Artist: I Love You Because
Genre: Broadway
Background:
I Love You Because is a show by renowned writer/performer Jay Johnson. He is brining his highly popular show to Broadway. It is directed and co-created by Murphy Cross and Paul Kreppel. We may all remember Jay Johnson as Chuck on the classic television comedy Soap. He is also a master ventriloquist. 
I Love You Because takes audience members on a multi-dimensional ride that combine his skills as a ventriloquist with a parade of characters. Though this is called a solo comedy it is a bit difficult to figure out just how many characters are sharing the stage with Johnson. In “I Love You Because, Johnson demonstrates his lifelong obsession with ventriloquism. Utilizing the illusion of ventriloquism and the varied number of characters, he takes the audience on an autobiographical tale. His famous puppet partner Bob is featured in the show along with many other characters.
During the course of the show, Johnson explains vividly the mechanics of his craft, and the physics of it, according to him the key of his art is that light travels faster than sound, so when we see lips moving, we decide that the sound we hear an instant later must be coming from those lips. To display this fascinating science, he sketches a face on a dry erase board and the minute it starts "talking" the audience buys into its "existence" completely.
Also in between acts, Johnson speaks passionately about his career, including some anecdotes from his television show “Soap.” The show is fun, informative and heart warming. Johnson's recollects his memories about his mentor Arthur Sieving, who carved out his first character Squeaky for him, when he was just 17 years old.
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