Your Honk of Honks: A Virtual Staged Reading

***Your Honk of Honks: A Virtual Staged Reading*** was a sketch comedy special produced in the early days of the 2020-2022 COVID-19 pandemic. Hosted by Frank Macaluso and featuring numerous alumni of various What's For Dinner? projects, the special was released on Facebook on April 18, 2020, and later uploaded onto YouTube on July 2, 2020.

## Background

In the early months of 2020, *Owl Stretching Time* creator and head writer Frank Macaluso began pre-production on a live sketch comedy revue he hoped to debut on the campus of Millikin University at the end of the Spring 2020 semester. He had compiled a selection of sketches he had previously written or co-written for *Owl Stretching Time* and the various radio specials that followed it, and had recruited five people—Louisa Nickel, August Paswaters, Alyssa Satterfield, *OST* alum Brian Barker, and *Big Blue Broadway* host Alex Saviano—to direct, with *Hollywood Drive* host and fellow WJMU producer Ronnie Ovando-Gomez on board as assistant director. Planning had gone as far as scheduling auditions when the onset of the 2020-2022 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of all on-campus events for the rest of the semester.

Macaluso initially gave up on the project entirely until Hannah Geisz, a mentor of his, suggested producing the special via Zoom and releasing it onto the internet. Macaluso liked the idea, and reached out to various actors he had previously worked with to cast and produce the special. Macaluso wrote some new material for the show, with one of those sketches, "Minnesotan Women", making it into the special. The cast helped Macaluso select which material would be performed, and rehearsals began in mid-April. The special was recorded continuously on April 17, 2020, and edited and released the following day.

Macaluso felt that, since the pandemic had upended people's lives so suddenly and to such a great degree, it might be best for both the cast and the audience if the show took on a more informal, "fun" atmosphere. As such, he decided to take a more laissez-faire approach to directing the special, permitting actors to ad lib in certain spots. As a result, *Your Honk of Honks* has a loose, haphazard, almost ramshackle feel—more like a get-together than a full-fledged comedy revue.

## Sketches

* The Chatterbox (originally an Owl Stretching Short)
* All of a Sudden, My Heart Sings (originally from *Holiday Ham with Kat and Mar*)
* The Script Doctor
* Hey, Mom (originally an Owl Stretching Short)
* TKE Newlywed Game (originally from *Owl Stretching Time* Episode 31)
* Lady Nadine’s Psychic Readings Commercial (originally from *Turn Your Dial to Murder*)
* Minnesotan Women
* Are You Gay? (originally from *Owl Stretching Time* Episode 29)
* Cat Girls vs. Horse Girls (originally from *Owl Stretching Time* Episode 36)
* Sarah Sunshine Visits a Kindergarten Class (originally from *Owl Stretching Time* Episode 19)
* Thanks for the Feedback (originally from *Transportation the Marmoset*)
* Battle of the Kevins (originally from *Owl Stretching Time* Episode 29)
* To Lydia Burke (originally from *Owl Stretching Time* Episode 27)

## Cast

### Ensemble

* Spencer Avery
* Rain Banda
* Wil Barden
* Emily Brandt
* John DeAngelo
* Abigail Gawart
* Ariya Hawkins
* Jasmine-Kalei Humphrey (billed as Jasmine Humphrey)
* Payten Humphreys
* Rebecca Jaffe
* Elliot Mahon
* Maddy Nannen
* Alex Naranjo
* Owen Peterson
* Bryn Sentnor
* Meghan Welfer
* Jake Ziman