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Stagedirect Captures Chicago's Neo-Futurists In The Act Of Killing Comedy

January 16, 2002

New video release-Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious-drives a rubber stake through the heart of humor

PORTLAND, OR StageDirect - America's leading producer of fringe theater on video - has caught The Neo-Futurists in the act of killing comedy. The new video, Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, puts the final nail in the coffin of comedy with a learned and loutish analysis of why things are funny. A hilarious review of an ostensibly unfunny subject, the show debuted to cackles and catcalls in December 2000. The Neo-Futurists remounted the show last summer in a sold-out, three-week run for StageDirect's camera crew.

"It's a brilliant comedy that makes you self-conscious of what you laugh at-which is both hilarious and a bit unsettling," says StageDirect Founder and CEO Gary Cole. "It's one of the most original pieces of theater I've seen in years."

By discussing and demonstrating theories of humor from Sigmund Freud to Milton Berle, The Neo-Futurists take a wrench to the nuts and bolts of comedy, positing that humor is merely a front for repressed desire, with laughter-like flatulence-a safety valve for nervous energy. Masterful and moronic, Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious tackles sex, farts and profanity with scholarly respect and juvenile curiosity.

"I've always been fascinated by our audiences bursting into hysterics simply because they expect we're going to do something funny," explains Greg Allen, Founder and Artistic Director of The Neo-Futurists. "This show explores why we laugh, and it takes a few jabs at those who laugh a little too easily."

Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious was written and directed by Greg Allen. Performers include Neo-Futurists Greg Allen, Andy Bayiates and Heather Riordan. First performed in December 2000, Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious was taped by StageDirect in the summer of 2001 before a live audience at The Neo-Futurarium in Chicago.

The Neo-Futurists are hailed as one of the nation's most daring and inventive stage companies. The Chicago-based collective is best known for its thirteen-year run of Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind, an ever-changing show featuring 30 original plays performed in 60 minutes. The Neo-Futurists' web site can be viewed at www.neofuturists.org.

StageDirect captures the best of small-stage, fringe theater for distribution on VHS and DVD. Established in 2001, the Portland-based company scours the Western Hemisphere for high-caliber, offbeat shows that challenge the American stereotype of "theater." Every effort is made during taping and editing to preserve the intimacy and uncommon energy of live performance. StageDirect videos are available through the company's web site: www.stagedirect.com.

Media Contact

Jody Nichols
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jody@mediacabin.com