The Mads Are Back (or simply "The Mads") is a live riffing project featuring former Best Brains members Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff.[1] Though they are billed as "The Mads", they do not appear in character as Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV's Frank.
Trace and Frank began riffing together in early 2015, formalizing the partnership in October, 2015 with a tumblr account, Facebook page, and a web site (eventually). They have performed in live venues across the country, riffing old movies in the traditional MST3K style. The films being riffed are not typically announced to attendees ahead of time.
All of the jokes used in the show are generated by Frank and Trace, with occasional improvisations. They do not have additional writers.
Beaulieu and Conniff have discussed the pleasant time they've had on tour on their movie podcast Movie Sign with the Mads.
On January 25th 2018, The Mads Are Back show at the Alamo Draft House in New York City featured an in-person appearance by Kim Cattrall, who introduced a riffing of The Tingler.
The show experienced a hiatus during 2019 when Frank Conniff had some health concerns. Touring eventually resumed after Frank recovered.
In 2020, live performances were suspended due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. A series of paid live-streaming events took place starting in July. The producer for these events is Chris Gersbeck, with Frank Conniff booking the special guests. The first several events featured films that had previously been riffed in a live stage show, with some new material. Eventually, the livestream events began to use films that had not been used in live shows. At the conclusion of each event, the Mads and their producer announced the date and (in most cases) the content for the next event.
In February of 2021, The Mads launched a YouTube channel that hosted several of the shorts they had riffed. It was announced that previous livestream events would eventually become available through this channel as well.
Contents
Broadcast Shows
- Glen or Glenda - July 21, 2020
- The Tingler - August 18, 2020
- Walk the Dark Street - September 15, 2020
- A Night of Shorts - October 20, 2020
- The Brain from Planet Arous - November 17, 2020
- Santa Claus vs. the Devil - December 15, 2020
- A Night of Shorts 2 - January 12, 2021
- The Choppers - February 9, 2021
- Phantom from Space - March 9, 2021
- A Night of Shorts 3 - April 13, 2021
- T-Bird Gang - May 11, 2021
- The Lost Missile - June 8, 2021 (scheduled)
Other Known Riffed Movies
- Plan 9 from Outer Space
- The Monolith Monsters
- The Neanderthal Man
- The Creature Walks Among Us
- Deadly Prey
- La La Land
Appearances with RiffTrax
Trace and Frank have made a few appearances for RiffTrax, where they have riffed on shorts, which were subsequently used in their A Night of Shorts live stream.
- RiffTrax Live: MST3K Reunion Show - More Dates for Kay
- RiffTrax Live: Summer Shorts Beach Party - Office Etiquette
- Day of the Shorts: SF Sketchfest 2019 - Are You Listening? and The Cautious Twins
