Christopher Guest would have made a great starship captain, with his passion for beaming us into the heart of strange new worlds of wonder and his sharp comic sensibility perpetually set to stun.
Many people will know him best as clueless heavy-metal guitarist Nigel Tufnel in This Is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner's acclaimed mock documentary about an over-the-hill British rock band.
He subsequently adopted that same mockumentary style in his own films. From canine competitions (Best in Show) and folk-music hootenannies (A Mighty Wind) to community theatre (Waiting for Guffman) and movie awards (For Your Consideration), he has delved into all these worlds, as writer, director and star. His films are marked by their incredibly rich characters and a surreal sense of humour with heart. The revered writer, director and actor returns to filmmaking after a 10-year break with Mascots – available now on Netflix. As the name suggests, this time he turns his attention to the ultracompetitive world of sports mascots, as fiercely competitive men and women in big heads and furry suits battle to win the World Mascot Association's prestigious Golden Fluffy award.
At 68, this dual British-American citizen has been making his mark on TV and in films for more than 40 years. He has little left to prove artistically, but it’s obvious his passion for illuminating obscure worlds burns as brightly as ever.
“What interests me is subcultures that are narrow only to people that aren’t in them,” says Guest. “I could make a film about people who make shoes, and it’s a fairly specific thing – but for people who do that, it’s the most important thing to them and they take that very seriously.
“You could name 10,000 things like that and I would find them all interesting. Because, anybody who does something like that, they’re obsessed with it.”
Obsession may be the only way to explain what possesses a soul to dress up as Ollie the Octopus, Tammy the Turtle, Danny the Donkey, Alvin the Armadillo, and The Pencil and Pencil Sharpener, to name but a few of the 20 competitors we meet. Guest appears in the film as Corky St Clair, a flamboyant hick-town theatre director he first brought to life in 1997's Waiting for Guffman.
The film also features many of the director's regular troupe of actors, including Jane Lynch (Glee), Parker Posey (Café Society), Fred Willard (Modern Family), Ed Begley Jr (St Elsewhere), John Michael Higgins (Happily Divorced) and Bob Balaban (Pitch) – with a few new faces sprinkled in, including Zach Woods (Silicon Valley), Chris O'Dowd (St Vincent, The IT Crowd) and Sarah Baker (Louie).
What attracts top comedy talent to Guest’s movies is the fact that they can put their creative pedal to the floor as they madly and brilliantly improvise.
“It’s all about the process, and the process is not an orthodox one by any means,” says Guest. “First of all, there is no traditional script which, on a more conventional movie, can run to 200 pages.
“What we do is an outline – I think there were 102 scenes with Mascots, that are mapped out, what happens in each one – and in addition to that, the backstory of all the main characters.”
Begley Jr, a long-time regular in Guest’s movies, adds: “The most challenging part of this show is working with Parker Posey or Jane Lynch or Michael Higgins across from me ... and just trying to keep a straight face, just be Easter Island, just be a sphinx and, and look at them, when they’re going on about something outrageous.”
Mascots is available on Netflix now
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