FuMPFest

Return to Form

After a year away due to the pandemic we returned to where it all started, the Westin North Shore in Wheeling Illinois, and once again welcomed legendary radio personality Dr. Demento as our guest of honor.

Dr. Demento hosted The Logan Awards and put on his Festival of Dementia, and had an autograph session afterwards on Saturday night. For many artists this was the first time they had performed on stage in over 18 months.

This year we did all the usual events such as Dumb Parody Ideas and the What The FuMP game show, and also performed a special concert called We're Number One, where FuMP artists performed their Funny 25 #1 songs. We even had a marriage proposal!

Guest of Honor

Dr. Demento - Legendary radio personality Dr. Demento was on hand to host the Logan Awards, present his Festival of Dementia, and celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Dr. Demento Show

Performing Artists

Bad Beth & Beyond - Bad Beth came up from New Orleans to make her FuMPFest debut and thoroughly confused the Indian wedding next door with her chants of "penis".

Bill Larkin - Local comedian Bill Larkin returned to FuMPFest and thoroughly broke the audience with a song about his grandfather.

Carla Ulbrich - The other New Jersey comedian on the bill, Carla Ulbrich returned to FuMPFest and put on an amazing set.

Carrie Dahlby - The Carol Cleveland of The FuMP returned to FuMPFest with a special opening act, her daughter Meow Meme.

Ian Lockwood - This year we had two Ians on the bill! Ian Lockwood came out from Brooklyn to perform at FuMPFest for the first time.

Insane Ian - Our host of FuMPFest kicked off the weekend with his own concert featuring a brilliant update to his "Castlevania" song.

Nuclear Bubble Wrap - Our only full band of the weekend, Nuclear Bubble Wrap returned to FuMPFest with the full Needlejuice Records catalog to support them.

Ross Childs - Local comedian Ross Childs came out for his first full concert at FuMPFest.

Steve Goodie - Nashville's comedian and record producer Steve Goodie returned to FuMPFest and took the coveted slot performing right before Dr. Demento.

The Gothsicles - Industrial video game rockers The Gothsicles returned to FuMPFest to sing about cute animals and melt faces.

the great Luke Ski - FuMPFest favorite the great Luke Ski performed three of his five #1 Funny 25 songs during the We're Number One panel and opened his featured concert with the other two.

Worm Quartet - Worm Quartet returned to FuMPFest to perform more songs about Pac-Man and did several Worm Quartet styled cover songs.

Other Guests

Beefalo Bill - Beefalo Bill was one of Dr. Demento's sidekicks early on in the history of the show. He's also an avid photographer who brought along several prints of photos he took while a part of the show.

Sulu - Dr. Demento's legendary sidekick Sulu was on hand for the Sidekicks panel and performed her hit song "Stuck in a Closet with You."

Jungle Judy - Jungle Judy was one of Dr. Demento's sidekicks from almost the start of the show. She joined us via Zoom to recount her time on the show.

Artie Barnes - Barnes & Barnes were a big part of the show in the late 70s and early 80s and Robert Haimer, aka Artie Barnes, joined us via Zoom as well.

Other Events

Opening Ceremonies - Welcome to the con! Chris Mezzolesta started off the con with a rousing rendition of "Pico and Sepulveda" and Luke Ski closed out the event with a performance of "Let's All Get Demented." Dr. Demento addressed the crowd and Sulu performed a new 50th anniversary tribute song to him.

The Logan Awards - Dr. Demento hosted the 11th annual Logan Awards, which featured live performances by Ian Lockwood, Carrie Dahlby, Worm Quartet, and Robbie Ellis. Devo Spice ended up winning two awards!

The State of the FuMP - Devo Spice reviewed the past two years of FuMP updates and showed the Staying at Home with The FuMP video they produced in quarantine, and the birthday video they produced for Dr. Demento's 80th birthday party.

The Sidekicks - Sulu and Beefalo Bill were there in person and Jungle Judy and Artie Barnes joined us via Zoom to discuss what it was like being a sidekick on The Dr. Demento Show.

Q&A with Dr. Demento - Devo Spice and Insane Ian interviewed Dr. Demento about his show and career and took questions from the audience.

Dr. Demento's Festival of Dementia - Dr. Demento presented his festival which includes some of the most popular songs in the history of the show, including some rare videos.

The FuMP Game Show - Luke Ski hosted this Jeopardy-like game show featuring contestants from the audience. The winners of each round faced off against each other in a $25,000 Pyramid-like bonus round. Congratulations to this year's winner, Jeff Morris!

The FuMP Showcase - A chance for any other artists in attendance to take the stage. This year we had performances by Regdar and the Fighters, Soggy Potato Chips, Karl Brown, Captain Ambivalent, Brett Glass, Holy Bongwater, and the Suffock and Good Players.

Dumb Parody Ideas - A rapid-fire event where contestants perform snippets of dumb parodies they came up with. This year's winner was the parody-averse Shoebox of Worm Quartet, whose plan to show why he doesn't do parodies backfired on him.

Closing Ceremonies - All good things must come to an end. We did the raffle drawings, announced the video contest winner, and closed out this year's event with Captain Ambivalent performing "Cheerio, Cherry Lips, Cheerio."

Click here to download the 2021 program book. (pdf)