Host a Movieoke Night

by Mark S. Taylor (subscribe)

Since 2003, a little bar in New York City has hosted Movieoke, a unique night that's just what its name suggests: karaoke with movies. Participants stand in front of a big screen where famous movie scenes play, muted, while a smaller screen at the front of the stage plays the same scene, subtitled, as a prompt.

Not long ago this was a very pricey setup, but as TV screens get bigger and laptop computers get cheaper more and more of us already have everything we need to bring movieoke to our own front rooms. All it takes is a ready stock of friends and a little bit of coordination with the play button.

The first thing to do is to find your films. Because you'll be playing them on two screens simultaneously, you'll need either a way to connect your laptop to the TV or two copies of each film you want to perform. For most setups, the latter is probably easier – especially if your friends have the same taste in films as you. Simply check your DVD collections against each other, and with any that match, you're ready to go. If you don't have enough overlap, plan ahead and fill in the gaps with rentals.

You'll be playing in front of the TV, so there should already be plenty of space for your friends to sit and heckle from! Set up a laptop or portable DVD player somewhere where performers can see it comfortably, and start the DVD you've chosen on both screens. Make sure you've enabled subtitles on the smaller screen – unless you're feeling really comfortable! If you're muting the sound, don't forget to do it on both screens. Find the scene you think would have been better if you'd been cast in it, set both players going at once... and break a leg.

And of course, if you're getting tired of playing Hannibal Lecter to your next-door neighbour's Clarice, you don't have to play it straight. The subtitles may be there to help you, but really, they're more like guidelines, so if you'd rather go back to movieoke's roots and pretend the Silence of the Lambs was a musical...

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Why? A break from the usual movie night

When: Any day

Where: Anywhere with a DVD player

Cost: Free (unless you need rentals)

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