Earlier this year at a Happy Yess Comedy gig, I threw a few saucy velociraptor references into my insightful and side-splitting discussion of the role of chivalry in twenty-first century masculinity.
It didn’t go very well.
I was concerned that my sociological discussion was perhaps not quite as funny as I had believed, but was later relieved to discover that the problem wasn’t so much that I wasn’t very funny (I’m freaking hilarious), but that a disturbing number of audience members - to say nothing of fellow comedians – had never seen Jurassic Park.
Those few of us who had had the knowledge and fear of raptors instilled in us during our formative years regarded it as our moral responsibility to address this cultural deficit, and set about planning a Top End Comedy Jurassic Park Christmas Party. We waited until one of our number had left Darwin, and then invaded her house, set up a Christmas tree and decorated it with small plastic dinosaurs. This is what we do for fun in the Top End apparently. Once the tree was appropriately bedecked, it was time for the main event: A full length viewing of Jurassic Park on the second biggest TV I’ve ever seen.
As much as I love it, as a film Jurassic Park hasn’t aged well. The animatronics, which were astounding at the time it was released, don’t really stack up against the computer generated miracles we can create these days. The computer systems in the ‘state-of-the-art’ facility left us laughing even harder than the multimedia demonstration of how DNA works.
These days there probably isn’t a better way to enjoy the film than in a room over crowded with slightly intoxicated stand-up comedians. The night ended with those of us who had already seen the film grinning and remembering our childhood and remarking to each other how awesome Jurassic Park was, while those who had just seen it for the first time seemed comprehensively underwhelmed. I felt a bit like Sam Neil’s character trying to explain to the scoffing child that velociraptors are much more than just over grown turkeys. And no-one except me seemed to agree that “clever girl” is among the great lines of English literature.
In the end it was a great party with great friends and a great film. It’s just a shame that they never made any sequels.
Ever.
Garry with 2 Rs
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