Ridiculous Infomercial Review Blog

If you are one of those people still asking “What ever happened to Tom Vu?” here are some video clips that should clear things up.

Former real estate infomercial guru Tommy Vu entered this year’s World Series of Poker Texas Hold’em Event. And lucky for us, ESPN aired several poker hands where Vu got to mix it up.

You’ll notice that the announcers make many references to Tom Vu’s days as an infomercial host:

“When Tommy plays poker, he just looks like he should be surrounded by beautiful women.”

“Tommy’s happy—it’s better than babes on boats”

“Three little words that Tommy Vu would like to say: ‘Make my flush.’”

Here Tom Vu goes up against 2005 WSOP champ Michael Gracz:

Here Vu’s starting hand of QT is an underdog against Robert Aron’s AQ:

Here Tommy goes all in with an AQ of diamonds:

In the final hand of the WSOP Hold’em Event #8 Tommy Vu faced off against Michael Chu:

So it looks like our infomercial hero fell in the end, but he still came in second place with a prize of $364,761. If you take a look at the results for WSOP Event #8 you will see that not only did Tom Vu best Michael Gracz but he also placed higher than such great poker players as Antonio Esfandiari, Jeff Shulman, and Amir Vahedi.

I hope these video clips stop all those stupid “Tom Vu is serving a life sentence in federal prison” comments.

Sure, I previously wrote that the Hawaii Chair and other electric hula chairs were in line to become the next stupid exercise gimmick, but after seeing the infomercial again I have now decided to change my mind and declare that the Hawaii Chair is not dumb at all.

The Hawaii Chair promises to “take the work out of your workout” for a “slimmer, sexier you.” So now all those Quacker Factory fans can stuff their faces with Eskimo pies, watch cubic zirconias on QVC, and end up looking at hot as a Playboy centerfold.

And I have no doubt that the Hawaii Chair will not end up collecting dust in the back of a closet or corner of a garage along with the Ab Roller, AbTronic, Ab Lounge, Slendertone Ab Belt, and Red Exerciser—because, after all, those things were just gimmicks.

Also, using the Hawaii Chair won’t make you look like a fool at all. Check out the Hawaii Chair in action:

Yes, that Hawaii Chair will be a real boon to productivity at work. It seems like something that Dwight Schrute from The Office would endorse.

The Hawaii Chair also has a snappy jingle:

Take the work out of your workout…The Hawaii Chair

If you can sit, you can get fit…The Hawaii Chair

You gotta love an infomercial with a jingle that explains the product—much in the same way the theme songs for The Brady Bunch and The Beverly Hillbillies explain their premises.

By the way, did I mention that the Hawaii Chair is not a dumb exercise gadget at all.

Mimi Umidon has hosted many infomercials. You can currently catch Mimi on the infomercial for both the Magic Bullet and the WalkFit Phase Four Orthodic.

Mimi Umidon may host both of these infomercials, but she looks rather different in each.

Here is some pictures of Mimi on the Magic Bullet infomercial:

And here is Mimi on the Walk Fit infomercial:

The difference in Mimi’s appearance is most likely due to the change in clothing and hairstyle. It doesn’t appear to me that she has had any, ahem, “work” done.

I think foot fetishists, however, will clearly perfer Mimi Umidon’s performance on the WalkFit infomercial:

And here’s the money shot:

I’ve uploaded the video of Mimi trying the Walk Fit orthodic on her foot to YouTube, where I eagerly await an endless stream of semi-literate comments from men and boys declaring how much they want to “bang” Mimi—information that the world desparately needs to know.

The Magic Bullet infomercial, with its sitcom-like format and odd characters, is among the most interesting and popular infomercials of all time.

Recently, people have been telling me about a sequel to the Magic Bullet infomercial for a product called “Magic Bullet To Go” that features many of the same characters. Here are some things I have been told about the Magic Bullet To Go infomercial:

• It takes place at a camp ground and on a beach
• The name of the Amazed Blonde is revealed to be “Tina”
• And, most shockingly, Berman and Hazel are back…and they are lovers! (Yuck!)

But I cannot personally confirm any of these facts because I have not been able to see the Magic Bullet To Go infomercial!

So I am begging for your help: Can anyone give me the name of a cable channel and time of day that they saw the Magic Bullet To Go infomercial? If you would be kind enough to share that information in the comments or send me an email then I’ll be able to better target my Tivo recording to capture this elusive gem.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so if you saw the Magic Bullet To Go infomercial on UHF channel 87 in Kokomo, Indiana that’s not going to help me directly. But if you want to post some local station you saw it on feel free.

I remember seeing this sketch when it first aired on In Living Color. It’s called “The First Annual Infomercial Awards Show” and long time infomercial fans will recognize many of the classic early 1990s infomercial personalities being spoofed directly or indirectly.

This awards show is hosted by Jay Kordich (played by Jim Carrey). I guess that the co-host played by David Allen Greer is supposed to be a take off on Mike Levy of “Amazing Discoveries” because of the colorful sweater, but they had to change the name because Greer is black and Mike Levy was one of the whitest men of all time.

Other infomercial stars mentioned here include Tom Vu (billed as “Tommy Woo”), Anthony Robbins (again played by Carrey), Lori Davis, Susan Powter, and someone named J. Kindey (?) whom I don’t remember at all.

Check it out:

Update: Very soon after I made this post, YouTube removed the video, but you might want to watch this In Living Color infomercial parody instead. But click the link quick before they remove that too!