Here’s preview of one of the more mysterious events we’re putting on as part of DukeFest Zero. Back in July 2013 we held the first Great VHS Experiment, a night where we had a huge stack of ex-rental VHS films and invited members of the audience to select a tape to play; we’d then all hope we’d find some great trailers at the start, or at least something funny to watch. The night was probably the closest we’ve come to a riot at the Duke as the place was packed and the entire thing went over so well. 

So skip forward a year and when we found that our good friend Ed had a big stash of Japanese VHS TV recordings from the early 1990s in his storage locker, we knew exactly what we could do with them! Yes it’s the return of the VHS Experiment and this time it’s all Japanese!

The idea was really brought to life when we picked one tape at random to watch and the very first thing we saw was a young looking Jennifer Connelly selling shampoo, which was followed by a very strange advert seemingly instructing balding men in how to comb their hair to cover up that bald spot. Fast forwarding a bit and we also found one of the Twin Peaks Georgia Coffee adverts that only aired in Japan, featuring the original cast attempting to solve the mystery of a missing woman. 

We’ve got about 75 VHS tapes of which we’ve picked the most interesting looking 20 to bring along on the night, we’ve not watched any of them at all so we haven’t got a clue what else is on them, we want you to come down on the night and join in the fun of finding out what’s on them with us! 

On the night we’ll pick people at random to come up and select a tape and we’ll all find out what’s on it right there and then. What will we find? Will it be funny? Will it be boring? Who knows! Remember this is an experiment, it could be hilarious or it could be terrible, anything could happen on the night. 

Also as an added bonus to keep things interesting, one of the tapes has a hidden note inside it, whoever picks that tape will win a fairly good prize right there and then! 

The Great VHS Experiment: Japanese Edition is part of our DukeFest Zero Mix-It-Up Night and takes place at The Phoenix Artist Club on Monday 30 June from 7.30PM. FREE ENTRY all night!