Then I got to meet Tommy Wiseau.
I went to a screening because he was going, and although my feelings on the movie didn't change, I was in absolute awe of Tommy. As human being, he is eternally funny. Where is he from? Why does he talk like that? Why is he the way that he is? Is it on purpose? Who cares! Even if tomorrow it was reavealed that the whole thing was an act, it wouldn't matter to me. There are few other actors in the world with the comedic timing and charismatic uniqueness of T.W. I'm not tired of him, just the movie. Which up until now, was the only thing he was really in.
All of this (and it is perhaps too much) brings me to why 'The Tommy Wi-Show' is the best thing on You Tube. If you haven't seen it, you should see it. The premise is simple. An alien (named 'Alien') abducts Tommy (here only 'T.W.') and forces him to play modern video games. For ten minutes or so we watch as he does that.
Now, the show has been getting a lot of shit on the internet and that's what's prompted me to write this, as I think it's mostly undeserved. The recurring refrain seems to be that since it's not written or directed by Tommy that it's not funny. Here's an example from a review from 'We Eat Films'.
Instantly, the viewer recognizes Wiseau’s typical trademarks and his almost complete incompetence as a gamer. But after watching several episodes the show overall seemed unnatural, partially because Wiseau wasn’t as involved in the project’s creative process. His dialogue and mannerisms seem forced, almost as if he watched The Room just to practice acting like himself. One of the joys of seeing The Room is sharing it with an audience and admiring the sheer volume of flaws in almost every possible field. But the Tommy Wi-Show seems more refined, with the main focus on Wiseau’s “acting ability”. Everything else to do with the series is relatively well-managed. Don’t get me wrong, it still looks cheesy. But the Tommy Wi-Show does this almost intentionally, which somewhat dulls the effect of the series (Is Wiseau supposed to be playing this game terribly?).
Here's the thing. The Room was lightning in a bottle. It can't strike twice. By definition, Tommy can't make another film as unintentionally horrible as The Room, because he's now aware of it's flaws. Either he would deliberately re-create them or deliberately eliminate them. Furthermore, no one involved could participate without being in on the joke. The internet is right, obviously. What made The Room funny was that it wasn't trying to be. But that can't happen again. So where does that leave us?
It leaves us with Tommy Wiseau, who, again, is very funny all on his own. Paired with creator Brock LaBorde to give him material, the whole show is TBS Very Funny. Regardless of weather or not he is acting. Are comedians less funny because they are 'trying' to be funny? "Oh, I'm not into Louis C.K., it's as if all his jokes are rehearsed." -the internet, apparently.
This is the future for 'The Room', if it's fanbase is going to continue and expand. One of the show's strengths is that it hardly ever references 'The Room'. You could watch it without any prior knowledge of Tommy and get it. The jokes are all new, and no one is yelling over them.
The Room is dead. Long live T.W.
A BRIEF Q&A WITH TOMMY WISEAU
As mentioned in the Afterword, I had an opportunity to 'meet' Tommy Wiseau at a live screening in Ottawa, Canada at the Mayfair theatre. Meeting meaning getting my picture with him and asking him a question. I bet you can guess what I asked about!
ME: Hi. Have you heard of The Room Novelization?
TOMMY: What do you mean by that?
ME: It's...someone took the whole movie and turned it into a novel.
TOMMY: You know what people do all kinds of this stuff, keep in mind I have a book that is six-hundred pages. We are actually publishing this year or next year, we are working with publisher right now.
(CHEERS)
TOMMY: It's a gift! Oh, that's a good question actually. I don't know about it. I don't have time to read it all, some of this stuff. But let me inform you guys, a lot of this stuff are people using The Room for this and that, and you know it's fun to...it's a compliment for me. You know? Because this is my work. But speaking about The Room, keep in mind this is my...did I say fifty?...almost twenty years of my work. It's not like...people say 'oh happened by accident' you know? Remember guys, never happened by accident. Move on, next one.
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