Halloween Postmortem

Below is a picture of my daughter Randie as the Phantom of the Opera paired up with Oscar winning actor person Tom Hanks as the breakout SNL character of the season and possible future presidential candidate, David S. Pumpkins.

As I noted in this space on Saturday, Randie put the finishing touches on her Phantom outfit for Halloween. As noted in this previous post, the Phantom of Opera has become a bit of an obsession for her since she saw the mega successful Andrew Lloyd Webber musical on Broadway in New York City earlier this spring.  

For Halloween night, the Randie of the Opera hung out with her friends doing the trick or treat thing. My daughter will turn 16 in December but she’s still into trick or treating although it’s not so much about the candy but more about the opportunity to put together a costume that pushes boundaries and expectations. Who would expect a teenage girl to dress up as the Phantom of the Opera? That same thinking was in play the year she went out as an agent of the Men In Black.  

When she was younger, she did the more traditional girl things like Disney princesses. There was the year she went as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz; that year, she also dressed as Dorothy to attend a live performance of the Wizard of Oz produced by one of our talented community theater groups.

The big story for Halloween this year was David S. Pumpkins. It’s a stupid and absurdist sketch that derives its humor from the fact that people in the sketch are perplexed by how stupid and absurd the whole thing is. The setup is an elevator ride dubbed “100 Flights of Terror” where the doors open at different floors to a variety of scary and horrific tableaus as well as the frequently appearing weirdo in the pumpkin suit who proclaims he’s David Pumpkins like we’re supposed to know who that is.

The same people who wrote the David Pumpkins sketch also wrote the similarly themed Kevin Robert sketch when Larry David hosted the show. That was set around an FBI firing range simulator that tested the reflexes of recruits to respond appropriately to threats, innocent civilians and, most inexplicably, a strange man in an orange suit who declares he’s Kevin Roberts, the coolest bitch in town.  

In the online comments for the David Pumpkins skit, I saw where some people have made the connection.  

David Pumpkins: Any questions?

Kevin Roberts: Can a bitch get a donut?!

While my daughter was off with her friends, my wife Andrea and I held down the fort at the Fortress of Ineptitude. Back when Randie was younger, we would take turns following her around the neighborhood while the other would stay home to hand out candy. Of the two duties, we both preferred following our daughter on her rounds. Handing out candy took effort, getting up to answer the door bell, coming up with clever things to say to the kids, engaging in small talk (“Who are you supposed to be?”) and over all being pleasant and human, activities that I find quite annoying.   

With Randie out of the house with friends, it was both Andrea and I on candy hand out duty. Well, to be honest, Andrea was on candy hand out duty. Me, I found Ant-Man on Showtime. Hey, I like Ant-Man, OK? 

Standing guard on the front porch was Steve, our Halloween skeleton dude. Here's a pic of him all lit up in his evil glowing light.

OK, not too evil. Little kids wanted to pose for pictures with Steve. Steve's a cool dude. Steve is my friend. 

A pre-Halloween weekend would be an appropriate time to watch something scary. We did watch Sleep No More, the scary episode about sleep monsters from Doctor Who Series 9. We also watched Young Frankenstein which I know is more comedy than horror movie but hey, that’s how we roll. I don’t think my daughter has ever seen Gene Wilder in anything other than Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory  so seeing Wilder ham it up as Victor Von Frankenstein (FRONK UN STEEN!) was a bit of an eye opener. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched Young Frankenstein from beginning to end but it’s still as funny as I remembered. 

And damn, Teri Garr was so hot!*

*Not that it matters to me as an old middle aged husband and father. I’m just objectively observing that back in the day, Teri Garr was quite the comely young woman.

So that Halloween 2016 is in the rear view mirror, now the true terror awaits. I week until election day!

And the Christmas movies start on the Hallmark channel! The horror! THE HORROR!!!

Everyone be good to one another. 

Or Steve...

...will come and get ya!