By: Stanley Allan Sherman
© September 23, 2011
Created and performed by Emily James and Ishah Janssen-Faith
Associate Producers: Rachel Faith & Tom Janssen
Writing Advisor: Elena Zucker
Lighting Designer: John Wilder
Set Maker: Billy Schultz & Mike Campbell
Seamstress: Elya Yerushalmy
Creative Advisor: Richard Crawford
Jingle Mixer: Dewey Caddell
Tile Card Artist: Marisa Manso
There were lots of good openings this year at the New York Clown Theater Festival, and this was another one; you came in and felt welcomed and loved. In fact, the opening was my favorite part of show, because they were fresh, all honest reactions, playing with the audience. This year’s show is somewhat similar to the show they did last year. Emily and Ishah are trapped in present or future time, doing their TV shows. They work off of each other very well. One is never bored when watching these two, trapped in time with the opportunity to travel with them into the future to avoid the destruction of the world. They create a very odd, strange and sometime disturbing worlds, taking you to places you would never think of going. This year their humor is more cutting. The show’s with its content seems to be taking itself a little more serious, but not much. Channel One has all kinds of humor, including women’s humor that women will relate to more than men. One can tell because all the women are laughing and the guys’ laughs are a little later. I would tell you more details but that would spoil it. There is an energy of the show from last year I missed, but they have been working the show, performing a lot, and a show never stays in the same place.
One thing that is hard in a festival like this is everything one must do to be ready so you have time for your prep. While we were waiting to come in, and like in other shows we could hear them working out technical lighting cues. That can really throw a performance off, but these professionals it did not. We did had to wait a little longer for the opening. But they made sure things were how they needed them to be to do their best show. It showed. Channel One is a fun out-of-this-world show and very different.