Director's Notes - Episode 223: "Big Rico's Pizza Band" (Patreon)

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Night Vale. Of course, I tune in to the Community Radio every couple of weeks, but it’s been months since I physically set foot on the intersection of Somerset and Main and had a look around for myself (there’s a new stoplight, btw). Apparently, I haven’t written a guest episode since August. Somehow it’s March already. That’s at least two meteorological seasons. But time is weird sometimes, and seasons are a state of mind. If anyone knows that, Night Vale listeners do.

I’ve had the general idea for this episode for a long time, though I never really knew the story of it until I started writing. Like many of you, I think a lot about 1980s pizza parlor animatronic rock bands. I’ve wanted to bring one to Big Rico’s Pizza for a while now, but I didn’t know what their deal would be. Would they be evil monsters? Too obvious. Would they be benevolent heroes? Too boring.

It turns out, like so many things, the answer is in the middle. It’s hard to say. It’s both. It’s neither. Everything’s a spectrum. Sometimes things appear frightening even though they mean no harm (hey, spiders), and sometimes things do damage even though they mean no harm (hey, human beings). And sometimes things do damage deliberately for personal short term gain (hey again, human beings), but that’s another story. That might even be the dominant story, but it’s not this story. Like I said, evil is too obvious. It’s fine for the real world but way too simple for something as complex as a fictional narrative.

I will admit I’m embarrassingly afraid (like phobia-level afraid) of most animatronics. But I also have a strong fascination with them. It’s almost like I want to be near them just so I can look away. There’s probably a German word for that. If anyone knows what it is, let me know.

I really hope you enjoy this episode, whether you’ve ever wept in terror at a Chuck E. Cheese/Showbiz Pizza birthday party (hey, me) or gleefully applauded those freaky robot animals for an encore (hey, you?). Or maybe you’ve never been confronted with this phenomenon at all because it’s so generationally and geographically specific. Which is even better, because now you can experience it for the first time, Night Vale style.

See you at Big Rico’s.

- Brie Williams
March 1, 2023