IAmA human named Bill Corbett, writer and performer for RiffTrax.com and previously Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Absolutely loved MST3K.

What happened to Servo and Crow T. Robot?

They are still owned by Best Brains, the company that produced MST3K . It's my hope that they'll be in the Smithsonian one day, wreaking havoc.

Do you know if the greatest line in cinematic history -- "this is where the fish lives" -- was scripted or improvised?

Ha! I don't know. Either way, THEY LEFT IT IN THE MOVIE. Jeez.

Has Tommy Wiseau ever showed up outside your window in the middle of the night?

I think so, though that might have been a raccoon.

How is the Kickstarter project coming along?

pretty well, thanks. Looks like we will make it, though maybe by the skin of our teeth. Or someone's teeth.

How often to you get recognized by strangers?

Not often at all! But I got recognized at the weirdest time a few winters ago, when I was helping push a guy's car which was stuck in the snow. Guy next to me, while pushing and dying with effort: "Holy crap, you're Bill Corbett." In response, I had a heart attack.

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I'll take it!

Is there any movie you guys have flat-out refused to do for MST3k or Rifftrax, and why?

Not that anyone was trying to make us do them, but we will always avoid movies about big tragedies like Schindler's List or Hotel Rwanda, especially if they're generally effective movies. Making quippy remarks in the face of those scenes would seem sociopathic. Not to say there's not a lot of gray area between that and some movies with uncomfortable scenes, but at that extreme level we'd never not go near them. We also GENERALLY avoid: 1) comedies -- harder to riff because you keep having to say, essentially, "that's not funny." And stuff that doesn't give us a way in, for other reasons: too talky, too boring, too SOMETHING. Case-by-case basis.

Can you enjoy movies for their own sake, or is there always a little voice in your head that cracks jokes while you watch?

I can enjoy movies for their own sake, and love to do just that. My wife keeps me in check when I get too riff-y though. It can be obnoxious, I know. But it's sometimes hard to turn off!

• What made you want to be involved RiffTrax/MST3K?
• Which is your favorite episode of either?
• How would you try and convince someone that doesn't know either to check them out?

I got to see MST3K before I was actually on the show, and loved it. The humor was very smart, but also didn't take itself too seriously. Irreverent without being dickish. And I knew some of the people involved, so I asked to audition as a writer. From there: HISTORY. *in my mind)

As far as convincing someone, not sure. Play them your favorite ep, and they may go for it or not. We know it's not for everyone, but... nothing is!

How does the experience of RiffTrax compare to MST3K?

They have both been great in their own way. Since we do a lot of writing from various locations (Mike and writers Conor and Sean in San Diego; Kevin and I in Minneapolis), at first RiffTrax seemed a little lonely by comparison to MST3K. But while I have nothing but great memories of MST3K, this probably suits where we are in our lives right now a bit better: more mobile, easier to produce.

And yeah, I miss the puppet / backstory part of MST3K, but I don't know if trying to reproduce that would go so well. Hard to say.

I've seen this before, whenever someone explicitly states that they are a human, they definitely aren't.

What's your game, alien scum?

I am as humanistic as any homo sapiens types like yourselves let's have a barbecue and then a war and sex want a Coke

Are you familiar with "Found Footage" groups like Everything is Terrible and Found Footage Fest? I think what they do is kind of in the same realm as what MST3K and RiffTrax does, or at least one realm over. If you are familiar, do you enjoy it?

I know both of those groups! Everything is Terrible a bit more. Love what they do. At least part of our job at RiffTrax and MST3K has always been acting as curators to funny crap, and they do it brilliantly.

Awesome! I'm a huge fan, bobbleheads, mst3k inspired pet names, etc.

What was your favorite episode/movie of MST3K? Favorite Rifftrax?

One last one, what is your favorite riff that you've EVER delivered?

Thanks, you're awesome!

Thank you kindly.

I always stumble on the "favorite" questions because I like so many of the things we've done. MODEST, HUH?

