Whedonesque : Comments on 20000 : Joss sings tonight on 'This American Life - Live!'

First comment on post #20,000!

Second--no, wait. Nipping this in the bud.

Looking forward to this immensely. Don't have my tickets, though... just kind of hoping the theater isn't sold out when I get there. If it is, well. I guess I'm looking forward to May 7th, then.

Jobo | April 23, 20:56 CET

I bought my ticket back when that original post was made... and I hear the theater near me has sold out completely (that is pretty exciting!). I'm really looking forward to it!

embers | April 23, 20:58 CET

I see that Montreal is also going to get a chance to see it but no love for Toronto. Sigh.

Lioness | April 23, 21:19 CET

I've got my ticket, though we will have to deal with hockey playoff traffic to get to the theatre!

toast | April 23, 21:22 CET

I'll be there!

FruitPunchMouth27 | April 23, 21:51 CET

I hope everyone has a good time.

Simon | April 23, 21:54 CET

They were talking about this on Colbert last night, but they didn't mention Joss.

Enjoy, those who have cities where they can see it (unlike me).

redeem147 | April 23, 22:16 CET

20,000 - WOOHOO!

I can't wait to see this. Sadly, it'll have to be after the fact and probably via YouTube. :x

sunshineguinn | April 23, 22:29 CET

I'm so excited to see it! The Seattle theater was sold out, but we're driving to the suburbs to watch!

MadeToLoveJoss | April 23, 22:33 CET

I have my tickets and I can't wait!

wilder | April 23, 22:34 CET

Mrs. Haunt and I will be heading out the door shortly to go see it.

Haunt | April 23, 23:21 CET

Have fun, everyone! Would totally love to see it as well :).

And also: 20.0000. That's, like, a lot. Go, erm, us!

GVH | April 24, 00:42 CET

I'll be seeing it in a few hours too. I'm even more excited after Joss' announcement at PaleyFest that he's singing "Heart, Broken".

MizBehavin1 | April 24, 00:46 CET

20,000?? Wow.

This is playing 5 minutes from my house, but I have to work tonight. :(

jcs | April 24, 01:05 CET

Wow, jcs, that really sucks. I suggest you forget all about this happening or pretend it's on the other side of the world ;)

GVH | April 24, 02:23 CET

I just got home. Totally worth it! Joss was the "musical guest" and he sang Heart Broken. He did change some of the words and it was wonderful. They also showed clips from DHSAB. Mostly the first monologue and parts of My Freeze Ray. I got some pics that I will load up to Twitpic soon.

wilder | April 24, 03:00 CET

The new Heart, Broken is amazing. I hope somebody thinks to capture the radio broadcast somehow so that we have an MP3. Amazing show--even the non-Jossy parts. Seeing DHSAB on the big screen, even if only for 2/3 of Freeze Ray, was amazing, really excellent. I'll have to catch a screening of it if one ever comes to town.

The new lyrics are great. Or I guess, technically the old lyrics? Weren't these the original words, then he changed it for the final version? The bit about zombies wanting brains, maintaining his quasi-fame... eeeeee!

Worth the $20. So anybody who wasn't sure about seeing it, I'd totally recommend the May 7th screening. I'll be going again with my lovely lover, who sadly could not make tonight's event.

Jobo | April 24, 03:06 CET

I agree; seeing DHSAB on the big screen was great.

But I did not get the animated short about the mouse in love with the cat head... Maybe it's just me...

floofypooh | April 24, 03:17 CET

Just got back. Uh... may... zing! First of all Ira Glass is a freakin' nerd god! I had no idea he was such a pimp DJ. Just watching him at the open of the show mixing and playing and crossing over his own arms to push buttons and spin dials on those sound boards and "decks" was hawt.

Mike Birbiglia... I've only ever heard him on the TAL radio shows and he's always been more stand-uppy than he was here. I mean he was funny here, to be sure. But the whole time he was telling his story I was thinking to myself, "I hope Mrs. Haunt isn't finding some kind of higher moral to this 'cause if I were in this guy's position I'd be in jail... at the LEAST, possibly shot resisting arrest." That kind of shit don't fly with me. Period.

