1 00:00:01,277 --> 00:00:03,279 [liquid pours] 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:08,836 --> 00:00:09,699 [clink] 5 00:00:16,430 --> 00:00:18,432 [siren wailing] 6 00:00:27,441 --> 00:00:29,443 [siren wailing] 7 00:00:39,142 --> 00:00:41,558 [Intercom] All right you fuckers, 8 00:00:41,593 --> 00:00:44,699 you're forgetting this is the end of the world. 9 00:00:44,734 --> 00:00:47,323 It's time to start acting like it. 10 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,050 It's happening right now. 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:52,742 If you're masturbating, 12 00:00:52,776 --> 00:00:53,812 wrap it up. 13 00:00:53,846 --> 00:00:55,572 Make it a good one. 14 00:00:55,607 --> 00:00:59,576 It's the last masturbation you'll ever have. 15 00:01:02,683 --> 00:01:07,101 [Susie] I actively don't plan anything for after X Day. 16 00:01:07,895 --> 00:01:10,656 Been doing it since 96 17 00:01:10,691 --> 00:01:12,348 and it's like, yeah, 18 00:01:12,382 --> 00:01:15,523 if there's any chance, I'm not going to 19 00:01:15,558 --> 00:01:19,424 screw it up by not buying into this. 20 00:01:19,458 --> 00:01:23,842 - Okay folks, it's almost quarter of seven 21 00:01:23,876 --> 00:01:28,536 in the morning July 5th, 1998. 22 00:01:29,192 --> 00:01:33,438 Friends, it's not about when we get everything we want. 23 00:01:33,921 --> 00:01:36,717 What it's really about, like every other religion, 24 00:01:36,751 --> 00:01:42,516 it's about for the non-believers get what they deserve. 25 00:01:43,896 --> 00:01:48,832 No seriously, now and I do mean seriously, 26 00:01:48,867 --> 00:01:52,733 you're going to get whatever you want. 27 00:01:52,767 --> 00:01:56,633 The important thing is to really know what you want. 28 00:01:56,668 --> 00:01:59,740 If your imagination is so limited that all you can 29 00:01:59,774 --> 00:02:03,675 think of is a better version of your crappy apartment, 30 00:02:03,709 --> 00:02:06,195 that's exactly what you'll get 31 00:02:06,229 --> 00:02:10,544 and it won't seem that different after 7:00 AM. 32 00:02:11,683 --> 00:02:14,789 [Susie] Bob is teaching me things about disappointment 33 00:02:14,824 --> 00:02:17,585 except the disappointment in Bob 34 00:02:17,620 --> 00:02:21,417 is sweeter than the disappointment in life. 35 00:02:21,451 --> 00:02:22,418 - Ten seconds. 36 00:02:22,452 --> 00:02:25,248 [Susie] Life's disappointments are brutal, 37 00:02:25,283 --> 00:02:27,388 Bob's are part of a joke 38 00:02:27,423 --> 00:02:29,942 that once you finally get over the butt hurt, 39 00:02:29,977 --> 00:02:31,841 you start laughing at it. 40 00:02:31,875 --> 00:02:33,601 [crowd] Two, one... 41 00:02:33,636 --> 00:02:37,778 - Fuck them if they can't take a joke! 42 00:02:37,812 --> 00:02:41,782 [cheering] 43 00:02:41,816 --> 00:02:46,166 For 30 years, almost none of us ever broke character. 44 00:02:47,443 --> 00:02:51,516 Fretten, sometimes the character might take over. 45 00:02:51,550 --> 00:02:53,621 Once again, we find ourselves 46 00:02:53,656 --> 00:02:56,831 in that age-old traditional situation, 47 00:02:56,866 --> 00:02:59,282 7:00 AM or something like that. 48 00:02:59,317 --> 00:03:02,423 Something like July 5th, something like 1998, 49 00:03:02,458 --> 00:03:03,942 something like the planet earth, 50 00:03:03,976 --> 00:03:08,326 we don't have any idea where or when we are 51 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,224 and that is the point of the whole thing. 52 00:03:10,259 --> 00:03:13,469 X Day could happen any second. 53 00:03:14,332 --> 00:03:15,988 It may not happen this year. 54 00:03:16,023 --> 00:03:17,024 [cheering] 55 00:03:17,058 --> 00:03:19,613 There have been times when we were so good at 56 00:03:19,647 --> 00:03:21,304 keeping a straight face, 57 00:03:21,339 --> 00:03:24,204 that we could have had another Scientology. 58 00:03:24,894 --> 00:03:26,413 We love fooling people, 59 00:03:26,447 --> 00:03:29,381 but we don't want to fool anybody that way. 60 00:03:41,082 --> 00:03:42,774 [Man] The young people of our generation 61 00:03:42,808 --> 00:03:46,364 have no moral norm for their actions today. 62 00:03:46,916 --> 00:03:49,608 They want somebody to stand up and say, 63 00:03:49,643 --> 00:03:51,334 "What is right and what is wrong? 64 00:03:51,369 --> 00:03:52,887 How far can I go?" 65 00:03:52,922 --> 00:03:54,613 - Nearly moment by moment, 66 00:03:54,648 --> 00:03:58,893 young people are bombarded by distorted visual images 67 00:03:58,928 --> 00:04:00,792 that are saturating their minds 68 00:04:00,826 --> 00:04:03,519 and yes, sabotaging their future. 69 00:04:05,486 --> 00:04:07,626 - In the early 80s we were outliers, 70 00:04:07,661 --> 00:04:09,801 we were outside the norm. 71 00:04:09,835 --> 00:04:12,355 People who'd grown up in the 50s were just trying to 72 00:04:12,390 --> 00:04:14,288 come out of all of the weird stuff 73 00:04:14,323 --> 00:04:15,979 that had been heaped on us. 74 00:04:16,014 --> 00:04:17,809 - Once a person is pervert, 75 00:04:17,843 --> 00:04:20,398 it is practically impossible for that person 76 00:04:20,432 --> 00:04:22,641 to adjust to normal attitude. 77 00:04:22,676 --> 00:04:24,643 [Ivan Stang] The 60s were still echoing, 78 00:04:24,678 --> 00:04:26,783 but it turned into the 80s 79 00:04:26,818 --> 00:04:29,855 and that whole spirit got flipped on its head. 80 00:04:29,890 --> 00:04:31,857 [Man] You are being deceived. 81 00:04:31,892 --> 00:04:35,551 You're being brainwashed every day by the devil. 82 00:04:35,585 --> 00:04:37,415 - Everything's getting too square again. 83 00:04:37,449 --> 00:04:40,383 - The normalcy was oppressive to me. 84 00:04:40,418 --> 00:04:43,662 - I grew up in a cultural vacuum, 85 00:04:43,697 --> 00:04:46,976 a small conservative Illinois town. 86 00:04:47,010 --> 00:04:49,875 - I kind of prided myself on being the outsider 87 00:04:49,910 --> 00:04:50,911 in high school. 88 00:04:50,945 --> 00:04:52,844 You know, the guy that's so weird, 89 00:04:52,878 --> 00:04:54,535 and no one would talk to him. 90 00:04:54,570 --> 00:04:56,779 [Commercial VO] There is a conspiracy of unimaginable 91 00:04:56,813 --> 00:05:01,887 proportions working solely to rob you of your very abnormality 92 00:05:01,922 --> 00:05:03,786 and I'm here to tell you tonight... 93 00:05:03,820 --> 00:05:05,650 [Sternodox] The Conspiracy is them. 94 00:05:05,684 --> 00:05:07,514 They're the ones that want to hold us down. 95 00:05:07,548 --> 00:05:09,550 They're the ones in control. 96 00:05:09,585 --> 00:05:11,932 - People are always telling us how to talk, how to walk. 97 00:05:11,966 --> 00:05:14,486 [Nurse Vicki] It was the war of the weirdos 98 00:05:14,521 --> 00:05:16,592 against the straights. 99 00:05:16,626 --> 00:05:21,493 - To enjoy a feeling of being with the in crowd 100 00:05:21,528 --> 00:05:23,115 is so seductive. 101 00:05:23,150 --> 00:05:24,876 [Commercial VO] Marion was rejected today. 102 00:05:24,910 --> 00:05:26,671 If she felt accepted, 103 00:05:26,705 --> 00:05:28,776 the whole pattern of her life would be different. 104 00:05:28,811 --> 00:05:31,400 - We were grasping for this crazy religion 105 00:05:31,434 --> 00:05:32,987 to help us see the light. 106 00:05:33,022 --> 00:05:34,748 [Reporter] It's the Church of the SubGenius, 107 00:05:34,782 --> 00:05:36,715 their prophet's name is Bob. 108 00:05:36,750 --> 00:05:39,891 - Bob Dobbs came to town to set you free. 109 00:05:39,925 --> 00:05:42,134 - It was just this outpour of expressing ourselves 110 00:05:42,169 --> 00:05:45,586 and how wrong we thought the direction of society was. 111 00:05:45,621 --> 00:05:46,967 I thought it was hilarious. 112 00:05:47,001 --> 00:05:49,901 - We're probably the only cult that admits 113 00:05:49,935 --> 00:05:52,006 that we're ripping them off every day 114 00:05:52,041 --> 00:05:53,594 and teaching them to enjoy it. 115 00:05:53,629 --> 00:05:55,078 [Commercial VO] There must be discipline. 116 00:05:55,113 --> 00:05:56,114 - It's wrong. 117 00:05:56,148 --> 00:05:57,011 It's sin. 118 00:05:57,046 --> 00:05:58,323 - Just say no. 119 00:05:58,358 --> 00:06:00,739 - If Jim Jones could talk 900 people into killing themselves, 120 00:06:00,774 --> 00:06:03,604 we can talk 900 people in the sending us dollar. 121 00:06:03,639 --> 00:06:05,157 [Commercial VO] There's only one guaranteed way 122 00:06:05,192 --> 00:06:06,607 you can have peace. 123 00:06:06,642 --> 00:06:09,955 - The world will end the 1998. 124 00:06:09,990 --> 00:06:12,199 [Commercial VO] God said judgment is going to come. 125 00:06:12,233 --> 00:06:13,407 [Commercial VO] Repent. 126 00:06:13,442 --> 00:06:14,546 Quit your job. 127 00:06:14,581 --> 00:06:16,168 Slack off. 128 00:06:16,203 --> 00:06:19,758 [Susie] The idea of being able to get away 129 00:06:19,793 --> 00:06:23,072 from this shit stew of a world-- 130 00:06:24,142 --> 00:06:25,661 it's a dream. 131 00:06:25,695 --> 00:06:27,628 - For those who've abandoned hope, 132 00:06:27,663 --> 00:06:29,803 we'll restore hope and we'll welcome them into a 133 00:06:29,837 --> 00:06:33,634 great national crusade to make America great again. 134 00:06:33,669 --> 00:06:36,706 [echoing VO] Great again, great again, great again. 135 00:06:48,477 --> 00:06:51,825 - I grew up as a little white boy 136 00:06:51,859 --> 00:06:56,208 in America in the 1950s in a middle-class home, 137 00:06:56,243 --> 00:06:59,660 so I have nothing to complain about. 138 00:06:59,695 --> 00:07:02,491 I feel like anybody who grew up in that situation 139 00:07:02,525 --> 00:07:05,563 has it better than most medieval kings 140 00:07:05,597 --> 00:07:08,669 because we had aspirin 141 00:07:08,704 --> 00:07:11,707 and some people had air conditioning. 142 00:07:12,915 --> 00:07:15,676 - I'm one of those guys that was 143 00:07:15,711 --> 00:07:18,921 fortunate to have like an idyllic childhood. 144 00:07:19,715 --> 00:07:23,132 My family was as normal as they could get. 145 00:07:23,926 --> 00:07:27,895 I was forced to go to a fairly fundamental church 146 00:07:27,930 --> 00:07:31,727 for the first 18 years of my life, 147 00:07:31,761 --> 00:07:35,109 so that probably had some effect on why I rebelled 148 00:07:35,144 --> 00:07:38,872 so strongly once I got away from my folks. 149 00:07:40,218 --> 00:07:43,117 - I can't say that I'm rebelling against my 150 00:07:43,152 --> 00:07:44,981 religious upbringing or anything like that 151 00:07:45,016 --> 00:07:47,121 because I didn't really have one. 152 00:07:47,156 --> 00:07:52,161 I was raised basically secular humanist scientist. 153 00:07:52,195 --> 00:07:53,645 This is Fort Worth, Texas. 154 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:55,613 I was surrounded by Baptists. 155 00:07:55,647 --> 00:07:58,754 I really did feel like a weirdo. 156 00:07:59,686 --> 00:08:00,963 Kids would go, 157 00:08:00,997 --> 00:08:05,070 "Hey, Doug, where's you family go to church?" 158 00:08:05,105 --> 00:08:07,659 I didn't even know the name of a single church. 159 00:08:07,694 --> 00:08:08,626 I'd really be stuck. 160 00:08:08,660 --> 00:08:12,284 I'd say things like, "Oh, the [mumbles]." 161 00:08:12,319 --> 00:08:18,601 [indistinct room chatter] 162 00:08:18,636 --> 00:08:20,327 [Philo] I was very much into comic books 163 00:08:20,361 --> 00:08:23,054 and any kind of alternate publications 164 00:08:23,088 --> 00:08:26,609 and music like Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart 165 00:08:26,644 --> 00:08:28,956 and people that were not mainstream. 166 00:08:30,164 --> 00:08:33,651 [Ivan] I did not feel like my classmates. 167 00:08:34,997 --> 00:08:38,207 Despite my very fun childhood, 168 00:08:38,241 --> 00:08:41,244 I had terrible teenage years. 169 00:08:41,900 --> 00:08:44,316 I had to hang around the theater department 170 00:08:44,351 --> 00:08:47,009 in order to meet girls. 171 00:08:47,043 --> 00:08:49,183 That's how I met my first wife, in fact. 172 00:08:51,220 --> 00:08:55,638 [Philo] I was discouraged from participating in art. 173 00:08:55,673 --> 00:08:58,917 Art was not a place where you can make money. 174 00:08:58,952 --> 00:09:00,954 You need to get a real type job. 175 00:09:00,988 --> 00:09:04,785 So I worked for AT&T 176 00:09:04,820 --> 00:09:06,373 and that's kind of like where my 177 00:09:06,407 --> 00:09:09,583 inside to The Conspiracy took place. 178 00:09:11,136 --> 00:09:14,277 - My sister-in-law, she said, "I have these friends 179 00:09:14,312 --> 00:09:17,211 "Philo and Cookie that I met that you should meet them, 180 00:09:17,246 --> 00:09:19,179 they've just moved to Dallas." 181 00:09:19,213 --> 00:09:21,768 I said, "I don't want to meet any friends. 182 00:09:21,802 --> 00:09:23,286 I don't need friends." 183 00:09:23,321 --> 00:09:25,599 Said, "No, you might like this guy. 184 00:09:25,634 --> 00:09:30,086 He collects comic books and he likes Captain Beefheart." 185 00:09:30,121 --> 00:09:31,847 I thought, what?! 186 00:09:31,881 --> 00:09:34,919 Both comic books and Captain Beefheart?! 187 00:09:37,991 --> 00:09:40,269 [Philo] We just became great friends. 188 00:09:40,959 --> 00:09:43,030 He was the liberal. 189 00:09:43,065 --> 00:09:44,894 I was the conservative, 190 00:09:44,929 --> 00:09:47,725 but we were both so disaffected with politics. 191 00:09:47,759 --> 00:09:50,210 We didn't believe any of it was true. 192 00:09:50,244 --> 00:09:53,109 - What we really had in common was collecting, 193 00:09:53,144 --> 00:09:55,871 well, what we might call kook pamphlets 194 00:09:55,905 --> 00:10:00,703 or extremist literature of religious or political cards. 195 00:10:01,221 --> 00:10:03,810 You'd go to a laundromat and there would be 196 00:10:03,844 --> 00:10:06,260 The Watchtower from Jehovah's Witnesses 197 00:10:06,295 --> 00:10:10,402 or a comic book from Chick Publications. 198 00:10:10,437 --> 00:10:11,887 You know, "This Was Your Life". 199 00:10:11,921 --> 00:10:16,857 We loved the range of ridiculous things 200 00:10:16,892 --> 00:10:20,136 that human beings can convince themselves of. 201 00:10:20,171 --> 00:10:23,864 - If I went out and made my daily quota, 202 00:10:23,899 --> 00:10:27,868 the first thing I'd do is go over and wake up Reverend Stang 203 00:10:27,903 --> 00:10:28,938 and say, "Let's get up. 204 00:10:28,973 --> 00:10:29,974 "Let's go do something. 205 00:10:30,008 --> 00:10:31,320 Let's have some fun." 206 00:10:32,045 --> 00:10:35,876 - We were trolls before they had that term. 207 00:10:35,911 --> 00:10:40,018 The internet hadn't been invented, but CB radios had 208 00:10:40,053 --> 00:10:44,782 and Philo, because he had a real job, had a CB radio... 209 00:10:45,817 --> 00:10:48,440 but we didn't use it to help the world. 210 00:10:48,475 --> 00:10:52,790 We used it to puzzle and confuse strangers. 211 00:10:52,824 --> 00:10:54,999 We would get on and say things like, 212 00:10:55,033 --> 00:10:58,899 [alien-like] "Men of earth, men of Earth, 213 00:10:58,934 --> 00:11:03,179 "we are speaking to you from 50 million light years 214 00:11:03,214 --> 00:11:04,698 away in space." 215 00:11:04,733 --> 00:11:06,769 - "Come in pink boy," remember? 216 00:11:06,804 --> 00:11:08,875 - Well there were these two guys that were doing it 217 00:11:08,909 --> 00:11:09,910 back to us. 218 00:11:09,945 --> 00:11:12,050 They were trolling us and they were saying, 219 00:11:12,085 --> 00:11:13,845 "Shut up pink boy, shut up pink boy." 220 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:15,226 And we interpreted that as, 221 00:11:15,260 --> 00:11:17,849 "Oh, the aliens are finally talking to him. 222 00:11:17,884 --> 00:11:19,955 And that was what they had to say." 223 00:11:20,300 --> 00:11:21,163 The next thing we knew, 224 00:11:21,197 --> 00:11:24,097 pink boys were everybody we didn't like: 225 00:11:24,131 --> 00:11:28,308 bosses, rude waiters, nasty clerks in stores. 