RiffTrax Shorts Season 27 Episode 4 At Your Fingertips: Cylinders
- May 19, 2014
- 10 min
At Your Fingertips: Cylinders is the fourth episode of the twenty-seventh season of RiffTrax Shorts. In this episode, the team of Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy take on the industrial film from 1969 that teaches viewers about the many uses of cylinders.
The short is presented in a typical deadpan style, with the narrator, who sounds like he was plucked straight out of the late 1960s, droning on about cylinders and their many uses. The team at RiffTrax takes this mundane subject matter and injects it with their unique brand of humor, injecting jokes and quips that range from the snarky to the surreal.
As with all RiffTrax productions, there is an emphasis on pop culture references and digs at the absurdity of the film. Mike, Bill, and Kevin are experts at finding the most incongruous moments and riffing on them in a way that is hilarious and seemingly effortless.
Some of the highlights of this particular episode include a set of jokes about the strange clothes worn by the factory workers in the film, a riff on the dubious safety standards of the era, and a recurring bit involving a vaguely sinister sounding line from the narrator that the RiffTrax team turns into a running joke.
At Your Fingertips: Cylinders is a great example of what makes the RiffTrax show so entertaining. The team has a knack for taking the most mundane and obscure pieces of pop culture and transforming them into comedic gold. Even if the subject matter of this particular short doesn't sound particularly exciting, the RiffTrax team makes it worth watching.
Fans of RiffTrax's particular brand of humor will no doubt enjoy this episode, but those new to the series will likely find it a good starting point. The humor is accessible and easy to follow, and the format of the show – essentially a commentary track for a short or movie – is simple to understand.
Overall, At Your Fingertips: Cylinders is a solid episode of RiffTrax Shorts that will likely leave viewers laughing and wondering just what they just watched. Whether you're a die-hard fan of the series or just looking for a good laugh, this episode is definitely worth checking out.