How do you define a live show that mixes monologues, interactive songs, dance, animation, a slide show and a short film?
In one word: marvellous.
A spin-off from the popular US radio series and podcast, This American Life: The Invisible Made Visible is a highly original piece of first-class entertainment.
This show was staged on May 10 at New York University’s Skirball Centre for the Performing Arts and beamed live via satellite to hundreds of cinemas in the US and Canada; it’s screening in Australia this weekend.
You don’t have to be an aficionada of the radio series (broadcast here on ABC Radio National) to appreciate the extended episode’s artistic endeavours, humour, insights and pathos.
This American Life host Ira Glass explained the live show enabled the creative team to present visual acts that would never work on radio. In the prologue, Glass described how Vancouver writer Ryan Knighton, who’s blind, struggled to find the phone in his hotel room, with inspired illustrations by Jeff Turley.
Knighton then appeared on stage to relate how tough it was to help his young daughter understand his condition, including a hilarious story of their encounter with a 'bear" on the rural campus of the university where he works.
Musical group OK Go played a song on hand bells, inviting the audience to participate by pressing their iPhones or Androids using a specially-downloaded app, following cues on a movie screen.
Monica Bill Barnes and her dance company performed two innovative and amusing pieces, the first a solo by Anna Bass set to Nina Simone's 'Let It Be Me,’ the second an energetic routine set to James Brown’s 'Get Up (I Feel Like Being) a Sex Machine.’
Comedian Tig Notaro told a very funny story about repeatedly meeting 1980s pop star Taylor Dayne in various places with wildly different results, which had a wonderful punch line.
Less impressive was a segment in which Glynn Washington, who hosts the public radio show Snap Judgment, rambled on about a man who used a water diviner on his family’s farm.
The mood quickly picked up with 2 Fresh, 2 Furious, a cleverly-crafted short film made for the show by comedian Mike Birbiglia, in which his interview with Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air takes several unexpected turns.
A segment about a reclusive Chicago nanny named Vivian Maier who took thousands of photos was riveting. The photos are remarkable portraits of life in America from the 1950s to the 1970s, but Maier never showed them to anyone and they were discovered after her death by a guy who bought them at an auction.
Gay writer David Rakoff told an emotional story about how his life changed after cancer surgery rendered his left arm useless. Normally simple tasks like grating cheese or brushing teeth require ingenuity and improvisation.
In the final act, humourist and author David Sedaris, wearing clown make-up, delivered a wickedly funny albeit politically incorrect rant about a middle-aged couple who jumped the queue ahead of him at a coffee bar in a New Hampshire hotel. Yes, his tirade was misogynist but it will ring a bell with almost anyone who’s had the misfortune to wait in line behind thoughtless people who take an eternity to order.
Glass MC’d the evening with his trademark mark mix of wit, erudition and self-deprecating humour. It’s the most fun I’ve had for two hours in a cinema for yonks.
