“On a Saturday afternoon in early June, the sidewalk outside the historic TLC Chinese Theatre in Hollywood is teeming with street performers dressed as pop culture icons. Spider-Man, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis mingle with tourists. A man in an old-timey paper hat sells popsicles from a cart, standing atop a courtyard embedded with cement handprints from the likes of Steven Spielberg and the Marx Brothers. Meanwhile, in the lobby of the theater, dozens of people are lining up to see a documentary about a band of timeless figures of a more underground stripe. The movie is called Theory of Obscurity: A Film about The Residents, and as the title suggests, it covers the sprawling, 40-plus year history of one of America’s weirdest musical groups. Based out of San Francisco, The Residents moved from humble beginnings in their hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, and became celebrated for their groundbreaking experiments in avant-garde music, electronic composition, sonic storytelling, and multimedia. Throughout, the Residents have rejected the usual trappings of the rock star persona, opting instead to preserve their mystique and independence through anonymity, misdirection and giant eyeball-and-top-hat masks. …”
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