Mouth Odyssey
The History
Carl and Carlyle Weems were a popular father and son vaudeville team in the late 1800s. Eventually they tired of the shtick and yearned to speak to their audience in a more meaningful way.
In the year 1900, they began producing abstract performance art shows under the name Mouth Odyssey. They were ostracized from the vaudeville community. Rather than give up, they continued to hone their craft in whatever venues would have them. They refused to stop performing.
On the night of April 12th, 1900, Carl and Carlyle were performing for a small audience at a nameless tavern in Philadelphia. During their show, a time warp opened and sucked them 108 years into the future.
Now, in the hopes that one day they might return home, they wander the country doing the only thing they know: father and son performance art.
Won’t your heart join us on a Mouth Odyssey?
Join Carl and Carlyle Weems as they wrestle with father son issues, search for meaning in a strange new world, and experience the present for the first time.
Mouth Odyssey is an episodic improvised show. One episode will occur each month at Bongo After Hours Theatre. The series will end on December 17th, 2008 with Mouth Odyssey: The Finale.
Meanwhile, we will periodically update the Mouth Odyssey Experience with key events from the shows, highlights, photos and video to make it easy for everyone to follow Carl and Carlyle’s Odyssey. Here you can track their adventures as they strive to solve the mystery of the time warp and return to the home in the year 1900.
Welcome to the Mouth Odyssey Experience
Episode 1 - “Medical Mountain”
The Year 1900
- January 1st, 1900: Carl and Carlyle Weems debut Mouth Odyssey.
- 8:42pm on April 12th, 1900: Carl and Carlyle are about to perform their show, when a strange man appears and pulls Carlyle aside. Carl is nowhere to be seen. The strange man warns Carlyle not to perform that night, and states that there are forces at work greater than they understand. The strange man says that Mouth Odyssey is ahead of their time, and the powers that be won’t allow them to continue their work. He mentions a mysterious woman - possibly a witch - in Carl Weems past, and a curse on the Weems family. The strange man insists in doing bad physical comedy routines while he warns Carl about his impending fate.
- 8:55pm on April 12th, 1900: Carlyle ignores the warning from the strange man, but before he can talk to his father, they are ushered on stage and they begin their performance.
- 9pm on April 12th, 1900: A Time Warp opens and brings Carl and Carlyle to the year 2008.
The Present
- April 12, 2008: Carl and Carlyle arrive in the present. They spend the next few months getting acclimated to the present day and traveling the country performing their show.
- July 12th, 2008: Carl and Carlyle arrive in a small southern town and perform their show “Medical Mountain.”
- Carl Weems demonstrates an addition to unhealthy foods and drinks - notably Meat Cookies.
- In an effort to help his father eat better, Carlyle begins planting a garden in the yard of Mr. McScritcher, a Scottish man with an overbearing wife.
- Carl refuses to take Carlyle’s advice and continues to indulge in Meat Cookies. A vein begins to bulge on his forehead.
- When Carl at last confesses to Carlyle that he cannot taste bottled water, Carlyle forces his father to go to Doctor Patterson’s office, where he meets Charnese, an unusual receptionist.
- Dr. Patterson notices that Carl has no medical records. Not wanting to reveal any information about his time-traveling predicament, Carl dodges the doctor’s questions with slapstick comedy.
- This irritates Dr. Patterson so much that he diagnoses Carl as unfit to perform, and unfit to be a father.
- Carlyle becomes frustrated with his father’s attitude and decides to give up trying to convince him to eat healthy foods.
- Mouth Odyssey performs their Mouth Odyssey show for a second time. The bulging vein in Carl’s head pounds during the show, interfering with Carl’s ability to perform. He stumbles and Carlyle must help him finish the show. Tensions are visibly high between the two.
- Feeling down about his failure during the performance and the outcome of his doctor’s visit, Carl finally starts to consider taking better care of himself. A confrontation with Mr. McScritcher gives him the final push he needs to put the Meat Cookies away once and for all.
