We all remember Jay Johnson’s hilariously insane gig as ventriloquist Chuck and Bob on Soap.
So what’s he been doing since? Ventriloquising. He has a one-human show, “The Two and Only” that he’s touring with, relying on word of mouth.
Word.
I can’t tell you how great this show is. Funny, sentimental, corny, erudite, and technically impossible. The cliché came true. People laughed and cried. Nobody wanted it to end. His ventriloquism is the best I’ve ever heard.
The show is not technically obscure. I mean, it won a Tony for Best Special Event in 2007. There was a London production of it last year. He’s on tour in Rochester, Cincinnati, Miami, and Boston this year. He has a website with rave reviews.
And no tour schedule! None. Not on the Two and Only website, not on his blog, not on his MonkeyJoke.com booking website that stops in the middle of last year. Doing word of mouth instead of springing for expensive advertising is one thing. But not giving out your touring schedule on your website in insanity.
Of course, a man who talks to his hand is not the best source for sanity.
Heck with it. If you find out through any conceivable route that The Two and Only is playing nearby, see it. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll go home and try to find Soap reruns.