But some of my favorite MST3K eps that come to mind right now: Space Mutiny, Werewolf, The Final Sacrifice [ROWSDOWER!], Jack Frost, Soultaker.

Some of my favorite RiffTrax, off the top of my head: 300, Twilight, Warriors of the Wasteland, Galaxy Invader, the LOTR series, Captain America, The Room, Birdemic, Star Wars Holiday Special. And I know I'm leaving so many out!

First off, I love all that you and everyone else has done with respect to MST3K and Rifftrax. My wife loves the shorts as she can't stand to sit through an entire bad movie.

1. How well do you get along with the Cinematic Titanic crew?
2. What's been your favorite movie, and the movie you hated the most?
3. Do you still do Rifftrax like MST3k, where you watch the films, write the jokes, and use just the best or is more off-the-cuff?
4. Will Manos be available on VOD/DVD at some point after the live riff?

1) I'm pals with most of the Cinematic Titanic crew. Not that I'm NOT with a few others, just never spent as much time with 'em on the show or life in general, due to geography as much as anything. Love those guys. Went to their show in Minneapolis last year, had a blast.

2) Favorite RiffTraxes? See above. Worst: goddamned TRANSFORMERS series. I think we make them pretty funny, but we really pay for our sins with those ones.

3) Yes. Slightly different process 'cause we're not always in the same office, but yeah, same general approach.

4) Not sure, sorry. I can't imagine why not, but just in case I'd say a qualified maybe. Apologies, not up to speed on that right now.

Hey Bill, big fan of both MST3K and Rifftrax and all that, yadda yadda yadda. My question, though: how the hell do three middle-aged dudes keep up with modern pop culture to the point of being able to make off-the-cuff references to just about anything? It's impressive how obscure the riffs can get, because it seems like you, Mike and Kevin know just about everything there is to know about... everything.

Thanks. We are more and more aware of this challenge, as we get longer in the tooth! So we try not to lard up our jokes with too many references that are absolutely ephemeral... like some of our 90s pop star jokes back in MST3K. But you also can't totally ignore the time you're living in, so we try to keep alert AND we also work with two very talented younger writers, Conor Lastowka and Sean Thomason, who sometimes have to keep us old farts up to date.

Generally, what's your honest opinion of MST3K and Rifftrax fans. Obviously they support you and pay you and all that good stuff. But do you ever find yourself growing tired of the general geekiness, arguing about Mike vs Joel, that kind of stuff? Are you like a disgruntled Star Trek cast member who wishes that people would look at you as something other than "that guy who voiced Crow on MST3K"?

Generally speaking, I think RiffTrax and MST3K fans are great, and I'm not just blowing smoke. Smart, funny, nice, respectful. And loyal in a way that we are very grateful for, especially as MST3K gets further back in the headlights, and we get older. (Well, as Mike and Kevin get older. I have a deal with a certain gentleman.)

Sure, every now and then we run across ultra-intense fans who seem equal parts "love you" and "hate you," leaning to the latter. And I don't know what's going on there. Some have VERY strong opinions about what you did right or wrong, or how you added to the show or fucked it up. I don't mind anyone thinking that I'm lame or not funny or whatever, but it does get tiring if someone who says he's your fan is always shows up to tell you.

But honestly, that is pretty rare. Thank god! And I know it's more about the phenomenon of intense fandom in general, than anything to do with us.

MST3K has brought me so much joy in my life thanks for helping to make me laugh

Thank you.

Are berets included in your hat embargo?

They are # 1 on the embargo list.

How difficult was it to learn how to operate the Crow puppet? Did Trace help you learn it at all, or was he like "I'm out, bitches, have fun Bill!"

The timing was such that Trace was already in L.A. by the time I got handed Crow. I could have used his expertise, because Crow was tough to handle! He was a bit counterintuitive, top-heavy, and generally a kind of ornery puppet. So it was frustrasting at first to see that this character that Trace had brought to such amazing life suddenly was... less alive. But I practiced a lot, and eventually got him to wake up a bit.