226 00:11:28,342 --> 00:11:30,759 We were surrounded by dumb asses. 227 00:11:31,207 --> 00:11:33,796 We knew that we were dumb asses too, 228 00:11:33,831 --> 00:11:36,385 but we felt like it was a matter of degrees. 229 00:11:36,419 --> 00:11:38,870 [Philo] People that we didn't want to have anything 230 00:11:38,905 --> 00:11:42,218 to do with, the pinks and the mediocritines, 231 00:11:42,253 --> 00:11:44,255 the techno glorps. 232 00:11:44,289 --> 00:11:48,777 [Stang] Part of me was in terror of all of that, 233 00:11:48,811 --> 00:11:52,090 but there was also the terrible stress of having to, you know, 234 00:11:52,125 --> 00:11:55,887 make the living and not lose your soul. 235 00:11:56,888 --> 00:12:00,064 At some point, one of us said something like, 236 00:12:00,098 --> 00:12:01,824 "Why aren't we rich yet? 237 00:12:01,859 --> 00:12:04,309 We've got all these skills and things." 238 00:12:04,344 --> 00:12:08,382 And Philo goes, "Well, I guess we're not geniuses. 239 00:12:08,417 --> 00:12:11,282 We're really just sub-geniuses." 240 00:12:12,283 --> 00:12:18,151 And in my head, everything fell together like a puzzle box. 241 00:12:18,599 --> 00:12:21,810 A Rubik's Cube suddenly formed itself. 242 00:12:22,983 --> 00:12:26,435 A weird fringe cult for weirdos, 243 00:12:26,469 --> 00:12:29,058 specifically for weirdos. 244 00:12:29,576 --> 00:12:31,923 That was the Church of the SubGenius. 245 00:12:35,340 --> 00:12:36,479 [Philo] When we did the first pamphlet, 246 00:12:36,514 --> 00:12:38,412 it was really a labor of love. 247 00:12:38,447 --> 00:12:40,345 The pasting up, the cutting. 248 00:12:40,380 --> 00:12:43,107 [Stang] We tied together every fringe belief 249 00:12:43,141 --> 00:12:45,143 you could think of. 250 00:12:45,178 --> 00:12:48,491 It was like getting all your toys, your dinosaur toys, 251 00:12:48,526 --> 00:12:52,012 and your army men toys and your cowboy and Indian toys, 252 00:12:52,047 --> 00:12:53,496 putting them all together on the floor 253 00:12:53,531 --> 00:12:56,223 and having this whole world that was a conglomerate 254 00:12:56,258 --> 00:12:57,984 of all the cool stuff ever. 255 00:12:58,018 --> 00:12:59,848 It was so much fun! 256 00:12:59,882 --> 00:13:03,092 [Philo] We had this sort of an icon we can blame everything on, 257 00:13:03,127 --> 00:13:04,887 the conspiracy of normalcy. 258 00:13:04,922 --> 00:13:07,441 [Stang] There's Bob, The Conspiracy and Slack. 259 00:13:07,476 --> 00:13:10,065 If you're going to have a cult, 260 00:13:10,099 --> 00:13:11,307 you have to have a cult leader. 261 00:13:11,342 --> 00:13:12,205 Well, that's Bob. 262 00:13:12,239 --> 00:13:14,863 - We need to put a face to that entity. 263 00:13:14,897 --> 00:13:16,623 - We can't afford artwork. 264 00:13:16,657 --> 00:13:19,902 No, this clip art, this public domain stuff. 265 00:13:19,937 --> 00:13:21,835 It's old, nobody cares about it. 266 00:13:21,870 --> 00:13:24,079 - As we flip through the catalog, 267 00:13:24,113 --> 00:13:25,321 there was that face. 268 00:13:25,977 --> 00:13:29,809 [Stang] We both instantly knew, that's Bob. 269 00:13:33,674 --> 00:13:36,505 After a couple of months, we had assembled 270 00:13:36,539 --> 00:13:39,301 SubGenius pamphlet number one. 271 00:13:44,893 --> 00:13:46,860 - When the printing bill came in on the first pamphlet, 272 00:13:46,895 --> 00:13:48,897 it was $60. 273 00:13:48,931 --> 00:13:51,865 My wife got very upset with that. 274 00:13:51,900 --> 00:13:54,074 You're going to have to send these to publishers. 275 00:13:54,109 --> 00:13:55,248 We can't afford that kind of thing. 276 00:13:55,282 --> 00:13:58,113 You need to try to turn it into a book or something. 277 00:13:58,147 --> 00:14:00,356 Publishers, wow, okay. 278 00:14:00,391 --> 00:14:04,153 I got Writer's Digest and got the addresses of every publisher 279 00:14:04,188 --> 00:14:07,294 in the United States and mailed the pamphlet to them. 280 00:14:11,022 --> 00:14:13,507 We've got 150 rejection slips back. 281 00:14:13,542 --> 00:14:16,027 The rest of them didn't say anything. 282 00:14:24,173 --> 00:14:27,418 - I was living in San Francisco, 283 00:14:27,452 --> 00:14:30,214 working with my colleague partner, 284 00:14:30,248 --> 00:14:32,941 Gilbert Shelton at Rip Off Press. 285 00:14:32,975 --> 00:14:37,531 I wandered into the publisher's office, and a fellow named Fred, 286 00:14:37,566 --> 00:14:39,706 and he opened some envelope up 287 00:14:39,740 --> 00:14:43,917 and pulled out the initial pamphlet. 288 00:14:43,952 --> 00:14:46,437 He grumbled something about it 289 00:14:46,471 --> 00:14:50,061 and threw it in the trash can next to his desk. 290 00:14:50,751 --> 00:14:53,030 To his complete irritation, 291 00:14:53,064 --> 00:14:56,481 I pulled it out and started laughing at it. 292 00:14:57,103 --> 00:14:59,070 It was the funniest thing I've ever read. 293 00:14:59,105 --> 00:15:01,521 It was good to, like-- how refreshing. 294 00:15:01,555 --> 00:15:05,283 I think my first act was to get an envelope 295 00:15:05,318 --> 00:15:08,148 and put all the cash I had in my wallet 296 00:15:08,183 --> 00:15:12,187 and it wrote a note saying, "Send me more pamphlets." 297 00:15:16,122 --> 00:15:18,434 - The first pamphlet, pamphlet number one, 298 00:15:18,469 --> 00:15:22,128 is a significant document in many ways. 299 00:15:22,162 --> 00:15:26,408 It is the vector by which many people have had their 300 00:15:26,442 --> 00:15:30,515 most significant introduction to the Church of the SubGenius. 301 00:15:30,550 --> 00:15:32,690 - Doug sent a pamphlet to KPFA 302 00:15:32,724 --> 00:15:36,383 and so I saw that and really loved it and for years, 303 00:15:36,418 --> 00:15:37,488 since I was a kid, 304 00:15:37,522 --> 00:15:39,490 I've been putting stuff in the mail to strangers, 305 00:15:39,524 --> 00:15:41,319 so they became new strangers. 306 00:15:41,354 --> 00:15:43,252 They start mailing stuff back. 307 00:15:43,287 --> 00:15:45,047 It was like the internet really, 308 00:15:45,082 --> 00:15:46,669 but instead of a thousand people, 309 00:15:46,704 --> 00:15:49,327 it was 10 or 15 of us. 310 00:15:49,362 --> 00:15:50,225 It was really fun. 311 00:15:50,259 --> 00:15:53,297 - It was such a seminal little pamphlet; 312 00:15:53,331 --> 00:15:57,025 it was almost like a test of your mindset 313 00:15:57,059 --> 00:15:59,061 like were you a SubGenius or not? 314 00:15:59,096 --> 00:16:01,961 If you got it, you were a SubGenius. 315 00:16:02,202 --> 00:16:03,583 [Nurse Kelly] It really spoke to me. 316 00:16:03,617 --> 00:16:06,413 It had this whole thing about how the goal is Slack 317 00:16:06,448 --> 00:16:10,072 and the motto is fuck them if they can't take a joke. 318 00:16:10,107 --> 00:16:13,765 - The central doctrine more than anything else 319 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:15,422 in the Church of SubGenius of course, 320 00:16:15,457 --> 00:16:17,355 is this Slack thing. 321 00:16:17,390 --> 00:16:19,012 - It's probably one of the hardest things to 322 00:16:19,047 --> 00:16:20,634 describe in the church, you know. 323 00:16:20,669 --> 00:16:23,775 - We don't describe it because by definition 324 00:16:23,810 --> 00:16:26,261 Slack is really different for each person. 325 00:16:26,295 --> 00:16:28,125 [Margaret] Slack is what everybody wants, 326 00:16:28,159 --> 00:16:29,367 it's what we still want. 327 00:16:29,402 --> 00:16:33,371 [Nurse Kelly] This idea of a place where people can live 328 00:16:33,406 --> 00:16:37,237 where they don't feel harried by just the multiple things 329 00:16:37,272 --> 00:16:39,136 that one feels harried by all the time. 330 00:16:39,170 --> 00:16:41,069 - You know when you don't have it. 331 00:16:41,103 --> 00:16:42,139 - That's for sure. 332 00:16:42,173 --> 00:16:44,486 [Paul] It was like finding like-minded people. 333 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:49,111 If you could truly say any of us had minds to be alike. 334 00:16:49,146 --> 00:16:53,633 Somebody with the same type of cynical perspective, 335 00:16:53,667 --> 00:16:55,669 same reference points. 336 00:16:55,704 --> 00:16:58,155 [Margaret] They were so layered in everything. 337 00:16:58,189 --> 00:17:02,780 It was, it was part pop culture, part science, part religion. 338 00:17:02,814 --> 00:17:04,471 So it appealed to me a great deal 339 00:17:04,506 --> 00:17:07,509 and I did do just as it said, 340 00:17:07,543 --> 00:17:09,752 I sent a dollar with the letter. 341 00:17:09,787 --> 00:17:10,684 - What's that say? 342 00:17:10,719 --> 00:17:12,548 Send a dollar? 343 00:17:12,583 --> 00:17:14,136 Even I've got a dollar. 344 00:17:14,171 --> 00:17:17,277 So I sent off a dollar and I got this little pamphlet 345 00:17:17,312 --> 00:17:19,624 and that was where the crushing loneliness started 346 00:17:19,659 --> 00:17:21,281 to get chipped away. 347 00:17:21,316 --> 00:17:25,216 - I was doing a magazine called Famous Potatoes 348 00:17:25,251 --> 00:17:28,564 using a lot of ads and clip art stuff 349 00:17:28,599 --> 00:17:31,705 and it was a fine artist, Robert Williams who said, 350 00:17:31,740 --> 00:17:34,294 "Hey, you ought to send some stuff off to the 351 00:17:34,329 --> 00:17:35,433 Church of the SubGenius. 352 00:17:35,468 --> 00:17:40,128 They're doing a bunch of clip art stuff like you do." 353 00:17:40,162 --> 00:17:42,509 So I sent stuff off and I think it arrived 354 00:17:42,544 --> 00:17:44,477 just after Stang's birthday or something, 355 00:17:44,511 --> 00:17:47,307 and he just flipped out over the Famous Potatoes 356 00:17:47,342 --> 00:17:52,416 and he sent me all the pack and I didn't have to pay. 357 00:17:52,864 --> 00:17:55,764 - There was a flyer on a phone pole that said, 358 00:17:55,798 --> 00:17:58,422 "Get ready for a pretty tough future, 359 00:17:58,456 --> 00:18:00,665 what scientists are afraid to tell us." 360 00:18:00,700 --> 00:18:03,116 And then there was a picture of Bob. 361 00:18:03,151 --> 00:18:04,393 I showed it to all my pals 362 00:18:04,428 --> 00:18:06,188 and they were like, "yeah, yeah." 363 00:18:06,223 --> 00:18:07,258 So we didn't send them a dollar, 364 00:18:07,293 --> 00:18:10,158 we sent him $100 from Little Rock 365 00:18:10,192 --> 00:18:12,436 and we got the first pamphlet back. 366 00:18:12,470 --> 00:18:15,301 That just Bobbed us all up immediately. 367 00:18:15,335 --> 00:18:18,476 - It was a little bit of a sense that there are 368 00:18:18,511 --> 00:18:21,203 other people interested in these things. 369 00:18:21,238 --> 00:18:22,515 They might be far away 370 00:18:22,549 --> 00:18:26,346 and they might exist from post office box to post office box, 371 00:18:26,381 --> 00:18:27,761 but they are out there. 372 00:18:29,073 --> 00:18:31,213 [Susie] It was intoxicating to think that there was somewhere 373 00:18:31,248 --> 00:18:32,904 where you didn't have to fit in, 374 00:18:32,939 --> 00:18:36,908 where people were crazy in the good way. 375 00:18:37,530 --> 00:18:42,397 So I sent in my 10 bucks and I became a SubGenius. 376 00:18:43,260 --> 00:18:46,194 [Philo] We got the first few orders coming in, 377 00:18:46,228 --> 00:18:48,782 remember we were so excited and then all of a sudden- 378 00:18:48,817 --> 00:18:50,370 - Terrified more like it was like, what? 379 00:18:50,405 --> 00:18:52,234 Somebody actually sent us $10, 380 00:18:52,269 --> 00:18:53,787 now we really have to do that newsletter. 381 00:18:53,822 --> 00:18:55,651 - Now we actually had to start working 382 00:18:55,686 --> 00:18:57,377 and doing stuff. 383 00:18:57,688 --> 00:18:58,689 - Hey Reverend Stang? 384 00:18:58,723 --> 00:18:59,586 [Stang] Huh? 385 00:18:59,621 --> 00:19:01,347 - Another gun. 386 00:19:01,381 --> 00:19:03,280 - We said, you've got a religion, 387 00:19:03,314 --> 00:19:04,936 now you've got to have the tent revivals. 388 00:19:04,971 --> 00:19:07,318 You know, you can't just say you have religion. 389 00:19:07,353 --> 00:19:09,631 You have to have this gathering of the faithful. 390 00:19:09,665 --> 00:19:12,392 - It was a sad day for mankind. 391 00:19:12,427 --> 00:19:16,189 It was a sad day for mankind when man stopped, 392 00:19:16,224 --> 00:19:19,675 started sticking with his head and walking on his feet, 393 00:19:19,710 --> 00:19:21,781 the kind with four-legged backup. 394 00:19:21,815 --> 00:19:23,438 Awww, yeah, 395 00:19:23,472 --> 00:19:24,956 I can feel it emanating. 396 00:19:24,991 --> 00:19:27,511 I can feel its eyes just burning into my eye. 397 00:19:27,545 --> 00:19:30,410 I can feel a man staring at me and screaming at me 398 00:19:30,445 --> 00:19:32,240 and threaten his eyebrows. 399 00:19:32,274 --> 00:19:36,278 I can feel that man saying he wants to testify to Bob. 400 00:19:36,865 --> 00:19:39,902 [Philo] A devival is a SubGenius revival. 401 00:19:41,766 --> 00:19:44,666 It didn't sound good to say revival. 402 00:19:44,700 --> 00:19:46,392 Devival sounds a lot better. 403 00:19:46,426 --> 00:19:48,739 It actually sounds kind of like devil. 404 00:19:49,878 --> 00:19:53,295 [Stang] They were a way for us to act as if we were 405 00:19:53,330 --> 00:19:56,643 rock and roll stars or preachers or something. 406 00:19:57,265 --> 00:20:00,268 - Thank you Bob, 407 00:20:00,302 --> 00:20:02,684 ♪ for closing my memory. 408 00:20:02,718 --> 00:20:04,720 [Stang] I was the one who was supposed to get up on stage 409 00:20:04,755 --> 00:20:07,551 and do stuff and I actually had terrible stage fright. 410 00:20:07,585 --> 00:20:09,725 I wasn't interested in that at all. 411 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:14,247 But a Dallas character who later ended up calling himself 412 00:20:14,282 --> 00:20:15,662 Reverend Buck Nakid, 413 00:20:15,697 --> 00:20:18,355 the SubGenius thing really clicked with him. 414 00:20:18,389 --> 00:20:22,497 - The word crime is serving the conspiracy and the penalty. 415 00:20:23,049 --> 00:20:24,153 And the penalty... 416 00:20:24,188 --> 00:20:26,708 [Stang] He was ready to get up on stage and preach. 417 00:20:26,742 --> 00:20:30,505 - The penalty is worse than having your gonads cut off. 418 00:20:30,884 --> 00:20:33,680 The penalty is worse than having your head cut off. 419 00:20:33,715 --> 00:20:35,544 [Stang] Eventfully, I didn't really like the way 420 00:20:35,579 --> 00:20:36,856 Buck did it. 421 00:20:36,890 --> 00:20:38,064 - And the rest of them are wrong 422 00:20:38,098 --> 00:20:38,961 and you're only one that's right. 423 00:20:38,996 --> 00:20:40,515 That's how you're supposed to feel- 424 00:20:40,549 --> 00:20:42,344 - So I started doing it. 425 00:20:42,379 --> 00:20:43,656 Before we start the services, 426 00:20:43,690 --> 00:20:46,900 we should have a 427 00:20:46,935 --> 00:20:49,040 just a moment of, 428 00:20:49,075 --> 00:20:50,525 a moment of sacred noise. 429 00:20:50,559 --> 00:20:54,770 [screaming] 430 00:20:54,805 --> 00:20:59,672 Thanks to the SubGenius thing, I discovered I wasn't alone. 431 00:21:00,535 --> 00:21:02,985 There were weirdos all over the place. 432 00:21:11,131 --> 00:21:13,444 [Margaret] They were very normal people who just talked 433 00:21:13,479 --> 00:21:15,653 nutty stuff about the Church of the SubGenius, 434 00:21:15,688 --> 00:21:19,381 which made them very easy to relate to 435 00:21:19,416 --> 00:21:21,038 and get along with. 436 00:21:22,971 --> 00:21:25,387 [Byron] I remember seeing all these bands and stuff 437 00:21:25,422 --> 00:21:26,768 and I thought, you know, 438 00:21:26,802 --> 00:21:30,012 These guys are loaded, these guys are drunk. 