“Where did the idea come from? That’s a hard one,” Richard Elfman ponders as I ask him about the origin for his latest film, Aliens, Clowns and Geeks. The movie, which revolves around a struggling actor (Bodhi Elfman) that gets caught in the middle of an intergalactic battle between clowns and aliens, was born out of two of Elfman’s favorite pastimes — Scotch and cigars.
“A case of Scotch, box of cigars and a few weeks later I’ll have a three-act screenplay,” Elfman tells me. “Aliens? I don’t think I was abducted—maybe could have been. But Clowns! Fucking clowns! As I’ve said it many times: ‘To be born a male redhead is to be born into a clown suit.'”
According to Elfman, the clowns come from a childhood obsession. One that he shared with his younger brother, composer Danny Elfman.
“My carrot-topped brother Danny and I have always had a fascination with clowns,” says Elfman. “Couple that with our wicked senses of humor and attraction to the horror genre, and voilà, scary, evil clowns!
“If I might digress, a few years ago the American Cinemateque was doing a weekend retrospective of my films. To help publicize the event — and to teach Hollywood how PR should really be done — I donned a clown suit, placard on my back, and walked up and down Hollywood Boulevard banging a big bass drum. Of course I brought along a cameraman and marching band. And of course, some big yahoo eventually got in my face with, ‘eat clown shit, Bozo,’ and crap like that.”
Eat clown shit, Bozo? Yep, that made it into the script.
“If I might digress further,” Elfman continues to venture back to his youth. “I was born on 103rd Street, deep in Watts before moving up to Boyz in the Hood Crenshaw. Whereas other young fellows had a particular athletic skill — dunking a basket, or hitting that fast ball — mine was the ability to hit a guy in the jaw and drop him. (Elfman later spent 25 years, on and off, as a sparring partner in a pro boxing stable.)
“To make a long story short, I put down my drum and signaled my DP where to angle the camera, then politely asked the yahoo: ‘What do you have against Jew-clowns? I’ve got nothing against dufis inbreds.’ Maybe it was the way I looked the asshole straight in the eye and gave that wicked Elfman smile, but he hesitated long enough for my bandmates to pull me away. Honk! Honk! Honk! And boom boom boom we marched our merry way. I normally avoid fights, but what a fucking YouTube video that would have been—too much to resist!”
It’s a damn shame that YouTube video doesn’t exist. I’d pay good money…well decent money, to see Elfman dressed as a musical clown boxing some random jerk on the street. Speaking of which, music is obviously a big part of being an Elfman. Shocker, I know. That love for music shows in Elfman’s films, particularly with his debut Forbidden Zone, and now this latest effort. In fact, one could argue that the music plays just as big a role as the script, dialogue, cinematography, and all those other goodies we think of when dissecting a movie. That’s no accident.
“Along with Scotch and a cigar, I actually listen to music each time before I start writing. It is as intricate a part of my films as the dialogue. And it also helps when your little brother is Mozart,” Big Red tells me when discussing the importance of music. “I was, and am, an Afro-Latin percussionist — currently playing in a band, Mambo Demonico with Ego Plum (Guerrero), who did the score with Danny. Hipsters actually has seventy-five minutes of music in a ninety minute movie.”
The music is one of the best aspects of Geeks. It’s energetic and almost makes it feel as if you’re watching a live performance. It’s a fun, upbeat party that plays a vital role in creating the movie’s unique experience.
Along with music, Elfman has a background in theater which also shows up on screen. A number of actors played multiple roles, and Elfman says his ability to work with actors and make sure they have fun comes from his background working in theater.
“I credit my theater background with knowing how to work with actors,” Elfman says (see, told you he said it). “But in terms of multiple roles, I pretty much had my dream cast on Geeks — talent through the roof to play with. We put prosthetics on our lovely Swedish ‘Inga’ (Angeline-Rose Troy) and turned her into Mother from Hell. Six-foot-six comic Steve Agee was easier, just took him out of his chicken-suit and put him in drag. Our lead, my son Bodhi Elfman, also played a clown as well as a green alien. And my wife Anastasia Elfman did everything from a carnie tramp to a nun. My cast did have fun!”
One of the running gags in Geeks, and there are many running gags, are the sex scenes. Every sex scene in this movie fails to make any sense logistically. There are two threesomes, and look I don’t have the firsthand experience, but I’m telling you what happens on screen doesn’t add up.
“Bodhi has always been a babe magnet,” Elfman tells me as he begins to try and clear up my confusion. “He’s married to beautiful actress/model/dancer Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg, Fear of the Walking Dead). Bodhi isn’t tall or even particularly good looking — he just has incredible charisma, confidence and is extraordinarily well endowed — which allows a wider range of, shall we say, ‘love positions.’ A group of scholars from India were doing an update on the Kama Sutra and brought Bodhi on as a consultant. Well, we incorporated much of that into the show.”
When it’s put that way, it makes complete sense. Bodhi Elfman has a giant schlong which means he can do things that mere mortals cannot. Good for him.
Aliens, Clowns and Geeks film will be premiering at Morbido Film Fest with a release expected later this year. For more details and info visit HipsterFilm.com. For more on the wild ride that is Richard Elfman, listen to episode #53 of The Boo Crew.