# Church of the Sub-Genius **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [October 23, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648 "2017-10-23T17:49:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648/1 "2017-10-23T17:49:08Z")
Nothing much to say, but an observation. I used to come rolling in from the disco in the early 80’s when I had a little flat, and put on ‘Night Flight’ - a music and oddities show. They would show the fast-talking Bob Dobbs nattering on and on, and he creeped me out so bad I was paralyzed as if watching a cobra. I didn’t know if he was a ‘real thing’ or not, but I found the whole bit skin-crawling…matter of fact, ‘Night Flight’ showed a few other things etched into my memory, unpleasantly so. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648/2 "2017-10-23T18:03:34Z")
[Link to column being discussed.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1421/whats-the-deal-with-the-church-of-the-subgenius) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648/3 "2017-10-23T18:05:06Z")
Bob Dobbs had a voice? I thought he just had a pipe. But then I’ve only read their literature. ---
**Author:** ![Clothes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Clothes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothes)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648/4 "2017-10-23T19:01:11Z")
Another Night Flight fan! Ow! Remember this one? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNl3g2FswOw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNl3g2FswOw) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648/5 "2017-10-23T19:57:33Z")
I’ve been a “member” since (IIRC) 1984. I’ve met both Ivan Stang and Philo Drummond; my copy of the Book is signed by Stang. Best Subgenius party I’ve been to was prolly during the 1995 Dragon Con in Atlanta. That whole fucking con was a blast! ETA: I used to use a kind of low-key Project Mayhem method for disbursing the coupons from the back of the book! EATA: > [@Clothes](#): > > Another Night Flight fan! Ow! > > Remember this one? > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNl3g2FswOw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNl3g2FswOw) I remember this! ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648/6 "2017-10-23T20:54:22Z")
I joined the quest for slack in the late 80’s. The right Reverend Bob Dobbs is the man. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648/7 "2017-10-24T14:03:41Z")
Very odd. I still see COTS stickers around now and then. A typo in the column: “Philosophically, the church owes\*\* it’s\*\* origin to the Discordian movement of the late 60’s and 70’s.” ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648/8 "2017-10-24T14:54:30Z")
There is a kickstarter to do a documentary of the Church: [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2049586998/the-church-of-the-subgenius-a-documentary](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2049586998/the-church-of-the-subgenius-a-documentary) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648/9 "2017-10-24T15:00:03Z")
> [@Clothes](#): > > Another Night Flight fan! Ow! > > Remember this one? > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNl3g2FswOw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNl3g2FswOw) Thankfully, I missed that one!.. I did see ‘The Cameraman’s Revenge’, a turn of the century stop-motion feature by Ladislas Starevich. Using insects dressed up…and devils, and gorillas. And that too was all so horrifiyingly mesmerizing, like a dream, a real, unsettling dream. ---
**Author:** ![Clothes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Clothes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothes)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-the-sub-genius/799648/10 "2017-10-24T19:17:03Z")
Yes, that one too. Night Flight had a real instinct for finding mind-bending oddities that you couldn’t believe you were seeing on television. Such as _“Dr Heckle and Mr. Hype”_, with Oliver Reed! And Jackie Coogan as “Sergeant Fleacollar”. Cool music videos by the Cramps, Ramones, Raybeats, Fuzztones and others MTV would never play. A real beat-up, splicey 16mm print of the Beatles’ “_Magical Mystery Tour_”. _"Andy Warhol’s Dracula._ Animated shorts like _“Quasi at the Quackadero”_ you’d never see anywhere else. And yes, there was Subgenius content too. It was curated with remarkable care, but you never knew who was behind it - it just existed.