439 00:21:30,047 --> 00:21:32,981 Then I saw Doctors for Bob perform 440 00:21:33,015 --> 00:21:36,812 and I thought these guys are clinically insane. 441 00:21:39,988 --> 00:21:44,958 - Anti-music is a concept of unfettered expression 442 00:21:44,993 --> 00:21:48,686 musically and sonically to try to create this sound that 443 00:21:48,721 --> 00:21:51,620 trained hands can't do. 444 00:21:52,518 --> 00:21:54,416 You have to go totally on instinct 445 00:21:54,451 --> 00:21:57,074 and that's what we did with Doctors for Bob. 446 00:21:58,109 --> 00:22:00,836 - It was kind of this Looney Tunes fraternity 447 00:22:00,871 --> 00:22:05,047 and you had to kind of enjoy guys to be a part of it. 448 00:22:05,082 --> 00:22:07,498 The way that I viewed the Church and the SubGenius 449 00:22:07,533 --> 00:22:11,157 is that in a way it is the patriarchy strained 450 00:22:11,191 --> 00:22:12,883 through cheese cloth. 451 00:22:13,573 --> 00:22:17,405 - It was a boy's club and I was attracted to it 452 00:22:17,439 --> 00:22:19,061 because I wanted to meet the boys. 453 00:22:19,096 --> 00:22:22,064 - It is divinely taking itself by the hair 454 00:22:22,099 --> 00:22:24,722 and turning itself inside out 455 00:22:24,757 --> 00:22:27,449 and looking at the world with fresh eyes 456 00:22:27,484 --> 00:22:29,140 and that's why it's such a special place 457 00:22:29,175 --> 00:22:30,866 for special people doing special things 458 00:22:30,901 --> 00:22:33,938 having special feelings and we have to put up with. 459 00:22:33,973 --> 00:22:37,666 [cheers and applause] 460 00:22:37,701 --> 00:22:40,669 I think it was this way of saying it's them and not you, 461 00:22:40,704 --> 00:22:41,705 you know. 462 00:22:41,739 --> 00:22:43,465 Don't you worry if the world or The Conspiracy 463 00:22:43,500 --> 00:22:45,743 is getting you down, you come stand by me 464 00:22:45,778 --> 00:22:47,607 cause you're one of ours. 465 00:22:47,642 --> 00:22:49,885 - The Conspiracy's major efforts is to take your 466 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:54,476 Slack away and to sell you a false version of it, 467 00:22:54,511 --> 00:22:55,857 which they manufacture. 468 00:22:55,891 --> 00:22:58,446 - Well, I'm afraid we all discovered The Conspiracy 469 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,034 probably our first day of school 470 00:23:01,069 --> 00:23:02,898 when the other kids made fun of you 471 00:23:02,933 --> 00:23:05,798 for using the wrong color crayon 472 00:23:05,832 --> 00:23:07,489 or you're not doing it right. 473 00:23:07,524 --> 00:23:09,836 - It was important that we encapsulate 474 00:23:09,871 --> 00:23:14,634 everybody's best enemy into something that could be 475 00:23:14,669 --> 00:23:18,155 easily distilled into one thing. 476 00:23:18,189 --> 00:23:20,191 Something that people could say, 477 00:23:20,226 --> 00:23:24,541 "Yeah, I understand that, we're all victims of that." 478 00:23:24,817 --> 00:23:28,199 - Anything that bothers you is the Conspiracy. 479 00:23:28,234 --> 00:23:31,064 It's a little bit, the thing that assassinates presidents 480 00:23:31,099 --> 00:23:33,204 from both depository libraries. 481 00:23:33,239 --> 00:23:36,173 It's a little bit the suppressed saucer technology 482 00:23:36,207 --> 00:23:39,659 that is owned by the European union, 483 00:23:39,694 --> 00:23:43,422 but it's also just when it's too hot on the bus. 484 00:23:44,837 --> 00:23:49,704 - In 1953, Jehovah I, the alien space god 485 00:23:49,738 --> 00:23:52,845 informed Bob Dobbs that 486 00:23:52,879 --> 00:23:56,089 there was this conspiracy of normal people 487 00:23:56,124 --> 00:23:59,472 robbing the Slack of the SubGeniuses for centuries. 488 00:23:59,507 --> 00:24:05,029 But that on July 5th, 1998 at precisely 7:00 AM, 489 00:24:05,064 --> 00:24:09,068 the men from planet X would come rupture up to these 490 00:24:09,102 --> 00:24:11,726 paying believing SubGeniuses 491 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:15,902 and give them the power to wreak revenge on all the normals. 492 00:24:16,593 --> 00:24:18,526 Next thing you know, you've got the doctrine 493 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:20,735 for an entire religion. 494 00:24:20,769 --> 00:24:21,874 Oh yes. 495 00:24:21,908 --> 00:24:24,670 Bob can set free the winos. 496 00:24:24,704 --> 00:24:26,948 He can set free the prisoners. 497 00:24:26,982 --> 00:24:29,847 Do we have any more testimonials from the crowd? 498 00:24:30,572 --> 00:24:33,506 - I found the image of Bob's head in a bed pan 499 00:24:33,541 --> 00:24:36,716 and ever since it's just been Bob all the way. 500 00:24:36,751 --> 00:24:38,891 - Saved by the image of Bob in a bed pan. 501 00:24:38,925 --> 00:24:42,584 Our tendency is to just let everybody throw in, 502 00:24:42,619 --> 00:24:45,207 so we don't really have any rules. 503 00:24:45,242 --> 00:24:50,730 - I was once a degenerate but Bob saved me. 504 00:24:51,041 --> 00:24:52,145 - Amen. 505 00:24:52,180 --> 00:24:53,181 Amen! 506 00:24:53,215 --> 00:24:56,218 We encourage people to form their own schism. 507 00:24:56,253 --> 00:24:58,635 You know, join the church and send us money, 508 00:24:58,669 --> 00:25:00,326 but immediately rebel against it. 509 00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:02,121 - Well, there's always a split in the church 510 00:25:02,155 --> 00:25:04,123 and if there wasn't, we'd create some 511 00:25:04,157 --> 00:25:07,989 because you can't have a church without schisms 512 00:25:08,023 --> 00:25:11,648 and the more schisms in a cult, the better. 513 00:25:12,787 --> 00:25:15,306 - Ladies and gentlemen, I think we need to inject this 514 00:25:15,341 --> 00:25:17,550 campground with some real hate. 515 00:25:17,585 --> 00:25:18,896 [cheers] 516 00:25:18,931 --> 00:25:23,625 I would like to bring to you the great Papa Joe Mama. 517 00:25:23,660 --> 00:25:26,041 [cheers] 518 00:25:26,076 --> 00:25:28,941 [Joe Mama] One of the major magnets of religion 519 00:25:28,975 --> 00:25:30,874 isn't the common love of something, 520 00:25:30,908 --> 00:25:32,289 it's the common hatred of something. 521 00:25:32,323 --> 00:25:34,291 That's what brings everybody together. 522 00:25:34,325 --> 00:25:38,916 So, I just wanted to offer that sort of alter ego, 523 00:25:38,951 --> 00:25:40,746 the sort of anti-Bob, if you will, 524 00:25:40,780 --> 00:25:42,057 and the Church of the SubGenius. 525 00:25:42,092 --> 00:25:46,199 There are two distinct branches in the Church of the SubGenius, 526 00:25:46,234 --> 00:25:50,031 the highbrow, Ivangelical branch, 527 00:25:50,065 --> 00:25:53,379 led by Ivan Stang and his philosophical followers. 528 00:25:53,413 --> 00:25:56,071 [Stang] Some of the SubGeniuses were looking at me 529 00:25:56,106 --> 00:25:57,625 as kind of the do-gooder. 530 00:25:57,659 --> 00:26:00,006 I was a little too easy on the normals. 531 00:26:00,041 --> 00:26:02,768 I didn't really want to destroy the whole world. 532 00:26:02,802 --> 00:26:06,737 I just wanted to loot it, get all the good comic books. 533 00:26:06,772 --> 00:26:09,671 Well, other people really do hate the normals. 534 00:26:09,706 --> 00:26:11,880 - The Ivangelicals and the Holocaustals represent 535 00:26:11,915 --> 00:26:12,985 two sides of the church. 536 00:26:13,019 --> 00:26:15,815 Now the Ivangelicals believed that all the pinks 537 00:26:15,850 --> 00:26:19,198 need to be enslaved and can still serve a purpose 538 00:26:19,232 --> 00:26:22,995 after the final judgment in which earth is liberated 539 00:26:23,029 --> 00:26:26,861 from the chains of pink and conspiracy rule. 540 00:26:27,137 --> 00:26:28,966 Now the Holocaustals, we're kind of a more 541 00:26:29,001 --> 00:26:31,624 traditional fundamentalist if you will. 542 00:26:31,659 --> 00:26:35,110 We believe that you do need to eliminate and exterminate 543 00:26:35,145 --> 00:26:36,595 all the normals. 544 00:26:37,147 --> 00:26:39,252 - Not every one of the Churches of the SubGenius 545 00:26:39,287 --> 00:26:42,704 gets along with one another cause it's the group for people 546 00:26:42,739 --> 00:26:44,982 who can't join groups. 547 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,330 I've often tried to explain to people about 548 00:26:48,365 --> 00:26:49,435 Church of the SubGenius, 549 00:26:49,469 --> 00:26:52,369 these can be very smart, talented people, 550 00:26:52,403 --> 00:26:56,994 but somewhere along line they've got a personality problem 551 00:26:57,029 --> 00:26:59,445 that keeps them from joining in and being 552 00:26:59,479 --> 00:27:01,447 sociable and 553 00:27:01,481 --> 00:27:03,898 popular and 554 00:27:03,932 --> 00:27:04,864 normal. 555 00:27:06,314 --> 00:27:09,179 [radio distortion] 556 00:27:09,213 --> 00:27:11,284 [Woman on tape] I like go to the lake. 557 00:27:11,319 --> 00:27:13,873 I like to roller-skate and go walking around. 558 00:27:13,908 --> 00:27:16,358 Um, I like to do- 559 00:27:16,393 --> 00:27:19,016 - This character named Doug Wellman 560 00:27:19,051 --> 00:27:21,847 using the handle Puzzling Evidence, 561 00:27:21,881 --> 00:27:27,128 he was way ahead of us in collaging found sound. 562 00:27:27,162 --> 00:27:32,823 [indistinct distorted noise] 563 00:27:32,858 --> 00:27:36,137 [Paul] Doug Wellman had been making these audio collage tapes 564 00:27:36,171 --> 00:27:39,934 with sound effects and improvised, 565 00:27:39,968 --> 00:27:41,452 humor as it were. 566 00:27:41,487 --> 00:27:43,385 - It was like a network of people that traded 567 00:27:43,420 --> 00:27:44,421 cassette tapes. 568 00:27:44,455 --> 00:27:46,768 - You'd get the tape and you'd listen to the tape 569 00:27:46,803 --> 00:27:49,737 and you'd immediately start a tape back to the friend 570 00:27:49,771 --> 00:27:51,911 and it was just such a great way to communicate. 571 00:27:51,946 --> 00:27:55,087 [CoSG tape] Wouldn't you like revenge on these mediocritines, 572 00:27:55,121 --> 00:27:56,467 these pink boys, 573 00:27:56,502 --> 00:28:00,368 these normals who have made normality the norm? 574 00:28:02,266 --> 00:28:04,786 - Doug was in Berkeley and I was in San Francisco 575 00:28:04,821 --> 00:28:09,308 and we turned on KPFA and heard ourselves on the radio, 576 00:28:09,342 --> 00:28:11,793 which was a little moment of discontinuity 577 00:28:11,828 --> 00:28:14,140 because how could we be on the radio when we were 578 00:28:14,175 --> 00:28:15,935 here listening to it 579 00:28:15,970 --> 00:28:19,387 and it turned out this fellow had gotten a hold of one of 580 00:28:19,421 --> 00:28:24,047 Doug's tapes and was just filling his show out with them. 581 00:28:24,081 --> 00:28:28,879 We contacted him and invited ourself onto his show 582 00:28:28,914 --> 00:28:32,952 and at some point that became our Slack, 583 00:28:32,987 --> 00:28:35,990 which, you know, was a great name because the show 584 00:28:36,024 --> 00:28:38,337 is actually 90 minutes long. 585 00:28:38,855 --> 00:28:43,307 [CoSG Radio] Welcome to the SubGenius Radio Ministry 586 00:28:43,342 --> 00:28:45,965 Hour of Slack. 587 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,554 - This gave us a body of cassette tapes 588 00:28:48,588 --> 00:28:52,178 that made us sound a little more developed than we really were. 589 00:28:52,213 --> 00:28:54,525 [Paul] Nobody had met each other to that point. 590 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,770 No real events or anything. 591 00:28:57,805 --> 00:29:01,187 It was all just a mail media network. 592 00:29:01,463 --> 00:29:04,259 There were finally enough people who were curious about 593 00:29:04,294 --> 00:29:07,953 each other and becoming actual friends that we wanted to meet, 594 00:29:07,987 --> 00:29:12,405 so we decided we were going to have a convention in Dallas. 595 00:29:16,202 --> 00:29:18,549 - Have you ever wondered about your neighbors? 596 00:29:18,584 --> 00:29:21,173 Maybe wondered about the weird thumps and bumps 597 00:29:21,207 --> 00:29:23,796 or chants emanating from their apartment? 598 00:29:23,831 --> 00:29:27,110 They may be followers of Bob, that's the fastest growing cult 599 00:29:27,144 --> 00:29:28,318 here in the Southwest. 600 00:29:28,352 --> 00:29:31,183 [Stang] Somehow or another, Channel 4 News 601 00:29:31,217 --> 00:29:34,289 got wind of this SubGenius thing. 602 00:29:35,014 --> 00:29:38,190 [Paul] Ivan was really resistant at first. 603 00:29:39,018 --> 00:29:40,917 [Stang] I was married to a schoolteacher. 604 00:29:40,951 --> 00:29:44,023 We didn't want to get my wife in trouble or get Philo fired, 605 00:29:44,058 --> 00:29:46,888 plus Philo's parents didn't know anything about this 606 00:29:46,923 --> 00:29:48,027 whole SubGenius thing. 607 00:29:48,062 --> 00:29:49,373 They were very religious. 608 00:29:49,408 --> 00:29:51,513 - I didn't ever want to do anything that was 609 00:29:51,548 --> 00:29:54,033 going to embarrass them in public. 610 00:29:54,068 --> 00:29:57,174 Even though I had this really strong need to rebel, 611 00:29:57,209 --> 00:29:59,073 I wanted to kind of do it privately. 612 00:29:59,107 --> 00:30:03,974 The church is so omni-pervasive that we couldn't possibly 613 00:30:04,009 --> 00:30:07,598 get into the dogma in any less than three or four hours. 614 00:30:07,633 --> 00:30:10,981 I thought maybe a secret identity is a good thing. 615 00:30:11,499 --> 00:30:13,259 [News Anchor] It's the Church of the SubGenius 616 00:30:13,294 --> 00:30:15,054 and they're holding a revival. 617 00:30:15,089 --> 00:30:17,850 - My name is Sternodox from Little Rock, Arkansas. 618 00:30:17,885 --> 00:30:21,198 This is Puzzling Evidence representative Doug Wellman 619 00:30:21,233 --> 00:30:23,442 from, Oakland, California. 620 00:30:23,476 --> 00:30:26,238 - I'm Paul Mavrides from the LIES foundation 621 00:30:26,272 --> 00:30:27,653 in San Francisco, California. 622 00:30:27,687 --> 00:30:29,586 - Deep in the heart of San Francisco. 623 00:30:29,620 --> 00:30:32,071 [Stang] People came from all over the country. 624 00:30:32,106 --> 00:30:35,212 - I'm from Houston and I came to learn more about Bob. 625 00:30:35,247 --> 00:30:38,077 - Bob is like a super salesman. 626 00:30:38,112 --> 00:30:40,355 - He can sell you anything and I bought it. 627 00:30:40,390 --> 00:30:42,633 - I just kept hearing the word Bob, Bob, Bob. 628 00:30:42,668 --> 00:30:44,497 It would wake me up in the middle of the night. 629 00:30:44,532 --> 00:30:45,671 I'd wake up doing jumping jacks. 630 00:30:45,705 --> 00:30:47,190 I wouldn't know why. 631 00:30:47,224 --> 00:30:49,468 - Devo was in town 632 00:30:49,502 --> 00:30:52,091 and Mark Mothersbaugh came by. 633 00:30:52,126 --> 00:30:54,576 - It was only by chance that I started receiving mail 634 00:30:54,611 --> 00:30:57,372 from the SubGenius Foundation 635 00:30:57,407 --> 00:30:59,961 and I realized who Bob was. 636 00:30:59,996 --> 00:31:03,033 - Two of the guys from Devo are at the convention. 637 00:31:03,068 --> 00:31:05,518 I thought this is really cool. 638 00:31:05,553 --> 00:31:10,040 - Everything was completely like a parallel universe 639 00:31:10,075 --> 00:31:12,594 to what Devo had been doing back in Akron 640 00:31:12,629 --> 00:31:15,149 and now was trying to foist upon the world. 