Arts Agenda - Talking heads
Anything goes when two wacky talk shows play to the late-night set
“Jay Leno is an asshole!” Lucky Yates yells to the half-drunk audience, wadding up a copy of his surprisingly short monologue and throwing it into the crowd.
So begins another episode of The Lucky Yates Show, the live variety act that has been attracting the after-midnight set at Dad’s Garage for the past two years. It plays exactly like a televised talk show, with a wisecracking host and a cadre of eclectic guests, but minus the TV cameras — or the censors.
The show started in the theater’s Top Shelf space in October 2000 and migrated to the main stage last January.
In a development at least a little reminiscent of the Leno-vs.-Letterman fracas, Lucky Yates is no longer the only late-night desk jockey in town. This month Tim Cordier kicked off his new talk show, Alive in Little Five, at 7 Stages Theatre. Cordier, who produced the first 18 episodes of The Lucky Yates Show, hosted a similar show called Culture Barn Show at the Art Farm last year. Now, at 7 Stages, Cordier gets a noticeably larger and more prestigious venue in which to enact his comic agenda.
Though both Alive and Lucky Yates follow a familiar made-for-TV formula, the energy and ambience of the two shows are about as different as Dick Cavett and Monty Hall. While Yates runs his three-ring-circus like a Vaudeville act on amphetamines, Cordier opts for tone that’s at once more serious and more subversive.
| ? ? ? ? | ? The Lucky ?Yates Show ? | ? Alive in ?Little Five ?? |
| ? the ?host ? | Matt ?“Lucky” Yates, a walking cartoon character who channels cranky ?comedian Ernie Kovacs and chews his cigar (and the scenery) like a modern ?Groucho Marx. ? | Tim ?Cordier. Think the love child of Conan O’Brien and Craig Kilborn. ?Cordier mostly ends up playing the straight man to his cast of oddball ?sidekicks and turns on the cerebrum for scholarly guests. ?? |
| ? the ?co-host ? | Mr. ?Magnificent (Bart Hansard), a fez-wearing, ??wisecracking John Goodman with a Mach 3 wit ?and a sense of comic timing that perfectly complements ?the host’s hysteria. | Dexter ?Schnee, a leisure-suited, potty-mouthed puppet mastered by Dad’s ?Garage alum Marc Cram. Watching Dexter interview guests — or ogle ?girls — can be a little disarming, but the shtick mostly works. ? ?? |
| ? the ?set ? | A ?deliciously retro extravaganza, with a green vinyl car-seat couch and ?accents ripped from grandma’s attic. The kitschy title sign perfectly ?captures ??the spirit of the show. | A ?yard sale gone bad: mismatched, treacherous-looking chairs and an old ?table with a throw stolen from a homeless shelter. The producers may be ?shooting for shabby chic, but they forgot the chic part. ?? |
| ? the ?crowd ? | Half-buzzed ?college kids and Garage groupies. Though Yates jokes that the show doesn’t ?get much of a return audience, you can’t help but feel that most ?spectators know the drill. ? | A ?surprisingly older crowd was up past its ???bedtime for the premiere episode, though this ?may have had something to do with the guest, ?author Terry Kay. |
| ? the ?sideshow ? | Each ?month, Mr. Magnificent is given some tedious task to complete before the ?end of the show. Most recently: Sketching out a memory from his 11th birthday ?— on a Lite-Brite. Sheer hilarity. ? | Sidekicks ?Sarah Falkenburg and Steve Westdahl played various secondary characters, ?à la “Pee Wee’s Playhouse,” but the crowd never ?quite got it. Falkenburg’s fashion show skit, in which she trotted ?out stark naked, got a reaction, though. We’re told that skit may ?become a recurring gag in the show. ?? |
| ? the ?verdict ? | The ?show is worth a visit, either as the end of a long night of drinking or ?just the beginning. Yates’ madcap crew and in-your-face humor may ?not be suited for everyone, but it’s a worthy excuse to skip “Saturday ?Night Live.” ? | Though ?still in its infancy, Alive in Little Five feels like The Lucky Yates ?Show’s more sober older brother. Cordier aims for a mixture of insightful ?cultural commentary with slapstick silliness, which can be jarring. It’ll ?be fascinating to see if he can pull it off. ?? |
| ? when ?& where ? | Dad’s ?Garage Theatre. Last Saturday of the month, except in February, when it’s ?Feb. 15. Midnight. Free-$10, depending on the roll of the die. 280 Elizabeth ?St. 404-523-3141. www.dadsgarage.com ? | 7 ?Stages Theatre. First Saturday of the month. 11 p.m. $5. 1105 Euclid Ave. ? ???404-523-7647. www.7stages.org. |