Bricolage Theater – “A World of Pure Imagination”

I just finished an amazing run of Midnight Radio at Bricolage Theater this past weekend. First off – Kudos to the cast, crew and production staff for their hard work, creative energy and professionalism. Honestly, each of you was so easy to work with and enjoyable to work with that I truly wish it never had to end.

Bricolage Production Company truly blows my mind.

The motto there is “making artful use of what is at hand”. No truer words have ever been spoken.

For those of you who missed this month’s presentation of Midnight Radio let me fill you in on some of the magic. First off – the set is incredible. It’s built to resemble the old timey radio sets of the 30’s and 40’s. We had a working applause sign, we had 8 microphones carefully placed throughout the stage (including a copper mic, a megaphone mic and three separate foley mics). The foley station occupied about a third of the stage and included a thunder machine, a walking station where the foley artist could move empty shoes over a wooden plank or through gravel depending on which effect was needed, it included glass bottles, whoopie cushions, train whistles, keys, animal sounds, etc… . It was beyond impressive. Tami Dixon and Tony Bingham were the official foley operators. Every single person who I talked to after the show LOVED watching them add sound effects to each of the skits that we performed. They were incredible to watch/perform with. The skits ranged from fake commercial jingles to soap opera parodies to a classic Ray Bradbury mystery radio play which, in my opinion, stole the show. The talent required by each performer is fierce. We each had to be able to sing (or at least carry a tune), perform at least 7 different voices throughout the show, provide basic sound effects like cow sounds or bombs exploding and perform for a LIVE audience while providing the right tone for the audio recording which was also taking place at the time. In short – It was TOTALLY worth it and I would do it again ALL SUMMER if asked.

I have been working with Bricolage a lot this past year. In January I basically became their “resident comedian” which means that I produce/perform about one comedy show a month is their space. For those of you who regularly read my blog then you are familiar with my Comedy Parties that I perform there. For those of you stumbling upon this blog for the first time, let me tell you as a comedian I cherish the shows that I perform in that space more than any others that I do. I always know that I am free to explore any type of content, present the comedy in any form whether it be straight standup, sketch, film or audio. They trust me and I trust them. I don’t think most people can say that about the place they work, but I fortunately can. (Cue: Gratuitous Plug – My next Comedy Party at Bricolage is on Friday, July 9th. I have been hard at work writing a new set for the show and one new skit. As of now, some of the cast of Midnight Radio are going to perform a short segment to give you an idea of what it is and I am finalizing the final details of which local band with be opening the show. It’s not completely official, but most likely, the talented Joe Wos from the Pittsburgh ToonSeum will also be on hand LIVE cartooning thought-bubbles behind my head while I perform my set. Whew! Too many details to throw at you at once, but I am totally motivated and excited about the upcoming show and I want all of YINZ to join me!)

Bricolage Theater is run by Jeffrey Carpenter and Tami Dixon (who’s B-day is today. Happy Birthday, Gurrrrrrrrrrrl!). These two individuals are easily two the most talented performers working in the city which makes the fact that they run the coolest theater company in town even more impressive. These two individuals somehow manage to find the time to star in every other theater’s productions while producing the most cutting edge performance art. Whether it be Midnight Radio, or last summer’s Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom (which was a horror play about the obsession of video games which included multimedia dimensions throughout the production) or B.U.S. (Bricolage Urban Scrawl which is essentially a 48 hour play festival in which plays are written, cast, directed and produced all within 48 hours) or their most recent production of Speech and Debate (which was a current play about teenagers, politics and the human spirit) or even my Comedy Party which allows me (a local, female artist who feels trapped by the restrictions of comedy club etiquette) to explore any topic, any idea, any impulse that I feel can be conveyed creatively and comically without the pressure of censorship; Bricolage Theater provides the city of Pittsburgh “a world of pure imagination”.

To Tami and Jeff – Thank you for being our Willy Wonka.

Next month’s Midnight Radio will take place July 14th, 15th and 16th. Sadly, I will not be able to be a part of it because I will be headlining in Chicago at the Gorilla Tango Theater that weekend with comedian John McIntire as part of the “Nothing is Sacred” Comedy Tour. For those of you in Pittsburgh DON’T MISS MIDNIGHT RADIO! For those of you in Chi-town DON’T MISS ME!

Thank you and goodnight!

Gab Bonesso M.D. (Specializing in the psychology of serial killers since 2009)