Al's Brain

Post by **Kristine** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 7:26 am

They fixed the hand problem on the website. Maybe Al dropped by here?

Post by **TMBJon** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:46 am

Hey everyone, I just got back from the "Al's Brain" world premiere!!

First, I had to sit through two hours of traffic and I was really worried I wouldn't make it in time, but I finally got there only a few minutes after 6:30. And who did I run into in the parking lot right away but our very own Nan (aka Diva)! Shortly thereafter, we met up with Vikki and her son, Joe LaVelle, Kevin Cable, and Tina: the AlFest Committee Team!! We meandered around the fairgrounds for a while, checking out the food options when suddenly who do we spy but Mr. Yankovic himself mingling with Judy Tenuta and other guests. Wow, he was so busy the entire evening!

After a while he came over near where we were, and everyone else was too chicken to say hi to him at first so finally I went over and got to say hello. Wouldn't you know it, despite not seeing each other for two years Al remembered me! I don't know how he does it, although he had a little help this time: he mentioned that he saw my tweet ("See you soon, @alyankovic!"). We briefly discussed Twitter usage, iPhones, "Craigslist", and Al's Brain. Btw, Al confirmed that the Kona codec tweet from a few days ago was in reference to Al's Brain and we joked about how no one knew what he was talking about when he wrote that. Then Vikki took a photo of us on her camera and one on my phone (actually several on my phone as she kept accidentally pressing the button).

Here's my favorite picture that Vikki accidentally took. Al was entertaining someone else while I got my phone set up and she happened to catch the moment when he was saying "Hold on one minute, Jon."

The rest of my pictures are viewable on my Twitter account. The only other one I'll upload is this one of Al and me:

So anyway, after that I started spotting a lot of the people Al tweeted, though I never saw Drew Carey. I did see Jay Levey, Bermuda, Jim, Rubén, Suzanne, and Nina! I had never seen Nina before but WHAT A CUTIE!! She looks just like her mother, and was even wearing a matching butterfly Hawaiian shirt. With the exception of Suzanne, I did get to briefly meet and chat with all of the above. No idea where Steve was, but Jon ran through his AlFest plans (

) and Rubén expressed excitement for treating the fans to his other style of music, as Al "doesn't let him out much."

After a while, we got let into the Al's Brain tent. Note that THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS AT THIS POINT so if you don't want to read them, skip the next two paragraphs.
We entered through the exhibit hall, which was smaller than I had expected and mostly consisted of demonstrations of what various parts of the brain did. It was all very cool looking with lights pointing everywhere and subtle Al-humor thrown in on some of the signs. I even noticed an Emo Philips quote at one point. All of the sudden (while talking to Rubén actually), the lights dimmed and two videos played - the Al's Brain trailer from the website, as well as a new "educational video" like the ones from The Weird Al Show about the brain. After these played, we were let into the auditorium, which had bench seating. Remember, this is just the temporary housing for the exhibit. After a few minutes, the show began.

All in all, it was a really fun movie - shorter than I expected though. I thought I read somewhere it would be 20 min but it was more like 9 or 10. Anyway, the premise of the movie is Al introduces the video (and makes good use of the 3D) right away, then we go into his underground lair where he fields questions from "man on the street" clips asking about the brain. He and a series of characters answered the questions, and it featured cameo appearances by Tim & Eric, Tom Lennon, Patton Oswalt, and yes...
SPOILER Paul McCartney who asked Al how the brain works, thus leading into the original song Al wrote for the movie.
The song was vaguely in the genre of "The Weird Al Show Theme" and it detailed the inner workings of the brain in every painstaking detail, focusing mostly on the neurons, dendrites, axons, etc.

At that point the show was pretty much over, and we exited the other side. I would say this movie is about what you'd expect going in. If you think you wouldn't really enjoy an educational movie about the brain starring Al, then you probably won't like it. There were definitely moments that I was really laughing at the jokes and other moments where it was sort of predictable, but that's the nature of the edutainment industry I suppose.

After the show was fun. Vikki was waiting to pick up the Fast Track tickets for AlFest-goers, so we had some time to kill just hanging out outside the venue. Nan and I really wanted to see Al to congratulate him on the successful premiere, but he was nowhere to be found. Jon, Jay, Jim, and Rubén were walking around, mingling with the crowd. I overheard Jon say this version was way better than the 2-D Quicktime files he'd been sent throughout the process. Then finally Al came out.

Man, the guy was mobbed! He was clearly trying to leave with Suzanne and Nina but he is just too nice. He kept stopping to sign autographs and pose for pictures and talk with people. Suzanne was off to the side talking to some friends, and Nina was playing with two girls her own age which was adorable to watch. Finally, the woman who played a skydiving grandma in Al's Brain came to say hi to Al and posed for a picture with him. Then Al asked for a picture with her on his own phone, and he asked ME to take the picture. So yes, I have used "Weird Al" Yankovic's personal cellular iPhone everyone. Be jealous.

The funniest part was just as Al was finishing saying goodbye to the crowd, he quickly ran off with Suzanne and Nina and they were about to hop on a golf cart to safety when all of the sudden Al stopped to send off a tweet. All of the sudden EVERYONE IN THE PARK saw him and came up to him at once. He was totally and utterly surrounded but good old Al couldn't say no. When us committee members were on the way out, Al was still there greeting his fans. What a guy, huh?

While writing this post, Vikki just sent me a few pics from her own camera:

A great night overall! Everyone should definitely check out the Al's Brain exhibit if you get a chance! And it's always nice to hang out with fellow Al fanatics (some of my friends love Al, but none as much as those of you who just read this entire post), so I hope to see you all at AlFest too!!!!

Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:08 am

Thanks for the great report! No wonder Al looked a bit tired in Suzanne's Twitpic. I'm looking forward to seeing the exhibit myself... I just can't decide whether to go see it soon or wait to see it with other Al fans first.

Post by **PsychoWardJester27** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:09 am

'Twas a fun night for sure! Never before have I been asked to move my enormous head so the giant brain can get in the shot. The little signs among the exhibit had their funny moments...like this one (spoilers) :

So, yeah...fun times and goofy glasses were had by all!

That's me on the far left...in the shadows...like a ninja...

Post by **Wizzerkat** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:11 am

Thanks for the review, Jon! Sadly, I highly doubt I will ever see this. Maybe at some point, DVD!

Post by **amzo39** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:11 am

That's fantastic!

louietheweaselfaceddogboy · Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:11 am

Awesome! Thanks for the write-up, people!!

Post by **JEDM** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:13 am

Thanks for the great reviews! Sounds like you all had a great time!

Post by **TMBJon** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:15 am

Regarding the song included in the movie, Al said after the event that he plans to keep the song packaged with the movie so we shouldn't hold our breaths on hearing the song soon. Though he did joke that it'll probably appear on YouTube sometime tomorrow...

Post by **PsychoWardJester27** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:17 am

Too much fun!

Here's sexysexy Joe Lavelle doing his best "Blue Steel"