What are the chances of a giant MST3K reunion with the Rifftrax gang and the Cinematic Titanic gang? It doesn't appear (on the surface at least) that there's any bad blood between you guys (I see some friendly twitter interaction between some of you guys). It would be great to have the full gang back together, even if it was only a one-shot deal.

A one-shot deal might not be out of the question, and if it were up to me and we could find a good cause (a charity), we would do that. But I can't speak for everyone's feelings about this, 'cause I really don't know. Beyond a one-shot deal, I think it would get very unwieldy very quickly. There's a lot of us!

Hey, I'm a huge fan of MST3K. Definitely influenced my sense of humor a lot and I'm really thankful for it. Rifftrax is amazing too and I always look forward to new releases!

What's this about a comic book you're co-creating? Where can I find more info on it? How did that come about? Also, tell Mike and Kevin a fellow New Jersey fan said hi

Thank you!

I'm writing a comic book that retcons the entire pop-culture Christmas story and makes everyone into superheroes. The full story of the project is here, but WARNING!!! it is a Kickstarter site:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1536910960/super-powered-revenge-christmas

Thank you for your nice comments about RiffTrax. Mike and Kevin are midwestern boys, though! (Wisconsin and Illinois) I am the lone east coast guy of our trio (Brooklyn NY).

(I am happy for any support, but I also know that Reddit rightly frowns on people coming here just to hawk their wares.)

Were you involved in the Space Mutiny Big McLargehuge bit?

Yes! One of my fondest memories, just throwing out new names for that big muscledude who kept screaming like a little girl.

Are there any movies that you've riffed that you actually really liked?

Absolutely! Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, LOTR series come to mind. And we even did a "RiffTrax Challenge" where we dared ourselves to riff a certified classic, CASABLANCA. I was pleased with how it came out, and still loved the movie. (Even if some of its older conventions / techniques haven't aged masterfully.)

Do you, in fact, regret nothing? If so, you must respond appropriately.

I already regret answering this, even as I continue to type OK STOP NOW.

Was Joel high during all those episodes of MST3K? Whenever I watch old episodes on Netflix with my brother we both SWEAR he's high. Can you confirm or deny this?

I cannot confirm or deny! But while I have probably hung out with Joel the least of all the cast members, I can say that you probably shouldn't underestimate how much that's just his own voice and natural mannerisms. And also his very effective comic style, if you've ever seen his early standup.

Will the live Manos show be using the newly restored film print?

Not Ben Solovey's print, though we have talked to him, love his project and donated to it on Kickstarter. We can't wait to see what he does. but mostly because of timing, we couldn't coordinate the live show we wanted to do in August. HOWEVER: we will be showing the best version of this movie seen to date, from a private collector, which we are cleaning up ourselves at RiffTrax / Legend Films. And it even has a minute or so of never-seen-before footage.

Ha, this is one of those great AMA wherein I read everything in your voice. And that makes everything +funnier.

Hey, you're right. It works!

Let's say, someone were making a movie, and wanted, oh, I dunno. You, Mike, and Kevin to do the official DVD commentary. No holds barred, anything you wanted to say. How much would you guys want in compensation?

Also, why the hell has this not already happened?

We'd ask for literally billions. LITERALLY.

...nah, I don't know what we'd ask for. But this has not happened, and probably won't because 1) egos are hard currency in Hollywood, and offending a powerful actor or director could be suicidal for whoever greenlit getting us onboard 2) there is NO WAY AT ALL they'd not get involved in telling us what we can and can't say. And that would be awful for us.

Who would win in a fight: Prince of Space or Space Chief?

They would both be avoiding a fight so hard that we'd get bored, leave, and never know.

Y'all need to do a rifftrax live in Austin. Any chance of that happening? Ever? haha

Not in the immediate future, but we may expand into more live appearances in the future. Some combination of us, at least. Right now we're still trying to keep up a very regular release schedule of RiffTrax, which people still seem to like. Luckily!

Hey Bill, what's your favorite color

...of hat?

Oh, you're GOOD.

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You are too kind, thanks.

When are we going to see "Brain Guy, the One Observer Show"?

