Hey! Did you know that treasured comedian Dan Aykroyd played a pivotal character in 1984’s “Indiana Jones And The Temple of Doom?” Yeah, many don’t because the scene featuring the former Ghostbuster was all but completely scrapped, leaving the “Saturday Night Live” alum with a single line of dialogue and a few forgettable seconds of screen time. Alas, “that’s Hollywood as they say,” and we got a wee bit of a taste of that when we watched the long-awaited web series “Roustabout,” documenting comedian Kurt Braunohler’s jet ski adventure from Chicago to New Orleans.
The Watercraft Journal was invited to not only participate in the Comedy Central show, but reach out to its hundreds of thousands of readers throughout the United States and abroad and help support Braunohler’s quest to raise $50,000 for sustainable livestock in African villages. The premise seemed noble enough, but the method was somewhat flawed: the comedian would ride an ostentatiously-wrapped Yamaha FX HO from Chicago, Illinois to New Orleans, Louisiana, riding down the Mississippi. Of course, those familiar with these waters would highly recommend another route. But again, that’s Hollywood, folks.
Fatefully, the trip – dubbed “Roustabout” – would be a near unmitigated failure. Braunohler would circumvent much of Ol’ Miss for the Tennessee River or simply by land (that’s what they call “Hollywood magic,” folks) and would fail to raise little more than half of his funding goal. That’s not to say that the result of filming (back in June of 2014) wouldn’t result in some entertaining television (although the language is significantly not safe for work (NSFW)). And, unless you’re really glaring closely at your screen, you’ll likely miss the mere seconds of The Watercraft Journal’s Editor-in-Chief Kevin Shaw aboard a brand new black and blue 2014 Yamaha FX SVHO (see Episode 8).
Nevertheless, we’re happy to have played a (very) small part of this endeavor, and hope that you might see it a worthwhile cause to donate – even if in some small way – to this charitable effort.
