"Whaddya mean, 'What's my favorite thing about Hitler?'"Back in the 1980s and 90s, World Wide Magazine was Must See TV for the stoner set. The public-access show, the brainchild of loudmouth cab driver Pete Parisi, was a weekly hourlong love letter to south St. Louis. Across the city on Friday nights, the smell of bong hits filled the air as Parisi and his band of collaborators -- including Black Jesus, Vladimir "The Mad Russian" Noskov and (best of all) Vanessa Vargo, the ever-adorable Granite City hoosierette with a song in her heart and air in her head -- created low-budget vignettes, skits and man-on-the-street interviews.
When Parisi died in 2002, St. Louis lost one of its most lovable and outrageous ambassadors. Thanks to the bounty of You Tube, however, a few skits have found their way online. One features Noskov heckling then-presidential candidate Pat Buchanan at a rally ("What's your favorite thing about Hitler?"), another is an ode to brain sandwiches. But for the best representation of the WWM aesthetic, check out this video:
Thanks for the links Randall. I have more WWM vids that I hope to put up eventually. Hopefully others will post from their collections as well. It would be nice to even see some bits from "I'm Hepp", another classic STL public access staple. If anyone has clips, please do share.
Posted at: July 7, 2007 10:49 PM