641 00:31:16,150 --> 00:31:20,671 This was big time major, grade A proof positive 642 00:31:20,706 --> 00:31:22,570 that it had been going on somewhere else. 643 00:31:23,226 --> 00:31:26,539 - There's a good Bob and there is a bad Bob. 644 00:31:26,574 --> 00:31:29,991 There's a big tall Bob and there's a little short Bob. 645 00:31:30,026 --> 00:31:32,545 There's a kitchen Bob and a living room Bob... 646 00:31:32,580 --> 00:31:34,409 [crosstalk] 647 00:31:34,444 --> 00:31:36,549 [Reporter] And where is Bob leading them? 648 00:31:36,584 --> 00:31:39,725 - When you first look at it, some people go, "Oh, I get it. 649 00:31:39,759 --> 00:31:43,556 This is a takeoff on weird cults and conspiracies." 650 00:31:43,591 --> 00:31:45,420 Then they look a little bit deeper 651 00:31:45,455 --> 00:31:48,458 and if they're really an attuned sort of person, 652 00:31:48,492 --> 00:31:50,391 then they realize, "Oh, I get it. 653 00:31:50,425 --> 00:31:54,153 This really is a weird cult with cosmic wisdom and dogma 654 00:31:54,188 --> 00:31:56,155 that I've been needing all my life," 655 00:31:56,190 --> 00:31:59,952 and that's usually when they write their first check. 656 00:31:59,987 --> 00:32:02,437 - Kelly Lane, Channel 4 News, Dallas. 657 00:32:02,472 --> 00:32:05,199 - As the song says, different strokes for different folks. 658 00:32:05,233 --> 00:32:08,029 - Doug's been standing out in the sun too long, I think. 659 00:32:08,064 --> 00:32:09,272 [laughing] 660 00:32:09,306 --> 00:32:11,584 - I lost my ass on that. 661 00:32:11,619 --> 00:32:14,622 It was disastrous for me personally, 662 00:32:14,656 --> 00:32:18,177 it hurt my job 663 00:32:18,212 --> 00:32:21,663 and probably my marriage. 664 00:32:23,355 --> 00:32:26,772 [Philo] He was struggling to make money 665 00:32:26,806 --> 00:32:30,776 and I have to admit for me that was probably the time in my life 666 00:32:30,810 --> 00:32:35,091 when I had the least amount of trouble earning an income. 667 00:32:36,023 --> 00:32:39,612 - I was in the perfect position of being desperate enough 668 00:32:39,647 --> 00:32:43,547 to do low budget promotion for a weird cult. 669 00:32:43,582 --> 00:32:45,756 [Philo] Stark Fist... 670 00:32:45,791 --> 00:32:47,966 7,000 of them. 671 00:32:48,518 --> 00:32:50,209 That's a lot of weird shit. 672 00:32:50,244 --> 00:32:51,176 - It certainly is. 673 00:32:51,210 --> 00:32:53,350 - I kicked in a few bucks now and then, 674 00:32:53,385 --> 00:32:57,251 for the most part he was the guy that was shelling out his money. 675 00:32:57,665 --> 00:33:00,081 - Now you should make a film about slave labor 676 00:33:00,116 --> 00:33:01,220 in the SubGenius church. 677 00:33:01,255 --> 00:33:02,221 - That's what I'm doing. 678 00:33:02,256 --> 00:33:03,257 - Yeah. 679 00:33:03,291 --> 00:33:06,605 - I was kidnapped in my native country of Africa 680 00:33:06,639 --> 00:33:08,503 walking down the street 681 00:33:08,538 --> 00:33:11,403 and these five people came up and told me to 682 00:33:11,437 --> 00:33:15,096 get over here to American and fold these damn envelope. 683 00:33:16,235 --> 00:33:19,445 - It was like a carrot was being dangled in front of me 684 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:21,551 personally all the time. 685 00:33:21,585 --> 00:33:23,277 This thing could be big. 686 00:33:24,795 --> 00:33:26,763 - We were aware that we were sort of 687 00:33:26,797 --> 00:33:28,178 influencing other of the people. 688 00:33:28,213 --> 00:33:29,317 That was exciting. 689 00:33:29,352 --> 00:33:31,043 You didn't know who, but you could kind of tell other 690 00:33:31,078 --> 00:33:34,115 people were like, "What's that Bob thing you're doing?" 691 00:33:35,737 --> 00:33:37,670 [Linklater] I kind of wish I had found the Church of the 692 00:33:37,705 --> 00:33:41,536 SubGenius when I was a teenager living in East Texas, 693 00:33:41,571 --> 00:33:44,056 a little town where the state prison was 694 00:33:44,091 --> 00:33:46,852 and it was nothing but Baptist churches everywhere, 695 00:33:46,886 --> 00:33:48,267 which my family didn't go to. 696 00:33:48,302 --> 00:33:51,063 So we were sort of the oddballs. 697 00:33:51,788 --> 00:33:53,755 - What do you do to earn a living? 698 00:33:53,790 --> 00:33:55,550 - You mean work? 699 00:33:55,585 --> 00:33:58,553 To hell with the kind of work you have to do to earn a living. 700 00:33:58,588 --> 00:34:00,348 All that does is fill the bellies of the pigs 701 00:34:00,383 --> 00:34:02,281 who exploit us. 702 00:34:02,316 --> 00:34:03,179 - They look at you and say, 703 00:34:03,213 --> 00:34:04,559 "Oh, you're not getting anything done. 704 00:34:04,594 --> 00:34:06,285 "You're a bum. 705 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:07,355 "You're a slacker. 706 00:34:07,390 --> 00:34:09,737 You're disengaged," 707 00:34:09,771 --> 00:34:12,636 all the put downs that people throw at people 708 00:34:12,671 --> 00:34:14,811 who seem to be living their own lives, 709 00:34:14,845 --> 00:34:18,539 who kind of following their own passions. 710 00:34:19,126 --> 00:34:20,092 [Interviewer] What is this? 711 00:34:20,127 --> 00:34:24,165 Some kind of a psychic TV type parallel... 712 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:29,377 - Well, we all know the psychic powers of the televised image, 713 00:34:29,412 --> 00:34:32,622 but we need to capitalize on it 714 00:34:32,656 --> 00:34:36,350 and make it work for us instead of us working for it. 715 00:34:36,695 --> 00:34:37,799 [Linklater] That's a threat. 716 00:34:37,834 --> 00:34:40,285 That's a threat to The Conspiracy. 717 00:34:40,319 --> 00:34:43,115 That's a threat to the mediocrity machine 718 00:34:43,150 --> 00:34:46,291 that is the modern capitalist world. 719 00:34:47,499 --> 00:34:51,192 [Philo] Other creative people started coming into the church. 720 00:34:51,227 --> 00:34:54,333 [Penn Jillette] There was a guy who owned a record store 721 00:34:54,368 --> 00:34:55,886 in Amherst, Massachusetts. 722 00:34:55,921 --> 00:34:58,682 I think he's the one that told me about the SubGenius. 723 00:34:58,717 --> 00:35:02,617 I was told at one point that I was the only person 724 00:35:02,652 --> 00:35:05,241 who had paid his dues to the SubGenius 725 00:35:05,275 --> 00:35:07,174 every single time they asked. 726 00:35:07,588 --> 00:35:10,556 The effect they had on David Byrne, 727 00:35:10,591 --> 00:35:12,489 the effect they had on The Residents, 728 00:35:12,524 --> 00:35:14,767 the effect they had on Paul Reubens. 729 00:35:14,802 --> 00:35:16,804 Even people who didn't know 730 00:35:16,838 --> 00:35:20,221 were building on SubGenius tropes 731 00:35:20,256 --> 00:35:21,809 and sensibilities. 732 00:35:22,430 --> 00:35:23,707 [Philo] It was very flattering. 733 00:35:23,742 --> 00:35:26,365 Some of these people were like our heroes. 734 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,954 So to be recognized by your heroes, 735 00:35:28,988 --> 00:35:30,783 it's a real ego boost. 736 00:35:30,818 --> 00:35:33,545 We actually got big heads and stuff. 737 00:35:38,688 --> 00:35:41,760 [Stang] My sister-in-law, she'd moved to New York 738 00:35:41,794 --> 00:35:44,176 and was in the publishing business. 739 00:35:44,211 --> 00:35:46,523 She went to a picnic with a bunch of other people in the 740 00:35:46,558 --> 00:35:50,320 publishing business and a young man named Tim McGinnis, 741 00:35:50,355 --> 00:35:53,634 who was a brand new editor at McGraw Hill, 742 00:35:53,668 --> 00:35:58,673 found this smudged pamphlet on the floor of her car. 743 00:35:58,708 --> 00:36:00,434 He goes, "Where'd this come from?" 744 00:36:00,468 --> 00:36:02,229 She goes, "Oh it's my crazy brother-in-law. 745 00:36:02,263 --> 00:36:03,747 He and his buddy did this." 746 00:36:03,782 --> 00:36:05,818 He goes, "I want to get in touch with him. 747 00:36:05,853 --> 00:36:07,544 And tell him to get an agent." 748 00:36:09,339 --> 00:36:12,549 Next thing we knew Simon and Schuster, McGraw Hill 749 00:36:12,584 --> 00:36:17,244 and MacMillan were all bidding on the book of the SubGenius, 750 00:36:17,278 --> 00:36:21,386 which caused the asking price to go up to $20,000. 751 00:36:21,420 --> 00:36:24,941 That was enough to pay Paul Mavrides and John Hagan-Brenner 752 00:36:24,975 --> 00:36:27,806 to do professional design on it. 753 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,396 - Doug brought in hand-scrawled manuscripts 754 00:36:31,430 --> 00:36:37,298 and packets of clip art and stuff that he wanted included 755 00:36:37,333 --> 00:36:39,990 so I'd take a chapter and I'd paste it up, 756 00:36:40,025 --> 00:36:42,924 I'd generate some original material. 757 00:36:42,959 --> 00:36:47,619 [Stang] John's style was perfect because it kind of 758 00:36:47,653 --> 00:36:49,552 matched the clip art. 759 00:36:49,586 --> 00:36:51,761 [Philo] When McGraw Hill first released it, 760 00:36:51,795 --> 00:36:54,557 some places we could find it in the religion section, 761 00:36:54,591 --> 00:36:57,560 and I thought that was a huge win. 762 00:36:57,870 --> 00:36:59,596 We got a contract for a book. 763 00:36:59,631 --> 00:37:02,530 We got it in the stores and it's in the religion section 764 00:37:02,565 --> 00:37:03,842 instead of the comedy section. 765 00:37:03,876 --> 00:37:05,050 It's not next to Doonesbury. 766 00:37:05,084 --> 00:37:07,017 It's next to the Bible and stuff. 767 00:37:07,052 --> 00:37:10,020 - People go, "Man, I barely made it through high school, 768 00:37:10,055 --> 00:37:14,749 "but I stumbled upon your book and I realized 769 00:37:14,784 --> 00:37:16,889 I'm not the only one." 770 00:37:17,752 --> 00:37:19,478 [Penn] I got that book. 771 00:37:19,513 --> 00:37:22,067 I read it beginning to end. 772 00:37:22,101 --> 00:37:23,793 I absorbed that book. 773 00:37:23,827 --> 00:37:25,070 I adored that book. 774 00:37:25,104 --> 00:37:26,658 I love that book. 775 00:37:26,692 --> 00:37:30,765 They kept me with, "I get this, I get this, I get this. 776 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:33,941 "I understand that this is directly from my heart... 777 00:37:34,700 --> 00:37:36,737 "What the fuck are they talking about? 778 00:37:36,771 --> 00:37:38,980 I have no idea what this is." 779 00:37:39,015 --> 00:37:41,707 - This is the word of all mighty Bob... 780 00:37:41,742 --> 00:37:43,433 Is the roadmap. 781 00:37:43,468 --> 00:37:45,711 There is no other book like this book. 782 00:37:45,746 --> 00:37:47,541 No other word like this word. 783 00:37:47,575 --> 00:37:52,580 - It was these older, wiser miscreants 784 00:37:52,615 --> 00:37:56,619 letting us know that indeed, all of these human-made 785 00:37:56,653 --> 00:38:00,968 organizational systems are as flawed as you suspect 786 00:38:01,002 --> 00:38:03,108 because they're made by us. 787 00:38:03,142 --> 00:38:05,421 - This was the age of Jim Jones 788 00:38:05,455 --> 00:38:09,804 and all kinds of other vampires and psychic parasites 789 00:38:09,839 --> 00:38:14,084 out there using religion to establish 790 00:38:14,119 --> 00:38:17,916 control of a segment of a confused and desperate 791 00:38:17,950 --> 00:38:20,539 population, and there's no shortage of people 792 00:38:20,574 --> 00:38:23,853 like that for reasons good and bad 793 00:38:23,887 --> 00:38:25,993 and real and imagined. 794 00:38:27,615 --> 00:38:32,931 - It's fascinating to me to look at religious experience, 795 00:38:32,965 --> 00:38:34,484 to look at cults, 796 00:38:34,519 --> 00:38:36,348 to look at us and them 797 00:38:36,383 --> 00:38:40,456 and all this stuff that I passionately disavowed, 798 00:38:40,939 --> 00:38:44,114 and then saying to me, which is what the SubGenius did, 799 00:38:44,149 --> 00:38:48,981 "No, no, we know you don't believe in any of this stuff. 800 00:38:49,016 --> 00:38:53,123 "We know that us and them is role, 801 00:38:53,158 --> 00:38:55,850 "But we're going to worship Bob Dobbs 802 00:38:55,885 --> 00:38:58,577 "and we're all a congregation and there's the pinks out there 803 00:38:58,612 --> 00:39:00,648 "and there's us in here and we hate them 804 00:39:00,683 --> 00:39:03,410 and we love us and won't that be fun for a little while?" 805 00:39:03,444 --> 00:39:06,067 - Slack is a gift to the God. 806 00:39:06,102 --> 00:39:08,932 The Baptist Church did not save you. 807 00:39:08,967 --> 00:39:11,935 The Catholic Church did not save you. 808 00:39:11,970 --> 00:39:14,869 The Unification Church did not save you. 809 00:39:14,904 --> 00:39:17,665 The Jewish Synagogue did not save you. 810 00:39:17,700 --> 00:39:20,081 The Church of the SubGenius did not save you, 811 00:39:20,116 --> 00:39:21,462 but it was Bob. 812 00:39:21,497 --> 00:39:23,395 Bob who walked on hot pavements- 813 00:39:23,430 --> 00:39:26,156 [Paul] We actually are a religion. 814 00:39:26,191 --> 00:39:27,365 You know, uh... 815 00:39:27,399 --> 00:39:31,161 that seems like a art piece that seems like a religion 816 00:39:31,196 --> 00:39:34,579 that seems like performance art that seems like a joke 817 00:39:34,613 --> 00:39:36,166 that seems like a religion. 818 00:39:36,201 --> 00:39:40,481 - Simply because we're involved in something that is funny, 819 00:39:40,516 --> 00:39:43,450 we don't believe that for that reason we should be taken 820 00:39:43,484 --> 00:39:45,486 any less seriously. 821 00:39:45,900 --> 00:39:49,628 - We started getting invited to things like art museums. 822 00:39:49,663 --> 00:39:52,493 They thought it was performance art. 823 00:39:52,528 --> 00:39:56,083 [Paul] Ivan Stang was approached by a fellow in San Francisco, 824 00:39:56,117 --> 00:39:59,845 wanted to put on a SubGenius party in San Francisco 825 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:03,608 and Zoe pictured some storefront or a loft or something 826 00:40:03,642 --> 00:40:07,577 with a hundred people and went, "Yeah, we'll do that." 827 00:40:07,612 --> 00:40:09,959 And we came back to the second meeting 828 00:40:09,993 --> 00:40:11,581 and Tom was all excited. 829 00:40:11,616 --> 00:40:15,102 He had gone out and rented a 900 seat theater 830 00:40:15,136 --> 00:40:16,552 for two nights. 831 00:40:16,586 --> 00:40:18,968 - San Francisco tonight is the location of the 832 00:40:19,002 --> 00:40:23,973 first international SubGenius World Survival Crusade. 833 00:40:24,007 --> 00:40:26,631 [Paul] TV stations picked up on the show. 834 00:40:26,665 --> 00:40:29,496 [Beirn] It all began with the book of the SubGenius 835 00:40:29,530 --> 00:40:31,774 and the Church's deity, Bob Dobbs. 836 00:40:31,808 --> 00:40:35,709 - I was preparing tacos one day for my children and... 837 00:40:37,952 --> 00:40:39,022 [Beirn] Now Bob- 838 00:40:39,057 --> 00:40:40,817 - The face appeared and it's Bob. 839 00:40:40,852 --> 00:40:44,511 [Stang] The night of Slack show in San Francisco in 1984 840 00:40:44,545 --> 00:40:47,962 was the first time anybody had put any money 841 00:40:47,997 --> 00:40:49,826 into a SubGenius show 842 00:40:49,861 --> 00:40:53,899 and flew several people from Dallas and other cities 843 00:40:53,934 --> 00:40:56,005 into San Francisco 844 00:40:56,039 --> 00:40:59,629 and there was even a paid stage manager. 845 00:40:59,664 --> 00:41:03,668 There were people building sets just for that show. 846 00:41:03,702 --> 00:41:05,808 About half the people here will have a great time. 847 00:41:05,842 --> 00:41:08,120 The rest of them will probably run for the exits. 