Last night, I attended Bruce-o-Rama, a night with Bruce Campbell. Yes. The Bruce Campbell. As in, Ash Williams/ Sebastian Haff Bruce Campbell!
If you’re reading this thinking, “What the hell is Bruce-o-Rama?” Yeah. I get it. I thought that, too, when I saw the event listing, but I bought the tickets anyway, and I am so glad I did!
Want to know more? Here’s the info from Bruce himself: https://www.bruce-o-rama.com/
TL/DR of “What is Bruce-o-Rama?”
- Bruce Campbell pops out on stage in a tuxedo (he says he buys them from K&G Fashion Superstores.)
- Everyone logs into a web page and answers trivia questions about horror, sci-fi, and Sam Raimi/ Bruce movies.
- The four highest scoring fans end up on stage, in a Jeopardy like set up with a buzzer and a mic, and get points by answering more trivia questions. (While Bruce ribs them about things.)
- The winner is the last fan standing and gets a funny certificate from Bruce and the crowd’s adoration.
- Bruce points at people in the audience, roasts them, and chit chats back and forth. He singled out my sister, calling her that “drunk chick” (she wasn’t, but I was!) and then asked us how many times we’ve seen Evil Dead 2. We answer. He makes fun of us. We all laugh.
- Bruce then spends 30-45 answering audience questions about his career and Evil Dead, and Sam Raimi. He makes everyone laugh. He makes fun of you if you ask too-film geeky of a question. He ends by telling us how he and Sam R met for the very first time in 8th grade. Really, if Bruce hadn’t dumped his typing class and moved to “Speaking for Radio,” we may never have the Evil Dead series we have today!
- Bruce leaves, to much applause, and the movie starts. I think the movie is different on every tour stop, but on ours, it was Evil Dead 2. Which made me and my sister supremely happy. You watch the movie with a room full of super fans, many of whom cheer when the blood starts spurting.
This is Bruce-o-Rama. It sounds weird on paper. Like, what am I going to do in a room with a cult movie star all night. But Bruce is funny and charming, so it’s crazy fun.
It’s fun because Bruce is fun. But it’s also fun because the kind of horror comedy geeks who would go out on a stormy Friday night to sit in a theater with Bruce, not knowing what to expect, are totally our people. Seriously, ghouls. I sat down in a crowd o people I didn’t know, but by the end of the night, my sister and I knew everyone in our little corner of seats. We had super fun together. We were not strangers by the time we left that night!
So. Yes. If Bruce-o-Rama is coming to a city near you, I say buy the ticket, take the chance. These are our kind of ghouls!
Here’s a slideshow of some of the pics I took, and a short video where Bruce talks about how much he hates Sam Raimi’s Delta 88, which is in every one of his movies, and doesn’t understand why he won’t give it up. And, Bruce on his contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
horror comedy and funny fantasy author D.M. Guay 