The Found Footage Festival recently took center stage at The High Dive, a longstanding venue in Gainesville, showcasing a diverse range of forgotten media in its original VHS format. Spearheaded by childhood friends Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher from Wisconsin, this unconventional festival has been a consistent source of entertainment for the past two decades.
Prueher and Pickett have meticulously curated an impressive collection of over 13,000 obscure videos, spanning from a retro dating guide to obscure Pizza Hut training videos. Their scavenging expeditions lead them to garage sales, thrift stores, and various establishments brimming with relics from yesteryears, unearthing hidden gems that evoke nostalgia and amusement.
One remarkable discovery featured in their repertoire was a peculiar POV-style home movie titled “The Club,” where a man meticulously showcases a tree limb he found in the forest, treating it as a prized possession. This intriguing find even prompted a reunion with the man from the video, 25 years after its creation, showcasing the lasting impact of these forgotten visual treasures.
Laughter and passionate applause were just two of the many feelings felt by the Found Footage Festival goers as they explored the strange and, at times, embarrassing world of old VHS tapes. The selection of films primarily hailing from the ‘80s and ‘90s resonated with attendees like Benji Gibbons and Jon Church, who found solace in revisiting the bygone era of early home entertainment.
Church, a software engineer, highlighted the allure of witnessing private moments captured on tape, adding a layer of intimacy and intrigue to the performance. The inclusion of a poorly executed home video titled “Sin of the City” further heightened the comedic atmosphere, with its continuity errors and subpar audio quality eliciting fits of laughter from the crowd.
Prueher and Pickett’s knack for transforming mundane footage into comedic gold has garnered them a dedicated following, with numerous documentaries and comedy specials dedicated to their offbeat festival. Their attention to detail extends beyond the stage, with quirky merchandise offerings like t-shirts featuring defunct television stations and production studios, adding a touch of nostalgia for fans to take home.
As the curtains closed on their Gainesville show, Prueher and Pickett left the audience with a whimsical factory training video on workplace safety, a humorous reminder to navigate their way home without any unexpected slips or falls. With their next stops in Tampa and Sanford, the duo continues to captivate audiences with their eccentric brand of entertainment, ensuring a memorable experience for all who dare to delve into the realm of forgotten VHS treasures.