Dull Bling

I like dick jokes as much as the next guy. I also enjoy Ceech and Chong when the mood strikes me. Puppets? Count me in. All of this considered, my enjoyment of Blinglab faded easily ten minutes into the first act. I loved the low tech “puppets” and the whole backwoods aesthetic. I loved the irony of Lewis and Clark being portrayed as gay, drug addled idiots. In spite if these small creative victories and a few random chuckles, Blinglab was ultimately flaccid and unpolished.
The Misadventures of Lewis and Clark sounded promising. I was really looking forward to discovering how this corps of puppeteers planned to skewer topics like American imperialist expansion and sexual identity in the visceral and masculine unexplored west. I was ready to follow the trail of the two storied explorers into Blinglab’s “sasquatch infested” world. Unfortunately, that story had barely entered the plains before my eyes glazed over with acute disinterest.
Writing is the key. Spectacle means nothing when coupled with a bad script. Sure, Hollywood hasn’t figured this out, but you’d think that Blinglab, transgressive creatives that they are, would have. When you are clocking five dick jokes a minute, you may want to take a second look at your writing process or seek an editor.
There is potential in Blinglab. They obviously have a sense of ingenuity and a passion to create. They have a good visual eye. I even suspect that beneath all of the drug references, racist jokes and frat-boy humor, there is some god-honest social satire waiting to be unleashed across the puppet stage. However, it will likely take a director with a strong hand and an editor with a big red pen to help it emerge. The thing is, I’m not sure that I’ll ever find out- It will take awhile before I decide to take another chance on the troop.
I don’t want to make excuses for them, but there is a small chance that I just wasn’t in the mood. Still, I doubt I could have ever consumed enough marijuana and PBR to find The Misadventures of Lewis and Clark amusing.
Try it if you like. Maybe it will work out for you.
Posted by P.A. Coleman