Remember the days before DVR and instant streaming NetFlix when, if you wanted to watch TV you sorta had to watch whatever was on?  Yeah . . . good times.

An afternoon of  TV was an eclectic mixed bag of cooking shows, public access chat fests and random syndicated sitcoms. Now imagine that it’s the future – the end of the world  . . .and there IS NO TV.  Except there is.  Well, kinda.  That is . . . there are these two gals, see?  And they’re the only gals left alive.  And they find you there one day and they figure they’ll entertain you by putting on the TV.  But you read the part about them being the only gals left on the planet, right?  So TV is an eclectic mixed bag of . . . cooking shows, public access chat fests and random syndicated sitcoms.  I’ve seen the future, and it is my past — eerily similar to  Saturday, May 21, 1988 . . . the day my first boyfriend broke up with me and I spent the day staring at the TV and chain smoking Virginia Slims.  But I digress.

Channel One stars the team James and JF (Emily James and Ishah Janssen-Faith) who also created this piece.   No doubt about it, these two ladies have winning comedic timing, both alone and together.  They each come to the party with a arsenal of characters in their sack and each personification is as convincing as it is varied.  There’s Latin Spitfire, Monica (Janssen-Faith), host of “He’s Your Man Now”, who likes to play something she calls a “game show” which is really nothing more than a prank call to her ex-lovers’ current girlfriends.  There’s German Heidi (James) who orders her assistant Nicole around in between a cleverly hacked apart “Love The One You’re With” which she sings while accompanying herself on the accordion.  There’s Karla (JF), the chef who creates a miraculous dish made of  . . . okay . . . she chops stuff up and throws it in a pan.  And there’s Happy Deepdown (James) who’s  just so . . .well, gosh darn-it, this chick is Happy.  And man, can she channel that spirit that’s inside of you and catch it with that little dream catcher she waves around.

James and JF play well off each other as well as with the audience.   They interact with their viewers often, and while your participation may vary they know how to work their group to get the desired outcome.

Some bits could be tightened up a bit, there are a few pacing issues, and every so often something bizarre happens that, when I saw the show, evoked titters rather than full on gaffaws since the audience wasn’t sure  if something was being played seriously or for laughs.  (A clue – this is Clown Fest).  Over all, however, even at their corniest (a very long good bye . . . see ya . . . peace out . . .) these two have a twinkle in their eye and a jaunt in their step that draws you in and makes you want to spend time with them.  Or, you know . . . about an hour.

Only 3 performances – and I saw the 2nd one . . .  meaning last one is tonight, kiddies.  So lay down the remote and tune in to the one channel that the future has left for you – Channel One.

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Related Posts:

• Hula Hell Is Miss Saturn – The Whirling Dervish Of Fun (Clown Festival)
• VCR Love – Where Do You Go When You’re Alone?
• Wing-Man Soars (Amuse Bouche – NY Clown Theatre Festival)
• Neon Lights – Brighter Than The Sun … And Twice As Funny (Amuse Bouche – NY Clown Theatre Festival)
• Morro And Jasp GONE WILD – No More Stops Left To Pull Out (Amuse Bouche NY Clown Theatre Festival)

Miss Saturn (Photo by Paule Saviano)

Hula Hell Is Miss Saturn? you ask?  Or, to rephrase a bit . . . Who The Hell Is Miss Saturn? you ask?

That’s me giving you an assist on how to parse the title, since (quite frankly) until Miss Saturn herself shouted it from backstage it wasn’t quite as punny to my ear. That’s okay – I’m sure Miss Saturn (given name: Jennifer McGowan) is fine with me facilitating her in this instance, since a lot of her act relies on the audience’s willingness to actively participate in a good half of the performance.  If you’re up for the task, Hula Hell is a helluva good time.

Less of a ‘show’ and more of an ‘experience’ Hula Hell comes off like an hour spent with that favorite babysitter – the one who did everything in her power to make sure that while you were with her you were thoroughly amused.  Saturn works her butt off to make sure everyone in the audience is engaged, happy, loosened up, and just having a hoopy good time.  Heck, she even gifts everyone in the audience with an invisible hula hoop of their very own that she first lets you test drive from the comfort of your own seat.  She seems to have an endless bag of tricks and when all else fails (or falls) she relies on the broad back of her considerable personality to carry the audience over to the next  hula scenario.  The result is charmingly homespun.

My only complaint (and I do have one) is that when Miss Saturn actually gets down to hula hooping she’s amazing at what she does, and I could have done with a lot more of it – and a lot sooner.  In fact, Miss Saturn doesn’t really move past crazy stunt hoops and funny spiels (A Contest ladies and gents!) until very close to the end when (quite frankly) having not really seen too many skills I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Photo by Paule Saviano

But then!!  . . . When all those hoops are whizzing, whirling, spinning and swirling -  it’s a thing of beauty.  This is one gal who has perfected the art – and her gravitational pull is so strong that she has these rings doing things I didn’t think were possible.  Which is not to say I’m only asking for serious hooping here – when she did a bit that involved spinning madly while an audience member chased her around adding more and more hoops to the dozens she was already spinning on her body I was laughing so hard that I actually had blurry vision.  (Does this happen to anyone else?)

So – without a doubt – I’m a new devoted follower.  I’m just suggesting that from a pacing standpoint, getting a taste a little earlier in the game would have engaged me sooner.  (Though Saturn coming out into the audience and personally introducing herself to everyone before climbing right between me and my husband and becoming part of our “sandwich” did go a long way in getting us all pretty familiar!)

Miss Saturn herself is enticing, magnetic, attractive and alluring – a field of gravity unto herself.  So it’s no wonder hoops run rings around her almost of their own accord.  Similarly, her gravitational pull draws in the audience – though she works her considerable charms to make sure everyone gets a bit of a shout out.  I left Hula Hell Is Miss Saturn not only entertained, but feeling as if I’d made a friend.

This show did, perhaps, exactly what it was intended to do – it put Miss Saturn on my radar, got me excited about hula hoops again, and made me want to find out where I can see her perform again.  So while this show itself may come off a little less polished and a little more folksy than others, it sure does answer the question it poses.  I left knowing EXACLY Hula Hell Miss Saturn is – she’s a Freakin Force of Nature.  And having seen her on a day that a tornado touched down in Brooklyn – that’s saying a lot.

~~~

Related Posts:

• There’s Only One Channel – Channel One (Clown Festival)
• VCR Love – Where Do You Go When You’re Alone?
• Wing-Man Soars (Amuse Bouche – NY Clown Theatre Festival)
• Neon Lights – Brighter Than The Sun … And Twice As Funny (Amuse Bouche – NY Clown Theatre Festival)
• Morro And Jasp GONE WILD – No More Stops Left To Pull Out (Amuse Bouche NY Clown Theatre Festival)