by Rosalie Kicks, Editor in Chief and Old Sport 

This Thursday, Matt McGinnis’s Movie Riffing Melee returns to The Colonial Theatre to help celebrate the holiday season with an evening of holiday short films. 

Matt and his fabulous assistant Roxy Guarino will present a slew of some of the most delightfully bizarre holiday short flicks that your eyes shall ever witness. Some of the titles gracing the silver screen at the event deemed, “Stocking Stuffers” includes: A Tree Grows for Christmas (1949), Jack Frost (1934), and A Christmas Dream (1946). However, the movies are just some of the fun that is in store for attendees. Throughout the program, Matt and Roxy will be seeking volunteers to join in on the movie riffing mayhem. These randomly selected audience members may even have the chance to riff alongside the man in red… Santa Claus! Do you think you have what it takes to be crowned Movie Riffing Royalty? 

After attending the spooktacular Riffing Melee in October, I can confidently say this is an event that you do not want to miss. Matt and Roxy put on one helluva show that makes one forget just how much the world kinda sucks. It is a reminder that good things do exist and it is important to venture out in the world to experience them. This year, with my Christmas spirit being unexpectedly high, I have a feeling that after witnessing the magic of McGinnis and Guarino, I might be pushed into full blown Christmas creature mode. 

You may recall that I previously spoke with Matt McGinnis about the origins of Movie Riffing Melee and his experience of being a writer for Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). This time around, I chatted with Matt’s fantastical assistant extraordinaire, Roxy about how they came to work with him, their experience doing a live show, as well as some other random sprinkles of sweet stuff. 

Picture it! (said in Sophia Petrillo voice) 2018. After being convinced to attend The Colonial Theater’s annual Blob Fest (check out this annual event, it is epic) and enter the costume contest on a whim, the stars aligned for Matt and Roxy to meet. Roxy and their pal, went dressed as Daphne and Velma from the famed animated television series, Scooby Doo (Roxy was Daphne). Matt so happened to be the costume judge and Roxy may not have won that day, but they did manage to befriend local horror host/comedian/content creator about town, Mr. Lobo who in turn introduced them to a bunch of folks, including Matt. Roxy had been working with Mr. Lobo on his show by writing content and serving as a recurring character. As an admirer of MST3K, and with aspirations to act, the partnership with Matt simply made sense. “He knew I was a fan of the show because I had said as much to him and I have been very eager to volunteer when they came to Phoenxville to do their {MST3K} live shows,” explains Roxy. 

Roxy had been a fan of MST3K after catching the program on some VHS Tapes when they were thirteen years old. With Colonial Theater doing regular MST3K programming, Roxy would often serve as a volunteer to assist with the event simply to be close to the action. When it came time for Matt to host the first Movie Riffing Melee at Blobfest with Joel Hodgson and Emily Marsh this past summer, he approached Roxy about joining him on stage as his assistant. There was a caveat though. Matt did not want Roxy to be like the typical assistant, he wanted them to make it their own by adding flair and personality that went beyond what is typically seen as a  “Vanna White” role. Roxy was ecstatic with this proposition. “What I didn’t tell him is that it was really a dream come true for me because I had always wanted to work on Mystery Science Theater,” says Roxy. 

Roxy and Matt absolutely shine together. As live performers they have such wonderful chemistry that manages to captivate the audience, inspire laughter and entertain. I am so looking forward to seeing what they have up their sleeves for this spectacular holiday themed event. Recently I had the privilege of chatting with the illustrious and talented Roxy about their interest in movie riffing, what’s in store for the Stocking Stuffers event and their dream flick to riff. To say I hit it off with Roxy is an understatement. By the end of the conversation, I was giving them details on the next flick Katie McBrown (remember our movie Pizzaman, you can watch it here on YouTube) and I plan to shoot involving a mannequin and guess what… Roxy is interested. Check out what they had to say below and don’t forget to follow Roxy here to see what they are up to next. 

Rosalie Kicks (RK): Do you assist with the writing of the script or selecting the films for the shows? What does this process look like? 

Roxy Guarino (RG): I don’t select the movies, but I do assist with the writing as well as the hosting. This is a really fun experience for me because I am a writer by trade - it is what I got my degree in and is part of my day job. I love to do creative projects that don’t have to be part of my day job; I have written my own comics and short stories. 

I do take part in the writing process along with many other writers and Matt looks at all the riffs that the group comes up with and then selects the best ones. 

RK: What interested you in movie riffing?

RG: I was not aware of the show (MST3K) until I picked up some tapes at my local rental store. They had some of the episodes and the movie and it was like, wow, what is this? I instantly loved the concept, once I understood what it was and was pretty hooked at that point.