Ha. That would be SO filthy.

Who do you consider some of your greatest inspirations in humor and your writing?

Thanks so much for so many years of great laughs.. Big fan of MST3k and beyond!

Thank you!

Funny, I just started a Tumblr (I know...) and began a little series called "My Comic Heroes," with just pictures of people who I like and have found inspiring. My first thought, for some reason: Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. Not that they're necessarily # 1, but I do love the British comics / sketch comedians of the past 50 years or so, including the Pythons of course.

I could go on about other inspirations and heroes a LOT, and may have time to later (and may bore you tremendously)... but I'm gonna try to cover some more questions in the meantime.

What do you think the the future holds for Rifftrax renditions of silent films? I'm sure it would be uniquely challenging and would be really interesting for the live shows!

We've never given this much thought! At least until The Artist came along and basically said "F you, sound." Heh.

Actually, it might be interesting but could wind up being more of a "fill in the dialogue" What's Up Tiger Lilly? thing. We did a little experiment in that a few years ago at RiffTrax, and it was fun but our plates were very full writing our regular stuff, and still are.

Have you ever seen a ghost?

Gary Busey is a ghost, right?

Do you like the names of lots of fish?

Nah, the fish have really failed, name-wise. BIG opportunity wasted, they should be ashamed.

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Since that fateful tweet, I will only say one word to Michael J. Nelson: "Shame." And I do it in a low, growl-y, Sam Elliot voice to drive home the point.

Second question: YES. Damn him, damn him all to Hell.

You probably get asked the same questions over and over, so here's one I've never seen you answer before: Do you like musicals, and if so, what's your favorite?

Hey, you're right! Question I've never been asked before, thanks.

I love and hate musicals. So many cornball conventions, and when they're done badly it's really hard to sit through without dying of projected embarrassment. But when they're great, they're incredible works of art.

Favorites? West Side Story is still amazing. Man of La Mancha. Only heard the music to Book of Mormon, but love it. Can't wait to see it when it comes here in Minneapolis this fall.

Like everyone else here I'm a huge fan, ever since my sister and I attempted to record an entire Turkey Day marathon ~1994 (my parents were not thrilled at 10-year-old me waking up and sneaking downstairs to change tapes in the VCR at 3AM).

Have you ever heard back from anyone connected to the movies you've riffed on (either during MST3K or RiffTrax)? What was their opinion of your treatment?

Joe Don Baker famously expressed a wish to mess up the Best Brains contingent who did MITCHELL. So we did our best to respond compassionately, and skewered him as bad or worse in FINAL JUSTICE.

Most people we've heard from (usually less well-known) have been pretty cool about it. Like being on the business end of a Don Rickles bit, I guess: a bit appalled, but also flattered for the attention.

Hi Bill. Thanks for doing this and for all your great work both with Rifftrax and MST3K. My question:

Having moved from the "classic schlock" of MST3K's selection of movies to the "modern drivel" that Rifftrax rips apart, have you found it easier or harder to lampoon things? Did the inherent sillyness of older movies make them easier to write jokes about, or is the modern material just as ripe for parody?

Good question. Some things are easier about modern drivel, as you put it so well. Production values make it easier to see / hear them, for one thing. But sometimes the inherent silliness of old schlock does make things easier --e.g., the way chunk-headed 50s heroes always seemed to big clueless guys who woman fell for, FOR NO REASON. Anthropologically interesting. So I'm glad we now mix up our modern, mostly MP3-commentary movies with Video on Demand movies that are often older, less-known stuff. And shorts, always the shorts.

Will you guys ever do Meet Dave on Rifftrax? (For those who don't know, Bill co-wrote the movie).

How do you feel about how it came out? How much were you involved in the actual script?

