Jay Johnson: THE TWO and ONLY!

I was lucky enough to escort my friend Michael to see this show now playing on Broadway - Jay Johnson: THE TWO and ONLY! It was very funny. Good clean family humor. Now you may all remember Jay Johnson from his days on Soap. He played Chuck & Bob, the ventriloquist & his dummy. Yes him! Well, he's in the Helen Hayes Theatre now and the show is really, really cute.

First, I must tell you that Michael & I sat in the second row of this 600 seat theater. I warn everyone not to sit this close because you're just a little too close for the illusion. That being said, the show was both a historical and autobiographical account of Jay's life in ventriloquism. I found the historical facts fascinating. Who would think that fanatical, religions killed people for ventriloquism. Everyone knows they should have killed the mimes. But Jay's personal accounts of people and his experiences pull the piece together and lift it up from a novel nod back into Vaudevillian days. Of course, while telling you his story, he tells you how he came to acquire his performance ("Squeaky" & "Bob") puppets. By the time the story is going I couldn't wait for him to pull them out and show them. My personal favorite character that he performed was a vulture called "Nethernore." Really fun.

So if you're looking for something different that the whole family can enjoy you should check this out. I know I wouldn't have, but I'm glad I did.