- Carl joins Carlyle in the garden, where we learn that Carlyle has previous planted Lettuce, Carrots, and Beans. We learn that Carlyle had also planted Peas in the garden under the cover of night.
- Carlyle begins to remember the night in 1900 when he was pulled aside by the strange man. He asks his father about that man, as well as woman from their past and the curse that the strange man mentioned. Carl dodges the questions, and they are interrupted by Mrs. McScritcher, who notices the vein still bulging out of Carl’s head.
- The two are berated by Mrs. McScritcher, who reveals that she is actually only 28 years old, but her terrible health habits have aged her beyond her years. They invite her and her husband to the third performance of their Medical Mountain show.
- Over the next few days, Carl eats vegetables from the garden, reflects on his attitude, and regains his health.
- Mr. and Mrs. McScritcher come to the third performance of the Medical Mountain show. Mrs. McScritcher is inspired to change her ways and become less venomous.
- With their three performances completed, Carl and Carlyle move on to a different town. As they exit, Carlyle asks his father again about the mysterious man, the woman from their past, and the curse on the family. Carlyle reveals that he knows more than he has been letting on, and promises to tell Carlyle more on the way to their next show.
Episode 2 - “Competitive Bonding”
The Year 1900
- Carl had been pulled aside by a strange woman who wore the Diamond Circle medallion. She warns Carl that Mouth Odyssey is ahead of their time and that some people are trying to stop them. She then insists that Carl and his son continue to perform, at all costs.
The Present
- Carl and Carlyle Weems Competitive Bonding explores the idea various forces competing for the attention of the heart, losing one’s way, and finding it again by connecting with what is truly important.
Mouth Odyssey - Competitive Bonding
- Carlyle discovers the internet and tries to share it with his father. Carl is reluctant at first, but eventually gives in. Carlyle leaves for a bike ride, and Carl tries his hand at the internet.
- Carl remembers enjoying the dances of the Polish people. He visits the popular video sharing site “YourTube” and searches for “Pole Dancing” with surprising results.
- As he is absorbed with this video, Carl receives a message on the computer. It reads “We know who you are. We are watching you all the time. You cannot escape us.”
Carl Weems discovers Pole Dancing on 'YourTube'
- We meet Bernson and Don, two dark characters who are watching the Weems from afar. Don reveals that the Weems performance art and time-traveling are interfering with his plans, and assigns Bernson to assassinate Carl and Carlyle at their next performance. Don makes it clear that Bernson’s life, as well as his own, are at stake.
- Don also reveals that his grandfather had been a part of this same evil society, and that they had been trying to eliminate the Weems since they began performing Mouth Odyssey in the year 1900. Don’s grandfather had failed in his mission, but Don aims to succeed at all costs.
- Carlyle returns from his bike ride with a second bicycle - a old black bicycle that he discovered on the side of the road during his ride. Carlyle suggests that he and his father go for a ride together, so Carl can tell him about the mysterious woman from their past as he had promised to do at the end of the fist episode.
- Carl agrees, but before they get far Carl discovers that the brakes on his bicycle do not work, and he careens down the side of the cliff.
The evil Don & Bernson plot the Weems demise.
- Carlyle pursues him, and after picking his father up off the ground, they inspect the black bicycle together. They discover that the brake line has been cut, and that there is a strange decal on the side of the bicycle - a dimond inside of a circle.
- They peel the decal off the bicycle and decide to go look it up on the internet.
- We meet two painfully awkward children - a lonely child named Quadracep who wants desperately to make friends, and Billopod, an unathletic kid who is training in “periodic walking.” They share an awkward greeting, and Quadracep invites Billopod to the performance art show later that evening.
- Carl and Carlyle look up the diamond circle shape on the internet. They discover that it represents an ancient society, shrouded in secrecy. Carl reveals that he had seen the diamond circle symbol before, and Carl demands to know more about their past. Carl finally tells Carlyle about the mysterious woman from their past.
- We flash back to the night when the time warp opened - the same night that the strange hunchback man pulled Carlyle aside and and warned him not to perform (as seen in Episode 1).
