MONSTER SMASH MANIA HEADING FOR NEW YORK
- 07/30/2006 (8:14:49 pm)
- Media Release
……
Thanks to Jeff Sheridan for link
This was in today's NY Post:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07302006/entertainment/monster_smash_entertainment_maxine_shen.htm
MONSTER SMASH
By MAXINE SHEN
July 30, 2006 -- Monster mania is heading to New York, sweeping up any errant hipsters, skaters, art school kids and comic book nerds in its path.
The Boston-based Kaiju Big Battel comedy show takes over Brooklyn's Warsaw Club this Friday, bringing a hybrid of American pro wrestling, Godzilla style-Japanese monster movies and pop culture parody.
Originally created by then art student Randy Borden in 1995 for a short film that never materialized, Kaiju (Japanese for "mysterious beast") has since evolved into a full-fledged show, with live rock bands and brawling monsters made of foam and rubber. Every Battel promises a truly bizarre, unique and entertaining spectacle.
Going by names like the Plantain Twins, Kung Fu Chicken Noodle and Call-Me-Kevin, the "monsters" throw themselves around metal cages and wrestling rings, all to advance the causes of good or evil.
The 11-year-old Kaiju has spawned a whole series of related merchandise, ranging from T-shirts and greeting cards to pocket disco balls and pieces of "monster meat" (actual bits of previously killed off Kaiju characters), while developing an obsessive fan base that giddly awaits every live Big Battel showdown.
While Kaiju's fans have always belonged to the indie-rock-artsy-crowds, Chief Kaiju Officer, writer-producer and co-creator David Borden (Randy's brother), says Kaiju's most significant new audience is actually from the anime world.
"Those [anime] geeks - I love them as fans because they're super positive and super excited - they're not all jaded and sarcastic like some of our indie-rock kids."
And some story lines they have: A Nazi bio-engineering experiment now bent on world domination, pure-evil Dr. Cube is a block-headed (literally), babbling, despotic psycho; Incompetent Super Wrong is a time traveler from the future, hoping to stop his ancestor from enslaving the human race; and the once-lazy Silver Potato is now a government-subsidized crime stopper.
The Kaiju monster world's comings and goings are updated weekly online at kaiju.com, Borden says, because "we have all these loose ends and conflicts that need to be resolved. The show resolve a bunch of issues, but then open a whole new can of worms to propel the story."
Plot advancement aside, shows typically feature sights like guys wearing 100-pound costumes and doing back flips off 8-foot tall cages, into the middle of a ring.
As for who's inside the costumes, Borden says his "monsters" come from all walks of life - they include street performers, break dancers, actors, martial artists and even an ex-boxer.
None of the performers have any real wrestling experience, though. "We borrow a lot from the wrestling moves," Borden says, "like the high-flying stuff, from lucha libre, the Mexican masked wrestling.
"We spin it like [pro] wrestling, that it's entirely real. But it's fully choreographed and scripted for safety reasons. Otherwise people are going to have broken bones and stitches above their eyes."
While Kaiju Big Battel has yet to stage a show in Japan - the source of all it's inspiration - the recently released and subtitled DVDs have been a huge hit there.
"They think it's awesome," Borden says. "They're so used to reinterpreting American youth culture and, for once, they're seeing the opposite - these crazy Americans tackling their own phenomenon."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07302006/entertainment/monster_smash_entertainment_maxine_shen.htm
MONSTER SMASH
By MAXINE SHEN
July 30, 2006 -- Monster mania is heading to New York, sweeping up any errant hipsters, skaters, art school kids and comic book nerds in its path.
The Boston-based Kaiju Big Battel comedy show takes over Brooklyn's Warsaw Club this Friday, bringing a hybrid of American pro wrestling, Godzilla style-Japanese monster movies and pop culture parody.
Originally created by then art student Randy Borden in 1995 for a short film that never materialized, Kaiju (Japanese for "mysterious beast") has since evolved into a full-fledged show, with live rock bands and brawling monsters made of foam and rubber. Every Battel promises a truly bizarre, unique and entertaining spectacle.
Going by names like the Plantain Twins, Kung Fu Chicken Noodle and Call-Me-Kevin, the "monsters" throw themselves around metal cages and wrestling rings, all to advance the causes of good or evil.
The 11-year-old Kaiju has spawned a whole series of related merchandise, ranging from T-shirts and greeting cards to pocket disco balls and pieces of "monster meat" (actual bits of previously killed off Kaiju characters), while developing an obsessive fan base that giddly awaits every live Big Battel showdown.
While Kaiju's fans have always belonged to the indie-rock-artsy-crowds, Chief Kaiju Officer, writer-producer and co-creator David Borden (Randy's brother), says Kaiju's most significant new audience is actually from the anime world.
"Those [anime] geeks - I love them as fans because they're super positive and super excited - they're not all jaded and sarcastic like some of our indie-rock kids."
And some story lines they have: A Nazi bio-engineering experiment now bent on world domination, pure-evil Dr. Cube is a block-headed (literally), babbling, despotic psycho; Incompetent Super Wrong is a time traveler from the future, hoping to stop his ancestor from enslaving the human race; and the once-lazy Silver Potato is now a government-subsidized crime stopper.
The Kaiju monster world's comings and goings are updated weekly online at kaiju.com, Borden says, because "we have all these loose ends and conflicts that need to be resolved. The show resolve a bunch of issues, but then open a whole new can of worms to propel the story."
Plot advancement aside, shows typically feature sights like guys wearing 100-pound costumes and doing back flips off 8-foot tall cages, into the middle of a ring.
As for who's inside the costumes, Borden says his "monsters" come from all walks of life - they include street performers, break dancers, actors, martial artists and even an ex-boxer.
None of the performers have any real wrestling experience, though. "We borrow a lot from the wrestling moves," Borden says, "like the high-flying stuff, from lucha libre, the Mexican masked wrestling.
"We spin it like [pro] wrestling, that it's entirely real. But it's fully choreographed and scripted for safety reasons. Otherwise people are going to have broken bones and stitches above their eyes."
While Kaiju Big Battel has yet to stage a show in Japan - the source of all it's inspiration - the recently released and subtitled DVDs have been a huge hit there.
"They think it's awesome," Borden says. "They're so used to reinterpreting American youth culture and, for once, they're seeing the opposite - these crazy Americans tackling their own phenomenon."
Here's the address, phone # & site:
http://tinyurl.com/oxzkf
Even though it mentions the site to the place is www.warsawconcerts.com , here's their calendar link where it mentions the "Kaiju Big Battel":
www.polishnationalhome.com/calendar.html
http://tinyurl.com/oxzkf
Even though it mentions the site to the place is www.warsawconcerts.com , here's their calendar link where it mentions the "Kaiju Big Battel":
www.polishnationalhome.com/calendar.html
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