Shane’s Top Ten 30MOM Skits

By Shane Oesterling | March 4th, 2024

My connection to the 30MOM crew probably started with the band Vent, which Joe Hornacek was in. One of my close friends, Kelly Mynes, joined as drummer after his older brother Jay lost interest. What Kelly brought to that group was phenomenal! He took their already complex style and agg’d it out with fast punk rock, slightly more aggressive, to say the least, drum stylings as well as guitar songs like the vid in episode 13, Agro Magro. I was around when Kelly came up with that (Check out 30MOM MIX VOL. 1 to hear a great selection of Vent tracks)!

We already knew another Vent member, Ross, from Papa Romano’s in Lake Orion where we worked at the age of 16 or so. We were probably the punkest crew to work at that small town pizza joint! Through Joe and Vent I crossed paths with a whole other world of punk rockers in Rochester who were into filming comedy skits with a video camcorder. Kelly and I were blown away! We were band guys who played music and skateboarded and listened to punk music and these other dudes had the same interests and things going on, but took it to a whole ‘nother level!

A couple years later I moved into the Waterford House with Jerry, Joe, Dan and a sort of random fellow named Quinn. I resided in the basement next door to the editing suite! I had free reign to paint the walls and make my room more my own. It was sad to eventually see these friends have a falling out right before my eyes, the tension in the house was hard to imagine. The LF Productions dream had died and it was unclear what actually caused a lot of the disagreements. All I knew was, the crew had fallen apart and we all eventually went our separate ways.

Months and years passed and most of the crew reconnected and reunited through music shows or the internet and things sort of worked themselves out. Because, in the end, shit happens! Just like anything else, time heals old wounds. Sometimes we still get together and film random stuff and, who knows, maybe one day Jerry and I will finally make the chess rap skit! I love being around these people; their energy is great and everyone is into doing positive stuff. I can’t stand seeing myself on camera though, even to this day. So, that being said, I had to choose skits I mostly thought were lol gut-busting from beginning to end. One could almost say I had an obsession with Lethal Finger!

What a great skit to kick off the 14th episode with! An obviously older Lethal Finger sleeping with his UAW/Ford jacket and backwards hat on, dreaming of old enemies in a nightmarish kind of way! The only thing is, throughout the whole episode, I don’t think he does that sinister “Ha ha haaaaaa” laugh one time, not even at the end. It shows the serious level of drama that Lethal Finger has managed to manufacture in his own mind! This episode is juxtaposed in-between the other skits which adds to the suspense and the nostalgic anxiety; which, I think is noteworthy in its own right. I want to say that sort of thing started back in episode 6 with the Notepad skit and some others when 30 Minutes of Madness started to get good!

The acting in this one is great! Jerry puts on a really good confused face like what the hell happened? Almost as if the Lethal Finger character had been in a car accident with a semi truck and was let out of the hospital with amnesia. And Jesus’ character of Kenny had devolved into a clean street survival sex worker of sorts, going after his big Hollywood dream! Hence the Big H’——gotta love that. Also, loved Kenny’s line, “Whatever happened to Lethal Finger, man?” while holding up his gun forming hand in complete mockery. “Everyone else kinda drizzled away and we had no one to conflict with!” Fucking awesome. The interplay of John Ryan’s electro-disco-funk behind the dialogue in the Lethal/Kenny convo scene added the perfect amount of flare to the zippity zappity Kenny as he sort of ranted off an award-winning monologue! It was remarkable to see Lethal still rocking the tireless UAW/Ford jacket and backwards hat even still in modern day!

My favorite part of the skit is the end, when Lethal Finger goes through a spiritual bout of sorts, firing his finger off inside his apartment, and realizing by the sound of loud shouting that his neighboring tenants have been disturbed, then further screams and at one point a crying baby as Lethal points his finger into the floor and fires. The mayhem that ensued is paramount to his realization that after everything, he had gotten beyond that anxiety and turmoil——he still had his mojo!
Appeared on episode 14.

1995 was the year I graduated from high school. All my school friends were 96ers, mostly because we were all the same age and I graduated at age 17. I was glad all that was over——no more stupid tests! Anyhow, I mentioned that to say this: we were all pretty young in these skits. It’s funny seeing these guys at this age looking back, it almost adds another dimension to the raw nature of the humor; just don’t give a fuck, they could say anything. The skit is juxtaposed again very nicely with other funny stuff, I really like how they blend together.

