We originally were going to do the latest Marty Monologues show from The Westcott Room in the Owens Design Group building in Chillicothe on Sunday November 22, 2020. Then the Covid numbers spiked because people are selfish assholes and don’t know how to contain themselves in the middle of a pandemic and performance spaces were one of the many things that got shut down in this latest mitigation.
So my friends Amber and Joe saved the day by transforming their basement into The Bohannan Basement Ballroom and they offered to host this edition of The Marty Monologues! And my friend Clare volunteered to be the lone audience member so we could have a socially distant show.
So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the fifth edition of The Marty Monologues Show!
The Venue: The Bohannan Basement Ballroom
Joe and Amber transformed their basement into a ballroom theatre for this event. There’s the stage area where I’ll be doing the show from.
Here’s the view from the stage. I love the “Open” sign!
I love all the signs in here and on the back wall there’s a vintage Peoria poster and the Marty Monologues poster that was created and designed by Chelsie Tamms of Lettering Works.
Amber And Joe: The DJ’s
Amber and Joe were the DJ’s for the evening and they operated out of this booth in the middle of the room.
Here they are at their station and they’ve started the pre-show music. There’s the set list and they chose some perfect 2020 tunes! This definitely set the right mood for this show!
Amber’s Introduction!
Amber took the stage and gave me a fabulous introduction!
She also took the camera and from here on in the photos are by Amber. Thanks, Amber!
Introduction
I came out and thanked everyone, held up my Fire Truck book, which the show is based upon and showed off the applause sign.
Snack Bowl Number One: Salty Snack Bowl
After the introduction it was time to make the first snack bowl of the evening. This was a salty mix and the winner of this snack mix was…
Amber! Joe took this photo from the DJ booth.
Story Number One: Phoning Larry King
All the stories for the show were taken from my book, The Boy Who Would Be A Fire Truck.
The first story was about how I phoned in to the Larry King Show back in 1981 and asked Jay Leno what his favorite sandwich was. Larry wasn’t too happy about this!
Snack Bowl Number Two: Sweet Snack Mix
The second snack bowl was made up of various candies and sweet treats.
The lone audience member, Clare won this snack bowl and grabbed the microphone and kind of took over the show till I grabbed it back from her.
I have to take a minute and thank Clare, because she’s the one who had the idea for me to do these shows and persisted in encouraging me to do this. Thanks, Clare!
Story Number Two: Jim
The second story was a mid-’80’s tale about an evening of picking up my brother Jim from a cop car in downtown Peoria. I have a ton of stories about my brother and this is one of my favorite ones.
Snack Bowl Three: Sweet And Salty Snack Mix
The third and final snack mix I prepared was a combination of sweet and salty treats.
Joe won the final snack bowl and here he is up on the stage receiving it.
Story Number Three: I Never Should’ve Opened Up Her Medicine Cabinet
The last story is about an online dating experience I had that went horribly wrong!
It involves a large wooden spoon, sexual frustrations and a heartbreaking void of Percodan!
Postscript
The postscript was a story and dedication to my dad, Jerry Wombacher, the nicest guy in the world!
Subterranean Homesick Paperback Writer
To close the show, Amber, Joe and I did a performance of Subterranean Homesick Paperback Writer which was inspired by the Bob Dylan video.
Amber shot the video of this performance and Steven Marx uploaded it! This was my favorite part of the show!
After Party
We had a fun after party in Amber and Joe’s basement.
Thanks to Amber and Joe for hosting this event and DJing it. The music was fantastic! And thanks to Clare for being the audience and suggesting the idea of a monologues show all those years ago!
The Boy Who Would Be A Fire Truck
This show was based on and included stories from my book, The Boy Who Would Be A Fire Truck. If you’d like to order a copy, then click right here.
Artwork and Design By Chelsie Tamms of Lettering Works
Chelsie Tamms is the official Marty Monologues artist and she designed this poster and had buttons and stickers made too! It was her idea to put the mask on the logo and I love it!
Chelsie creates hand-lettered art, does all kinds of design work and can also help you with branding and marketing. Check her business out here: Lettering Works. Thanks for the wonderful work, as always, Chelsie!
Related Post: Sunday Links: The Marty Monologues.