[FIPS Was There...] Geeking Out

Image via Geeking Out

Back in the 80's, one of my favorite movies was definitely Revenge of the Nerds. It was this film about a bunch of geeks who went to college and formed a geek fraternity. It starred that one guy from ER and that other guy from thirtysomething and had scenes depicting both extended urination and extended eructation. Also...a panty raid. Also...boobs. By the end, we grow to love those geeks. They stage a concert and the college campus embraces them, despite how geeky they are. WE ARE ALL GEEKS.  

With geekdom in mind, I found myself back at Union Hall (sans bacon) on Tuesday night for the latest edition of Geeking Out, a geeky comedy/storytelling series hosted by FiPS' former managing editor Kerri Doherty. She's been hosting the series for a while now but I'm a bad acquaintance who's never actually made it to a single show. Basically, a bunch of people get up on stage and geek out over pop culture topics. Tuesday's lineup was to feature both comedienne Jeneane Garofalo and eighteen-time Moth Storyslam champion Adam Wade. Easy decision: I decided to shell out $5 for the ticket.

After a brief "Buzzfeed: Real or Fake" opening by Kerri and the night's co-host, comedian Josh Gondelman, the first geek up was Steve Heisler. Dude's a comedy writer who recently wrote a piece for Rolling Stone on The Jerky Boys and has written for The Onion's AV Club, including a 2012 piece on revisiting Magic: The Gathering as a grown-up geek. On Tuesday, this was his topic...Magic: The Gathering, or "MTG," as the geeks call it. He brought a female audience member with limited knowledge of MTG up on stage and proceeded to play a game of it with her whilst simultaneously explaining the rules and cracking jokes. He definitely got an "A" for creative presentation.

Next up was Janeane Garofalo. To be honest, she was my main reason for being there. Chick's been in TONS of geeky movies and TV shows. But...Ben Stiller Show blah blah blah. Wet Hot American Summer blah blah blah. Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion is WHERE IT'S AT. She focused a little bit on the band Toto, a little bit on Patricia Arquette's snaggle tooth and a little bit on Lapham's Quarterly, which ran a piece on Hierocles and Hilagrius, an ancient Greek comedy team. Along the way, she expounded on stealing toilet paper from bars and noted that when a celebrity is political, it means they're "emotionally engaged & don't give a shit." Not bad.

Heather Mooney exited stage right and Kerri came on to tell the tale of her geeky fascination with Nickelodeon and how it recently led to an audition for a brand new Nick show. In the end, she was clearly too old to be trying out for the show. The kids who were also auditioning rallied around her though and hilarity ensued. I guess since I know Kerri personally, I've seen more of her stuff. As a result, I can definitely say her comedic performance has grown. At one point, it was a little too neurotic/spastic for my tastes. She seems to channel those energies better these days.

She was followed by Nisse Greenberg, a storyteller who delved into the geeky topic of the short-lived Comedy Central show Stella, a show created by dudes from The State and Wet Hot American Summer. This was around the time when Janeane Garofalo ducked out to the bathroom. Mr Nisse told a tale of Facebook-stalking a cute girl at college and discovering that his fave TV show--Stella--was her favorite TV show. Stalking is NEVER funny, unless it's a tale of stalking told on a stage in a comedy setting. Unfortunately, their mutual love of a show cancelled after one season by a network that's had Tosh.0 on for six didn't lead to true romance.

Co-host Josh Gondelman was the buffer between Mr Nisse and Adam Wade. I'll be damned if I remember what geeky topic he focused on, but my notes include phrases such as "told grandmother to refer to races she wasn't comfortable with as 'bloggers,'" "Bite me/I don't eat junk food" and "gay marriage for four-year-olds."

New Hampshire's own Adam Wade closed out the night with a tale of his childhood love for Roy Orbison. As a fellow New Hampshirite, I immediately identified with Wade, who referenced both the Mall of NH and The Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom early on. He punctuated his story with child comics of childhood scenarios, all involving him and girls and family members and the occasional Roy Orbison appearance. Obviously, everyone in the comic was a cat. While he Powerpointed his way through the comics, Roy Orbison’s music played behind him. Twas obvious why he's an award-winning storyteller. Dude made me anxious though.

Was it a sufficiently geeky evening? Sure...and you know what? The geek's time has come. The geeks have news for the beautiful people. There's a lot more of us than there are of you. Join us...cause no one's gonna really be free until geek persecution ends.

Read way more from Shawn at eatdrinksnack.com and eatdrinktaco.com.