|
SAN FRANCISCO WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
For some people, the American
Dream is about getting a high-paying job, raising a
family, and buying a house in the suburbs. None of
those people will ever be featured on Reality Check.
 The show's host and editor claims it is for a particular kind of Everyman. "Reality Check is the show for the all-American guy," says Stuttering Danny D
(aka Danny Shipman).
According to the long-running, award-winning, underground-trolling cable access show (Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. on Channel 29), all-American guys hunger for the holy trinity of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. For 10 years now, Reality Check has been supplying all three in abundant, off-the-cuff fashion, whether it be taste-testing Burning Man specialty cocktails, or interviewing metal giants like Alice Cooper and punk upstarts such as the Donnas. Over time the show's crew has highlighted the noisy, salacious, and totally bizarre, gaining fans such as Rancid's Lars Frederiksen and Metallica's Kirk Hammett along the way.
Amazingly enough, this "video journal of underground culture" got its start because of a Gulf War protest.
 "I was working at the Fairmont [Hotel] at the time and the protests were going on down on Market Street," says Reality Check co-creator and executive producer Huge when we speak at a Richmond District restaurant. "So I said, "I'm going to borrow that [camera] and show all the mayhem that [is] happening.'"
After documenting the chaos, the now-39-year-old New York transplant decided he wanted to air the footage on San Francisco's cable access television station (then Channel 25). His idea for an alternative news program quickly morphed into "a parade of tits and ass" as he and his bandmate, Moca D. Lite, realized they could promote their fledgling group Maximus and showcase the weird shit that happened every time they left the house. After taking the prerequisite instructional classes, the pair aired the first episode of Reality Check on a Tuesday afternoon in September 1991. It featured the war protests, a house party, several bands, a girl they'd followed home, and various "shenanigans" at Murio's, the Nightbreak, and other Haight Street haunts. Masterpiece Theatre it was not.
But high art was not the intention: The show's creators merely wished to capture the wacky underbelly of San Francisco society with their tiny Hi8 camera. "We'd try to find the cockeyed humor in everything," Huge says. Classic early episodes included "See You Next Tweak," in which the duo spent all night with a bunch of furniture-arranging, paranoia-spewing speed freaks, and "The Show With Three Jennies," in which a friend brought home three different Jennies from three successive raves.
Still, the program didn't really hit its stride until Ace and Danny joined in 1993. Ace
(aka Edward Annese), a 39-year-old Brooklyn native and current writer for Bay Arts and Music and knac.com, was a DJ at "Bondage A Go-Go" and a hard rock columnist for several fanzines. One night he went to the Paradise Lounge for a show. "I saw this thing on the wall that said, "If you enter the premises, you agree to be filmed for Reality Check TV.' I thought, "That's pretty ballsy for a tiny company to put that up like a big media company. I've got to meet this guy.'"
Ace suggested Huge come down and film the wild smack-and-tickle shows at "Bondage A Go-Go." Soon, Ace and the club became regular fixtures on Reality Check, and it wasn't long after that that he had his own segment, "Ace's Space," devoted to local and national celebrities.
For his part, Danny, a 34-year-old telemarketer from Watsonville with headbanger hair and a love for metal and shock rock, first met Huge during a segment chronicling his roommates' Kiss "museum." Afterward, Danny ran into Huge again at the fourth annual Battle of the Bands at Big Heart City, and Huge stuck him in front of the camera. With his musical knowledge, his fanboy enthusiasm, and his pronounced stutter, Danny made an unorthodox and oddly endearing interviewer. By 1995, when Huge's job as an Avid video editing technician began to eat up his time, Danny took over as Reality Check's main producer and editor.
The last piece of the puzzle was Dragon Dave (aka Dave Dragon), a 33-year-old salesman and sometime movie extra from Colombia. Dave began in 1997 as one of many guest interviewers; when he wanted to become a permanent host a year later, the other three honchos were apprehensive.
"A lot of people wanted to horn in on the show without really helping," Ace says.
"I had to figure out what I had to give that they didn't have," Dave says. "I knew a lot of XXX stars from working at a video store where they would come in when they would feature dance. When I told [the other hosts] about it, they said, "OK!'"
"We needed something to show more T&A," Danny says matter-of-factly.
SEE MORE @
SFWEEKLY.COM, CLICK HERE!
SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER
REALITY CHECK- by Beth Ramona
REALITY CHECK has been around, off and on, for the last eight years or so, but the show's real personality Stuttering Danny D took over in '93. Produced roughly but with skill and humor, Reality Check gives air- time to local and national acts. From metal to punk bands to performance artists, as well as San Francisco events like street fairs and the Exotic Erotic Ball.
 Stuttering Danny, a longhaired, heavy metal Loving, girl-band geek, whose continual stuttering during commentary and actual interviews is his trademark, hosts each week's episode. (Look out, Stuttering John!) He's also known for his unintentional goofiness.