It starts off with the two main characters practically running for the entrance of the Burger King which is weird to see! Mike is very insistent on eating and even complaining about his stomach. Kelly is trying not to laugh, but also making weird faces and being Kelly. There was a bit of ad-lib tension here where you could tell neither of them really knew what to do. I like how the line “Wait do I say anything?” was left in the skit to add to the situation, bringing some clarity if you will! Great stuff, truly raw in nature! The following scene is set at the Rochester Park where some skateboarder goes whizzing by, probably Ross who makes an appearance in the next skit. Mike and Kelly sit there awkwardly at the table while Mike complains about being hungry while stuffing his face and rudely talking with his mouth full——you can’t make this stuff up. Things start to go back and forth, all tit for tat! It’s funny how the scene kind of gets drawn out without mentioning anything about the fries getting cold, and tools and mathematic calculations get brought into play. The exaggerated intensity at the table like “My mathematics are flawless!” is always funny to watch!
Appeared on episode 13.

This one is taking it back to before I ever met these guys and it’s funny nonetheless! Lots of sinister laughs, the kind you hear in a haunted house or maybe better at a carnival. Ah ha ha haaaaaa!!! I also love Lethal Finger’s compulsion to keep introducing himself, lol. The skateboarder getting blown off the skateboard is a classic Lethal Finger move. I just recently watched a video blog of Jerry and Joe doing a commentary track for 30MOM episode 1 and learned that Jerry actually hated it when he would go to Joe’s house and would have to wait until Joe got done skating with other sk8ers so they could hang out. Lol. Chris was solid as the innocent skateboarder victim! The next scene is this creature-looking fella played by Mike Pipper. He did a great job of being annoying and then Lethal just walked up and blam, haha. I don’t know, there is just something funny about it. There is a less-is-more type of style here which further adds to the appeal. Black and white, minimal story line, even stripped down in a sort of DIY punk sort of way! Lethal doesn’t get the last laugh here in this one, his longtime arch-rival Kenny gets to walk away! Gotta love the saga.
Appeared on episode 11.

This skit would not be complete without the sound effects of synthesizer noises and circuitry samples! It brings you into a whole ‘nother world and dimension of whoa, that’s cool and wow, what was that!? You can tell a lot went into this PCP Robot thing——those creatures are all put together with parts and pieces of circuit boards and bonded with clay, which is bad-ass, and to make a movie with these guys, even awesomer! I want to say one of the main character’s robot names was I-75, he was the one doing all the reproducin’ if ya know what I mean!

The PCP dimension is great with the cutouts of the guys optimistically speculating about all the hype surrounding the whole PCP Robot phenom! They get lost in robot land. An absolute must-see!
Appeared on episode 12.

Jerry plays the leader who wields stonewashed cargo pants, a Yngwie Malmsteen tank top, and bandanna with super long hair and kinda reminds you of Axl Rose mixed with some WWF wrestler. He has the best lines: “The rumble’s goin’ down tonight!” “Yeah man, you see what I mean, that’s what I’m talkin’ aboouuut!” Gotta love it, super off the cuff! At one point he has a meltdown, rallies support from his gang, and after some madness ensues with everyone jumping around and being pumped, a scuffle forms, almost a bit of a donnybrook, but without any uppercuts and he says “Fights are awesome!” Haha so great!

Everyone had something to bring to the table in this piece. It took place at a really cool arcade with classic video games, people actin’ tough——one closeup of Molly Brodak, God rest her soul, squinting and looking cool! The eighties attire was a solid touch. A cutoff jean denim jacket on one dude, Danton looking like super white yuppyman with his draped over-the-shoulder ugly sweater, a few had popped collars, and Andy Menko is rocking a vintage Megadeath shirt! Then the skit segues into a video game rap which is this whole other rad vibe, but I had to choose this one because it made me laugh more!
Appeared on episode 13.

The characters in this skit are unusual, to say the least, and some of them are the furthest from cliche one could imagine! The cast brought their A-game to the table on this one. The main hairdresser Ricky, played by Lucian (who wasn’t in a ton of skits, but was on the show as early as episode 1!) doesn’t look like he had ever stepped foot in a barbershop, let alone worked in one! The other barber, Matt Z, RIP, seems to be finishing up a customer, only after a while you notice them clippers gliding across Menko’s bald head a few too many more times than usual, and you realize something is off! Which is funny af! The receptionist/greeter, maybe perhaps owner character Leo, played by John Ryan, keeps getting confronted by women entering the shop, followed by moments where he excuses himself to go throw up! Funny stuff, even funnier is Matt never ended up finishing Menko’s head.

The story gets really interesting when a commercial happens to play on the television featuring an apparent rival of Ricky’s! The skit segues into a legit subplot flashback that plays like a Hollywood gangster movie, only without the violence! The acting is superb——a goon in the back chewing gum and not giving a fuck, Anton and his floozy whooping it up and causing some trauma for young Ricky as he fastly became an ear surgeon! The funky beats made that an interesting scene, like super shady but too cool for school!