Dan Savage had me in tears HARD. In fact just thinking back on it is getting to me right now. When I download the podcast for this later I may have to skip over his story till I'm alone somewhere. Gutting.

And of COURSE Joss was brilliant. More to the point Ira Glass PIMPED him big time. He is so clearly a huge fan. And we got to see most of "Laundry Day" on the big screen. Good times.

I've tweeted some pics... just of the little slides that were playing before the broadcast started, nothing super exciting.

Haunt | April 24, 03:18 CET

But I did not get the animated short about the mouse in love with the cat head... Maybe it's just me...

Neither did I, exactly. I liked the music, and it was fun to watch. But I gotta say it was a little abstract.

Dan Savage's thing was great, though, as was the car crash guy's. Both of those sucked me in completely. And the woman--Something Kine?--did a good job, too. I think she was just overshadowed (for me) by the two great stories surrounding her.

[ edited by Jobo on 2009-04-24 03:21 ]

Jobo | April 24, 03:20 CET

Who knew that Joss had true singer-songwriter eyebrows? Throughout the first two verses he kept them so soulfully scrunched. I sat a little too close, arriving late. The audience(s) loved him, it was clear why he was the finale to a surprisingly funny, sad, sweet show. Radio with pictures, your time is now. And again in a couple of weeks.

ETA mouse hate.

ETA fairness to the animator, who did truly penetrate the poxious heart of vermin.

[ edited by Pointy on 2009-04-24 04:30 ]

Pointy | April 24, 03:25 CET

So, when is he coming to El Mirage, Arizona? I've been looking for a reason to go there for quite some time.

Peanut Noir | April 24, 03:35 CET

Super show. I'm a devoted TAL/Ira Glass fan, and it was so nifty to see him do his radio thing...Storytelling is a fine art indeed, and all the storytellers were outstanding. And Joss.

The various visuals/graphics/animations were really well done and fun...I enjoyed an excellent Starlee Kine story with accompanying post-it illustrations, as well as the intro saga about a court-ordered return to a shoplifting scene- with oddly cheery round people animations.

"The mouse in love with the cat head" cartoon, referred to above, which can be seen soon on the TAL site is confusing and felt very sad, though the drawings were wonderful. Maybe I will get it when I check it out again. Bad, bad mouse.

I'm so glad we had the chance to go.

[ edited by toast on 2009-04-24 04:22 ]

toast | April 24, 03:39 CET

So this is reshowing on May 7? Good, 'cuz I totally forgot about it...

UnpluggedCrazy | April 24, 04:14 CET

Dan Savage had me misty eyed as well. My fav comedian was Starlee Kine, she was great!

I am still not sure about the mouse cartoon...Would love to get the song though!

wilder | April 24, 04:15 CET

I hope somebody thinks to capture the radio broadcast somehow so that we have an MP3.

The shows are available as podcasts for one week after they're broadcast, so watch the TAL site for that.

The show was totally awesome. I hope they'll put up all the puzzles/anagrams/etc that displayed before the show.

KernelM | April 24, 04:25 CET

It was an Andrew Bird song but I'm not sure which one. I've got all his stuff but I can't guarantee I'll recognize it when I play it. I'll research some more and come back.

Haunt | April 24, 04:30 CET

I saw it here in DC; Joss was excellent and Dan Savage...just amazing.

Eileen | April 24, 04:37 CET

It was great seeing Dr Horrible on the big screen and I was surprised at how well the audience responded to it - they were laughing at every little nuanced thing Neil did. Really made me want to see the whole musical in a theater. I wish Joss could have given a monologue though.

And as for the cat and the mouse cartoon... well, that cartoonist's book Jimmy Corrigan was just about the most depressing thing I've read and this cartoon made me feel just as bad.

shnoods | April 24, 04:38 CET

Oh yeah, the theater laughed pretty hard when Neil did his little shoulder move.

Jobo | April 24, 04:43 CET

The Andrew Bird song was "Eugene", of the album Thrills.