Who else could get away with bringing 20 Motorhead albums to an interview with Lemmy so they could be autographed? Who else could get away with suddenly looking into to the camera just before interviewing Joey Ramone and verbally taunting his
Ramones-loving ex- girlfriend: "Bet you're sorry we broke up now, huh? You could have been her with me!"
The show is now over 200 episodes strong. When you tune in, you could catch a new episode or a rerun, and an interview with Gene Simmons, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Yngwie Malmsteen, Russ Meeker, L7, King Diamond, Phantom Blue, the Muffs, Dee Snyder, or Johnny "Rotten" Lydon to name a few.
SICK ZONE MAGAZINE
 OKAY! You're sitting at home on a Saturday night and you're killing a 12 pack, slowly but quietly because Friday night actually started Wednesday afternoon. The answering machine is on but muted and you're "ghost for the evening". After COPS and before passing out be sure to catch REALITY CHECK.
This is the show to bring you all the freaky shit that going on in the Bay Area. This show contains some of the funniest shit I've seen as well as insightful interviews with all your metal favorites.
Your host "Stuttering" Danny D leads you through the musical landscape from the Misfits to the Mentors to METALLICA with all Sorts of side trips thrown in at no extra charge. Of course the show has been nicknamed Kiss central by more than one Kiss fan for it's extensive exclusive KISS footage. Ace Amiss, is our other host as well as being the DJ for Reality Check radio that can be heard Monday 10-12 on KOXF Oakland cable.
Well we got wine and song and all that is left is the women...Dave Dragon will bring those to you with his ...Ahem... "in depth" interviews and reviews of strippers, porn stars, and adult clubs.This madness certainly needs to be controlled before it can be exposed to the general public and that's where Huge comes in. As executive producer he has to encourage these maniacs as well as rope them in. As far as I'm concerned fixing MUNI would be easier.
Well, that's your warning, approach Reality Check at your own risk. Reality Check TV can be seen Saturday nights on channel 29 in San Francisco. Check you local listings for dates and times in your area. If you are truly sick listen to Reality Check Radio Tuesdays 10-12 KOFX Oakland Cable Radio. Still can't get enough check out REALITYCHECKTV .COM for all the sick stuff about the award winning Reality Check!
BAY AREA ARTS AND MUSIC MAGAZINE
REALITY CHECK by TED SALLIS
It all started in January of '91 when creator Huge and original host Moca D. Lite decided to sling on a camera and enter a video glimpse into the San Francisco underground.
Now nearly a decade later, Reality Check has taken us through a Night Gallery tour OT the rock world's culture as well as the music itself. Being host to this menagerie is Danny Shipman who joined in 1993 as an interviewer/host and moved on to be the most important link in production and editing of the show. Also on hand are Ace and Dragon Dave, who's veins have tapped the Reality Check radio program and web site.
 They've also broken Bay boundaries by venturing towards the wild life in Las Vegas and behind the business approach of Foundations Forum and NAMM shows. Every major U.S. city has had local cable rock and roll video shows. They come and go mostly go, but what separates Reality Check from these is the heart and core of the show itself they care about the scene, baby! That, and they do the show for the viewers, not themselves.
With so many clubs closing down over the years it's been hard for bands to get any kind of an audience, yet Reality Check has had more bands showcased than any club will over the next year. This may be why Reality Check has earned a 1997 Cable Access Award for "Best Music and Variety Show", and the 1998 "Best Rock and Roll Video Show Award". In 1999 they earned New York Festival's Award Music Video.
A great thing about the show it its unpredictability -you just don't know what to expect. One episode can feature coverage of a comic book convention, then the next will feature the "coverage" of Bunny Ranch employees being taken off! Yes "uncensored and outrageous" is the show motto! As well as local celebrities, the show has had an A to Z list of the most famous celebrities in every form of business you can think of. You can access this impressive list and see video bits at www.realitychecktv.com.
It's because of this diversity that we should tune in on Saturday nights (are you doing anything different?). Reality Check Radio features the best in local and national underground bands and can be tuned in on Tuesday nights from 10pm 'til 12am. Reality Check TV is on every Saturday night on channel 29, in San Francisco at 11:30pm.
THE SPECTATOR MAGAZINE
 REAL DEAL- REALITY CHECK TV is a half hour show that travels to the Bay Area's wildest Underground happenings, plus some above ground outrageousness, as well.
With it's Reality Chicks and other hip, sexy feature anchors, Reality Check TV runs from unexpected to raunchy to downright shocking as it burns and sizzles through the world of freak chic.
(We were featured in THE SPECTATOR MAGAZINE in a pictorial about the EXOTIC EROTIC BALL! They also featured us in another article as well.)