848 00:41:08,811 --> 00:41:10,916 [Paul] The one thing none of us were at that point, 849 00:41:10,951 --> 00:41:13,263 and still aren't, are professionals 850 00:41:13,298 --> 00:41:18,027 and I knew that nobody had ever been in front of an audience 851 00:41:18,061 --> 00:41:21,133 as big as the one we were hopefully going to draw. 852 00:41:21,168 --> 00:41:23,722 - I remember Friday night going out around the corner 853 00:41:23,757 --> 00:41:25,621 of the Victoria Theater and the line went out, 854 00:41:25,655 --> 00:41:27,761 up to Mission and around the corner; 855 00:41:27,795 --> 00:41:29,521 I almost threw up because I thought, 856 00:41:29,556 --> 00:41:32,835 "We're not showman, these people are paying $7.50." 857 00:41:32,869 --> 00:41:35,665 - It looked like it was going to be a disaster. 858 00:41:37,149 --> 00:41:38,737 As people were coming in, 859 00:41:38,772 --> 00:41:43,846 we had a galvanized tub of evil-looking Kool-Aid. 860 00:41:45,123 --> 00:41:47,090 - Some people would come over and they would take it eagerly, 861 00:41:47,125 --> 00:41:49,714 the Dixie cups, just like they did in Jonestown 862 00:41:49,748 --> 00:41:52,268 and they would drink it and they would come over and say, 863 00:41:52,302 --> 00:41:53,925 "How long till I get off?" 864 00:41:53,959 --> 00:41:57,307 And they thought it was like, acid Kool-Aid, 865 00:41:57,342 --> 00:42:00,034 it was like, "Oh, about 20 minutes." 866 00:42:00,932 --> 00:42:03,762 - Of course some people were very nervous. 867 00:42:03,797 --> 00:42:08,595 The real question was, is this cyanide or LSD? 868 00:42:10,976 --> 00:42:13,772 We made sure it was non-sweetened 869 00:42:13,807 --> 00:42:16,154 so we wouldn't kill any diabetics. 870 00:42:16,188 --> 00:42:18,190 [organ music] 871 00:42:25,025 --> 00:42:27,579 [tempo picks up] 872 00:42:27,614 --> 00:42:29,616 [cheers and clapping] 873 00:42:35,656 --> 00:42:36,795 [Philo] It was great. 874 00:42:36,830 --> 00:42:40,109 It was really the first event where a lot of people 875 00:42:40,143 --> 00:42:42,939 got together and said, "Hey, we're all SubGeniuses," 876 00:42:42,974 --> 00:42:44,182 rubbing elbows. 877 00:42:45,701 --> 00:42:47,599 - The Night of Slack ran for two nights 878 00:42:47,634 --> 00:42:50,637 and was surprisingly successful. 879 00:42:51,292 --> 00:42:54,882 [Stang] It was the first show that Bob Dobbs himself 880 00:42:54,917 --> 00:42:56,228 ever showed up at. 881 00:42:56,263 --> 00:42:59,024 We were not expecting that at all. 882 00:43:00,785 --> 00:43:02,925 He walked out on stage, 883 00:43:02,959 --> 00:43:05,272 and then Puzzling Evidence, Doug Wellman, 884 00:43:05,306 --> 00:43:09,345 runs out and shoots him with a hand gun 885 00:43:09,379 --> 00:43:11,140 right in front of everybody. 886 00:43:11,174 --> 00:43:17,215 [indistinct crowd chatter] 887 00:43:17,249 --> 00:43:19,838 - Oh my God, Bob was killed that night. 888 00:43:19,873 --> 00:43:21,357 It was so sad. 889 00:43:21,391 --> 00:43:22,220 [laughing] 890 00:43:22,254 --> 00:43:23,980 - We were coming from the airport 891 00:43:24,015 --> 00:43:27,397 and I got to thinking, if you want to sell a religion, 892 00:43:27,432 --> 00:43:28,778 you have to kill the deity. 893 00:43:28,813 --> 00:43:29,952 That's how you do it. 894 00:43:29,986 --> 00:43:32,713 So I shot Bob thinking the thing would just take off. 895 00:43:32,748 --> 00:43:35,992 [Stang] The audience went berserk. 896 00:43:36,027 --> 00:43:39,133 But the funny thing was the cops didn't care. 897 00:43:39,168 --> 00:43:40,652 Nobody cared afterwards. 898 00:43:40,687 --> 00:43:42,136 People were having drinks. 899 00:43:42,171 --> 00:43:46,934 The band was dancing on the corpse of J.R. Bob Dobbs. 900 00:43:46,969 --> 00:43:50,973 [chaotic music] 901 00:43:51,007 --> 00:43:53,700 - It was this chance to just sing 902 00:43:53,734 --> 00:43:55,356 and dance and be crazy. 903 00:43:55,391 --> 00:43:58,946 It was really, really, really, really fun. 904 00:43:59,429 --> 00:44:02,398 - Science does not remove the terror of the gods. 905 00:44:03,433 --> 00:44:06,816 We can't do much about those evil gods 906 00:44:06,851 --> 00:44:09,025 from the other side of the cosmos. 907 00:44:09,301 --> 00:44:10,855 But enough of this, 908 00:44:10,889 --> 00:44:12,304 you don't want to hear about this. 909 00:44:12,339 --> 00:44:14,444 Who is the right hand man of Bob? 910 00:44:14,479 --> 00:44:17,240 Who sits on the right hand side of Bob? 911 00:44:17,275 --> 00:44:21,693 None other than the Reverend Ivan Stang. 912 00:44:21,728 --> 00:44:29,149 [cheers and applause] 913 00:44:29,183 --> 00:44:35,224 [cheers and applause] 914 00:44:36,087 --> 00:44:42,024 - I'm not here to talk about the Bleeding Head of Arnold Palmer. 915 00:44:43,094 --> 00:44:47,029 - One of the things that we liked to talk about 916 00:44:47,063 --> 00:44:49,272 was how the Church of the SubGenius would allow you 917 00:44:49,307 --> 00:44:51,723 to control your own time. 918 00:44:51,758 --> 00:44:54,450 - Can we have the house lights up a little bit? 919 00:44:54,484 --> 00:44:56,797 - We decided to have our producer 920 00:44:56,832 --> 00:44:59,144 be our plant in the audience. 921 00:44:59,179 --> 00:45:02,389 - There's a main doctrine of the church called time control. 922 00:45:02,423 --> 00:45:03,424 Many people don't want it. 923 00:45:03,459 --> 00:45:04,909 Will you take your watch off? 924 00:45:04,943 --> 00:45:07,463 [audience laughing] 925 00:45:07,497 --> 00:45:08,947 It's a nice watch. 926 00:45:08,982 --> 00:45:11,398 [audience laughing] 927 00:45:14,125 --> 00:45:18,405 [Paul] Then before he presumably could be stopped, 928 00:45:18,439 --> 00:45:21,822 Ivan put the watch down on the concrete block 929 00:45:21,857 --> 00:45:24,238 and not just smashed the watch, 930 00:45:24,273 --> 00:45:27,069 but broke the concrete block into pieces. 931 00:45:28,277 --> 00:45:29,830 - Time control. 932 00:45:29,865 --> 00:45:31,418 It is time control. 933 00:45:31,452 --> 00:45:33,247 You've got to be willing to kill everything 934 00:45:33,282 --> 00:45:34,835 in your previous life. 935 00:45:34,870 --> 00:45:38,390 [Paul] And then what happened was the unexpected. 936 00:45:38,425 --> 00:45:40,979 We were going to move on to the next thing, 937 00:45:41,014 --> 00:45:44,811 but people in the audience suddenly ran up to us 938 00:45:44,845 --> 00:45:46,985 and started taking their watches off 939 00:45:47,020 --> 00:45:49,022 and throwing them on stage. 940 00:45:50,161 --> 00:45:52,853 Some of them were really nice watches, 941 00:45:52,888 --> 00:45:56,408 but the audience demanded that we smashed them all. 942 00:45:56,443 --> 00:45:59,239 [audience cheering] 943 00:45:59,273 --> 00:46:02,967 Doug had to sit up there and smashing one after another. 944 00:46:06,039 --> 00:46:07,040 So there it was. 945 00:46:07,074 --> 00:46:10,388 The audience was ready to take it way beyond 946 00:46:10,422 --> 00:46:12,045 what we were doing. 947 00:46:12,321 --> 00:46:13,460 - Praise Bob! 948 00:46:13,494 --> 00:46:14,426 Praise Bob! 949 00:46:14,461 --> 00:46:16,152 [Wellman] I thought this thing goes farther 950 00:46:16,187 --> 00:46:17,809 than I ever imagined. 951 00:46:19,569 --> 00:46:22,331 - We had run for the exits, but only in order to get 952 00:46:22,365 --> 00:46:24,471 you this report on time tonight. 953 00:46:24,505 --> 00:46:26,438 However, if you're the kind of person who likes to 954 00:46:26,473 --> 00:46:28,337 pull the wool over your own eyes, 955 00:46:28,371 --> 00:46:30,960 church is in session again tomorrow at 8:00 PM. 956 00:46:30,995 --> 00:46:33,066 - That was an amazing evening 957 00:46:33,100 --> 00:46:37,449 and also, I met my first crazy SubGenius. 958 00:46:38,554 --> 00:46:42,420 This was the first person I ran into 959 00:46:42,454 --> 00:46:46,907 who took it all the wrong way. 960 00:46:47,494 --> 00:46:51,878 He came up to me after that second show and he was livid. 961 00:46:51,912 --> 00:46:54,466 "The people in Dallas that did this thing, and Bob, 962 00:46:54,501 --> 00:46:56,606 "when they find out you're just making a Sonny and Cher 963 00:46:56,641 --> 00:46:59,299 "Comedy Show out of it, they're going to kill you. 964 00:46:59,333 --> 00:47:00,265 "This is terrible. 965 00:47:00,300 --> 00:47:01,853 "Look in this book here it says, 966 00:47:01,888 --> 00:47:03,337 "stop what you're doing right now. 967 00:47:03,372 --> 00:47:04,304 "This is serious. 968 00:47:04,338 --> 00:47:05,512 "This is not a fan club. 969 00:47:05,546 --> 00:47:06,478 This is not a joke." 970 00:47:06,513 --> 00:47:10,482 And I said, "Dude, I wrote all that stuff. 971 00:47:10,517 --> 00:47:13,244 "Me and Philo got high one night and we wrote all this crap. 972 00:47:13,278 --> 00:47:14,383 Give me a break." 973 00:47:14,417 --> 00:47:16,143 It really shook me up. 974 00:47:17,248 --> 00:47:19,215 [Philo] It was a little bit scary. 975 00:47:19,250 --> 00:47:22,391 We realized some crazy people are attracted to this. 976 00:47:22,425 --> 00:47:25,359 You know the ones that are like, "Where's Bob? 977 00:47:25,394 --> 00:47:27,845 No, where's the real Bob?" 978 00:47:28,984 --> 00:47:32,056 - I think what starts off like a joke, 979 00:47:32,090 --> 00:47:35,093 a few kind of believers who want their life to have 980 00:47:35,128 --> 00:47:38,372 a little more meaning than it does or they feel it does 981 00:47:38,407 --> 00:47:41,375 and then they get a little too gung-ho. 982 00:47:41,410 --> 00:47:43,274 They want to adhere a little too much. 983 00:47:43,308 --> 00:47:47,312 They start believing a little too much, and then here we go. 984 00:47:49,418 --> 00:47:52,007 [Penn] You are playing with fire 985 00:47:52,041 --> 00:47:57,012 and the idea of taking fire 986 00:47:57,046 --> 00:47:59,531 and doing what the SubGenius did, 987 00:47:59,566 --> 00:48:01,533 which is setting off fireworks. 988 00:48:01,568 --> 00:48:02,949 It's really beautiful. 989 00:48:02,983 --> 00:48:04,260 It's really fun. 990 00:48:04,295 --> 00:48:09,196 And every second of that, 991 00:48:09,231 --> 00:48:11,509 just a little bit of gasoline 992 00:48:11,543 --> 00:48:14,167 and it'll tear your face off. 993 00:48:15,202 --> 00:48:17,722 - There are religions that were 994 00:48:17,756 --> 00:48:21,208 originally intended to be jokes 995 00:48:21,243 --> 00:48:23,693 and then they turned into gangs, 996 00:48:23,728 --> 00:48:25,592 you know, into mafias. 997 00:48:26,317 --> 00:48:30,252 - I'm here to offer you an opportunity to know 998 00:48:30,286 --> 00:48:34,221 the truth so that if you can connect with it, 999 00:48:34,256 --> 00:48:36,534 then you might survive. 1000 00:48:36,983 --> 00:48:39,330 - It's a kind of horrifying moment when we realized 1001 00:48:39,364 --> 00:48:43,368 that we could probably pick up 300 people randomly 1002 00:48:43,403 --> 00:48:47,476 from anywhere who had pledged their lives to us 1003 00:48:47,510 --> 00:48:49,064 if we asked them to. 1004 00:48:49,098 --> 00:48:52,136 [screaming] 1005 00:48:52,170 --> 00:48:55,208 - I suspect that some of the people who call themselves 1006 00:48:55,242 --> 00:48:58,176 SubGenius were actually replacing their 1007 00:48:58,211 --> 00:49:00,592 childhood religion with this, 1008 00:49:00,627 --> 00:49:03,043 and that wasn't my world view, 1009 00:49:03,078 --> 00:49:06,357 but when I saw people do that, it was a little scary. 1010 00:49:07,185 --> 00:49:09,601 - I guess I was angry at... 1011 00:49:09,636 --> 00:49:10,982 everyone. 1012 00:49:12,156 --> 00:49:15,159 I'd been treated pretty shitty my entire life by folks. 1013 00:49:16,539 --> 00:49:18,231 Their message appealed to me. 1014 00:49:18,645 --> 00:49:23,132 [Paul] The traditional exchange is that you 1015 00:49:23,167 --> 00:49:25,341 take responsibility for them. 1016 00:49:25,376 --> 00:49:28,758 They want you to tell them what to do, 1017 00:49:28,793 --> 00:49:31,451 and this was the kind of power we didn't want. 1018 00:49:31,485 --> 00:49:34,523 It was the exact opposite of what we're aiming for, 1019 00:49:34,557 --> 00:49:38,182 which was to remove people from that kind of a hook. 1020 00:49:38,527 --> 00:49:41,530 [Stang] There are people who really want to join this cult 1021 00:49:41,564 --> 00:49:44,464 and want it to be everything it says it is, 1022 00:49:44,498 --> 00:49:48,261 and then when they find out that it's not anything it says it is, 1023 00:49:48,295 --> 00:49:50,470 they get really mad. 1024 00:49:51,816 --> 00:49:56,545 - You've heard our phrase "fuck them if they can't take a joke." 1025 00:49:56,579 --> 00:49:58,374 This is important to us. 1026 00:49:58,409 --> 00:50:01,791 - Just when you think you might get a handle on-- 1027 00:50:01,826 --> 00:50:04,104 Oh, it's a collaborative network of artists 1028 00:50:04,139 --> 00:50:05,071 all over the country. 1029 00:50:05,105 --> 00:50:06,106 That's all it is. 1030 00:50:06,141 --> 00:50:07,418 Oh no, that's not what it is. 1031 00:50:07,452 --> 00:50:11,801 So it's really a secretly sort of a subversive organization. 1032 00:50:11,836 --> 00:50:13,286 No, no, it's not really that. 1033 00:50:13,320 --> 00:50:14,597 It's just a bunch of drunk guys in Dallas 1034 00:50:14,632 --> 00:50:16,254 trying to freak people out. 1035 00:50:16,289 --> 00:50:18,670 - You either got the joke or you didn't, 1036 00:50:18,705 --> 00:50:21,846 and you got the joke instantly or you didn't. 1037 00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:24,538 - Occasionally people will call us out on that whole 1038 00:50:24,573 --> 00:50:27,127 "fuck them if they can't take a joke" thing or it's like, 1039 00:50:27,162 --> 00:50:29,405 "Well that just excuses everything." 1040 00:50:29,440 --> 00:50:31,787 No, it's just funny. 1041 00:50:31,821 --> 00:50:34,410 - When was the last time you gave a straight answer? 1042 00:50:34,824 --> 00:50:36,550 - Well, these are all... 1043 00:50:36,585 --> 00:50:38,656 We don't care whether they get the joke or not. 1044 00:50:38,690 --> 00:50:39,726 Half of them can't. 1045 00:50:39,760 --> 00:50:41,659 - We're trying to make you laugh 1046 00:50:41,693 --> 00:50:44,144 but also maybe shock you a little bit 1047 00:50:44,179 --> 00:50:46,698 with our irreverence and you may think it's funny. 1048 00:50:46,733 --> 00:50:49,529 We hope you do, but if you don't, 1049 00:50:49,563 --> 00:50:50,633 you shouldn't punish us 1050 00:50:50,668 --> 00:50:54,396 because we are trying to deliver medicine of a sort 1051 00:50:54,430 --> 00:50:58,434 and if you can't take the joke, then please go fuck yourself. 1052 00:51:04,475 --> 00:51:07,788 - It began in the heart of the Bible Belt in Dallas, Texas, 1053 00:51:07,823 --> 00:51:10,584 but its membership is spreading across the nation. 1054 00:51:10,619 --> 00:51:12,690 [News Anchor] Their prophet's name is Bob 1055 00:51:12,724 --> 00:51:14,588 and their followers are legion. 1056 00:51:14,623 --> 00:51:17,729 [Paul] Everybody in every mass media liked 1057 00:51:17,764 --> 00:51:20,560 Church of the SubGenius because it was this crazy thing 1058 00:51:20,594 --> 00:51:25,151 that they could just inject into their own stream. 1059 00:51:25,185 --> 00:51:26,876 In the absence of the internet, 1060 00:51:26,911 --> 00:51:29,500 it was kind of a meme for media. 1061 00:51:29,534 --> 00:51:32,641 [Reporter] People, 4,000 of them so far and more every day 1062 00:51:32,675 --> 00:51:34,160 have already joined up. 1063 00:51:34,194 --> 00:51:36,472 Suddenly the joke has become serious. 1064 00:51:36,507 --> 00:51:39,475 - At first it was a joke, but there was something 1065 00:51:39,510 --> 00:51:43,755 much deeper and more life affirming than I even realize. 1066 00:51:43,790 --> 00:51:47,621 - Y'all are out to put down outrageous cult groups. 