History 21 The Podcast - 2.19 - Mary Jo Pehl from Circle Pines to Mystery Science Theater

Writer, comedian, and actress Mary Jo Pehl grew up in Circle Pines, MN. She carried those memories with her working on Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the 1990s, working them in for comedic effect. In this episode, Mary Jo sits down to talk about her childhood and her unique experience as a comedienne working on cult classic MST3K.

Host Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator and Rebecca Desens, ACHS Executive Director

Mary Jo Pehl

Mary Jo Pehl is a writer, comedian, actor who grew up in Circle Pines in the 1960s. After graduating from Centennial high School, life brought her on a winding road to work as a writer for (now) cult classic Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Mary Jo currently continues the MST3K traditions of movie commentary on RiffTrax, and has published a book about her mother’s book reviews from the many books she owned or borrowed from the Mississippi branch library in Anoka County, and a hilarious memoir remembering her mother.

Find Mary Jo Pehl's Current Projects

Between the Lines: A Storytelling Workshop with Mary Jo Pehl

Here’s your chance to jumpstart your family history project with the help of two authors–Mary Jo Pehl of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame and ACHS’s own, Daryl Richard Lawrence. Both recently took the family legacy materials left to them and created a meaningful story of Minnesota history in a new and different way. They will share their notetaking methods, anecdote organization, and even how they tackled the more unsavory aspects of their family trees before publishing their books.

We will have snacks (of course!), and you get to bring a small item that sets the stage for a small group discussion involving your family story. You’ll leave the event with a starting point, a micro-story to hang more information, and the assignment to embellish important details with words, art, video, or music.

This workshop is perfect for anyone interested in telling their family history, regardless of how prepared you feel to conquer the task. Mary Jo and Daryl will discuss what happens if you’re not a good writer, how to handle rejection, and reaffirm that YOU are the expert on your own story. Join us on this grassroots vision of what history needs to know about you!

Tickets to Nov 5 Workshop

dumb dumb dumb on Amazon

Mystery Science Theater

When zany mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester and his loopy assistant Frank get bored with their work at the Deep Thirteen research center, they kidnap Joel the janitor and shoot him into orbit on the Satellite of Love. While in space Joel builds wacky robot sidekicks Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot to help him withstand an onslaught of grade 'Z' movies that the mad scientists force him to watch. —Jeremy Lunt <durlinlunt@acadia.net>

Vault Extras

Listen to the full interview between Mary Jo Pehl and Daryl Lawrence

The Vault

Anoka County Library Minute

After her mother’s death, Pehl read the book reviews her mother Dorothy wrote. A voracious reader, Pehl’s mother commented on everything she read for decades in a pithy, and often funny, form. This memoir weaves together those reviews and Pehl’s recollections of her mother in a way that’s poignant and often hilarious. Along the way, Pehl gains insights on and a greater understanding of her mother as a unique person independent of their family.

Employee of the Month: And Other Big Deals by Mary Jo Pehl (921 PEH)

Published 10 years before Dumb Dumb Dumb, Pehl’s first book covers earlier chapters in her life. She writes fondly (and funnily, of course) about growing up in Circle Pines, her New York years following the cancellation of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and her move to Austin, TX with her husband. Employee of the Month is sprinkled with Pehl’s trademark wit, which was clearly present from a young age.

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 collection. Volume 3 (DVD MYS)

Mystery Science Theater was a sci-fi comedy movie review television show born right here in Minnesota. To get a taste of the show Mary Jo Pehl worked on for years, watch this 4-DVD set of several MST3K episodes and shorts. There are full-length episodes that riff on The Atomic Brain, The Unearthly, and The Sidehackers. Another disk includes recordings that riff on short videos produced as public service announcements and educational films shown in schools such as Keeping Clean, a short film that teaches children that, if they are not neat and tidy, nobody will like them and their lives will never amount to anything.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Comic by Joel Hodgson (available as an eBook on Libby and eBooks Minnesota)

MST3K founder Hodgson sets his brainchild in a graphic novel. Hodgson gives cheesy comics the MST3K treatment. The riffing on old comics works equally well in print. Fantastically and vividly illustrated.

