The Lottery is an episode of Down in Moonshine Holler.
Podcast Episode[]
Audio[]
Cast[]
WorkJuice Players[]
- Banjo Bindlestuff - Craig Cackowski
- Gummy - Hal Lublin
- Officer O'Grady - John Ennis
- Townsfolk / Carmichael - Marc Evan Jackson
- Townsfolk / Timmy Hanson - Mark Gagliardi
- Narrator - John DiMaggio
Guest Stars[]
- Lulu Pepper - Lake Bell
- Mayor Joe Summers - Nick Offerman
Plot[]
Banjo and Gummy awake in a boxcar, complaining of their hunger. Gummy reminds Banjo that fanciful exaggeration is the Hobo Way, then teaches Banjo how to jump off of a boxcar: roll when you land.
After leaving the boxcar, Banjo wonders if they arrived in Moonshine Holler as the place they found was particularly lovely, but Gummy points out that there is a sign that says "Welcome to Jacksonville" as well as missing several other Moonshine Holler characteristics. They spot a farm with a henhouse, and the two tiptoe to the farmhouse to steal several eggs.
A regal lady hobo passes by, crying. Gummy recognizes her as a hobo duchess, Lulu Pepper. Gummy says Lulu owns a stone soup stone which produces the most delicious stone soup. The more Gummy mentions the stone soup stone, the harder Lulu cries. She tells Banjo and Gummy that her stone has been stolen and she is afraid she might soon die of starvation.
A constable passes by, and Banjo flags him down despite Gummy's objections. He reports the theft of the stone to Officer O'Grady, who asks Lulu about the stone. O'Grady gently threatens to jail the trio for vagrancy unless they agree to call themselves citizens of the town for the day, so they agree. O'Grady takes the hobos to the town square where they meet Mayor Joe Summers, and have their names added to the town roster. The mayor recognizes Banjo, who ardently denies they had ever met before on several occasions.
Lulu spots her stone soup stone sitting on the top of a pile of inferior stones. The mayor insists that she cannot have the stone back until after the town lottery, into which Banjo, Gummy and Lulu were automatically entered by accepting citizenship, and is mandatory. The mayor and Officer O'Grady explains that the town sacrifices a citizen by stoning every year in order to be assured a great harvest, like, 85 to 90 percent of the time. They choose the human sacrifice via the lottery, as stoning is the least humane way to enact the sacrifice, to help ensure a great harvest.
Lulu begs Banjo to not allow her stone soup stone to taste human blood, which causes Banjo to wax about what he might do. If he were to use his money to purchase the stone, it would prove him unworthy of the Hobo Princess. Gummy encourages Banjo to use the hobo way to keep the sacrifice from happening and save a life. Banjo addresses the entire crowd, and points out that Lulu's stone could be used for a stone soup, explaining how stone soup works. He encourages the townsfolk to create a soup instead of stoning someone to death. The harvest might suffer, but with everyone pitching in for stone soup everyone will be able to eat.
For a laugh, they pick a lottery winner anyway - it would have been O'Grady. The townsfolk pitch in to make the soup. Lulu thanks Banjo and suggests that they could live happily ever after together, but Banjo refuses, then leaves with Gummy to find his Hobo Princess.
Notes[]
- This story was illustrated for the Original Graphic Novel.
- This episode is based on a story originally written by Shirley Jackson. See the Wikipedia entry for The Lottery for more information.
Continuity[]
- This is the 23rd episode of the Thrilling Adventure Hour.
- The prior episode is Tales from the Black Lagoon - Part Five.
- The next episode is Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars - Spiders, Man.
- The prior Down in Moonshine Holler episode is The Cadillac of Beans (TAH #12).
- The next Down in Moonshine Holler episode is Beanstalk (TAH #29).
Production[]
This episode was recorded at Largo on September 10, 2010 and released on June 13, 2011.
- Writers: Ben Acker and Ben Blacker
- Director: Toby Wilkins
- Music: Andy Paley and the Andy Paley Orchestra
- Theme sung by: John DiMaggio
TAH Live Episode[]
Video[]
The video of TAH Live #2 may be purchased on Vimeo. Proceeds from the live stream and from sales of this recording benefit food banks in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and other cities.
Cast[]
(Top) Joshua Malina, Busy Philipps, Hal Lublin, (Middle) Craig Cackowski, Janet Varney, Autumn Reeser, (Bottom) Marc Evan Jackson and Mark Gagliardi in The Lottery.
WorkJuice Players[]
- Banjo Bindlestuff - Craig Cackowski
- Gummy - Hal Lublin
- Lulu Pepper - Autumn Reeser
- Officer O'Grady - Mark Gagliardi
- Cheryl Summers - Busy Philipps
- Townsfolk / Carmichael - Marc Evan Jackson
- Townsfolk / Timmy Hanson - Joshua Malina
- Townsfolk - Janet Varney
Guest Stars[]
- Narrator - Rhett Miller
Plot Changes[]
- The TAH Live performance does not include the introduction of the episode with Banjo and Gummy waking up and jumping off of the train they slept in the previous night.
- Busy Philipps played Cheryl Summers, a local coal magnate's wife, replacing the character of Mayor Joe Summers.
New Theme Song[]
Rhett Miller played a new theme song during the TAH Live performance. Lyrics as follows:
Now we rest our weary heads
With our boots unlaced and our prayers unsaid
And we'll dream our dreams while the breakman wails
That's the lullaby of the rails
That's the lullaby of the rails
Production[]
This episode was performed on April 11, 2020. It was released for purchase on April 15, 2020.