Radio Avenue

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Someone should write a movie script on the workings of the inside upside down minds of Bob Wells and Dave Johnson with the Avenue Theatre as their playground. It might be difficult to get cameras into areas where no camera has ever before been able to go, but someone said that about outer space, once. It’s the playground captured within the inner space of off the wall creative minds that intrigues. Clever, funny, very very funny shaded with profundity, colored with wit, shaded with wisdom, driven by cultural “seriosity” is what would appear inside the playground of their minds appearing in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Combine the two playgrounds, and you have Upper Case, underlined, bold hilarity.

Their latest, at least the latest known beyond their internal playground, is Radio Avenue. Several years ago Wells and Johnson had a radio program, and they’ve never really been able to run out the concept. There is reason for that. The radio concept wanted to go somewhere and do something different so it continued to hang around the playground.

Radio Avenue took its inaugural bow August 6th at the Avenue theatre. Wells did say they ran a pilot last fall to test the waters, but now it is official.

A stage show involving members of the audience is recorded and then played the first Monday evening of every month on KNGU radio.

To call it zany is hardly the word for it, much less off the wall. With a relatively loose structure monitored by Wells and Johnson, the show is more like loose as a goose anything goes hilarious spontaneity. Confident with a tantalizing smile, the two creative geniuses know they have the ability to edit the two-hour show down to the 8:00 PM one hour broadcast.

Prior to the show on August 6th, the audience members were asked to write a one-liner that might be used in a movie or play with the promise of winning a gift certificate to a local restaurant. That was only the beginning.

Driven by an upside down look at current affairs accompanied with a glint, a smirk, a tongue in cheek reporting of the news as seen through the laughing, glazed, biting, but twinkling eyes of the two MC’s, Wells and Johnson play off each other in concert as though jamming in a jazz band. No one knows what is coming next, except the assurance the blending will mesh.

Audience members were given an opportunity to rant on a favorite subject for 90 seconds. They wanted an angry radical busting to let off steam. One had a few pithy words to say about Israel equating them to Nazi Germany, one sliced her words on Denver’s inefficient frustrating Probate Court, and one took pot shots at men who made major decisions worldwide but didnŐt know how to pick out new clothes. Her conclusion: that’s the reason Osama Bin laden wore a robe.

In the news as we know it segment, Mel Gibson fielded jabs on his latest escapade, with suggestions from Bin Laden on anger management; President Bush for his escapist Texas vacation as he handed authority over to Jeb until the Mid East crisis is over; and, of course, the dog that made mince meat out of a prized Elvis Pressley teddy bear in a London museum.

Jared Ewy took the reins in a straight-faced commentary not knowing if someone speaks if they are incredibly stupid or brilliant with the current regime fielding his hits.

A volunteer from the audience agreed to fall into improvisational episode as a creator of a pill to increase gas mileage. Johnson interviewed the inventor with a crooked straight face along with Wells. This is where the one-liners written earlier by the audience members worked their way blindly into the scene. There are a whole lot of people out there who claim improvisational professionalism, and some are quite good at it. Johnson and Wells are masters.

Ewy entered into a recorded interview with the Republican incumbent from Colorado’s 6th Congressional district, Tom Tancredo that was worth a bunch of laughs. Tancredo however may get the last laugh since he is scheduled to appear at the next Radio Avenue, September 3. If he’s smart, he will be armed to the teeth with off the cuff laughable improvisational tongue in cheek comments.

He will definitely have an advantage since he has opportunity to get a taste of what Radio Avenue is all about.

Tancredo’s Republican opponent Bill Winter was the show’s guest of honor August 6 who not only had a chance to share some of his own background, and his political platform, proving he can jive with the best of them. On the other hand from the audience’s point of view it was somewhat difficult to decipher what was real and true and what was not, at least from a small part of the audience, at least from my side of the audience. What Winter did prove he is a good sport for subjecting himself to the hilarious scrutiny of Wells and Johnson. And that, after all, could well be the best education anyone would need to become a member of Congress. He did say he didn’t realize how easy it was to become a Congressional candidate. “You sign a few papers and then you are somebody.” Along with major concerns over the war in Iraq, and education, Winters expressed a personal interest in health care. Two and a half years ago he donated a kidney, then had difficulty getting insurance because of a “preexisting condition.” Someone from the medical insurance red tape industry should definitely be invited to play in Wells and Johnson’s playground, Radio Avenue. Then again, if Johnson could get a hold of an already taped commentary from someone in the health field, he could have a hay day at the September 3rd show.

With two volunteers from the audience, Julie and Allison twins in one form or another, a game show was laid out on the floor of the radio station based on current events. Wells explained to them they would be asked four questions with two lifelines available: to either poll the audience or to call Dave. When Dave was called on the imaginary phone, he was thrilled to be able to take part.

Wells and Johnson threw buckets of praise toward KGNU for the lavish buffet provided for the Avenue showing while the audience munched on drinks and snacks from the snack bar. In spite of the animated expressions accompanying Wells and Johnson, the one-hour radio program airing the following night read with smooth sailing hilarious clarity.

Radio Avenue works.

With the next show scheduled for September 3rd, the one-hour radio program will air on KGNU (Boulder 88.5 FM and Denver 1290 AM) the following day, September 4 at 8:00 PM. Check out www.kngu.org.

One of the most serious comments during the show’s playtime at the Avenue was at the very end when Wells thanked the audience with “What a hoot this has been.” And this is just the beginning.

As audience members become accustomed to the loosely-formed format, and the spontaneous atmosphere, and the dippity do-dah minds of Wells and Johnson, and the expectation that anything goes and anything can happen, there is no doubt zany minds will match these two masters of improvisation, sliced words, and smiling innuendos.

There are few honest comical looks at current events. Many have tried, but never seem to go far enough to be really funny. Radio Avenue has the earmarks of turning into one of the best productions around both on the stage and on the air.