Gimme Truth!
March 2, 2008 at 11:30 a.m.
Technical difficulties delayed entry into Macklanburg Theater for 40 minutes. However, once inside it became clear to the audience why. A crane-mounted camera sat just to the right of the elaborately decorated set.
David Wilson greeted the audience and explained that this year’s Gimme Truth! contest was going to be filmed for a television pilot they were trying to pitch. Acting as a TV audience required fake commercial breaks during which an off stage cast would run on to adjust microphones and cameras. All the action was a bonus for the audience who was more than happy to play along and clap as the show “returned from break” and the game show host rolled off another one liner.
The pilot being filmed gave an extra show within the show for the audience to watch, however, the contest videos themselves were still the stars. After showing each filmmaker/contestant’s two-minute documentary the three judges each had an opportunity to ask one question before guessing whether the story was true or false.
Judges and audience were routinely fooled and amused by the documentaries that came from amateur filmmakers across Missouri. Some of the memorable entries included the story of a squirrel enthusiast who collects squirrel paraphernalia, the college student who bought Orson Welles’s favorite chair and the girl who won the 2007 “Ugliest Person Award” in the Midwest division (which she maintains is the hardest division to win.) All in all, the show was worth the wait.
- Ricky O'Bannon
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