Better Late Than Never on "Class Action Park"

I finally watched a documentary I’ve been putting off for a bit this weekend. The movie was “Class Action Park”. Let’s discuss.

This documentary tells the story of a water/speed park in New Jersey called Action Park. The whole deal with Action Park was that it was a thrill ride park where you made your own rules essentially. The water slides were dangerous, but to the kids it was fun. The speedway, with the go karts and such, were not very well regulated, but could not go fast. The workers were teenagers who kind of had free rein to do what they pleased and were never really told to enforce any park rules. And the owner of the park, well he was a real piece of work.

What I appreciated about the interviews for the movie is they focused mainly on the former workers. They had some notable people, Chris Gethard and Alison Becker, who had some great stories about their misadventures at the park. They were very insightful about the park and what it meant to them as teenagers getting to go to this wild theme park. But to hear the workers stories, that was the best way to do this movie. Hearing them talk about how dangerous everything was was insightful. Listening to them explain having to be “guina pigs” for some slides and rides was downright terrifying. To see them go back to that time in their lives and the look of horror they sometimes had in their eyes and faces, working there and doing that job really left a lasting impression in their lives.

The scariest part was the owner and “creator” of Action Park. He was a crook. He only cared about money. His workers may have liked him, but I cannot imagine they respected him at all. He also never paid out in a lawsuit. Kids were killed due to his negligence, and instead of showing remorse, he made excuses to their families and barely ever paid a dime. They did a very sad story about a 19 year old who died due to injuries from one of the rides and this owner came off as a real scum bag. I felt so very bad for the family and cheered with them when this awful man passed away.

I’m glad I finally watched this movie. I really enjoyed it. It was funny, a good flashback to the 80’s, reminded me of water parks I used to go to and it had some real journalism stuff bear the end. I definitely recommend watching “Class Action Park”. It’s solid.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Chris Gethard Delivered a Great Comedy Show in St. Louis

Last weekend in Saint Louis, at Helium Comedy Club, Chris Gethard did 5 shows over 3 nights. I was fortunate enough to be at the second show, 7:30pm on Friday, and he was great.

First off, his opener, who is a writer for his show, was really funny. His name escapes me right now, I believe his first name is Carmen, but he was real funny. He had a bunch of different bits that I really enjoyed and found very funny. One was him reading reviews of his standup from various publications, and stuff like that always gets me. The other one, which was my favorite, was his impressions of his step grandpa telling jokes, and his impression of his brother picking up girls. He was real funny, and it was a very good way to start the night.

Then, it was Gethard's turn.

I am a big time fan of his. I have read all of his books. I go out of my way to watch movies that he is in. I was stunned when I saw him in very bit parts on "Parks and Rec" and " The Office". His own show, "The Chris Gethard Show", is insane and genius. And his HBO special from about a year or so ago, "Career Suicide", is one of the best specials I have ever watched. So, I was obviously excited to see him do an hour on Friday.

Gethard did nor disappoint. He is a great story telling comedian. My son asked me what kind of jokes he tells, he mentioned "knock knock" jokes, but I had to tell him that he is a story telling comedian. I let him know that Gethard takes a moment from his life, even tragic moments, and he finds a way to make them funny. That was exactly what he did on Friday. He came out of the gates hot, giving his opener a hard time. From there on out, I was completely entertained by every story he told.

Some of my favorite stories he told included things like him talking about going on a trip to Orlando with his wife in February. He told the audience how they both had already done Disney World, so they wanted to find something different. He then went into a good 10-15 minute long, hilarious story about a place called Gator Land that they visited. His comparison, between Gator Land and Disney World was wonderful. The stories about the things he saw in Gator Land had me crying. My favorite part of the bit was when he said that, in the Midwest, he has to put this joke in the middle because a place filled with gators isn't that crazy to us. He then proceeded to talk about how, when he traveled on route 66 across the US, when he stopped near a gator farm in Missouri just before getting to Meramec Caverns. This story ruled because EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US in the audience understood, and knew the place he was talking about. He brought up people's plans for the apocalypse, and this was great. He made a great point, that none of us really know what to do, but all of us with glasses, we would be goners the moment our glasses broke, and he is right. He also told us that he asked his dad what he should do when the apocalypse happens, and he said, "follow the rats". That was absolutely hilarious. He talked about how messed up 16 year old dudes are. This started somber and down, but, in only a way Gethard can do, he turned it into something funny. I never thought that when he started this story that I would be cracking up by the end. His story about his parents going out to a comedy show when he was in high school, and him inviting his buddy over so they could drink beers was riotous. The whole deal of getting the beer from a pizza place, to him and his buddy, who was much bigger than him, pounding the 30 pack, to his parents getting home earlier than he expected, to the interaction between him, his friend and his dad, was picture perfect comedy. What made this joke the best though, was everything that happened with his mom when she found out he had been drinking. It was amazing. The closing story was a thing of beauty. He talked about the rough neighborhood he grew up in, and one day entering the bus, only to be pelted by ice cubes. He then told us he found out that everyone was chucking ice cubes, so he joined them. The story he then goes into, and again, this is his closer, so you know he is bringing it, is something that needs to be seen by comedy fans everywhere.

