Summary: Two-Minute Danger Theater is a daily comedy module chronicling the adventures of The Voice, Blake Diamond, and Commander Ranger and Cadet Nancy of Blast-Off Patrol
This is a tough piece to review. I respect the producer's innovative approach to the material, yet I don't think this works well as a contemporary radio piece.
PACING: The frantic pacing of these pieces make them difficult to follow. As an experiment I tried listening to the pieces while working in my office. I found that the pace was so fast that, unless I was doing nothing else, I couldn't pick up anything. For a listener trying to follow along while they are driving, working, doing the dishes, etc..., it just requires too much attention.
HUMOR: If you are going to do comedy, you have to deliver. While there were some clever bits of writing in these modules, there are some thin spots as well.
SOUND EFFECTS: Use of canned sound effects is dangerous, because producers are often tempted to use them as a full character in their piece (like here) rather than as a texture (like Tom Keith on PHC). The mastery of Tom Keith is he knows when to demand attention for the sounds he creates and when to let them fit in with other elements. It's a lesson that could be well-applied to these pieces. Sometimes the canned effects work, other times they are just gratuitous.
This producer is offering his material via a web site, which is a perfect distribution mechanism for this type of work. It allows those interested in this type of piece a place to go and listen, at their convenience, and enjoy them. I just don't think these have a broad enough appeal to work on radio.
This is the sort of module they used to run on commercial AOR stations back when all the GMs were on coke and all the DJs were smoking pot. You don't hear this sort of thing anymore. Funny is in the ear of the beholder. But you know what they say, "If I can make just one person laugh ... well then I need to do a little better."
The Voice is a unique and innovative piece with a Rocky and Bullwinkle feel to it. I'd definitely like to hear more radio like this, anywhere in the Public Radio day. I think radio needs more spice.
These are humorous short episodes. Maybe "The Voice" will become old, but this variety of radio should be encouraged.
[note from reviewer 12/11/03]
I just heard "Poultry Slam" from TAL (I listen through Audible.com, so I'm a little behind). Ira Glass has an affinity for shows like this, too. So, now I'm convinced this sort of serial has a place on public radio. If people like it, why does it have to fit a 'certain sound'?
Ira's affinity was aimed at Chicken Man, which is better than The Voice, but the 1-5 rating doesn't ask me whether I really like this piece (although I do), it asks me how much I want to hear stuff like this on public radio. Maybe it's just me -- or me and Mr. Glass -- but I do want to hear stuff like this on my public radio.
I visited the Chicken Man web site and Famous Dick Orkin, the creator, says he isn't still doing them because it's hard to make money at doing a syndicated serial. Doesn't bode well for The Voice, but maybe he'll (and we'll) get lucky.
Well, I listened to a few episodes here and here. I think there is a general disdain for updated radio drama on public radio these days, which is a real shame. There should be more entertaining options than what public radio is now... primarily NPR, Jazz or Classical music. (yawn) CBC still has some radio drama thrown in, a lot of which isn't as fun to listen to as this.
Sampling just one episode doesn't really do this series justice. Maybe that's the way a listener might listen, but they might also get hooked in and want to follow the storyline and be sure to tune in regularly. This could be a useful pledge vehicle under the right circumstances. I found the radio dramas on the Rider's Radio Theatre quite addicting. That was a wonderful show, yet I'm sure it had pretty poor carriage. What a shame.
The pacing in this series is fast and humor does have to be spelled out to work on radio. Producers do have to be careful about this. Maybe it would be good to include some host copy to assist in the setup and would tie the stations in more.
However, I don't fault anyone for demanding attention from the listener. We should try to do that more often (of course, without the expectation that they will pick up on every subtle nuance). Yes, people use radio as background at times, but isn?t it also ironic that classical music?s highest listening hours (typically in the afternoon) are when it can pledge the worst? More listeners don't always equal more pledges, especially if listeners are used to tuning out at that time.
BTW, to compare this type of thing to what Tom Keith does isn't really fair. Tom Keith is a folly guy with a big budget and lots of help. I assume they don't have that kind of a budget. Despite that, it is quite well done and the acting and production are better than I have heard in a lot of other modern radio drama pieces.
I would like to hear some folly sound effects rather than relying on CDs entirely. Though I know that takes a long time to prepare and pull off. I produced similar material in the past with out-of-date music libraries and those effects can be hilarious as well. Modern sound libraries are sometimes too slick to be funny.
Hey, I give anyone credit for trying something brave and would like to see that spirit encouraged in American public broadcasting. Two minutes isn't too much to dedicate to this module, though I can already hear the excuses that many PDs will make. It might be interesting to see if longer segments (once a week) would be more useable within a program. Plus weekends are when more of the wackier stuff is typically heard.
Comedy is tough to pull off, especially on the radio. Nit picking it is the easy part. Who else has the guts to stand up and try?
