Dumb Industries is providing ComingSoon.net with two complementary virtual tickets for its upcoming special livestream screening of William Castle’s The Tingler that will feature Mystery Science Theater 3000‘s Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff, better known as The Mads, performing a live-riff of the 1959 cult classic! All you have to do to win is email your name with the subject “TINGLER” to [email protected]!
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The show, set to begin on Tuesday, August 18 at 8 p.m. EST, will be Beaulieu & Conniff’s second livestream together, following a wildly popular screening of Ed Wood’s Glen or Glenda on July 21. Tickets are on sale for The Mads Are Back: The Tingler now for $10.
“The Tingler is a fun movie to riff because it stars Vincent Price, who was a delight to watch in everything he did, including this,” Conniff said in a statement. “And William Castle’s love of showmanship and gimmicks is something to be treasured.”
The Mads Are Back: The Tingler will broadcast live via a private YouTube link that will be sent to ticket purchasers an hour prior to showtime. Those who purchase a ticket will also be able to re-watch the show and download for personal viewing. A percentage of the proceeds from the event will benefit NAACP Empowerment Programs, who engage primarily in training, education, and advocacy at the national and local levels.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 has its roots in Minneapolis, when it premiered on local affiliate KTMA-TV (now WUCW) on November 24, 1988. Comedian Joel Hodgson created and starred in the TV show, which found him playing a janitor in the “not-too-distant future” imprisoned aboard The Satellite of Love, forced to watch a series of bad movies in an effort to drive Joel and his robot friends insane. The show was eventually picked up by Comedy Central and later the Sci-Fi Channel, before being rebooted by Hodgson in 2017 for Netflix.
Beaulieu, who also provided the voice of “Crow T. Robot” during the show’s initial run, portrayed evil mad scientist “Dr. Clayton Forrester,” while Conniff acted as Forrester’s lab assistant and sidekick, known as “TV’s Frank.” Both Beaulieu and Conniff were writers on the show and have continued to collaborate since leaving MST3K, as members of the similarly-themed live show Cinematic Titanic, and also as co-hosts of the weekly movie podcast Movie Sign with The Mads.
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In 2015, Beaulieu and Conniff began touring movie theaters throughout the country as The Mads Are Back, offering their signature brand of quick-witted commentary (known to MST3K fans as “riffing”) over numerous B-movies.
The Tingler tells the story of a scientist (played by the legendary Vincent Price) who discovers a parasite in human beings which feeds on fear. “The Tingler,” as it is named, has the ability to make the spine “tingle” when its host is frightened. The film’s director, William Castle, used gimmicks to sell the film as he did with earlier horror films Macabre (1958) and House on Haunted Hill (1959). The Tingler, however, remains most well known for its gimmick called “Percepto!”, a vibrating device in some theater chairs which activated with the onscreen action. Castle also hired actors in select theaters to faint during the climax of the film. The “fainters” would then be carried out on a gurney and whisked away in the ambulance, to return for the next showing.
The Mads will also be conducting a Q&A with fans after the screening for as long as time allows!