A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length: More Movies That Suck by Roger Ebert (791.4375 EBE)

The late, great American film critic, Roger Ebert, wrote, “[a]fter reviewing a truly good movie, the second most fun is viewing a truly bad one.” This book is a collection of his most scathing reviews from 2006 until his death in 2013. It follows two other bestsellers by Ebert, I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie and Your Movie Sucks. No film included in this book received more than two stars. A one-star review of Shuttle (2009) begins, “Why do I have to watch this movie? Why does anyone?” Another one-starred review of Old Dogs (2009) states, “What were John Travolta and Robin Williams thinking of? Apparently their agents weren’t perceptive enough to smell the screenplay in its advanced state of decomposition, but wasn’t there a loyal young intern in the office to catch them at the elevator and whisper, “You’ve paid too many dues to get involved with such crap at this stage in your careers.””

Show Girls, Teen Wolves, and Astro Zombies: A Film Critic’s Year-Long Quest to Find the Worst Movie Ever Made by Michael Adams (available as an eBook on Libby)

Australian film critic Adams embarks on this project of exactly 365 days on January 1st. He watched one bad film a day for a year and decides on the absolute worst. He watched movies known for their awfulness like Ishtar, Glitter, and Gigli to never-known movies he buys on eBay and garage sales. Unless one is a fan of bad movies, one wonders how he survived the year. This book is hilarious and includes the thoughts of Leonard Maltin, David Sedaris, John Waters, and George Romero.

Funny Thing about Minnesota: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the Twin Cites Comedy Scene by Patrick Strait (792.23.STR)

To understand the local comedy milieu from which Pehl and her MST3K colleagues rose, check out this recent publication by The Minnesota Historical Society Press. You will discover the unlikely beginnings of what would become the dynamic environment that launched the career of Louis Anderson and led to the creation of Dudley Riggs’ Brave New Workshop. And it all began when the owner of Mickie Finn’s needed to bring customers into a dead bar on the weekend.

We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy by Yael Kohen (792.7928 KOH)

This oral history interviews many comedians young and old to trace the difficult journey female comediennes have traveled to establish themselves in the male-dominated US comedy scene. You’ll read the thoughts of comedians on their predecessors and contemporaries as Kohen traces the careers of Phyllis Diller, Elaine May, and Joan Rivers in the 50’s and 60’s, Carol Burnett and Mary Tyler Moore in the 70’s and the women of Saturday Night Live – Gilda Radner, Jane Curtain, Laraine Newman, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. Finally, Kohen focuses on some of the brightest comediennes working today – Margaret Cho, Sarah Silverman, and Aubrey Plaza. There are many others mentioned in this book, including a few women with lower profiles who made a significant contribution regardless.

Funny on Purpose: The Definitive Guide to an Unpredictable Career in Comedy by Joe Randazzo (808.7 RAN)

Randazzo, a former editor of The Onion, presents a comprehensive overview of a comedic career. It includes sections on comedic writing and comedic performance, in all forms. There’s also a section on digital distribution of a comedian’s work through channels like YouTube and podcasts. Finally, Randazzo covers the business aspects a comedian will need to know to build a successful career. MST3K’s own John Hodgman wrote the foreword. Despite the inclusion of interviews with well-known comedians, this is a paradoxically unfunny book about the nuts and bolts of making it in a notoriously difficult industry.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (FICTION HUG)

The saga of Jean Valjean, seeking redemption after his release from prison, is one for the ages. Follow him through the years as he’s hunted by a vengeful Inspector Javert and raises the young Cosette. This tome is the basis for several film adaptations as well as the smash musical. The French poet Charles Baudelaire called Hugo’s masterpiece “the legend of the 19th century. Inarguably one of the greatest novels ever written in French, Anoka County Library has several English translations for you to read or listen to in audiobook format.

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (J FICTION FIT)

Harriet, who is very definitely going to be a writer when she grows up, is also a “sneak” who spies on the people in her neighborhood. She plays “Town,” creating and imagining whole cities of people with their own lives, identities, and jobs. These characters play out their own little dramas, inspired by what Harriet sees during her “spy walks” around town. She sees them and wants to remember them – hence her composition notebooks filled with observations.

Little House on the Prairie book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (J FICTION WIL)

This series by the Wisconsin-born Wilder is regarded as one of the most famous works of American historical fiction. It provides a fictionalized account of the Ingalls family’s travels around the Midwest as they settle and resettle in different areas over the years. The series inspired the TV show of the same name, which ran from 1974-1983.