Museum of Idiots
A Machinima series, made by our very own Man Without A Body, done with The Movies, and yes, named for a They Might Be Giants song. It's visible as a YouTube playlist right here.
Museum of Idiots is a sort of highly surreal sitcom, detailing the lives of four characters who all live in the same boarding house. They are The Student, ambiguously intended to be Arkenholz from Strindberg's Ghost Sonata; Chickensuit McChickensuit, attorney in a chicken suit; Mr. Blacktar, who is always weeping and screaming, and Aristotilian God, who is unaware of the presence of anyone but Himself, and spends all His time contemplating His own magnificence. Most episodes deal with the former two, because they are the only ones capable of speaking coherently. Other recurring characters include Chester, a swamp creature who sells moonshine, Terrence, The Student's schoolchum who, for no explained reason, is a Grey alien, and Adolf Hitler, whose presence is never really explained, but has a mancrush on The Student.
The humour is highly surreal and often very esoteric, making pop cultural references to Expressionist cinema and theatre, Mystery Science Theater 3000 movies, literary theory and Troll 2.
Tropes used in Museum of Idiots include:
- Abhorrent Admirer - Hitler.
- Aliens and Monsters - Chester, Terrence, and the anonymous, Ambiguously Jewish swamp-monster in Episode 7.
- Exclusively Evil - The mysterious men in rabbit suits.
- Brother Chuck - Mama, the Brooklyn landlady, has not appeared since Episode 1.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer - Chickensuit McChickensuit, lawyer in a chickensuit.
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You fool! That's just how I roll! |
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- Camp Gay - Adolf Hitler. Rule of Funny applies.
- Ceiling Banger - The main characters, to Invincor
- The Chew Toy - Mr. Blacktar. The relationship between him and Chickensuit reflects a clear Aqua Teen Hunger Force influence.
- Cloudcuckoolander - Chickensuit, and to a greater extent, Aristotilian God.
- Comic Trio - The Student is powerless to stop Chickensuit from victimizing Mr. Blacktar. Aristotilian God simply is.
- Conversational Troping - When The Student comments that the first to die in horror movies are "dumb blondes and black people", Chickensuit mentions that inside his chicken suit, he could be either, and then loudly announces his intention to take a shower.
- Elephant in the Living Room - A lot.
- Erudite Stoner - Aristotilian God talks like a stereotypical stoner.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" - The Student
- Everything's Better with Monkeys - The musical montage in Episode 3 includes a weeping orangutan with a pink bow. No explanation is given.
- Everything's Deader with Zombies - Episode 2 features a single walking skeleton, while episode 9 has a whole gang of zombies. Episode 9 is even titled "Recycled Plot". Episode 5 also has Chickensuit proposing that he and The Student create a zombie to kill Invincor. Episodes 6 and 7 have Chickensuit trying to convince Mr. Blacktar that a Zombie Apocalypse is coming.
- Everything's Better with Chickens - Chickensuit McChickensuit. Do you need an explanation?
- Faux Horror Film - Episodes 6 and 7 pastiche a lot of Horror Tropes. It turns out that there really is a monster in the woods, but he's a friend of Chester, and he's just looking for moonshine.
- Gag Series
- Hollywood Tone Deaf - Parodying Troll 2 and Manos the Hands of Fate simultaneously, characters driving toward their vacation sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" very badly.
- I Am Not Spock - That movie where Satan plays Al Pacino, and that other movie where Dracula plays Gary Oldman.
- Imaginary Friend - Mr. Blacktar's grandfather's ghost.
- Let's You and Him Fight - Chickensuit attempts to foster a feud between Hitler and Invincor by convincing the former that the latter has successfully won the heart of The Student, and that their romance is steamy enough for a Contemptible Cover. Hitler, therefore, should destroy Invincor's house with V-2s and landkreuzers. Hitler, however, takes his defeat like a man.
- Killer Rabbit - Episode 3's musical montage includes a shootout between the police and a gang of men in rabbit suits, with no explanation given. The rabbit suit men have returned in other episodes.
- Machinima
- Mad Scientist - Chickensuit is seen buying black market organs from one of these. He's intended to be the same one from Woyzeck.
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover - The Student is intended to be the character from The Ghost Sonata.
- Meaningful Name - Chickensuit McChickensuit has rather predictable fashion sense.
- Nice Guy - The Student
- Nightmare Sequence - Mr. Blacktar has a nightmare made entirely out of clips from Exploitation Film trailers like Torso and Sugar Hill. It's very YouTube Poop-esque.
- Only Sane Man - The Student
- The Parody - One episode is an extended The Crying of Lot 49 parody.
- Police Are Useless - A Running Gag is that police officers spend all their time discussing literary theory in silly voices.
- Real Song Theme Tune - "Museum of Idiots", by They Might Be Giants, naturally.
- Shaky POV Cam - "Run! It's Sam Raimi's camera!"
- Sitcom Arch Nemesis - Invincor the Indestructible
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad - The episodes focus almost entirely on Chickensuit and The Student
- Special Guest - Various of the later episodes feature MWAB's friends and roommates in voice-acting cameos.
- The Speechless - Chester
- Stalker with a Crush - Hitler
- Stock Scream - The Wilhelm Scream is used when Invincor dies.
- Talkative Loon - Aristotilian God and Mr. Blacktar
- Talking to Himself - Man Without A Body voices all the main characters.
- Tell Me Again why we're going to a small Western town?
- No.
- They Fight Crime - One's a self-important lawyer in a chicken suit. One's a rational and nice student. One's probably a junkie, and certainly lives in the bathroom. One's Aristotle's idea of the perfect being. They fight men in rabbit suits.
- They Killed Kenny - The blond man with a bowl cut, who is frequently seen being killed or already dead.
- Throw It In - Much of the dialogue is semi-improvised.
- To Be Continued - Episodes 6 and 7, complete with a "Previously On..."
- Viewers Are Geniuses - The presence of Aristotilian God, based on Aristotle's idea of the ideal being. Unlike the Abrahamic God, this being takes no more notice of us than we do of microscopic life.
- Wave Motion Gun - Invincor's giant laser, which he is a-firin'.
- Wholesome Crossdresser - Slick Driscoll, Chickensuit's legal rival, is actually a decent guy.