GOING, GOING, GONE

A documentary by Joel Hodgson and Mateo Hodgson, produced with Gabe Fajuri

Going, Going, Gone is a colorful new documentary from Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator Joel Hodgson, made in collaboration with his son, college student/animator Mateo Hodgson.

The film takes viewers inside the remarkable world of Potter & Potter Auctions, the Chicago auction house where magic, popular culture, show-business history, and wonderfully strange objects pass through the hands of collectors from around the world and showcasing the founder and lead auctioneer, Gabe Fajuri; his father and co-founder of Potter & Potter, Sami Fajuri; and auction manager Ethan Friedman-Brauner.

Our way into this world is anything but conventional. Cameras — and occasionally a drone — travel through the aisles, offices, loading docks, and warehouses of Potter & Potter, passing extraordinary and sometimes priceless objects waiting for their next owners. Mateo Hodgson’s original animation expands that journey, turning the auction house itself into a playful, constantly changing visual landscape.

At the center of the film is a charity auction: Joel Hodgson is curating a collection of props, puppets, costumes, sets, artwork, prototypes, and memorabilia from the modern era of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which includes the Netflix series of twenty feature-length episodes and The Gizmoplex's five year mission of thirteen new episodes, shot during Covid, and props and puppets and costumes from the four live national tours: Watch Out For Snakes!, 30th Anniversary Tour, The Great Cheesy Movie Circus (Joel's 100-city farewell live tour), and the ill-fated Time Bubble Tour, which went out during Covid.

Rather than simply putting these objects into storage, Hodgson decided it was time to send them back out into the world — giving MST3K fans a chance to become their next caretakers while using the auction to benefit charity, Gigi’s Playhouse in Madison, WI, a resource for people with Downs syndrome.

Part documentary, part backstage tour, part visual comedy, Going, Going, Gone is ultimately a story about the strange lives of objects: where they come from, why we love them, and what happens when it's finally time to let them go.

And for Joel Hodgson, it is also a chance to say farewell and thanks to the community that made it all possible.

The Den Theatre and comedy club is pleased to host GOING, GOING, GONE on October 10, 2026 at 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood.

Tickets are currently available at thedentheatre.com or by calling (773) 697-3830.