IOW: Xmas show HURT-a so good
Confidential lunatics! During the traditional proofreading-with-booze session for C-U Confidential #8, your humble editor and Freaky Film Festival brother Brian Robertson got to talking about a local fellow named Travis Wayne Hurt and his no-budget holiday programs airing on Urbana Public Television (UPTV). A de facto townie variety show created with a big assist from Lindsey Gates-Markel and Andrew Schiver of the You Big Dumb Idiot podcast, THE TRAVIS WAYNE HURT CHRISTMAS SPECIAL AGAIN follows last year’s THE TRAVIS WAYNE HURT CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (of course!) and consists of five segments. They include: Hurt and Erin Gillis spoofing the famous spaghetti dinner scene from LADY AND THE TRAMP (sans meatballs or meet-cute kiss) in a riff on those “dog with human torso” viral videos; a brief sign language interlude with Melanie Sheckels, a mélange of Christmas-themed quizzing between the YBDI duo and a dozen or so of their own former guests; an assortment of non sequitur skits depicting “How to Celebrate Christmas;” and an oral sign-off from host Hurt. At times funny, precious, offbeat, and decidedly awkward, the HURT CHRISTMAS SPECIAL is exactly what cable access television exists for.
~ Jason Pankoke
p.s. We’d like to ask Hurt, who somewhat resembles a red-bearded Santa Claus if you squint a little, to consider a three-peat edition for Christmas 2015 filled with more ambitious and edgy ideas to balance out the cute. There is non-network latitude on an outlet such as UPTV, so why not take advantage of it? We’ll look for a list of air dates in our stockings hung by the chimney with care!