves something beautiful out of the bad and delivers something that much of the modern crowd needs - a reminder that every person deserves a place in society, surrounded by people, even if just a few, who value their worth and accept them for who they are; and that every person deserves to be happy. The Greatest Showman may not be the greatest show, but it is an unapologetic celebration of diversity and acceptance, and that's enough to make for a good show.

[ RATING ] ★ ★ ★ ½ ☆

#film review #review #the greatest showman