Pootie Rising

Cole me down on the panny sty.

Friday night, before the 11 p.m. screening of one of the most perplexing comedies of all time, the Grand Illusion will host its first-ever “Pootie Party.” Pray tell?

The film in question is 2001's Pootie Tang, whose current Imdb.com User Rating is, out of ten stars, a dismal 4.2. Most critics panned it, including Nathan Rabin of The Onion A.V. Club. However, two years later, Rabin seemed impressed enough by the film to interview its writer and director, Louis C.K.

Mr. C.K., a former writer for The Chris Rock Show, adapted the film from a skit on the HBO series. The titular Pootie is a crime-fighting R&B star who’s idolized by the kids, loved by the ladies, and in the movie, at odds with an evil corporate tycoon. The twist is that the ultra-smoove Pootie speaks in his own jumbled dialect, incomprehensible on paper, yet given his particular nuance, somehow remains understandable. Oh, and his chief whupass weapon is the belt his father regularly beat him with.

Lance Crouther stars as Pootie, though he apparently hasn’t landed an acting job since. Chris Rock, who also produced the movie, plays multiple characters, while other supporting parts are filled by such funny folks as Wanda Sykes (as Pootie’s gal Biggie Shorty) and David Cross as an unconvincing Pootie impostor: “Yes, I am Pootie.”

So what will the Pootie Party entail? Details are thin, but the GI’s flyer says there’ll be a costume contest. Of course, there’ll be plenty of Pooties, but you can also dress up as Trucky, Dirty Dee, Bad Bitty, or Robert Vaughn. The flyer also has this cryptic line from Biggie Shorty: “Bring your own ‘refreshments’ (and no Pork Chunk Cereal!)”

We predict this’ll eventually snowball into a full-on Pootie phenomenon-- magic belts at Urban Outfitters, a “Special Edition Panny Sty” DVD box set, annual Pootietacular conventions, endless sequels...

In the meantime, sine your pitty on the runny kine.