KZSM — Interviewing Godzilla
We at KZSM.org, your true community radio station, welcome a witty new addition to our diverse line up of original programming. “Reel Movies” debuted last week in its regular time slot, Tuesdays 8-9 p.m. The show is the brainchild of Texas State graduate student Josh Davis. Like Mitchell Oden, host of “The Pork Walks at Midnight” (Sundays 9-10 p.m.) and Jordan Pilkenton of “Swamp Gas Uggos” (10- 11 p.m. Sundays), Davis is a veteran of the Texas State Comedy Association.
“Reel Movies,” Davis explains, is “set up like a movie talk show where me and a few guests talk about movies, but there’s a catch in that none of the movies we’re talking about are actually real.” Some of the imaginary films play on real movies, while others parody genres, such as “a horror film about blades of grass getting killed by a lawnmower.” Still others are strictly fantasy.
In creating the show, Davis and his guests draw on their experience with improvisational comedy. Guests might appear as themselves or as characters. Davis and his friends “make up the titles and a one-sentence premise prior to the show” and the details emerge through their on air interaction. Most shows will cover three imaginary movies—more or fewer according to the imaginations of host and guests.
The first broadcast of “Reel Movies” featured an appearance by Godzilla (Garrett Buss) who interrupted the show to protest the glaring inaccuracies of all those “documentaries” about him. Also, the actor “Burt Turgidson” (David Rhoads) came on the show to research a role as a radio-show host. And host and guests reviewed “Old Sheldon,” coming off the “Big Bang Theory” prequel “Young Sheldon.” Instead of a comedy, the imaginary film was “a gritty, dark action movie.”
“Reel Movies” came about as Davis realized that “since graduating from Texas State, I hadn’t really done much, and I was wanting to get back in touch with comedy and my creative side.” As “a big movie fan,” he thought of film but wondered “How could I make a movie review show funny? What twist could I come up with?”
This Tuesday, April 4, real-life filmmaker Rich Aladin will talk about his recently completed movie “Evinced,” a time-travel heist. Sam Pierce will appear as the stunt driver “Wilton King,” and ... tune in for some surprises. You never know who might show up in “Reel Movies.”
