The Vince from ShamWow Movie (aka The Underground Comedy Movie)

You’ve probably seen that irritating twerp Vince from ShamWow on TV. Well it turns out that Vince had something of a history in entertainment before he ever started annoying people on the ShamWow commercials.

His name is Vince Offer and he wrote, directed, and starred in a 1999 movie called The Underground Comedy Movie, which was a sketch comedy film. To say that Vince’s movie was panned by critics would be quite an understatement. The New York Times claimed, “The Underground Comedy Movie stands as a monument to ineptitude and self-delusion.” Entertainment Weekly rated the movie an “F” and said of Vince Offer, “He’s got a second grader’s notion of satire.” The public doesn’t seem to like this movie any better than the critics: The average user rating on Netflix is 1.6 (out of 5) and caustic comments like “This movie was by far the worst movie I ever saw” appear with some regularity.

Apparently, Vince tried to sell DVDs of this movie through a TV commercial. I missed that commercial but you can watch the trailer here.

Infomercials and really bad movies are two of my great passions in life. So it brought tears to my eyes when I found out Vince from ShamWow had created a movie many earnestly claimed was the worst of all time. Needless to say, The Underground Comedy Movie went straight to the top of my Netflix queue.

So in great hopes of seeing one of the worst films ever made I watched Vince Offer’s directorial debut. And this may be the most difficult thing I have ever had to write in this blog but…

It’s not that bad.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying it’s a good film. I can confidently state that The Underground Comedy Movie sucks. But I just don’t think it’s a strong candidate for worst movie of all time. Keep in mind that I am an aficionado of trash cinema, so my perspective is a lot more jaded than that of most people. If you think the Vince from ShamWow movie is the worst movie of all time, then please have a look at Revenge of the Cheerleaders, Dice Rules, Dracula the Dirty Old Man, or any movie directed by Doris Wishman and then get back to me…or check into your nearest mental hospital.

The Underground Comedy Movie is lowbrow, gross-out comedy. The humor consists mainly of body parts, bodily fluids, comic violence, and nude bag ladies. The movie is based on sketches from Vince Offer’s L.A. cable access TV show and the humor is precisely at the level you would expect from a cable access show. The movie tries to offend people as much as it tries to make them laugh. Yes, most of the comedy is pretty awful and unfunny but it is not much different than lots of other attempts at low budget, lowbrow comedy. I will even admit to laughing out loud a few times (and I was laughing with it not at it), mainly at the old lady in the “Bat Man” sketch.

The Vince from ShamWow movie features lots of D-List celebrities: Gena Lee Nolin, Joey Buttafuoco, Michael Clarke Duncan, Slash, Angelyne. There is also an appearance by the once-respected actress Karen Black, and some “before they were famous” scenes with Ant (of Last Comic Standing) and Bobby Lee (of Mad TV). I love how this 1996 story in Entertainment Weekly reports that Axl Rose and Anna Nicole Smith were slated to appear in the movie—and instead they had to settle for Slash and Angelyne! In fact, Vince Offer sued Anna Nicole Smith in 2000 for backing out of the movie because she thought it would be detrimental to her career—probably the only wise decision Smith ever made in her tragic life.

The litigation surrounding The Underground Comedy Movie is more interesting than the movie itself. Vince Offer filed suit against the Farrelly brothers, creators of There’s Something About Mary, claiming they stole ideas from a promotional copy of The Underground Comedy Movie they received in 1997. Indeed, at the end of the DVD this appears on screen:

In 2004, Offer sued the Church of Scientology (of which he was once a member) for waging a “propaganda campaign” against him and his movie. (Yeah, Vince, that’s why your film never became a hit.)

It seems to me that Vince Offer thought The Underground Comedy Movie would catapult him into legitimate stardom; when it failed to do so he blamed Anna Nicole Smith, the Farrelley brothers, and the Church of Scientology—overlooking the more obvious explanation that his movie never became a hit because it just plain sucked.

It is no wonder that one theme in this movie is that of people in L.A. struggling to make it big in Hollywood. In “The Godmother” sketch Vinny (played by guess who) wants the Godmother to get him a part in a film. In the “Psychology Today” sketch, a young starlet tells her shrink about her struggles with the casting couch. And the “I Hate L.A.” music video contains lyrics about aspiring actresses trying to sleep their way to the top.

The other recurring theme in this landmark work of cinema is…sperm. Vince Offer must think that male ejaculate is the funniest substance on the planet. During a sketch called “The Porno Movie Review” they review a film called “Sperm Lake.” The “Dickman” sketch features a superhero whose head is a giant phallus—and I think you can figure out what weapon he uses to fight criminals. Near the end of the film an unnamed character played by Offer gets a big load of man-goo dumped on his face. I just wonder: Did Vince use a ShamWow to wipe it off?