Riffing on Reefer Madness

Fans of the legendary show Mystery Science Theater 3000 and internet sensation RiffTrax.com are in for a hilarious night of live comedy on August 19th when NCM Fathom, Something Awful and RiffTrax team up to present RiffTrax Live: Reefer Madness.

The creative team behind Mystery Science Theater 3000  – Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett – will reunite on the big screen for an evening of live riffing on the 1936 cult classic feature that warned generations of Americans against the horrors of excessive marijuana consumption. Audiences will also receive access to free digital goodies after the event including a downloadable short, avatars and a digital photo of the guys. 



“Reefer Madness is bizarre, paranoid and hilarious, everything we like in a movie,” says Nelson, RiffTrax creator and former host of the Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award-winning Mystery Science Theater 3000. “I've seen it a hundred times and I still find it funny—and I've never even smoked pot.”

Originally titled Tell Your Children and financed by a church group, Reefer Madness was intended as a morality tale about the dangers of cannabis use. The story follows a group of high school students who are coerced by pushers into trying marijuana, which becomes the catalyst for an ill-fated party that soon descends into madness. Soon after Reefer Madness’ initial filming in 1936, notorious exploitation filmmaker Dwain Esper turned up the intensity with the addition of salacious insert shots.

The final piece offers scenes of accidental murder, suicide and vehicular manslaughter. 

Reefer Madness gained new life in the 1970s when recreational marijuana enthusiasts discovered it and circulated the piece as entertainment. The film’s over-the-top moralizing and wild exaggeration of the effects of cannabis make it a perfect target for the comic wit of the RiffTrax gang.

For the first time ever, fans have the chance to hear their own joke used in the live event by submitting a riff for one – or all ten of the short clips available for riffing from Reefer Madness. Riffs may be submitted at www.RiffTrax.com/contest through midnight Pacific Time August 18th. One winner for each clip will be selected by the RiffTrax guys and each winner will receive a RiffTrax Swag Bag and an on-screen credit in the event.

“As fans have seen in our Fathom events before, the RiffTrax guys are comedic geniuses and seeing them improvise this so effectively live on 40-foot screens is astounding,” says Dan Diamond, vice president of NCM Fathom. “With its legendary camp, Reefer Madness is the perfect platform for Michael, Kevin and Bill to create yet another hilarious experience for fans in theatres.”



RiffTrax LIVE: Reefer Madness will be shown in select movie theatres. There will be an encore screening on August 24th.