 Here is the Reality Check Crew hanging out with a bevy of buxom beauties at the Exotic Erotic Ball! Bringing you the cutting edge in entertainment, RCTV was covering the ball years before HBO and the like. The SPECTATOR photographers caught up with the RC crew taking a quick break in the action to pose with one of the founding members of the Erotic Ball.
Take a close look for Danny in the photo trying to get a closer look at some of our Reality Chicks!
THE EAST BAY EXPRESS NEWSPAPER
Reality Check-By Katy St. Clair
It is this spontaneity that holds the SF-based cable-access show Reality Check in place. That and gratuitous shots of really big titties. The show combines on-the-spot band interviews with kooky commentary and drunken this and that. Everything is edited together into a quick pastiche of bawdy low-budgethood, complete with porno stars, Wes Craven, Joey Ramone, Ronnie James Dio, and even Erin Gray from Buck Rogers. Its silly, sometimes genuinely wild, and dedicated to promoting local bands.
 Behind the scenes of Reality Check are four guys who really like Kiss. Everyone [involved] has to love Kiss," says Ace
Annese, one of its creators. "Kiss made a band that they would've wanted to see. We pattern ourselves after that credo. We have created the TV show that we always wanted to see" Founding Reality Check dude Hugh (or "Huge," as the ladies call him) first had the idea for the show back in '91. He was working at the video department of the Fairmont Hotel when he noticed that the mainstream media wasn't paying attention to the people protesting Operation Desert Storm.
Taking matters into his own hands, he pulled out his Hi8 videocamera and dubbed the project "Reality Check." From there he took it to the next obvious level, adding rock bands, midgets, and strippers. Now the show airs in SF and LA, and on Berkeley's Channel 25 on Saturday night at 11:30. The Reality Check radio show runs in Oakland on 93.7 from 10 to midnight on Tuesdays.
In order to get material for the show, the motley crew bumrushes award shows, concerts, and parties, camera in tow, catching the famous and not-so-famous in a candor that can only come across when someone is waving a tiny Hi8 at you instead of a Betacam. "Hugh is the main camera guy," says Ace, "but he offers commentary. Almost like a Greek Chorus." Then there are the women, or "Reality Chicks," who are usually provided by Ace's other job, a strip joint called the New Century Theater. Co creator Dragon Dave showed up later in the game with a lot of triple-X industry connections, adding more silicone to their wall-to-wall tit shots. "It's certainly gratuitous," admits Ace, "but its not done in a disrespectful way. We have a tongue-in-cheek element of fun in it."
 They also have an attitude, with egos to match, but they never seem jerky. All in all, they're just a band of fellas who can't believe how lucky they are to be doing what they are doing. Danny Shipman, the chief GBG (girl band geek) of the crew, will talk to you and laugh pleasantly, but be prepared to find his eyes flittering down to your bosoms and then back up to your face at least ten times during the normal course of conversation. Looking something like a doe-eyed hescher meets .38 Special, he attacks each episode as if it were his first; as if each band were Kiss; as if each woman who presses his face into her she-teats were a pleasant anomaly never before experienced. Hugh is the sweetest, with kind eyes and a Silicon Valley look, of sorts. Ace is a hipster Ichabod Crane: long and slim with animal-print vestments. And Dragon Dave? Well, Dave looks like a guy who could hook you up with the triple-X industry.
Overall, Reality Check attempts to journal underground culture. "We try to be on the cutting edge, to be the first," says Ace. "We just went to the Wondercon Comic Convention in Oakland. We interviewed Julie Newmar, Gary Berghoff (Radar from MASH), and people on Star Trek and X-Files. Then at the last Bammies at the Kaiser we interviewed Sammy Hagar, Huey Lewis, and Koby Dick from Papa Roach. 'Thank God I'm with friends now,' he told us. 'No more assholes from Channel 4!' I've known him since before their record deal, but they still appreciate us because we gave them exposure before anyone else. The Donnas, Korn, Nashville Pussy -- they have all been on way before anyone else was doing anything about them."
This is the main thrust, pun intended, of Reality Check: They really help promote bands and musicians. "If [our show] benefits the scene, then it was worth it," concludes Ace. "And we never get sick of boobs."
LET'S! VOL 3 - FROM JAPAN
 The Japanese fanzine Let's!, Vol. 3, is an issue devoted to our pals in the band American Heartbreak.
We think we get a big mention and incredible covers about our fantastic TV show and amazing in-depth reporting on the American underground scene, but it was all in Japanese, so we are not really sure what they said about us..
Anyway, it's international press and we hope that you are impressed with it.. We were!
|
It was the words 'ABC NEWS' that got Huge's attention when Dragon Dave called him up that fateful afternoon! Reality Check TV was about to be banned from it's time slot in the suburbs of Oakland, California and the local broadcast news station was in hot pursuit of the story.