1067 00:51:47,656 --> 00:51:48,622 What does this mean? 1068 00:51:48,657 --> 00:51:50,659 - No, no, this is an outrageous cult group. 1069 00:51:50,693 --> 00:51:54,904 [Philo] The church was meant to never be mass marketable. 1070 00:51:54,939 --> 00:51:57,355 We never really wanted to have a lot of followers. 1071 00:51:57,390 --> 00:52:00,496 - Basically I was a very lonely weirdo 1072 00:52:00,531 --> 00:52:02,360 in a small Massachusetts town. 1073 00:52:02,395 --> 00:52:05,191 I finally got a boyfriend who was a member of the church 1074 00:52:05,225 --> 00:52:07,917 and show me the pamphlets and I said, this is it. 1075 00:52:07,952 --> 00:52:09,333 - They imparted into me the values 1076 00:52:09,367 --> 00:52:12,232 that have gotten me where I am today. 1077 00:52:12,267 --> 00:52:14,924 - We got this attention, a lot of attention 1078 00:52:14,959 --> 00:52:19,274 and I started a fear that this thing's going to get too big. 1079 00:52:19,619 --> 00:52:21,793 - What the hell do you think you're doing? 1080 00:52:21,828 --> 00:52:24,796 Dragging your butt through the day selling body and soul 1081 00:52:24,831 --> 00:52:27,247 to a bunch of bland normals? 1082 00:52:27,282 --> 00:52:30,250 There is a simple answer, dear friend. 1083 00:52:30,285 --> 00:52:32,563 - I feel like I'm part of something, yeah, 1084 00:52:32,597 --> 00:52:35,428 I feel like I'm finally being represented by something. 1085 00:52:35,462 --> 00:52:39,846 [Speaker] The next president of the United States of Brighton, 1086 00:52:39,880 --> 00:52:42,538 Mr. Bob Dobbs. 1087 00:52:42,573 --> 00:52:44,402 - You have voted by Time Magazine as the 1088 00:52:44,437 --> 00:52:45,679 fraud of the century. 1089 00:52:45,714 --> 00:52:48,406 Do you get any flak from the folks from mainstream religion? 1090 00:52:48,441 --> 00:52:49,787 - Not nearly enough. 1091 00:52:49,821 --> 00:52:52,410 There was a little wave of people going, 1092 00:52:52,445 --> 00:52:53,653 "Oh, they're corporate now. 1093 00:52:53,687 --> 00:52:55,413 "They're huge. "They're sold out. 1094 00:52:55,448 --> 00:52:56,552 They're pink now." 1095 00:52:56,587 --> 00:52:58,830 Well, not really. 1096 00:52:58,865 --> 00:53:00,591 [Philo] Oh, we got Will at just the right time, 1097 00:53:00,625 --> 00:53:01,626 counting checks. 1098 00:53:01,661 --> 00:53:03,249 - Huge wad of cash. 1099 00:53:03,283 --> 00:53:05,630 [Philo] Here we go again. 1100 00:53:05,665 --> 00:53:07,805 [Reporter] Like any other prophet, Bob preaches about 1101 00:53:07,839 --> 00:53:08,840 the end of the world. 1102 00:53:08,875 --> 00:53:11,705 Only his predictions are just a little different. 1103 00:53:11,740 --> 00:53:15,709 - The men from planet X will arrive to rupture 1104 00:53:15,744 --> 00:53:19,713 the true believers of geniuses up into the escape vessels 1105 00:53:19,748 --> 00:53:21,439 of the sex goddesses. 1106 00:53:21,474 --> 00:53:23,579 - Why do you do this? 1107 00:53:23,614 --> 00:53:25,719 [Stang] We offer eternal salvation 1108 00:53:25,754 --> 00:53:27,756 or triple your money back. 1109 00:53:27,790 --> 00:53:29,620 [laughing] 1110 00:53:29,654 --> 00:53:31,346 - Triple your money back. 1111 00:53:31,380 --> 00:53:32,588 - Is the world going to end? 1112 00:53:32,623 --> 00:53:34,038 That's what I'm asking you. 1113 00:53:34,072 --> 00:53:36,247 I said do you have a prophecy of doom here for us? 1114 00:53:36,282 --> 00:53:38,594 - The world will end for those who deserve it. 1115 00:53:38,629 --> 00:53:39,423 - All right, all right. 1116 00:53:39,457 --> 00:53:40,596 - Those who- - Wait, wait, wait, 1117 00:53:40,631 --> 00:53:41,563 now we're getting somewhere. 1118 00:53:41,597 --> 00:53:44,013 All right, so basically here's your deal. 1119 00:53:44,048 --> 00:53:47,707 For 30 bucks, you don't die at the end of the world. 1120 00:53:58,062 --> 00:54:02,411 [screaming and yelling] 1121 00:54:02,446 --> 00:54:04,448 [Stang] It occurred to me, this is the fulcrum event 1122 00:54:04,482 --> 00:54:06,035 of human history. 1123 00:54:06,070 --> 00:54:08,037 This is when we finally get our history back 1124 00:54:08,072 --> 00:54:09,349 in our own hands. 1125 00:54:09,384 --> 00:54:10,385 - What an ass. 1126 00:54:10,419 --> 00:54:14,561 - It's time to join the SubGenius Revolution. 1127 00:54:14,596 --> 00:54:16,045 The countdown has begun. 1128 00:54:16,080 --> 00:54:17,840 It's like Christmas. 1129 00:54:17,875 --> 00:54:20,049 Santa is coming, Santa is coming real soon 1130 00:54:20,084 --> 00:54:21,706 and we've got the short wave you can tune in 1131 00:54:21,741 --> 00:54:23,915 and hear Santa delivering his little gifts of 1132 00:54:23,950 --> 00:54:25,952 death and destruction. 1133 00:54:25,986 --> 00:54:28,506 - At X day, you always see all sorts of different 1134 00:54:28,541 --> 00:54:31,785 people and they all had this kind of common sense of humor, 1135 00:54:31,820 --> 00:54:33,925 a warped sense of humor, a dark sense of humor 1136 00:54:33,960 --> 00:54:36,721 and I find dark sense of humor to be the most fascinating 1137 00:54:36,756 --> 00:54:39,103 type of sense of humor because it's taboo. 1138 00:54:39,137 --> 00:54:41,416 You could talk about all these taboo subjects 1139 00:54:41,450 --> 00:54:44,522 and make jokes about things that polite company 1140 00:54:44,557 --> 00:54:47,318 would find extremely distasteful. 1141 00:54:47,353 --> 00:54:49,389 - We're going to find out if he's really Jewish. 1142 00:54:49,424 --> 00:54:51,805 [laughing] 1143 00:54:51,840 --> 00:54:53,531 [Follower] Let's make him Jewish if he's not. 1144 00:54:53,566 --> 00:54:55,326 [cheers] 1145 00:54:55,361 --> 00:54:56,845 - It was cool as shit. 1146 00:54:56,879 --> 00:54:59,951 I was a socially awkward person and suddenly, you know, 1147 00:54:59,986 --> 00:55:04,439 after a couple of sermons, I could go to half the towns 1148 00:55:04,473 --> 00:55:07,131 on the East Coast and people would open their doors to me, 1149 00:55:07,165 --> 00:55:08,374 buy me dinner. 1150 00:55:08,408 --> 00:55:13,620 About a week ago, I had a vision of seven o'clock coming, 1151 00:55:13,655 --> 00:55:16,347 and Reverend Stang getting up on stage and making some kind of 1152 00:55:16,382 --> 00:55:19,143 lame excuse while the saucers didn't come, 1153 00:55:19,177 --> 00:55:21,766 then some bent dumb ass out in the audience 1154 00:55:21,801 --> 00:55:23,630 just putting a bullet in him. 1155 00:55:23,665 --> 00:55:28,394 - We're missing Jesus and Stang. 1156 00:55:28,428 --> 00:55:30,741 Perhaps there are some amongst us that are worried 1157 00:55:30,775 --> 00:55:34,020 that if nothing shows up in 20 minutes, 1158 00:55:34,054 --> 00:55:37,334 they're going to get themselves beat to a bloody pulp. 1159 00:55:38,127 --> 00:55:41,027 - There's a white limo pulling up. 1160 00:55:41,061 --> 00:55:42,856 [Speaker] It is a white limousine. 1161 00:55:42,891 --> 00:55:47,585 [indistinct chatter] 1162 00:55:47,620 --> 00:55:48,862 [Follower] Hail the limousine. 1163 00:55:48,897 --> 00:55:50,899 [Stang] Of course, there's tremendous feeling 1164 00:55:50,933 --> 00:55:52,141 of anticipation. 1165 00:55:52,176 --> 00:55:56,076 Twenty years ago I thought 1998 was a million years off. 1166 00:55:56,801 --> 00:55:59,425 Geez it's really coming, this is really happening. 1167 00:56:00,184 --> 00:56:04,499 This is the original handwritten note in J.R. Bob Dobbs 1168 00:56:04,533 --> 00:56:12,541 own hand that says the world ends July 5th, 7am, 1998. 1169 00:56:13,197 --> 00:56:16,994 This is the original paper touched by Bob. 1170 00:56:18,064 --> 00:56:20,584 - It's been difficult to be patient, 1171 00:56:20,618 --> 00:56:22,965 but I knew that if I just persevered, 1172 00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:25,485 I'd be able to say goodbye from above, 1173 00:56:25,520 --> 00:56:26,659 from the saucers. 1174 00:56:26,693 --> 00:56:28,626 [Stang] Thirty seconds. 1175 00:56:28,661 --> 00:56:32,043 - Here's this joke that I've been telling myself 1176 00:56:32,078 --> 00:56:36,013 and other people for over half my life. 1177 00:56:36,565 --> 00:56:40,742 [Followers] Thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, 1178 00:56:40,776 --> 00:56:44,055 nine, eight, seven, 1179 00:56:44,090 --> 00:56:47,576 six, five, four, 1180 00:56:47,611 --> 00:56:50,752 three, two, one. 1181 00:56:50,786 --> 00:56:56,723 Fuck them if they can't take a joke. 1182 00:56:59,554 --> 00:57:02,695 [Onan] And then the saucers didn't show up. 1183 00:57:03,972 --> 00:57:07,665 - At one time, this, uh, date was comfortably far 1184 00:57:07,700 --> 00:57:12,808 in the future, but it has turned out that the 1185 00:57:12,843 --> 00:57:14,845 pleasure saucers of the sex goddesses 1186 00:57:14,879 --> 00:57:17,813 did not descend on that occasion to lift us 1187 00:57:17,848 --> 00:57:21,541 all off into universes of slack. 1188 00:57:22,577 --> 00:57:23,992 [Onan] Everybody was looking around. 1189 00:57:24,026 --> 00:57:25,511 Looking around at each other. 1190 00:57:25,545 --> 00:57:27,582 - He's a charlatan. 1191 00:57:28,686 --> 00:57:30,895 He's a fucking charlatan and he's been lying to us 1192 00:57:30,930 --> 00:57:32,690 all these years. 1193 00:57:32,725 --> 00:57:35,659 There ain't no Bob Dobbs, it's just a fucking dummy. 1194 00:57:35,693 --> 00:57:37,108 It's a fucking dummy. 1195 00:57:37,143 --> 00:57:39,110 - I just did what Bob told me to do. 1196 00:57:40,526 --> 00:57:42,769 - I had a real philosophical problem with the X day thing, 1197 00:57:42,804 --> 00:57:44,806 and I still have a hard time remembering the date 1198 00:57:44,840 --> 00:57:46,014 because in any religion, 1199 00:57:46,048 --> 00:57:47,774 if you have an end of the world date, 1200 00:57:47,809 --> 00:57:50,570 I think it should be written in the bylaws that that date 1201 00:57:50,605 --> 00:57:53,262 has to happen long after you, the person issuing the date, 1202 00:57:53,297 --> 00:57:54,229 is dead. 1203 00:57:54,263 --> 00:57:55,472 You don't put it just a few years later. 1204 00:57:55,506 --> 00:57:59,993 [Philo] We never really expected the Church to go to 1998. 1205 00:58:00,028 --> 00:58:03,997 Back in 1981, we set 98 out there cause it was still 1206 00:58:04,032 --> 00:58:05,171 way out there. 1207 00:58:05,205 --> 00:58:07,794 [Speaker] We tried to warn you children. 1208 00:58:07,829 --> 00:58:09,693 You wouldn't listen. 1209 00:58:11,798 --> 00:58:14,007 You can't take all the money, 1210 00:58:14,042 --> 00:58:15,008 all the girls, 1211 00:58:15,043 --> 00:58:16,147 and all the Slack 1212 00:58:16,182 --> 00:58:18,287 and never have to pay it back. 1213 00:58:18,322 --> 00:58:21,601 We're going to need a good lubricant, aren't we children? 1214 00:58:21,636 --> 00:58:28,608 [screaming and cheering] 1215 00:58:28,643 --> 00:58:34,856 [screaming and cheering] 1216 00:58:34,890 --> 00:58:36,685 [Dr. Legume] I guess to be honest, 1217 00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:39,239 I'd have to say that I never really expected 1218 00:58:39,274 --> 00:58:41,069 any flying saucers. 1219 00:58:42,346 --> 00:58:44,762 To be honest, 1220 00:58:44,797 --> 00:58:48,904 a lot of this stuff is really, really stupid, 1221 00:58:48,939 --> 00:58:53,875 but I guess a lot of people need something really stupid 1222 00:58:53,909 --> 00:58:56,084 in their lives to give it meaning. 1223 00:58:56,602 --> 00:58:58,086 - I don't know, it's still a pretty beautiful world 1224 00:58:58,120 --> 00:59:02,159 we've got here and Bob is still a very important part of my life 1225 00:59:02,193 --> 00:59:03,850 and always will be. 1226 00:59:07,267 --> 00:59:10,581 [Philo] There was some sense that, now what? 1227 00:59:12,963 --> 00:59:15,310 - The decade has been marked by strong growth, 1228 00:59:15,344 --> 00:59:17,761 the lowest unemployment in a generation 1229 00:59:17,795 --> 00:59:20,902 and yet remarkably little inflation. 1230 00:59:20,936 --> 00:59:24,353 [Reporter] Some think it's a boom without end. 1231 00:59:24,388 --> 00:59:28,116 - I was about to give up on the church. 1232 00:59:29,186 --> 00:59:32,361 The thing was 10, 15 years old and people were 1233 00:59:32,396 --> 00:59:33,604 starting to get tired of it 1234 00:59:33,639 --> 00:59:38,989 and things weren't quite as terrifying as they are now. 1235 00:59:40,749 --> 00:59:42,786 [Reporter] As freer trade flourished this decade, 1236 00:59:42,820 --> 00:59:46,065 the internet evolved into a commercial phenomenon. 1237 00:59:46,099 --> 00:59:47,929 - Then the internet came along. 1238 00:59:47,963 --> 00:59:51,346 [Onan] People can tune in to it 24 hours a day. 1239 00:59:51,380 --> 00:59:56,006 [Stang] Suddenly we could reach those fringe people 1240 00:59:56,040 --> 00:59:59,734 that weren't going to run into it in a bookstore. 1241 00:59:59,768 --> 01:00:02,322 [Onan] There's the loss of you have to know a guy. 1242 01:00:03,082 --> 01:00:07,983 - In the 80s, there was a cost to knowing about them. 1243 01:00:08,018 --> 01:00:13,195 Now you can meet people and signal who you are 1244 01:00:13,230 --> 01:00:15,646 in quicker and more efficient ways, 1245 01:00:15,681 --> 01:00:17,890 perhaps with less depth. 1246 01:00:18,269 --> 01:00:20,686 [Philo] The internet did so much to kill 1247 01:00:20,720 --> 01:00:23,758 so much old ways of doing things. 1248 01:00:23,792 --> 01:00:27,140 I think it makes it a lot harder now to make a big splash. 1249 01:00:27,175 --> 01:00:28,763 [Paul] It was a medium. 1250 01:00:28,797 --> 01:00:32,905 It flattens everything out like TV used to do, 1251 01:00:32,939 --> 01:00:35,735 so that an inconsequential offend is the same 1252 01:00:35,770 --> 01:00:37,806 as a horrendous calamity 1253 01:00:37,841 --> 01:00:41,085 or a staggering triumph of humanity 1254 01:00:41,120 --> 01:00:45,296 and the people exposed to it no longer can distinguish 1255 01:00:45,331 --> 01:00:50,198 between factual things and fantasies and trite. 1256 01:00:57,412 --> 01:00:58,689 [News Anchor] Good evening everyone. 1257 01:00:58,724 --> 01:01:01,312 The reaction of so many people today was, "Oh no, not again." 1258 01:01:01,347 --> 01:01:04,764 Another high school, Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado 1259 01:01:04,799 --> 01:01:08,043 this time on the edge of Denver, it has been a horror. 1260 01:01:08,078 --> 01:01:09,976 [Reporter] Police have identified the gunmen as 1261 01:01:10,011 --> 01:01:12,496 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. 1262 01:01:12,530 --> 01:01:15,257 They apparently belonged to a cliché of outcasts called 1263 01:01:15,292 --> 01:01:17,052 the Trench-coat Mafia. 1264 01:01:17,087 --> 01:01:18,951 [News Anchor] Do you have an explanation for this stuff? 1265 01:01:18,985 --> 01:01:21,298 - A lot of it's the feeling of being an outsider, 1266 01:01:21,332 --> 01:01:22,609 feeling disempowered. 1267 01:01:22,644 --> 01:01:24,750 [News Anchor] You have middle class kids that are alienated 1268 01:01:24,784 --> 01:01:28,063 and angry, and we've always had alienated kids, 1269 01:01:28,098 --> 01:01:30,514 but these kids become real powerful because they get 1270 01:01:30,548 --> 01:01:32,240 linked together via the internet 1271 01:01:32,274 --> 01:01:35,761 and the sad thing is that this may not be the end. 1272 01:01:35,795 --> 01:01:37,383 [Ray] Joe's next in Tallahassee. 1273 01:01:37,417 --> 01:01:38,556 Hi Joe. - Hey Ray. 1274 01:01:38,591 --> 01:01:40,904 This is all part of that Church and the SubGenius thing, 1275 01:01:40,938 --> 01:01:44,908 which is a big deal about exterminating the normals 1276 01:01:44,942 --> 01:01:46,150 and killing the pinks 1277 01:01:46,185 --> 01:01:48,912 and now we see the ultimate tuition of that. 1278 01:01:48,946 --> 01:01:50,085 Don't we? 1279 01:01:51,362 --> 01:01:56,160 - Father Joe Mama, not one to be accused of extra good taste. 