The Box
| Series | |
|---|---|
| The Other Side | |
| Original Broadcast Date | |
| 11/7/1999 | |
| Cast | |
| Debi Mae West, Larry Block, Marilyn, Scott, 'Carlos Santiago', Joe Frank | |
| Format | |
| 56 minutes | |
| Preceded by: | Prison Songs |
| Followed by: | Higher Learning |
| Purchase / Stream | |
"This is a microphone, are we recording now?"
The Box is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series The Other Side. It was originally broadcast on November 7, 1999.[1]
Synopsis
'Carlos Santiago' does a mic check over storm sounds. He speaks a few words of Spanish, sometimes calling it Arabic. He recites the 'Lord's Prayer', talks a lot of nonsense, calls himself crazy.[2]
4:10: Larry, drunk, calls Marilyn, asking her permission to drive up to Santa Barbara. She refuses.[3][4]
11:20: Debi calls from NYC ('can you believe it') with Scott, whom she met on a blind date (in LA) set up by Donna, haven't separated since. She brought Scott with her. She's worried that he hasn't found a job, isn't a 'go-getter', is worried about money. He really wants a threesome with another woman, which Debi has reservations about. She tells the story of making out with another woman at a party.
17:50: Joe (voicing a fictional character) tells of a mysterious woman coming for an interview late one night in his office. Weird things have been happening at work lately. She's beautiful, leaves behind a box, at first against Joe's objections - but he wants to get rid of her. He calls security, who tell him they haven't seen anyone leave. Joe looks in the cabinet in which she placed the box, only to find it empty.
Joe goes to a bar, calls an old friend in the foreign service in Denmark. He tells Joe to get his blood tested and burn his tie (the mysterious woman had asked for it), acts as though the incident is important, not crazy.[5]
37:20: Debi tells more about her relationship problems with Scott, especially money, because she wants to spend hers and he doesn't have money. She imagines what it would be like to marry him. He gets 2 catering jobs. He shits in the bathtub on Debi's dare.
44:40: We get to hear Scott's voice in this segment, including a few words on the phone with Joe.
47:40: After a few minutes of the sound of rain Joe talks about how we feel when it rains. He decides he can't continue to live as he has been, packs his stuff, walks out on his wife.[6]
Someone delivers a nonsense monologue in English with mangled Spanish words thrown in. A woman tells a drunk man not to visit her. [FINISH ME -45] Debi talks about fighting with her boyfriend, a direction-less guy with no money and shaven body parts, and describes an impromptu threesome at a party. A mysterious woman visits Joe's office late at night and asks him to keep a box. Seeing one's back in a mirror. Debi complains about paying for her boyfriend when they go out, reading in order to impress people. Her boyfriend shows up while she's talking about him. They discuss shitting in the bathtub. Monologue on rain; feeling one's life is meaningless and needing to break up with a wife/girlfriend before the rain ends.
Music
- "Sex" - Thomas Newman (from The Player, 1992) | YouTube [Intro]
- "Flyin' On 747" - Kid Loco (from DJ-Kicks, 1999) | YouTube [10:53]
- "Dark River" - DJ Food (from A Recipe For Disaster, 1995) | YouTube [17:22]
Footnotes
- ↑ According to KCRW, The Box was broadcast on November 21.
- ↑ originally aired in In The Dark (Part 2)
- ↑ It doesn't sound like Larry to me; joefrank.com says it's Larry.
- ↑ Marilyn is the woman he has an affair with in Karma (Part 4), writes flirtatious e-mails to in Terminal. This is the only time we get to hear her voice in Joe's shows.
- ↑ originally aired in Islands
- ↑ originally aired in Nausea