Back in the present, everyone loves the slap in the face to Ricky’s drama queen rival, Anton, played by Jesus Rivera. Super funny that he showed up on a pink razor scooter, all puffed out and super scoff! Hilarious acting! The individual puppet characters who did the sing-a-long was a lovely finishing touch. That Razzmatazz song feels like a legit old nursery rhyme, but if it was, it was before my time! Ha ha ha ha haaaaa.
Appeared on episode 15.

Yes, my obsession has come to a possible conclusion——or maybe not! Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaa! And yes lots of the old sinister laugh returns in this outing. There is just something hilarious about the tall guy who bears only his index finger and a UAW/Ford jacket who has superhero like qualities, but is far from it! More like an anti-hero; wait, did I just say that? Indeed it’s true, a sort of Wolverine type if you will, rejected by society, veering down his old self-destructive path. I think you know where I’m going, only this time he has a young protege to follow in his footsteps!

Lethal has grown spiritually and seems to have mostly overcome his urge to obliterate his enemies. Resolutions have been discovered, perhaps the path to enlightenment haveth been found! Or maybe not. At any rate, frenemies have emerged propelling Lethal Finger to new heights. Like helping The Guy with the Big Hat and Sunglasses to quit drinking! Somehow a deal is struck between the band of brothers where one can ride along with them to Taco Bell, standing straight up atop of the now relic of a vessel; but then it was the creme dela creme of carriages, a 1996 Ford Bronco! With the James-Bondy/spagetti-western stylings turned all the way up, they were sure in for some adventuretime! Funny af! And then they stop to check out the old Ford plant and it cuts to actual footage of assembly line workers being efficient as fuck, with all of their furtive movements and bubblewrap safety attire, and mullets! Ahhhh hahaha lets not forget they were in Utica man——said in the voice of faaakin new age street traveler Kenny! Lol absolutely priceless, I think I had to stop the tape and rewind that shit a couple times, it was so funny! That music. . .and when they turned around and noticed a new/old guy who introduced himself as the Masterbasser! I thought for sure Lethal walked away to go grab his piece! Maybe he is a superhero after all!
Appeared on episode 15.

When I first seen this one I had a stomach ache by the time it was over, from laughing non-stop! Some of this was shot in my old bedroom in the Waterford House. It’s a great idea idea for a skit——even got me thinking maybe there could be a sequel to the skit where Andy actually thinks he is Billy Ocean and does some even more crazy shit, like showing up at his concerts and doing his own renditions of the songs and further exclaiming that he is undoubtedly the real Billy Ocean! Probably not gonna happen, but maybe Andy can come over and fold my laundry! Haha.
Appeared on episode 14.

Love the Vent song playing in the background of what seems to be endless reminiscing of stories that aren’t actually coherent——these guys are making zero sense! Which is basically the foundational aspect of the whole entire thing and what makes everything so funny, it’s not supposed to fall in line or make sense! It is good old fashion punk rock humor which is great in so many ways. One of them being Snappleface——where the show cuts to a clip of a guys chasing after Snappleface and pounding on his door yelling “Hey Snappleface, get over here” oh, I was dying when I seen that. I liked how they filmed in public and mocked random people all kneeling down for the camera like it was something special and actin’ like the guy was talkin’ about tree festivals, fuckin’ David Lee Roth wannabe, haha.

I guess the joke is on you if you actually thought they were in Cincinnati, Ohio! Funny thing is, it was all a big fat lie. Another funny part is, at the end of the show, a studio janitor or whoever finds a crumpled piece of green-screen with muffled shouting coming from within and he unwraps it to find Joe! Funny shit, right?
Appeared on episode 13.

This one takes the cake in my book! The top spot on the channel 52 Public Access Awards, if there is such a thing. Although this skit did not get spread throughout the episode like the first Lectures on ep11 in ‘94, this was a refined masterpiece nonetheless! Smooth squares with lines spoken like true poets at a whiteboy rap battle with great cuts, like that funky Lt.baD backing track playing like something out of a boombox breakdance contest at a trailer park. Extra heavy cheeze, I mean thick, these aren’t your average white dudes, they got somethin to say! Like, my favorite line “Everytime I get outta bed, I wake right the fuck up!!” Followed up by gameshow clapping and cheering, next level shit. Name-dropping wrestlers, intense announcements and an endless url to boot, muthafucka dot.muthafuckin.com and shit! Lol toooo funny! These guys RagTag and Magic Wand could teach a class on improv, this skit is non-stop laughter through and through——rewind and rewatch again and laugh some more! Laughter is medicine, and all these aforementioned skits are comical af!
Appeared on episode 15.