Watching Radio
We went to the preview (non-broadcast) show of A Prairie Home Companion at the Fitzgerald Theater on Friday evening. What a joy to be there in person. Most engaging was Garrison Keillor's News From Lake Wobegone. To watch him tell the story sitting on the stool in the center spotlight is to be entranced again by the power of story. (I know that this is one of my standard themes, but to watch a true master while listening is a joy.)

What was really interesting was listening to the broadcast show on Saturday evening after seeing the preview. One of my reactions was, "Is that the same show we saw?" Some of it was almost verbatim, but then there would be a new twist to the story, a new line of comment, a different question to one of the guests. It was also much tighter, of course, since it was broadcast live and the end of the show comes even if you aren't finished. On Friday we got the show as a work-in-progress. That means in some ways we got a longer show that had more in it. Perhaps some of the things we heard just didn't feel right so they got shifted or dropped.

I don't know what they do on Saturday but what I noticed on Friday was that there was no pre-show hype. No comedian doing warm-up; no one prepping the audience and getting us excited. When we went to see David Letterman (also a wonderful experience) part of what made it work was the hype and excitement they build into the pre-show time. That was one type of experience.

Garrison is another. It is clear he likes what he does and it is contagious. He is also very good at it and keeps our attention. Even now, after 30 years of PHC it is still quite a draw. Keep going, Garrison. You're doing fine!