Lloyd Kaufman - Troma-rific!

So this was the flyer that went up at the Northern Lights Theater Pub in Salem, Oregon. BLOODSUCKING REDNECK VAMPIRES was screening again, to be followed by a new Troma release about killer racoons and then a midnight appearance by Lloyd Kaufman. So long story short, there were some problems with Lloyd doing his patented head-crush demonstration, so the Mid-Valley Video Festival guys asked if I would do it between movies and I said I'd be happy to. After all, we did a Lloyd Kaufman-inspired melon-head-crush in BRV anyway so it seems a perfect fit.



After a killer dinner at Buster's Barbecue and some beer at a nearby bar, we headed over to the theater and got our tickets. "RBV?" Hell, I don't care if the letters are jumbled on the ticket - they're still showing my movie!



My BRV co-writer, co-producer, editor, etc. Mike Hegg and I. We are so excited!



After BRV was over, Ross set up a tarp and I got out the melon I'd bought on the way to the theater. This crazy thing cost almost $9! Remind me not to do a demonstration with a melon in the middle of winter. Anyhow, here's Rob Merickel slicing a bit out of the rind to make sure the insides spew out towards the audience.



Getting ready to smash with a big rubber mallet!



Here I am making a point about something after the smash.



Hey, I at least wanted to get a bite! After the demo, we found out that the movie they were going to show next was actually WITH Lloyd. Not only that, but he was over an hour away in another town.



So the guys asked if they could make the evening a Joe Sherlock double feature by showing UNDERBELLY. I said that would rock! They broke the news to the audience, showed a great comedy/blaxploitation short called BLACK SANTA'S REVENGE and then, after I did a short intro, played UNDERBELLY. People seemed to dig it OK even if it didn't really fit "Monster Madness Fridays." There was so more downtime before Lloyd finally showed up sometime after 1 a.m.



Lloyd was entertaining, dropping one-liners here and there, but overall was passionate about his work, about independence, and about how the world is consolidating left and right, squeezing out the little guy.



After the Q&A, Lloyd cracked open a box of DVDs and posed for photos.



I'm all out of BRV copies for sale, but sacrificed one of the three personal copies I usually keep to give one to Lloyd. Unfortunately, this one got melon juice on the cover. But Lloyd gave it a thumbs up anyway!



Robert J. Olin had Lloyd sign a script he had with him that I had written. Lloyd initially said, "I can't sign this, I didn't write it." But then he said, "What the hell." Crazy!



Here is Lloyd and I with Salem filmmakers Josh Dent and Scott Hartmann.

I managed to crawl into bed sometime close to 4 in the morning, but it was a great night! Thanks to the MVVFest guys, Northern Lights, Lloyd and everyone who showed up!!