- Flashing back to the present, Carlyle is upset that Carl has hidden this from him - especially in light of the hunchback having pulled him aside on that same night and insisting that they NOT perform. Still, they both agree that they have to continue, and simultaneously recite a line from their creed: “To always perform, no matter what other people say or do, ever.”
- In the second installment of the performance art piece “Competitive Bonding,” the Weems demonstrate their renewed resolve. The performance invokes themes of things forgotten and remembered, whether it is appropriate to keep things hidden from family in order to keep them safe, and the idea of emotional distance and bonds.
The Bonded Heart
- Despite that Bernson is in the audience and that he is supposed to assassinate them, the performance art piece concludes without incident.
- We revisit Bernson and Don. Bernson reveals that he found himself taken in by the performance art piece and couldn’t bear to pull the trigger.
- Don suspects the involvement of a rival group, and reveal that their evil faction has their own insignia - a square inside of a triangle.
- Don reminds Bernson that both of their lives are at stake, and they open their equipment vault. Bernson leaves with a jetpack and a rifle.
- Backstage at the peformance space after the show, the awkward boy Quadracep approaches Carl Weems and asks him for an autograph. Carl is happy to give it, but then Quadracep asks Carl to sign something strange - a medallion with the Diamond Circle insignia on it. Carl is surprised and demands Quadracep tell him who sent him - but Quadracep exits awkwardly, leaving Carl with the medallion - and questions.
- Later, Carl calls Carlyle in to speak to him - he wants to show him the medallion and talk more about their past. Carlyle, however, has obtained a video camera and insists on recording their conversation, which he says he wants to put on the video sharing website “YourTube”. This makes Carl uncomfortable, as he doesn’t want the wrong people to see that they have the medallion.
- Together they come to realize that the video camera might be useful to capture events that happen in their home when they aren’t around. Carlyle turns off the camera and Carl gives him the medallion for protection.
- Then, Carl reveals that the mysterious woman had visited him again - this time in the present.
- We flash back to their meeting, where the strange woman reveals that she can travel through time at will. Carl askes if she is there to take them home, but she says no - instead, she is there to push them forward to their destiny. She warns Carl that he is going to have to make a choice at the third perfomance. His choice would determine the fate of his son.
- Carlyle is upset that Carl has been hiding so much from him, and he discards the medallion. He throws it outside, where Quadracep, who happens to be walking down the street, picks it up and walks away, frustrated.
- Carlyle tells Carl to stop trying to protect him by hiding things from him, and insists that they stop worrying and focus more on their show.
- We cut to Bernson in the audience at the third performance art before the show begins. He has his jetpack and rifle. The mysterious woman appears and reveals that she is watching Bernson, but that she will not intervene.
- Even more defiant, and this time a little frustrated with one another, the Weems begin their third performance. Carl is distracted and is trying to cover Carlyle during the performance to protect him from whatever the strange woman was talking about. Themes of secrets, hidden information, and things unknown are explored. In a dramatic move, the Weems speak the words “The truth can hurt” together, and within seconds, shots ring out.
- Carlyle is hit several times in the leg and the back. Carl does his best to cover Carlyle and gets hit in the back himself. They end the performance cradling one another on the ground.
MAN DOWN!
- In the final scene, a doctor enters and shows that Carl and Carlyle are in recovery. Carl is confused to discover that he has a colostomy bag. Carl proudly tells the doctor that this still won’t stop them from performing.
- The doctor warns that Carl and Carlyle must stop performing - he says that what they are doing is attracting the wrong kind of attention and that to stop performing is the only way to guarantee their safety.
- He shows a symbol to Carl - the Square inside of a Triangle - and leaves them to think.
- With the doctor done, Carl wakes up Carlyle, who also has a colostomy bag, and tells him that they are leaving. Carl says that he has people waiting for them outside in an automobile to take them to somewhere safe - somewhere with people that can help them.
- On their way out, Carlyle apologizes for his hot-headedness and takes responsibility for putting them in danger. Carl forgives him as they hobble out of the hospital together, both in poor health.
