Oh, the things I'll watch when my husband is out of town. Pleasures may not get more guilty than "RuPaul's Drag Race," or "Clean House," but they do get more inane. To wit..."Food Party." I heard a little about it when it debuted last June and mistakenly expected more of a cooky, kid-friendly Yummy Clare phenomenon. No, dude...
The creator/host of the IFC show, Thu Tran, is out there in a way that I haven't seen since Pee-Wee Herman — just imagine if his Playhouse was in '00s Brooklyn, instead of '80s L.A., he had a can of Deez Nuts-brand nuts in his freezer and a banana stripper in his living room. Her world is filled with wacked-out handmade puppets, intentionally cheezy props and plot-free plots.
Not only is "Food Party" not particularly family-friendly, it's not even really about food. That is, unless, you have a hankering for green screen cookies and blue cheese-frosted wedding cake dressed with buffalo wings and crudité. (If you're interested, there are a few "real" recipes scattered about her blog.)
Tran is awkward and goofy, yet, more than a little bit intoxicating, á la Charlyne Yi (and, no, I'm not just comparing them because they're both Asian-American). Watching Tran's parade of randomness transports me back to my post-collegiate Adult Swim viewing sessions, when my homies and I would drink beer and cherry limeades while reveling in our arrested development.
Nothing about "Food Party" makes sense. But once you go down the rabbit hole, you become okay with that fact. I'm only salty because I could never be uninhibited, or enterprising enough to try bringing something this ridiculous to national television...and have it get renewed for more than one season, no less (new episodes start April 27).
BTW, that "What Not to Wear" contestant at the Austin American-Statesman reports that Tran is in the ATX during SXSW, should you want to meet her in person.
No comments:
Post a Comment