I'd be fine with us riffing MEET DAVE. It, ahem, wasn't a very good movie . The problem would be: 1) it's technically a comedy, and those are hard to riff even when they're bad comedy. 2) it wouldn't sell! Not enough people own the disk, or would rent it. We've experimented with material like this, and it never seems to be of interest to enough people to sell in any way like we need it to in order to keep our biz going. [man, that was a confusing sentence, sorry]

As for how I feel about it: I think I talked about this in my last IAmA, and my basic take summed up: the original idea was mine (though things like that had been seen before), and I invited a pal of mine, Rob Greenberg, to write the script with me. It was never a work of subtle art, even our draft. But I did think it started smarter, and got progressively more Hollywood dumb as more cooks came into the kitchen. Nothing unusual about that in Hollywood (see Tom Lennon's screenwriting book), in fact it's the norm. So I can't complain, and I got paid well. Not a good movie, though. Confused if it wants to be a kid's movie (didn't start as one) or not.

Thanks, should probably move on to more Qs...

Where in the world did you find Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny?

I think it had been an underground favorite for years, but I first remember RiffTrax writer Conor Lastowka bringing it up as something we should do. Hope I have that right.

Oh hai, Bill. So anyway, how's your sex life?

But seriously, love you and the guys and everything you do. Will you ever retire from riffing on movie or do you think you'll do this til the very end?

I'm so glad you asked about my sex life! Now brace yourself for a VERY graphic, disturbing, even nauseating discussion. Here we go!

Heh. Not sure if i'll ever retire from riffing movies. It's fun, and I get to work with great people who are also my friends.

Slow down the pace, yes, for sure. But that happens involuntarily, anyway. Damn it.

San Diego Comic Con 2012: will you be there?

Yes. At least for a panel. Signing might be something harder to fit in this year, since we're prepping for another big live show in August. MANOS!

Have you ever thought of doing a "Starship Troopers" RiffTrax?

No, though we did clips of it on MST3K. It falls into that zone of movie that we'd love to do but fear wouldn't sell well enough, unless and until we can get the rights. But as an MP3, it might be tough sledding for us. If and when we don't have to worry about that stuff, I'd love to. The clips we did on MST3K were fun.

Have you ever talked back during a movie - and been shushed? OR did you win them over and get them to laugh along?

I don't like when people talk in actual movie theaters. I'm as silent as a ninja.

Where in the U.S. have you yet to visit that you'd really like to?

Portland! - ia!

Also, New Mexico and the Southwest in general. I've mostly just driven though, outside of one trip to Tucson for a theater thing years ago.

How come the live shows are always in the middle of the week? Seems like Saturday would net better crowds. Or is it too hard/expensive to book screens nationwide on weekends?

Can you move the live Manos show to Wednesday? That Thursday will be tricky for me. I'm sure everyone else will understand.

Re the live show, your reasons are exactly correct! We work with Fathom Entertainment, and their deal with nationwide theater chains has their shows happening on non-weekend days.

Are there any moments during terrible movies where you're like, "Okay, THAT'S good, can't riff that." and if so, what are they?

Yes. I know I've had that feeling when we're in the middle of a generally terrible movie, but there's somehow an effective moment, bit of performance, or something that's meant to be funny and IS funny.

But for the life of me, I can't come up with one right now! I'll revisit this Q later if something pops into my head, sorry.

Why subject yourself to Manos? Why?! Also, thanks for the years of entertainment and laughs you've given me and my family throughout the years.

I don't know. What is WRONG with us?

And thank you.

I just want to say that I love MST3K and Rifftrax. I remember watching MST3K on Saturdays as a child, long before I even understood most of the jokes. I'm 30 now and still watch both regularly. No one can do it like you guys, a fact that I am reminded of every time I watch a copycat.

Thank you kindly!

If you could get any two writers (any time) to riff with you, who would you choose? Any two comedians?

Hm.

Anyone from history? Um. Oscar Wilde and Socrates? ...I dunno.

Any two comedians? Man, SO many choices. But for now let's say Bill Cosby and Eddie Izzard. Just two of a list of many dozens that will come to mind right after I push "send."

Do your loved ones hate watching movies with you because you can't help yourself? Mine do. And it's all your fault!

I'm SO sorry. Maybe build a one-person cone of silence?