Comments for Two-Minute Danger Theater 01: The Voice "Death Stalks at Midnight" Ch 1
This piece belongs to the series "Two-Minute Danger Theater"
Produced by Twisted Mojo Entertainment
Other pieces by M.J. Butler
Rating Summary
4 comments
Eric Nuzum
Posted on June 30, 2004 at 02:15 AM | Permalink
Review of Two-Minute Danger Theater 01: The Voice "Death Stalks at Midnight" Ch 1
This is a tough piece to review. I respect the producer's innovative approach to the material, yet I don't think this works well as a contemporary radio piece.
PACING: The frantic pacing of these pieces make them difficult to follow. As an experiment I tried listening to the pieces while working in my office. I found that the pace was so fast that, unless I was doing nothing else, I couldn't pick up anything. For a listener trying to follow along while they are driving, working, doing the dishes, etc..., it just requires too much attention.
HUMOR: If you are going to do comedy, you have to deliver. While there were some clever bits of writing in these modules, there are some thin spots as well.
SOUND EFFECTS: Use of canned sound effects is dangerous, because producers are often tempted to use them as a full character in their piece (like here) rather than as a texture (like Tom Keith on PHC). The mastery of Tom Keith is he knows when to demand attention for the sounds he creates and when to let them fit in with other elements. It's a lesson that could be well-applied to these pieces. Sometimes the canned effects work, other times they are just gratuitous.
This producer is offering his material via a web site, which is a perfect distribution mechanism for this type of work. It allows those interested in this type of piece a place to go and listen, at their convenience, and enjoy them. I just don't think these have a broad enough appeal to work on radio.
Richard Paul
Posted on January 14, 2004 at 03:37 PM | Permalink
Review of Two-Minute Danger Theater 01: The Voice "Death Stalks at Midnight" Ch 1
This is the sort of module they used to run on commercial AOR stations back when all the GMs were on coke and all the DJs were smoking pot. You don't hear this sort of thing anymore. Funny is in the ear of the beholder. But you know what they say, "If I can make just one person laugh ... well then I need to do a little better."
Hans Anderson
Posted on December 11, 2003 at 04:39 AM | Permalink
Review of Two-Minute Danger Theater 01: The Voice "Death Stalks at Midnight" Ch 1
These are humorous short episodes. Maybe "The Voice" will become old, but this variety of radio should be encouraged.
[note from reviewer 12/11/03] I just heard "Poultry Slam" from TAL (I listen through Audible.com, so I'm a little behind). Ira Glass has an affinity for shows like this, too. So, now I'm convinced this sort of serial has a place on public radio. If people like it, why does it have to fit a 'certain sound'?
Ira's affinity was aimed at Chicken Man, which is better than The Voice, but the 1-5 rating doesn't ask me whether I really like this piece (although I do), it asks me how much I want to hear stuff like this on public radio. Maybe it's just me -- or me and Mr. Glass -- but I do want to hear stuff like this on my public radio.
I visited the Chicken Man web site and Famous Dick Orkin, the creator, says he isn't still doing them because it's hard to make money at doing a syndicated serial. Doesn't bode well for The Voice, but maybe he'll (and we'll) get lucky.
David Clements
Posted on October 28, 2003 at 10:57 AM | Permalink
Review of Two-Minute Danger Theater 01: The Voice "Death Stalks at Mid
Sampling just one episode doesn't really do this series justice. Maybe that's the way a listener might listen, but they might also get hooked in and want to follow the storyline and be sure to tune in regularly. This could be a useful pledge vehicle under the right circumstances. I found the radio dramas on the Rider's Radio Theatre quite addicting. That was a wonderful show, yet I'm sure it had pretty poor carriage. What a shame.
The pacing in this series is fast and humor does have to be spelled out to work on radio. Producers do have to be careful about this. Maybe it would be good to include some host copy to assist in the setup and would tie the stations in more.
However, I don't fault anyone for demanding attention from the listener. We should try to do that more often (of course, without the expectation that they will pick up on every subtle nuance). Yes, people use radio as background at times, but isn?t it also ironic that classical music?s highest listening hours (typically in the afternoon) are when it can pledge the worst? More listeners don't always equal more pledges, especially if listeners are used to tuning out at that time.
BTW, to compare this type of thing to what Tom Keith does isn't really fair. Tom Keith is a folly guy with a big budget and lots of help. I assume they don't have that kind of a budget. Despite that, it is quite well done and the acting and production are better than I have heard in a lot of other modern radio drama pieces.
I would like to hear some folly sound effects rather than relying on CDs entirely. Though I know that takes a long time to prepare and pull off. I produced similar material in the past with out-of-date music libraries and those effects can be hilarious as well. Modern sound libraries are sometimes too slick to be funny.
Hey, I give anyone credit for trying something brave and would like to see that spirit encouraged in American public broadcasting. Two minutes isn't too much to dedicate to this module, though I can already hear the excuses that many PDs will make. It might be interesting to see if longer segments (once a week) would be more useable within a program. Plus weekends are when more of the wackier stuff is typically heard.
Comedy is tough to pull off, especially on the radio. Nit picking it is the easy part. Who else has the guts to stand up and try?