GROOVY TUBE
Innovative Community TV show makes and breaks what's cool on the local art and music scene

By MICHAEL MECHANIC -METRO SANTA CRUZ

Few thoughts might come to mind as you sit on a battered sofa, dropping bits of Chinese takeout between the cushions and watching Community TV's underground hit, The Bill and Clay Show: "Don't these guys have anything else to do?" you might think. "I mean, this show is really dumb. It's silly, absurd even. So why am I laughing so hard?" ? The B&C Show is one of two very dissimilar local art, music and comedy shows to appear on community cable channels 71 and 72, and it's a riot.

Young Santa Cruzans Bill Goff and Clay Butler bring back that junior high school feeling of giggling uncontrollably over something you couldn't possibly explain to your teacher (who then sentences you to 40 minutes of staring at dumb motivational posters in the school psychologist's office). This dynamic duo already has cablecast three half-hour episodes and is about to unleash a fourth. Part of the show's charm is its primitive production quality. Special effects are created with pieces of string and stuff from the kitchen. They edit by dubbing back and forth between two VCRs; they construct titles and credits from colorful scraps of paper and painstakingly craft miniature sets for their violent animated shorts like "Toyz in Da Hood" and "Neighborhood of Harsh Realities," with its streetwise puppets. Bill and Clay staples include puppetry and stop- time animation with a cast of characters including "the Fonz" dolls, trolls, dinosaurs, Grim Reaper cops, amorous ghouls, Power Rangers and street vermin.

The show is also peppered with fake commercials ripping on fast-food joints, personal-injury lawyers, and late-night offers for useless products. Their debut show featured a hilarious "art" review in which Bill and Clay drove around town critiquing the cheesy holiday decorations painted on shop windows. B&C also has live footage of local musical guests-though the sound quality sucks-which have included Head Case-O-Matic and Junk Sick Dawn. Witchhook Sky and Head Circus are featured in the current episode, which Butler says also includes a spoof on Community Perspectives, a mainstream political talk show also on public access.

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