Analog Viral Video

Back in the analog stone age of VHS — long before the advent of YouTube — videos went viral at a crawl. To share cherished video oddities, the only option was to dupe a videocassette, pass it along to friends, and with luck, it might make its way across the nation to cult acclaim. Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett have spent years Dumpster diving for these lost pearls, perusing garage sales and thrift stores for bizarre home movies, industrial training films and video weirdies. Tonight at 7 p.m. the fruits of their labor are presented during the Found Footage Festival at Mad Art Gallery (2727 South Twelfth Street; www.madart.com). Highlights include unintentionally horrifying ventriloquism videos and a collection of self-hypnosis tapes on how to be a better lover, businessman, or bowler. The FFF opens with a 25th anniversary screening of the cult documentary "Heavy Metal Parking Lot," recorded outside a 1986 Judas Priest concert. Tickets are $10. For more information (and sneak peaks at some of the weirder found bits), visit www.foundfootagefest.com.
Sun., April 17, 2011