OVERINTERACTIVE IMAGINATION: WHAT HELPS PROPEL “RICK TREMBLES'
GOOPY SPASMS LIVE CARTOON SHOW”

“Lightning sketches” were a popular 19^th century vaudevillian entertainment that usually featured renowned cartoonists next to their easel delighting audiences with samples of their artistic prowess, the only narrative structure being the gradual evolution of deceptively simple lines turning into finished humorous doodles with a punch line.

Legendary newspaper cartoonist & pioneer animator Winsor McCay took the novelty a few steps further introducing interactivity to early cinemagoers by incorporating lightning sketch techniques into his immensely popular hit animated film “Gertie the Dinosaur” (1914). Designed so that he could present it live onstage standing next to his projected images in order to intermingle with his lead character, he’d toss objects at it behind the screen that would seem to continue onscreen, when in fact they were replaced by previously animated ones to create the illusion that they were entering one another’s worlds.

A century later cartoonist Rick Trembles revives the same interactive aspects to emphasize the intensely personal nature of his biographical sexual inquiries. Sitting next to a screen simulating an instructional slideshow performance, vaudevillian proscenium arch, ornate stage curtains & all, Trembles fesses up uninterrupted for the 10-minute duration of the film narrating each recollection per “slide,” every graphic image luridly being described coming to life via his personally hand-rendered animation. Waxing melancholic on his list of unrequited objects of desire, what might come across as the tragically lonesome plight of a sexual deviant instead gets infused with self-deprecating humor that treads a fine line between frank pathos & raucous subject matter.

While harking back to McCay’s remarkable experiments, Trembles also satirizes the sensationalistic, authoritative tone employed by the kind of alarmist instructional/educational films that flourished in the first half of the 20^th century & became the basis for early exploitation/independent filmmaking (a sub-genre that distinguished itself by tackling controversial topics mainstream cinema wouldn’t approach for fear of offending conservative investors).

As director/author/animator Rick Trembles’ tale unfolds we’re flung across an ever-widening chasm between candor, revulsion, & shame. Curious & potentially dangerous yearnings are explicitly expressed & schematically detailed utilizing cross-sections & transformations for the audience’s perusal & consideration, sometimes even “interacted” upon in order to emphasize the consequences of a potential loss of control, the implication being that the mere evocation of certain desires, despite the absence of any enactment, might result in repercussions just as tactile. Careful what you wish for.

REGARDING RICK TREMBLES 

Rick Trembles is distinguished as being one of the longest lasting underground/alternative cartoonists working in Montreal , recognized the world over in similar circles for his obsessively detailed tableaus & film-related comic strips. His cartoon movie reviews Motion Picture Purgatory continue to appear weekly in Montreal Mirror since 1998, & a 192-page self-titled book compiling the best of these has just been released by British publisher FAB Press. For just as long as he’s been drawing comix he’s worked in various capacities at commercial animation studios & contributed animated clips, special effects & acted in several independent films, Mother’s Meat Freud’s Flesh (1984),  Dragon Bones (1990), S.P.I.T.: Squeegee Punks in Traffic (2001), & Resolving Power (2000) among others.

Rick Trembles has developed a worldwide reputation over the years publishing & distributing his own comix & has been published in anthologies including Robert Crumb's Weirdo, Fantagraphics Books' Pictopia, New York City's Legal Action Comix, Portugal's Mutate & Survive, France's La Monstruese, & the 2000-page hardbound book Comix 2000.  His work has been exhibited at numerous art galleries.

Legendary underground cartoonist Robert Crumb has called the comic that Goopy Spasms is based on “even more twisted & weird than me” & similarly renowned alternative cartoonist Peter Bagge, creator of Hate & author of Spiderman, called it a “masterpiece.” Underground film luminary George Kuchar described it as having an “interesting style where the lines are delicate & the material is not, quite effective & elicits an oddly ethereal quality to basic yearnings & quirks.” The Canada Council for the Arts (who partially funded the production of Goopy Spasms) called it “pretty slurpy” in a TV news piece on the topic of grants being given to controversial artists. Julie Doucet, the creator of Dirty Plotte called Trembles’ work “mighty good” & Daniel Clowes, creator of Eightball & Ghost World “liked (it) a lot.” Darius James, author of Negrophobia & That’s Blaxploitation considers Trembles’ comix “genius." About the completed film, esteemed independent animator Bill Plympton said it’s “the sickest film I’ve seen all year, I loved it.” Chip Lamey of Video Crypt called it "a joyfully twisted look into (Trembles’) fascination with masturbation, cross-dressing, & every fluid/cavity the human body offers. Goopy Spasms should be sought out," & Rick Trembles’ performance reminded Film Threat’s Jeremy Knox of William S. Burroughs, suggesting that "Trembles doesn't come off as some crazed agent provocateur but a soft-spoken man telling a series of amusing anecdotes about himself. The gross out bits are a set up to the jokes, not the punch line. So is it funny? Oh yeah." Concordia University English literature professor Marcie Frank has written about the comic that Goopy Spasms is based on in a piece entitled "How Did I Get So Anal?": Queer Self-Authorization at the Margins published in the book Queer Diasporas (2000) by Duke University Press.