Today the Strippers “Paint the Line” and play table tennis. Probably should have seen this coming. Ping pong is kind of a Penny Arcade thing.
The Strippers reflect on Abby’s victory over Erika. I think Abby’s return scared a lot of them. Not that the Strippers have written anyone off, but now they know Abby is a serious competitor. They also reflect on their own strengths, weaknesses, and most feared competitor.
And then they run a tourney which is not as interesting as the rest of the episode.
The prize for the winner will be revealed during the next challenge. Mystery!!!! From the preview, it looks like the Strippers will be going up against the Penny Arcade staff in a bloody battle of… probably ping pong.
It’s Abby vs Erika. Team Tangent vs Team Sexytime. Their topics, “mystery” and “naughty.” I don’t know Abby’s work, but this mashup is totally in Erika’s wheelhouse.
Abby and Erika both decide to go the traditional route and draw on dead tree papers which is great to see. However, Erika switches to digital with only 45 minutes left to go while Abby inks on paper.
Gabe finally does something about the tangents in Abby’s standee and uses some white out to untangent them. Editing wise, most of the banter focuses on Abby giving Mike and Jerry shit. Abby turns the sass up to 11 and it’s really awesome.
Doing a twofer this time because I missed Friday’s update since I was at C2E2.
Episode 17, “SS Grand Prix.” Sigh. This is the stupid part of the show which I always hate because it has nothing to do with comics which is the entire point of the bloody thing. Today, the Strippers compete in the first Strip Search Grand Prix. It’s a go-cart time trial challenge. The Stripper with the fastest lap wins the challenge.
I fast forwarded this shit a lot so I have no idea who won. And I don’t care.
Episode 18, “Sketch for Tips.” The Strippers return to the Strip Search Expo. Their booths are still standing. As you can tell from the title of the episode, the Strippers will be doing con sketches for tips. They have one hour to get as much money as they can from a group of con goers. Those who are wearing Strip Search pins are the judges and have play money to distribute. If they like the interaction, they may give a Stripper more money.
Watching Robert Khoo troll the Strippers is fucking hysterical.
This is pretty tough. I don’t sketch too much when I’m at the table because I like to talk with the people who stop by. My sketching brain and my chatting brain are two different brains that don’t always work together. If I have a table mate, I feel much more comfortable sketching because my table mate can engage with people while I art something nice.
The other thing is that it takes me forever to do a con sketch. I would have gone through exactly two if I had to do this challenge.
I thought the Strippers did a great job cranking out sketches but a horrible job at loss prevention. This is another reason why a booth bro/babe is helpful. A second pair of eyes to make sure merch doesn’t walk away while you sketch is pretty essential.
Since money determines the winner of this challenge, I don’t understand why the winner must still choose the artists to go on the chopping block. Why not just send the two with the lowest amount?
I totally disagree with the winner’s choice for elimination. The money disagrees as well since they were second and third place in terms of money.
And once again, I will sound like a broken record, but we hardly got to see any of the sketches. I know they’re sometimes posted under the Spoilers section of the website which I guess is a nice consolation, but the editors are doing a terrible job of showcasing the Strippers’ work.
It’s Maki versus Amy. Their ideas, “mermaids” and “ukulele.”
We finally learn what the Redraw ticket is for. If a Stripper decides to cash it in, they get to pick another idea from the basket to replace either of the ones they’ve chosen.
Once again, we don’t get nearly enough footage of the Strippers drawing. Not much else to say, really. Well, I guess it was more interesting than other eliminations. Amy was very candid when Jerry or Mike asked her one of their smart ass questions. She wasn’t having their shit. But I still hate the way they edit this shit. For fuck’s sake, show us what they’re drawing!
I’ll be at C2E2 on Friday, so I won’t be watching this damn show. I’ll have a review of the stupid challenge on Monday. I’ve decided that the first part of every episode is the stupid challenge. It’s a dumb fuck thing that has nothing to do with comics. So there.
The timing of this episode couldn’t be more appropriate. Today, I head off to Awesome Con to set up my own table.
It’s the 2013 Strip Search Expo with Robert Khoo and Brian Sunter. All the Strippers save Amy have tabled at shows at least once. They get to pick through a big ass pile of Penny Arcade merch and set it all up in sixty minutes.
The discussion between Robert and Brian is really insightful. I have a feeling I’ll be coming back to that segment the more shows I do. I may be heading to the local Staples and Plazaa before I hit the show to setup.
This is exactly what I was looking for from this damn show, something I can use. I had hoped that there would be gems like this throughout the series, little tips and discussions that I could use in my own process. Strip Search hasn’t lived up to that expectation. Granted, it’s not really reasonable of me to expect that at all. But it’s been my biggest beef with the whole thing. Gah, and this is why I can’t watch anything. GAH!!!!
Up for elimination, the pineapple vs the rookie. I honestly don’t want either of them to go. Goddamn, now I give a shit about this stupid game.