1280 01:01:56,195 --> 01:02:01,062 He decided to promote our upcoming Boston show 1281 01:02:01,096 --> 01:02:03,547 in a kind of reverse way. 1282 01:02:03,581 --> 01:02:05,376 - Another one of my little functions in the 1283 01:02:05,411 --> 01:02:09,346 Church of the SubGenius is that of agent provocateur. 1284 01:02:09,380 --> 01:02:11,969 The face that makes the outside world think of the 1285 01:02:12,004 --> 01:02:14,523 Church of the SubGenius is very dangerous. 1286 01:02:14,558 --> 01:02:17,492 [Radio Host] Joe, you obviously know a lot about this cult, 1287 01:02:17,526 --> 01:02:21,461 and it sounds horrifying by your description. 1288 01:02:21,496 --> 01:02:24,119 [Joe Mama] They're having a devival this weekend in Boston 1289 01:02:24,154 --> 01:02:26,881 and the bodies aren't even cold in the graves. 1290 01:02:26,915 --> 01:02:28,399 And then the host says, "Well I always heard the 1291 01:02:28,434 --> 01:02:29,884 Church of the SubGenius was a joke." 1292 01:02:29,918 --> 01:02:30,885 Well see, that's the thing. 1293 01:02:30,919 --> 01:02:32,058 They pawn it off as a joke. 1294 01:02:32,093 --> 01:02:33,853 So people don't take it seriously. 1295 01:02:33,888 --> 01:02:35,821 [Philo] That was over the top. 1296 01:02:35,855 --> 01:02:38,375 Sure, you want to find the media event that you can 1297 01:02:38,409 --> 01:02:41,965 go get attention from, but that's bad taste. 1298 01:02:42,828 --> 01:02:45,347 [Stang] I didn't really appreciate that, 1299 01:02:45,382 --> 01:02:48,972 but I'm generally not going to run around censoring people 1300 01:02:49,006 --> 01:02:51,491 or telling people what they can or can't say. 1301 01:02:51,526 --> 01:02:55,012 - Somebody in Boston City Council did take us seriously 1302 01:02:55,047 --> 01:02:58,326 and they managed to get the venue to shut down 1303 01:02:58,360 --> 01:03:00,604 and not allow us to do the devival. 1304 01:03:00,638 --> 01:03:03,987 - The Cambridge Baptist Church heard about it 1305 01:03:04,021 --> 01:03:06,230 and came to our rescue and said, 1306 01:03:06,265 --> 01:03:11,132 you can do your devival at our church. 1307 01:03:11,166 --> 01:03:13,444 Then they started getting bomb threats. 1308 01:03:19,036 --> 01:03:20,589 [Joe Mama] We had basically performed outside the 1309 01:03:20,624 --> 01:03:22,937 venue in some park or something like that 1310 01:03:22,971 --> 01:03:26,285 and Friday had a chance to basically put me on trial 1311 01:03:26,319 --> 01:03:29,322 for this questionable humor and the whole time, 1312 01:03:29,357 --> 01:03:31,290 even though Friday and I are good friends 1313 01:03:31,324 --> 01:03:33,188 and I wasn't worried about what she would do, 1314 01:03:33,223 --> 01:03:37,330 the audience kind of took it a lot more seriously. 1315 01:03:37,365 --> 01:03:40,126 The choice is yours, my friends, do you merely want to 1316 01:03:40,161 --> 01:03:42,922 enslave the normals or do you want to add the options 1317 01:03:42,957 --> 01:03:44,855 to kill them dead on instinct? 1318 01:03:44,890 --> 01:03:46,408 - Like this one. 1319 01:03:46,443 --> 01:03:47,340 Kill. 1320 01:03:47,375 --> 01:03:49,653 Kill. Kill. Kill. 1321 01:03:49,687 --> 01:03:50,619 Kill. 1322 01:03:52,690 --> 01:03:54,106 [Joe Mama] You were wondering, 1323 01:03:54,140 --> 01:03:56,453 did they know that this was a joke? 1324 01:03:57,937 --> 01:04:02,424 - There've been many situations where people 1325 01:04:02,459 --> 01:04:05,289 got the wrong idea about Church of the SubGenius. 1326 01:04:05,324 --> 01:04:09,466 Of course we want them to, so we asked for it, 1327 01:04:09,500 --> 01:04:13,021 but it has backfired a few times. 1328 01:04:13,056 --> 01:04:16,197 [Dr. Legume] There actually were serious cult deprogrammers 1329 01:04:16,231 --> 01:04:20,408 who had added Church of the SubGenius to their watch lists 1330 01:04:20,442 --> 01:04:24,377 of cults to watch out for and warn people about. 1331 01:04:24,412 --> 01:04:27,380 This Church of the SubGenius hates a lot of things. 1332 01:04:27,415 --> 01:04:30,107 They hate the right things. 1333 01:04:30,142 --> 01:04:35,009 Sometimes they make fun of the wrong things. 1334 01:04:37,563 --> 01:04:40,428 - I dropped character now because there've been 1335 01:04:40,462 --> 01:04:42,223 so many crazies. 1336 01:04:42,257 --> 01:04:47,607 It's important for me not to leave behind 1337 01:04:47,642 --> 01:04:52,647 another Scientology or Mormonism. 1338 01:04:52,681 --> 01:04:55,339 - I don't know that they really got the message. 1339 01:04:55,374 --> 01:04:59,274 You know that the real message is: 1340 01:04:59,309 --> 01:05:00,689 Think for yourself, 1341 01:05:00,724 --> 01:05:02,208 be your own leader. 1342 01:05:02,243 --> 01:05:06,695 - The idea is not in restraint. 1343 01:05:06,730 --> 01:05:10,492 It's in confronting the dark things. 1344 01:05:11,010 --> 01:05:15,083 Finding the things that hurt us and tear us apart 1345 01:05:15,118 --> 01:05:17,534 and pulling the fangs out of them, 1346 01:05:17,568 --> 01:05:21,538 making them into a fucking joke 1347 01:05:21,572 --> 01:05:24,713 because that's the whole premise of the Church, 1348 01:05:24,748 --> 01:05:27,475 is fuck them if they can't take a joke. 1349 01:05:38,624 --> 01:05:41,006 [News Anchor] This just in, you are looking at obviously 1350 01:05:41,040 --> 01:05:42,593 a very disturbing live shot there. 1351 01:05:42,628 --> 01:05:45,596 The plane has crashed into one of the towers 1352 01:05:45,631 --> 01:05:47,702 of the World Trade Center. 1353 01:05:48,496 --> 01:05:53,052 - Terrorism against our nation will not stand 1354 01:05:53,087 --> 01:05:55,503 and now if you join me in a moment of silence. 1355 01:05:58,609 --> 01:06:02,406 - The view from my apartment... 1356 01:06:06,479 --> 01:06:08,136 was the World Trade Center. 1357 01:06:08,481 --> 01:06:11,001 - Watching all of this, I wasn't sure that I should be doing 1358 01:06:11,036 --> 01:06:15,247 a television show because for 20 years we've been in the city 1359 01:06:15,281 --> 01:06:16,524 making fun of everything, 1360 01:06:16,558 --> 01:06:19,768 making fun of the city to come to this circumstance that is 1361 01:06:19,803 --> 01:06:22,771 so desperately sad, I and I don't trust my judgment 1362 01:06:22,806 --> 01:06:24,635 in matters like this. 1363 01:06:24,670 --> 01:06:26,810 - Like I was thinking the other day that you can figure out 1364 01:06:26,844 --> 01:06:29,606 how bad a person you are by how soon after September 11th 1365 01:06:29,640 --> 01:06:32,298 you masturbated, like how long you waited. 1366 01:06:32,333 --> 01:06:34,231 - I don't like political correctness in any of its forms. 1367 01:06:34,266 --> 01:06:35,784 I'm not saying you shouldn't be allowed to say it. 1368 01:06:35,819 --> 01:06:36,923 Not funny at all. 1369 01:06:36,958 --> 01:06:40,651 - I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, 1370 01:06:40,686 --> 01:06:44,345 and the people who knocked these buildings down 1371 01:06:44,379 --> 01:06:47,210 will hear all of us soon. 1372 01:06:47,244 --> 01:06:49,695 [Nurse Kelly] Time was changing and we could feel it. 1373 01:06:50,385 --> 01:06:52,629 - I kind of feared that this may be the end of the 1374 01:06:52,663 --> 01:06:56,529 Church and the SubGenius soon just because... 1375 01:06:58,221 --> 01:07:02,397 just because we're not going to be able to make fun of 1376 01:07:02,432 --> 01:07:04,089 things that hurt people. 1377 01:07:04,123 --> 01:07:06,194 [Reporter] President Bush finds himself enjoying huge 1378 01:07:06,229 --> 01:07:07,402 public support. 1379 01:07:07,437 --> 01:07:09,542 [George W. Bush] Either you're with us, 1380 01:07:09,577 --> 01:07:11,579 either you love freedom 1381 01:07:11,613 --> 01:07:13,305 or you're with the enemy. 1382 01:07:15,307 --> 01:07:19,414 [Stang] It was getting kind of serious and disturbing. 1383 01:07:25,455 --> 01:07:28,699 [Radio Host] Yetis and simpletons, we have a lot of 1384 01:07:28,734 --> 01:07:31,806 fun here at the Institute, 1385 01:07:31,840 --> 01:07:36,466 but unfortunately the fish has hit the fan. 1386 01:07:36,500 --> 01:07:41,471 Reverend Mary Magdalen has had her child taken from her 1387 01:07:41,505 --> 01:07:44,715 for no greater crime than her membership in the 1388 01:07:44,750 --> 01:07:46,683 Church of the SubGenius 1389 01:07:46,717 --> 01:07:50,721 and her participation in X day drills. 1390 01:07:50,756 --> 01:07:53,310 [Stang] Because of pictures on the internet, 1391 01:07:53,345 --> 01:07:57,694 the family court judge in this little town in New York state 1392 01:07:57,728 --> 01:08:00,731 took the little boy away from the mom 1393 01:08:00,766 --> 01:08:04,597 because she was a SubGenius. 1394 01:08:04,632 --> 01:08:08,187 [Radio Host] Why don't you head to your favorite web browser 1395 01:08:08,222 --> 01:08:14,193 and type in subgenius.com/maghelp. 1396 01:08:14,918 --> 01:08:16,609 - They got the kid back, 1397 01:08:16,644 --> 01:08:19,647 not because of sanity on the part of the judges, 1398 01:08:19,681 --> 01:08:24,203 it was because the biological father screwed up so very badly, 1399 01:08:24,238 --> 01:08:28,483 but for two years, we were in the news. 1400 01:08:30,658 --> 01:08:34,455 - I just thought, if I'm associated with something 1401 01:08:34,489 --> 01:08:36,629 where they can take away my kids, 1402 01:08:36,664 --> 01:08:39,736 I don't want my name anywhere on it and I think that's a 1403 01:08:39,770 --> 01:08:42,359 reminder about who we are today, 1404 01:08:42,394 --> 01:08:45,328 where you get punished for who you're associated with. 1405 01:08:45,362 --> 01:08:49,194 - You must be ready to unleash a shitload of fire and brimstone, 1406 01:08:49,228 --> 01:08:52,507 death, bullets, lead, guns, fucking knives... 1407 01:08:52,542 --> 01:08:55,476 For a while, I was feeling a bit morally culpable about 1408 01:08:55,510 --> 01:08:59,894 telling a group of people who are attracted to an organization 1409 01:08:59,928 --> 01:09:03,760 that is targeted towards 1410 01:09:03,794 --> 01:09:07,936 awkward and marginalized and sometimes mentally ill people 1411 01:09:07,971 --> 01:09:10,215 and standing up in front of them like some big 1412 01:09:10,249 --> 01:09:13,321 pumped up superheroes screaming and yelling about 1413 01:09:13,356 --> 01:09:15,599 how they should live a life of hate. 1414 01:09:17,877 --> 01:09:20,880 [Stang] A lot of the energy that was there was from, 1415 01:09:20,915 --> 01:09:23,607 I won't say we were pissed off or mad or angry, 1416 01:09:23,642 --> 01:09:26,403 but maybe we were a little bit angry; 1417 01:09:26,438 --> 01:09:28,957 angry young man railing against the system 1418 01:09:28,992 --> 01:09:31,443 a little bit through humor. 1419 01:09:31,477 --> 01:09:33,169 - Because we hate you. 1420 01:09:33,583 --> 01:09:36,689 [Stang] But I think that you can't sustain that level 1421 01:09:36,724 --> 01:09:38,622 for that long and I think the people get tired 1422 01:09:38,657 --> 01:09:40,762 and want something new after a while. 1423 01:09:41,694 --> 01:09:44,663 - I took a lot of these zaniness and the absurdity 1424 01:09:44,697 --> 01:09:47,321 and that actually was very helpful to have 1425 01:09:47,355 --> 01:09:50,427 and to kind of have in your hip pocket as you went through life. 1426 01:09:50,462 --> 01:09:54,880 But it got a little too far out for me. 1427 01:09:57,434 --> 01:09:59,022 - I had an epiphany. 1428 01:09:59,056 --> 01:10:03,992 I realized that The Conspiracy that had stolen my Slack 1429 01:10:04,027 --> 01:10:07,893 for 50 years of my life was me. 1430 01:10:09,032 --> 01:10:12,346 I had to lay off the hate part of it. 1431 01:10:13,657 --> 01:10:18,662 Like anything, Bob is best in reasonable, sensible doses. 1432 01:10:19,594 --> 01:10:22,873 You do not want to drink the whole pitcher of Kool-Aid, 1433 01:10:22,908 --> 01:10:26,222 you just what to drink a small cup. 1434 01:10:27,326 --> 01:10:28,810 I don't really want to destroy you, man, 1435 01:10:28,845 --> 01:10:32,228 and you don't even care if the saucers come or not. 1436 01:10:34,022 --> 01:10:36,991 [Philo] I took a short break when I was transferred 1437 01:10:37,025 --> 01:10:38,751 to California. 1438 01:10:38,786 --> 01:10:42,617 I was actually being career advanced in the company 1439 01:10:42,652 --> 01:10:43,480 I was working for. 1440 01:10:43,515 --> 01:10:45,896 They thought I was doing a great job, 1441 01:10:45,931 --> 01:10:48,416 so I just followed it. 1442 01:10:48,451 --> 01:10:54,871 I couldn't be as strong in the church as I wanted to be 1443 01:10:54,905 --> 01:10:58,771 and having as much fun with it as I did, you know. 1444 01:10:59,669 --> 01:11:02,534 [Stang] The world never did know about Church of the SubGenius. 1445 01:11:02,568 --> 01:11:06,538 We never were that big. 1446 01:11:07,332 --> 01:11:09,851 It is kind of obscure that keeps it special. 1447 01:11:09,886 --> 01:11:11,784 If everybody knew about it, 1448 01:11:11,819 --> 01:11:13,579 it would be normal. 1449 01:11:14,684 --> 01:11:15,892 [Paul] We were just too lazy. 1450 01:11:15,926 --> 01:11:19,067 We didn't want to be responsible for our own cult members. 1451 01:11:19,102 --> 01:11:23,693 We just wanted to tap them on the forehead and say, wake up. 1452 01:11:24,452 --> 01:11:29,354 And of course some people you have to hit with a sledgehammer, 1453 01:11:29,388 --> 01:11:31,977 and even then that doesn't do the trick. 1454 01:11:32,426 --> 01:11:35,325 Or you can get them to wake for a second or two 1455 01:11:35,360 --> 01:11:37,672 and then they doze off again 1456 01:11:37,707 --> 01:11:41,366 as soon as they see a cat picture on the internet. 1457 01:11:41,400 --> 01:11:48,407 [dramatic music] 1458 01:11:48,442 --> 01:11:50,685 - Today's secret ingredient is... 1459 01:11:50,720 --> 01:11:54,482 [dramatic music] 1460 01:11:54,517 --> 01:11:57,589 [cheers] 1461 01:12:00,592 --> 01:12:01,524 - How am I doing? 1462 01:12:01,558 --> 01:12:02,490 Am I doing okay? 1463 01:12:02,525 --> 01:12:03,388 I'm President. 1464 01:12:03,422 --> 01:12:04,699 Hey, I'm President. 1465 01:12:04,734 --> 01:12:06,598 Can you believe it? 1466 01:12:07,530 --> 01:12:10,774 [Paul] Donald Trump's probably the most SubGenius 1467 01:12:10,809 --> 01:12:13,329 world leader there's ever been. 1468 01:12:15,848 --> 01:12:18,886 He's completely caught up in his own world. 1469 01:12:18,920 --> 01:12:22,683 Does what he wants makes up his own reality. 1470 01:12:22,717 --> 01:12:23,994 - I'm not going to give you a question. 1471 01:12:24,029 --> 01:12:25,755 - Can you state- - You are fake news. 1472 01:12:25,789 --> 01:12:28,999 - Sean Spicer, our Press Secretary gave 1473 01:12:29,034 --> 01:12:29,966 alternative facts. 1474 01:12:30,000 --> 01:12:34,729 - Facts and lies have no meaning to him. 1475 01:12:34,764 --> 01:12:37,732 SubGenius, but not in a good way. 1476 01:12:37,767 --> 01:12:38,699 - Trump steaks. 1477 01:12:38,733 --> 01:12:40,183 Where are the steaks? Do we have steaks? 1478 01:12:40,217 --> 01:12:41,874 We've been friends for a long time. 1479 01:12:41,909 --> 01:12:44,014 - We're living in a world that's upside down. 1480 01:12:44,049 --> 01:12:46,189 Trump is the perfect example now 1481 01:12:46,223 --> 01:12:48,778 of a world turned upside down. 1482 01:12:49,503 --> 01:12:50,883 He's the "Joker." 1483 01:12:51,125 --> 01:12:53,023 - This is a special year. 1484 01:12:53,058 --> 01:12:55,612 Our country is doing great. 