Chris Gethard is a wonderful, an tremendous standup. He has earned all the acclaim that he gets. He is an awesome crafter of jokes. He has a very special quality that is very niche to him. I highly recommend all fans of live standup go see him if he comes to your city. I know that I am very happy that I did.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His first visit to Meramec Caverns was filled with wonder and horror. He was filled with wonder by the big ass cave. His terror came about because of his jerk ass older brothers constantly telling him the cave was falling in. Good times were had by all.

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Better Late than Never on Chris Gethard's "Career Suicide"

I know that I'm a little late to the party, but I just watched Chris Gethard's 90 minute comedy special on HBO, "Career Suicide", and I was enthralled. This was more one man show than stand up special. Gethard is a very different and unique voice in comedy these days. He's introspective and smart and pours his heart out and tells people about all his psychological problems. Yes, a lot of comedians do this now, but the way Gethard delivers this message is unique to only him. I had heard a lot of good things about this special. Many, many people were talking about it on social media and on podcasts. I had only known Gethard as a character actor and a writer previous to this. That is why I did not watch it when it premiered. I didn't know what to expect. I recorded it about a week or so ago, HBO reruns everything all the time now, and I finally watched it in its entirety last week.

This special completely blew me away. Yes, Gethard was funny and told a lot of jokes, but he opened up his entire life's book, warts and all, to the audience in the theater, and all of us watching on TV. He told us about all of his struggles that he still deals with to this day. He recounted very funny stories about his college days, but it was told under the guise that he may have actually been an alcoholic. He recounted a story where he continually blacks out and does stuff like, run around the streets of Rutgers University with a Batman mask on, and telling 2 gentleman than he did not know that they needed to leave his house, but these guys wanted Gethard to finish the story he was telling, which Gethard had no idea he was telling. He let everyone know that he drank 2 entire bottles of Mad Dog prior to all of this happening. It wasn't until he saw a shrink when he realized he may have an alcohol problem. It was funny, but also very revealing and, at sometimes, sad.

Gethard also told us the story of the first time to told his mother that he thought he was suicidal. This was sad. I really felt for him. This is a very tough subject and you have to be at your absolute lowest if you consider taking your own life. He was very eloquent when describing this situation, and just when I felt like I was going to cry, he tells a killer joke about how his mother sounds exactly like Edie Falco when she was on the "Sopranos". That is his gift. He can tell these hard and tough stories and wrap it all up with a joke that will make you laugh until you cry, if you aren't already crying.

I also really enjoyed his stories about shrinks and, how some are just in it for the money and others are actually there to help you. Full disclosure, I see a shrink 2 times a year. I have anxiety issues, and my doctor has changed my life. So, that made these stories very relatable to me. He has had his struggles with his feelings towards seeing shrinks, and then accepting that he needed this, and then how one doctor screws him over, but he eventually found his perfect doctor. Again, not funny, but not meant to be funny. this is why I looked at this more as a one man show than a comedy special. He talks about his current shrink a lot, and it is so funny, but at least for me I can see where he is coming from. His shrink has changed his life, even if she may not do things by the book. I loved this part of the show.

His talks about prescription drugs, and how they have helped him out so much, again for me, very relatable, and this was funny. He talked about all the side effects that some prescription drugs have. I have dealt with a lot of the same issues, I'm just not as funny at describing it like Gethard is.

I really enjoyed when he would talk about his many odd jobs in comedy and writing. When he talked about how he got his first writing job and had to travel across the country by himself, I could not take my eyes off the screen. It was funny, scary and beautifully told. The bit about the train is tremendous. He talks about performing at Bonnaroo a few years back and describes his relapse in a very funny way. I was shocked that he was so forth coming with all of this information. It was heart wrenching, but also very funny at times.

My personal favorite story was when Jack McBrayer "dissed" him during an Asscat show, and everything that happened after that. He goes into great detail about being paralyzed by fear and eventually running off stage after McBrayer said what he said. He also goes about it a very funny way in revealing that it was McBrayer who "dissed" him. Seriously, go watch how he divulges this information. Writing about it does not do it justice.

He then goes on to talk about how he runs away to Jersey after this, calls his shrink, gets some crazy information from her, going into a restaurant and freaking out all the customers. Look, this 15 to 20 minute story is the gem of this wonderful one man show.

Gethard finishes the show by talking about how, if you need help, get it. He talks about all the people that have contacted him with the same problems that he has faced, and what he has done to try his best and help them. He implores everyone to get help if they need it. He caps it off with talks about his love for Morrissey one more time, he mentions this a lot through the show.

I loved "Career Suicide". Chris Gethard is great at what he does. I love how open he is with everything. This special could lead to some big time stuff for him, and that makes me happy. I was late to this, but I highly recommend, if you haven't already seen it, watch "Career Suicide". It is one of the best specials I have seen in a long, long time.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He one time suggested that his psychiatrist should get into hip hop. He could be called MC Shrink Rap. The doctor order more sessions.

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