Haunt | April 24, 05:02 CET

I watched it with my boyfriend and friends in an otherwise nearly empty theater here in Alabama. No sellout here. It was awesome, Joss was very cute and it was FANTASTIC seeing Dr. Horrible on the big screen. I'd pay to watch that shit in a theater.

The cat head thing was typical Chris Ware nonsense.

Dan Savage had me in tears as well.

stphjay | April 24, 05:22 CET

Where in Alabama did you see it? We saw it in Trussville and it was pretty full.

Haunt | April 24, 05:28 CET

Had a lovely time seeing Joss sing on the big screen. Poor baby! He looked so nervous! I think he did fantastic, though... in spite of the fact that he must have been super stressed out. If I had only learned the piano a few years ago, I wouldn't want to play in front of an overall audience of 10,000 plus people! He was wonderful!

Dan Savage had me and the Mr. in tears as well. We lost his father in Arizona a few years back. It was horrible and I still get sad about it sometimes.

If I were Birbiglia, though, I never would have paid that drunk bastard the 12 grand. His girlfriend/wife-to-be was right, but I still would have fought like hell. But then, I don't actually have 12 grand to begin with. So, that changes the story a bit. I liked the Starlee Kine story, too. But, I also think she was overshadowed by the others.

All in all, a damn fine way to donate to public radio! If anyone didn't get to see it, I highly recommend it!

Tarae | April 24, 06:05 CET

This was a very fun/entertaining evening. I loved Dan Savage, and I REALLY loved seeing parts of 'Dr. Horrible' on the big screen. But most of all I loved Joss' performance with the different lyrics at the end. It was a very special event, I'm really happy I went (but I also want a download, or better yet, a youtube video, of Joss' performance).

embers | April 24, 06:16 CET

Ack! Why does the encore day have to be a Thursday, too? I work every Thursday night. Maybe I should get a sub.
(Or maybe I'll just do the "pretend it's on the other side of the world" thing.)

jcs | April 24, 06:55 CET

I was working too. And then I had to rush home to pack for a trip tomorrow . . . oh well, I guess footage will be available at some point. Good to hear that people enjoyed it.

SoddingNancyTribe | April 24, 07:52 CET

It's possible the whole thing will be on the This American Life TV show season 3 DVD... are they doing a season 3?
We had a sold out crowd here in Minneapolis (well, technically Roseville)... and ditto everyone commenting how great it was to see part of Dr. Horrible on the big screen!

miri47 | April 24, 15:23 CET

I'd bet that if there's a Season 3 (and I hope there is) that this would end up on the DVDs like the last one did for S2.

Couldn't make this showing, but want to catch the encore. I didn't bother getting advanced tickets the last time they did one of these, showed up 10 minutes before and expected to get in. They had sold out three weeks before. So I paid for Iron Man and snuck in (came back to see IM the next day, don't worry).

Tycho | April 24, 15:45 CET

They had a guard posted outside the entrance to my theater, Tycho, checking that people had TAL tickets when they entered. No such sneakiness for us STL folks.

Jobo | April 24, 15:54 CET

Loved it in general, except for that really quite awful cartoon short, and the annoying issues with the wireless microphones. I'm wondering if they'll be able to fix the latter in post-production or what.

The puzzles before the show were clever, Ira rocked, Mike was good, Starlee and Dan were great, Joss was fun, and Dr. Horrible looks amazing on the big screen. (I don't think Starlee was overshadowed, but then I already loved her from past episodes of the radio show.)

Shmuel | April 24, 17:00 CET

Post-production? That already happened, since this was filmed last Sunday.

The One True b!X | April 24, 17:06 CET

No, it wasn't. There were two performances; one in Chicago, and then one in New York last night. The latter is what went out live to theatres. (The radio version will be drawn from both, as I understand it.)

[ edited by Shmuel on 2009-04-24 17:13 ]

Shmuel | April 24, 17:12 CET

Did everyone do the show twice, or were some parts of what was shown come from the taped Chicago sjow?

The One True b!X | April 24, 17:28 CET

Everyone did the show twice.

Shmuel | April 24, 17:39 CET

Well ok now I'm very confused about all this.

Sunfire | April 24, 18:04 CET

April 23 2009