1485 01:12:55,923 --> 01:12:59,547 [Penn] We've got surreal, 1486 01:12:59,582 --> 01:13:01,687 unbelievable, 1487 01:13:01,722 --> 01:13:02,895 shocking, 1488 01:13:02,930 --> 01:13:04,172 psychedelic 1489 01:13:04,207 --> 01:13:06,071 covered with reality right now. 1490 01:13:06,105 --> 01:13:08,970 - It's not a good place for any party to end up 1491 01:13:09,005 --> 01:13:12,042 with a cult-like situation. 1492 01:13:12,077 --> 01:13:15,908 - I mean, Bob Dobbs is not in any way 1493 01:13:15,943 --> 01:13:17,841 weirder than Donald Trump. 1494 01:13:17,876 --> 01:13:19,153 I mean, Donald Trump wins. 1495 01:13:19,187 --> 01:13:22,087 - I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody 1496 01:13:22,121 --> 01:13:23,502 and I wouldn't lose any voters. 1497 01:13:23,537 --> 01:13:24,503 Okay? 1498 01:13:24,538 --> 01:13:26,540 [Audience] USA. USA. 1499 01:13:26,574 --> 01:13:28,783 - It's very effective to slice the world up 1500 01:13:28,818 --> 01:13:31,786 and to pit everyone against each other. 1501 01:13:31,821 --> 01:13:34,479 It's an effective means for power. 1502 01:13:34,513 --> 01:13:37,205 - The country of Mexico is killing us. 1503 01:13:37,240 --> 01:13:41,071 The crime, and the gangs, and the drugs. 1504 01:13:41,106 --> 01:13:41,934 [Group Chant] Build that wall. 1505 01:13:41,969 --> 01:13:43,108 Build that wall. 1506 01:13:43,142 --> 01:13:44,178 Build that wall. 1507 01:13:44,212 --> 01:13:49,114 - We're torn as SubGeniuses because of course 1508 01:13:49,148 --> 01:13:53,946 a good portion of our viewpoint is that 1509 01:13:53,981 --> 01:13:57,156 The Conspiracy is out of control. 1510 01:13:58,226 --> 01:14:01,540 In fact, to our horror each passing day, 1511 01:14:01,575 --> 01:14:04,681 the world seems more and more SubGenius. 1512 01:14:04,716 --> 01:14:08,202 - I've got highly effective all-natural weight loss aids- 1513 01:14:08,236 --> 01:14:09,928 [screaming and cheering] 1514 01:14:09,962 --> 01:14:13,828 - The great story here is this vast right-wing conspiracy. 1515 01:14:13,863 --> 01:14:15,278 [Donald Trump] There are many people that don't agree 1516 01:14:15,312 --> 01:14:16,555 with that birth certificate. 1517 01:14:16,590 --> 01:14:18,177 - I can't trust Obama. 1518 01:14:18,212 --> 01:14:19,903 He's an Arab. 1519 01:14:19,938 --> 01:14:21,111 He is not- 1520 01:14:21,146 --> 01:14:24,011 - Everybody is in their own private Idaho. 1521 01:14:24,045 --> 01:14:25,840 Everybody's in their own bubble 1522 01:14:25,875 --> 01:14:28,705 and all they do is go into a feedback loop 1523 01:14:28,740 --> 01:14:31,259 where they can get things to reaffirm 1524 01:14:31,294 --> 01:14:32,916 what they already think. 1525 01:14:32,951 --> 01:14:35,229 - This administration is trying to fool you 1526 01:14:35,263 --> 01:14:37,714 into believing that the news the white house doesn't 1527 01:14:37,749 --> 01:14:39,267 really like, well, isn't news. 1528 01:14:39,302 --> 01:14:40,993 - Three million illegals voted. 1529 01:14:41,028 --> 01:14:42,926 - Where are you getting your information? 1530 01:14:42,961 --> 01:14:45,584 - The Soviet Union has a worldwide 1531 01:14:45,619 --> 01:14:47,828 disinformation network. 1532 01:14:47,862 --> 01:14:50,900 [Stang] They go to media sites that incite them, 1533 01:14:50,934 --> 01:14:53,592 that make them paranoid and worried 1534 01:14:53,627 --> 01:14:55,732 and fretful about the future. 1535 01:14:55,767 --> 01:14:58,148 - They can't control the amount of rapes that are going on. 1536 01:14:58,183 --> 01:14:59,287 - Just because they're refugees doesn't mean they're 1537 01:14:59,322 --> 01:15:00,599 fucking rapists. 1538 01:15:00,634 --> 01:15:02,739 - They're racist, sexist, homophobic, 1539 01:15:02,774 --> 01:15:03,878 xenophobic. 1540 01:15:03,913 --> 01:15:05,639 - I am no racists. 1541 01:15:05,673 --> 01:15:07,192 - You're voting for Donald Trump. 1542 01:15:07,226 --> 01:15:09,746 [Jerry Casale] None of them are interested in breaking 1543 01:15:09,781 --> 01:15:13,854 out of the loop and realizing, "Oh, I've been duped, 1544 01:15:13,888 --> 01:15:15,303 I've been programmed." 1545 01:15:15,338 --> 01:15:17,340 - Trump Derangement Syndrome, 1546 01:15:17,374 --> 01:15:20,067 hatred of Donald Trump so intense that it 1547 01:15:20,101 --> 01:15:21,896 impairs people's judgment. 1548 01:15:22,828 --> 01:15:25,624 [Jerry Casale] Like if you quit being real humans 1549 01:15:25,659 --> 01:15:28,593 and thinking for yourselves, it's over. 1550 01:15:30,698 --> 01:15:33,943 [Donald Trump] This is your country. 1551 01:15:35,945 --> 01:15:39,776 [Penn] I don't know how you carve out 1552 01:15:39,811 --> 01:15:45,195 a place for that kind of playful us and them 1553 01:15:45,230 --> 01:15:48,371 in a place where the news 1554 01:15:48,405 --> 01:15:51,132 is filling so many of those roles. 1555 01:15:51,823 --> 01:15:54,273 That being said, 1556 01:15:54,308 --> 01:15:59,382 I also couldn't have thought of the SubGenius in 1978, 1557 01:15:59,416 --> 01:16:03,628 so obviously they're better at this than I am. 1558 01:16:05,008 --> 01:16:07,321 [Howland] There's always going to be a conspiracy. 1559 01:16:07,355 --> 01:16:09,806 It can morph, it can change and it can evolve 1560 01:16:09,841 --> 01:16:12,050 and so can the Church of the SubGenius. 1561 01:16:12,084 --> 01:16:14,880 - We'll never fix the government like, 1562 01:16:14,915 --> 01:16:17,020 we'll never get it to where everyone is happy. 1563 01:16:17,055 --> 01:16:19,609 There will always be acrimony 1564 01:16:19,644 --> 01:16:23,337 and so we desperately need comedy. 1565 01:16:23,371 --> 01:16:26,236 - Well, I think the best thing we can do is 1566 01:16:26,271 --> 01:16:28,860 spread our message 1567 01:16:28,894 --> 01:16:34,313 and hope that it is useful in the coming crisis, 1568 01:16:34,348 --> 01:16:38,145 which is descending on the planet 1569 01:16:38,179 --> 01:16:40,803 and the human world that inhabits it. 1570 01:17:02,445 --> 01:17:05,172 [Stang] For the last 20 years, the only thing I had to do 1571 01:17:05,206 --> 01:17:07,070 to make my half of the mortgage payments 1572 01:17:07,105 --> 01:17:10,833 is keep selling SubGenius ministerships. 1573 01:17:12,041 --> 01:17:13,352 And it occurred to me, wait a minute, 1574 01:17:13,387 --> 01:17:14,595 this isn't a bad gig at all. 1575 01:17:14,630 --> 01:17:17,460 Once a month I have to sit here and assemble these things. 1576 01:17:17,494 --> 01:17:21,326 Maybe spend half an hour a day taking them to the post office? 1577 01:17:22,120 --> 01:17:23,673 That's not bad. 1578 01:17:25,813 --> 01:17:28,713 People are still obviously getting a lot out of it. 1579 01:17:29,161 --> 01:17:31,301 Just last week, I went to the post office 1580 01:17:31,336 --> 01:17:35,340 and there was this envelope there, postage due. 1581 01:17:35,374 --> 01:17:39,171 I had to fork out $2 and 45 cents just to find out 1582 01:17:39,206 --> 01:17:43,141 what was in this letter and it had no return address on it. 1583 01:17:44,383 --> 01:17:46,972 The postal guy said, "Well, I could just throw it away." 1584 01:17:47,007 --> 01:17:49,768 And I went, "Man, it's probably a joke, but it better be funny." 1585 01:17:50,182 --> 01:17:51,908 I got home and opened it up. 1586 01:17:51,943 --> 01:17:55,809 It had $1,000 in $20 bills in there 1587 01:17:55,843 --> 01:17:57,258 just out of the blue. 1588 01:17:58,121 --> 01:18:01,711 I immediately took half of it to a sick person that I know 1589 01:18:01,746 --> 01:18:03,955 who cried with gratitude. 1590 01:18:04,818 --> 01:18:07,268 It's like, no, we're not crazy to keep doing this. 1591 01:18:07,993 --> 01:18:12,342 It really does come along at the right time for some people. 1592 01:18:12,377 --> 01:18:14,379 [cars passing] 1593 01:18:21,386 --> 01:18:23,388 [cars passing] 1594 01:18:32,121 --> 01:18:33,329 - Palmer, 1595 01:18:34,399 --> 01:18:35,711 Palmer, 1596 01:18:36,125 --> 01:18:37,367 what happened to Philo? 1597 01:18:37,402 --> 01:18:38,265 - He's hiding. 1598 01:18:38,299 --> 01:18:39,473 - Oh. 1599 01:18:39,507 --> 01:18:41,475 You guys look awful, 1600 01:18:41,509 --> 01:18:43,442 but a lot better than I expected. 1601 01:18:43,477 --> 01:18:44,961 Ay yi yi yi yi. 1602 01:18:45,375 --> 01:18:46,342 Praise Bob. 1603 01:18:46,376 --> 01:18:48,102 Welcome to Austin. 1604 01:18:51,416 --> 01:18:53,349 [Philo] This is sort of like a booze quest. 1605 01:18:55,420 --> 01:18:57,422 Uh-oh, another human blockade. 1606 01:18:59,389 --> 01:19:01,081 Look, there's something. 1607 01:19:01,115 --> 01:19:02,807 There's a mermaid woman. 1608 01:19:03,497 --> 01:19:04,567 A mer-woman. 1609 01:19:04,601 --> 01:19:07,984 - That's you, once you get your shirt off, honey. 1610 01:19:08,019 --> 01:19:09,883 [Philo] Oh, I thought it was for real. 1611 01:19:09,917 --> 01:19:11,194 - You first- - This is just a sad- 1612 01:19:11,229 --> 01:19:13,058 - I bet you if you take your clothes off, 1613 01:19:13,093 --> 01:19:14,197 everybody here will follow you. 1614 01:19:14,232 --> 01:19:15,578 [Philo] This is just a sad, sad joke. 1615 01:19:15,612 --> 01:19:16,821 - Do it. - No, no. 1616 01:19:16,855 --> 01:19:19,099 - If you took your clothes off and I'll bet you anything- 1617 01:19:19,133 --> 01:19:20,410 [Philo] I'm not a leader. 1618 01:19:20,445 --> 01:19:21,964 I'm just a fast follower. 1619 01:19:21,998 --> 01:19:24,449 - If you were to do that. 1620 01:19:24,483 --> 01:19:25,484 - I'm the second guy in. 1621 01:19:25,519 --> 01:19:29,143 - She'd be next, and then her, and then her... 1622 01:19:29,178 --> 01:19:32,077 To me it's always been play. 1623 01:19:33,320 --> 01:19:35,011 You go to a SubGenius show, 1624 01:19:35,046 --> 01:19:37,565 they're not waving their arms in anger. 1625 01:19:37,600 --> 01:19:40,465 They might be pretending to, 1626 01:19:40,499 --> 01:19:43,157 but that's the main thing you get, 1627 01:19:43,192 --> 01:19:44,400 is laughter. 1628 01:19:46,989 --> 01:19:49,405 [Philo] We're still just playing. 1629 01:19:50,164 --> 01:19:53,616 - This is Philo and I'm Ivan. 1630 01:19:53,650 --> 01:19:55,307 - Tony, this is Reverend Stang. 1631 01:19:55,342 --> 01:19:56,826 - Yeah, I'm a reverend. 1632 01:19:56,861 --> 01:19:58,552 - We're cult leaders is what we really are. 1633 01:19:58,586 --> 01:20:01,003 Our real job is to be cult leaders. 1634 01:20:01,037 --> 01:20:03,384 [Stang] There you go, these'll take you like a 1635 01:20:03,419 --> 01:20:05,352 week and a half to read. 1636 01:20:05,386 --> 01:20:08,217 It's called Church of the SubGenius. 1637 01:20:08,251 --> 01:20:11,496 If you're not a genius, you'd probably qualify. 1638 01:20:12,359 --> 01:20:15,949 - If you feel different and you feel oppressed by 1639 01:20:15,983 --> 01:20:20,436 society's imposition of normalcy on you, 1640 01:20:20,470 --> 01:20:22,058 you don't have to be that way. 1641 01:20:22,093 --> 01:20:24,509 You could be the person that you want to be. 1642 01:20:26,649 --> 01:20:29,100 We know that we think for ourselves, 1643 01:20:29,134 --> 01:20:32,966 and that's more important than you thinking like me. 1644 01:20:59,130 --> 01:21:00,959 [Stang] Test, test, test. 1645 01:21:00,994 --> 01:21:01,891 [Sound Crew] Okay. 1646 01:21:01,926 --> 01:21:04,031 - It was the night 62 million assholes 1647 01:21:04,066 --> 01:21:07,517 scraped rat feces into their exposed skull cavities 1648 01:21:07,552 --> 01:21:10,106 with a rusty butter knife. 1649 01:21:10,141 --> 01:21:13,144 Everyone agreed that change was needed to make America 1650 01:21:13,178 --> 01:21:16,423 great again, and it didn't much matter that we'd soon be having 1651 01:21:16,457 --> 01:21:19,978 our urethras board out with a high speed electric drill, 1652 01:21:20,013 --> 01:21:23,223 at least until the Ku Klux Klan settled in and got comfortable 1653 01:21:23,257 --> 01:21:25,466 over at the Justice Department. 1654 01:21:25,673 --> 01:21:29,367 Every week when the baboons came down from Oatmeal Ridge, 1655 01:21:29,401 --> 01:21:32,197 they'd all circle around the plasma TV to watch 1656 01:21:32,232 --> 01:21:34,372 Fox and Friends. 1657 01:21:34,406 --> 01:21:37,030 Now that the judicial branch was well-stocked with 1658 01:21:37,064 --> 01:21:40,136 white nationalists, they didn't have to worry so much about the 1659 01:21:40,171 --> 01:21:44,451 colored folk or the multi-dicked Mexican rape demons. 1660 01:21:44,485 --> 01:21:48,351 Best of all, there'd still be plenty of sports to watch 1661 01:21:48,386 --> 01:21:50,491 and everyone loved all the choices of the 1662 01:21:50,526 --> 01:21:52,528 Applebee's salad bar. 1663 01:21:54,047 --> 01:21:54,910 The end. 1664 01:21:54,944 --> 01:21:56,325 Now it's time for you kids get bed. 1665 01:21:56,359 --> 01:21:57,636 Nighty night. 1666 01:22:00,674 --> 01:22:05,058 [Radio Crew] Five, four, three, two. 1667 01:22:06,369 --> 01:22:08,095 - It's bubbling- 1668 01:22:08,130 --> 01:22:09,234 - Bubbling Evidence? 1669 01:22:09,269 --> 01:22:10,235 - Yes. 1670 01:22:10,270 --> 01:22:12,237 - But I think it's Bubbling Evidence, yeah. 1671 01:22:12,272 --> 01:22:14,136 Yeah, I'm not sure what the name of the show is. 1672 01:22:14,170 --> 01:22:16,310 - It's Puddling Effluence. - Questionable Judgment. 1673 01:22:16,345 --> 01:22:18,140 I think it's Questionable Judgment. 1674 01:22:18,174 --> 01:22:20,452 - Questionable Judgment, that's for sure. 1675 01:22:20,487 --> 01:22:21,177 That's a description. 1676 01:22:21,212 --> 01:22:22,696 That's the abstract of the show. 1677 01:22:22,730 --> 01:22:25,216 - Bishop Joey is here with us. 1678 01:22:25,250 --> 01:22:26,286 - Yeah, he is. 1679 01:22:26,320 --> 01:22:27,528 - Tonight on the show. 1680 01:22:27,563 --> 01:22:30,704 - Well Bishop Joey, what is your church's version of Slack? 1681 01:22:30,738 --> 01:22:32,016 - Most of us wear clothes. 1682 01:22:40,024 --> 01:22:41,128 - We already did that. 1683 01:22:41,163 --> 01:22:43,475 Our church did that long ago with the all-inclusive 1684 01:22:43,510 --> 01:22:44,338 divine excuse. 1685 01:22:44,373 --> 01:22:46,168 That's the first thing we gave them. 1686 01:22:46,202 --> 01:22:48,653 You just need an excuse that excuses you for anything 1687 01:22:48,687 --> 01:22:50,413 that may have happened or might happen at 1688 01:22:50,448 --> 01:22:56,143 any time in the future. 1689 01:22:56,178 --> 01:23:01,045 ♪ Is it true what they say about Bob? ♪ 1690 01:23:01,424 --> 01:23:05,739 ♪ That when you have Bob life's no prob? ♪ 1691 01:23:06,671 --> 01:23:09,156 ♪ He'll give you Slack 1692 01:23:09,191 --> 01:23:12,021 ♪ And more sex than you can hack. ♪ 1693 01:23:12,056 --> 01:23:16,094 ♪ Oh, life's a bowl of cherries with Bob Dobbs. ♪ 1694 01:23:16,612 --> 01:23:20,996 ♪ Is it true what they say about Bob? ♪ 1695 01:23:21,375 --> 01:23:25,310 ♪ That when you have Bob life's no prob? ♪ 1696 01:23:25,828 --> 01:23:28,451 ♪ If you want drugs, then he will give you God's. ♪ 1697 01:23:31,178 --> 01:23:35,113 ♪ Oh life's a bowl of cherries with Bob Dobbs. ♪ 1698 01:23:35,596 --> 01:23:40,118 ♪ Is it true what they say about Bob? ♪ 1699 01:23:40,463 --> 01:23:45,054 ♪ That when you have Bob life's no prob? ♪ 1700 01:23:45,365 --> 01:23:47,746 ♪ Send a dollar and a letter 1701 01:23:47,781 --> 01:23:51,233 ♪ And you'll feel, oh, so much better. ♪ 1702 01:23:51,267 --> 01:23:53,338 ♪ Life's a bowl of cherries with, ♪ 1703 01:23:53,373 --> 01:23:55,547 ♪ And life's a bowl of cherries with, ♪ 1704 01:23:55,582 --> 01:24:00,587 ♪ Oh life's a bowl of cherries with Bob Dobbs. ♪