Remember the crazy shirtless guy dancing next to Bob Dylan with the words “Soy Bomb” painted across his chest (left) at the 1998 Grammy Awards? You may or may not know that the man in question is actually an established artist of various mediums named Michael Portnoy (not to be confused with the drummer of progressive metal mainstays Dream Theater).
Recently, Portnoy has premiered a six-episode “talk show” series on Hulu titled “Dr. Portnoy, Provocateur.” The series feels like a combination of absurdist pseudo-psychonalysis (he is a “doctor”, after all) mixed with more conventional (Charlie Rose-esque, as Hulu’s description described) interviewing. Interview subjects include writer/actress Stella Schnabel (daughter of filmmaker Julian Schnabel), actor Edward Hogg, actor Alan Cumming, former Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur, activists/filmmakers The Yes Men, and Sundance programmer John Cooper. From the bits we’ve watched, the interviews are amusingly weird, possibly somewhat scripted, and occasionally uncomfortable.
Though you probably won’t get any Soy Bomb freakouts in the series, you will hopefully get some interesting banter from a few unconventional interview subjects. You can watch the John Cooper episode below.
