Whose Live Anyway?

continued

Whose Live Anyway?, the touring version of WLIIA, comes to the Ann Arbor Summer Festival on Saturday, June 27. Featuring Ryan Stiles, the Emmy Award–nominated comic who ap-peared in every episode of WLIIA, plus regulars Greg Proops, Chip Esten, and Jeff Davis, the live version includes many of the favorite sketches and hilarious hijinks from “the show where everything is made up.” With the magic of TV editing, we couldn’t ever be sure what was live and what was Memorex, but on stage these comics do their high-wire act with no net. While there were occasional moments on WLIIA that would not pass PG-13 muster, by the time we started watching it on YouTube I no longer believed my fifteen-year old daughter had not heard similar references or language in other settings. So, my family already has our tickets for WLA—in the balcony of the Power Center. We’re sitting far away on purpose. Though I’ve loved watching WLIIA comics interact with audience members, and they always treat them with respect and never humiliate them, I know I’ll be more relaxed if I watch a safe distance from that famous line that former WLIIA host, Drew Carey, now delivers on another game show: “Come on down!”   

[Originally published in June, 2009.]