1. You've already answered what your favorite episodes are... so, what are your LEAST favorite movies that you ever had to do on MST3K (or RiffTrax for that matter)? Am I right in hypothesizing that Hobgoblins would be on the list?

2. Was it annoying to have to wear Brain Guy's Observer's makeup for part of the filming time every episode? How long did it take to put on before filming? (I wish I'd gotten to ask Kevin Murphy this as well... do you know?)

3. In the blooper real ("Poopie!"), they showed Trace Beaulieu and Kevin Murphy doing their own puppeteering as well as the robot voices. Did all the robot-players do their own puppet manipulation as well?

4. Okay... this is probably a stupid question, but... between RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic, that's basically the entire cast of MST3K (throughout its entire history) doing... well, doing MST3K "clones." Why not just get back together and make the real thing again?

1. Hobgoblins was a tad annoying when it tried to be funny, but not so bad overall. I remember not loving Neptune Men.

2. Brain Guy's makeup was tough at first, but got less so as our makeup person Andrea switched from thick clown white to something less sweaty, and not as difficult to get off. But poor Kevin, with the ape suit. What a trooper.

3. Yes. We did the puppeteering and voice work, in real time.

4. Answered that above. Go up, young man! Or woman!

As swell as Rifftrax is, any chance of MST3K coming back? Sweet times.

Never say never, but my guess is: probably not, at least not as a regular thing. It's really not in my hands, though everything really SHOULD be.

Dammit, all the good questions have been asked. I am a diehard fan of MST3K and was delighted when they started appearing on Netflix.

Anyway, the only semi-interesting/relevant thing that came to mind was Wizard People, Dear Reader(one of my favorite non-MST3K related projects in the same vein), and it made me curious to know if you've ever attempted an overdubbing of lines in a particularly terrible/well known movie. Have you guys ever considered dubbing a foreign language film, perhaps a cheesy Kung-fu movie? Also, is there another chance of Weird Al coming back to do another Rifftrax? Jurassic Park is one of my favorite things you guys have done, and Al just made it better.

I've seen WIZARD PEOPLE, DEAR READER, loved it. Someone linked to it for us after we did the first Harry Potter.

As I said somewhere else on the thread, we tried a little experiment in dialogue replacement (as opposed to riffing) a few years ago. Did a segment of THE DEPARTED. It's fun and I think we could get better at it, but given that it would cut into our writing time for our regular biz, it might be tough to get it going in the near future. Stupid writing, taking time and stuff.

Al Yankovic is great, and also the Nicest Man in The World. He did that and a live show with us, and who knows, maybe we'll do something else again. But he's a mega-star and very very busy, so it may be a while...

whats the most important aspect of life in your opinion?

whats your favorite ice cream?

out of the original 151 what is your favorite pokemon?

romney or Obama who do you feel would win in a battle to the death?

if you could splice two animals together what would they be?

i feel im hilarious what do you think of me?

i plan on taking over hollywood due to the fact that most entertainment is depressingly bad....any advice as to how to do this?

if you could fight one celebrity who would you fight?

Oh Lord, SO many questions.

And the answer to all of them is "bacon."

How did you get connected with John Moe and the excellent Wits shows he puts on with MPR in Minnesota?

John moved here from Seattle a few years ago to host a show called WEEKEND AMERICA, and asked me to do a bit on the show. He was a MST3K fan, and I knew and liked his writing. He is a very, very funny and smart guy. ...Oh, and when WITS was created he asked Kevin and I to get involved. It's been fun.

Hi, I just wanted to say thank you and thank you to all the people who work on mst3k and riff trax, I have been having a rough time and last weekend I saw a riff trax on hulu and it made me laugh so hard I cried and I really got a boost from it, so thanks again.

Hooray! Thanks, and I hope you're doing better.

So, I've torrented a few of your tracks to the videos they riff. I've donated $10. Should I feel bad not going through your website?

I'd say if you donated, there is no need for guilt. Let it go! Have a witch doctor give it to someone who deserves it!

can you make me popular with girls?

Only by example. Watch me, and do the opposite.