This isn’t exactly movie riffing, but at a young age, I was also very aware of who Elvira was and her claim to fame and that she would showcase many of the old types of films that would be on MST. She would not be riffing during them, but sort of lovingly poke fun at them and the conventions of those movies. The other thing that got me into this type of performing, writing, and entertainment would probably be Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was something that I was also aware of from what most likely would be seen as an inappropriately young age. There was a whole performance associated with this film and then there were certain riffs you had to say. That fascinated me and I remember this quote from I want to say the book is entitled, “Midnight Movies”, but that Rocky Horror was about tearing down the invisible wall between the film and the audience. I think that’s what MST tries to do. I think that’s what we try to do. 

RK: Tell us a bit about your character when you co-host with Matt… at The Devil Bat event you seemed to have a Lydia Deetz (Beetlejuice) inspired style. Was that just a one time thing? 

RG: I perform under my real name but it is more like, I guess a quirky version of myself. I’m sort of the beleaguered assistant, lovely assistant, who just has kind of their own skewed view of things.

I’m not meant to be like a stereotypical ditzy woman, but we’re just trying to kind of have fun with the roles of host and assistant; my character means well, but things do not always go as planned. Matt gives a lot of room for me to express myself. He says I can wear whatever I want or if I forget a line, I can improv something that makes sense; although I do try to stick to the script. But you always have to have a plan B when you are performing live, because anything can happen. People can say and do anything. I have experience doing improv, so I try to roll with the punches.

I would describe myself as non-binary and somewhat gender fluid (Roxy utilizes she/they pronouns). Matt wanted me to make this character my own and bring my own sensibility to it. He knew that I like to express myself in a lot of different ways. We came up with this sort of androgynous kind of punk rock look for my character, which is like a more heighted version of what I would wear normally. For The Devil Bat show, he wanted me to wear a Halloween costume of some kind. I’ve always loved the character of Lydia and had that costume already. Bela Lugosi (who stars in The Devil Bat) makes me think of Ed wood and that makes me think of Tim Burton, so I think there is a reason for it. And it is a costume that I feel comfortable moving in. 

RK: As an actor, what type of  projects attract you? Do you dabble in other types of artform too? 

RG: I’ve done more stage acting than film acting. Whether it is stage or film, I like anything that is very creative and unconventional. I like exploring my sense of humor, but I also like drama and stuff that talks about issues relevant to us today. Anything unconventional and bold. 

I’ve been playing around with producing some of my own content along with my theater group, but we branched out into film lately. We’re called Basement Mind Medicine Productions and that’s where my instagram handle comes from (follow Roxy here). My friend Ben Stansbury and I just did a short film that’s part of Steve Rudsinski’s film A Cheesy Christmas (check out the trailer here). This was kind of a riff on 80s sitcoms like Alf, where we made this weird puppet character that I would describe as the uncanny valley version of Alf. 

I also wrote a horror play that was shown at the Players Theatre Festival in New York. This was for a Halloween themed festival and I did a kind of Twilight Zone themed piece. I also have a magazine for sale that Matt and I made available at South Street Art Mart (also one of the fine MovieJawn retailers). I think your readers would really dig it and we love the Nicoles (owners of South Street Art Mart). They're pretty great people. 

RK: Do you have a dream movie you would love to riff? 

RG: There are so many. Definitely one of my favorites - because I love seeing people’s reaction to it, is the musical The Apple. 

I feel like you can give someone the elevator pitch of that movie, but they still don’t quite know what they’re getting into until the movie actually starts and then we get all this biblical imagery and this absolutely insane twist ending… people that I have shown The Apple to are just gobsmacked. Like what is this? Well, that’s a good question. The aesthetics of that movie are unforgettable. The songs, some of them are actually quite catchy. Some of them will stay with you whether you want them to or not. The performances are indelible. 

RK: Any tidbits you can share about the event?

RG: I can’t confirm or deny that Santa will be there. But, if you are an ugly sweater fan, you will not be disappointed. Matt and I are thinking about sporting ugly sweaters and we encourage anyone who wants to come to the event to wear their favorite ugly sweater as well. 

This is going to be a series of shorts, some of which are very old and I think if you like the weird, the uncanny, and the line between adorable and creepy… you will not be disappointed. Some of the shorts were listed on The Colonial’s website, but not all are up there. If you like weird black and white content and puppetry, there’s going to be some of that. 

Matt and Roxy return to The Colonial Theatre on Thursday December 19 at 7pm for Matt McGinnis’s Movie Riffing Melee: Stocking Stuffers. Purchase tickets to the event here.