George, the martians, and Sylvia Plath

Tonight, I braved the rain and the cold to go see the first performance of the Mad Art Radio Hour, and man, am I glad I did. All I can say is: go. And this isn't just some personal advertisement for them... The radio show tonight was the most fun I have had at an event in years. I laughed out loud. A lot. And if you know me, you know I have an often lacking sense of humour, but tonight, it was alive and well. And when I wasn't laughing, I would catch myself realizing I was smiling.

The set was fantastic, complete with APPLAUSE lights and and ON AIR light. The music rocked (Swing Set) and I still have some of the songs stuck in my head. The announcer and the voices were fantastic. George Malich might have been at his funniest, but then again, everyone cracked me up. The sound effects were perfect. Everything about it was enjoyable, and I felt transported back to some other time, so much attention was paid to details. It was creative and smart. I have a tough time listening to things, and I actually hate theatre even more, but this had me riveted. All I am going to say is the first play was about martians and art, and the second was about Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes (the intro song to that kicked ass). My absolute favorite though was the advertisements (Frazer's, Schlafly, the Royale).

Jaime Gartelos (one of the writers and the announcer) hit the mark on absolutely everything. If I weren't busy the next two performances, I would go again. It's hard for me to say how much fun I had. I'm just glad this is one of those things with more to come. Check it out; I promise it will be the best $5 you spend for a while (it was actually more fun than the batting cages, my $5 staple of fun comparison).

Mad Art Radio Hour at the Mad Art Gallery
Performances Thurs. 11/16 and Fri. 11/17, $5 (cash bar)

Note: the Friday performance will be taped and aired later on Brett Underwood's KDHX show, the No Show