For every performance (excluding 7/22, with which we had technical difficulties), we make a video. (Okay, we = me, Jonathan, with some input from Hope Mirlis.) It's part of Illuminated's mission to find as many ways as possible to bridge the digital divide, and one of them is by creating YouTube videos that stand on their own, yet which are accurate reflections of the shows. Right now it's on the home page, but can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8XxcRmhjsU. Whether or not you were there, what's your perspective upon seeing it?

-Jonathan Bender

Please note that The ChatRoulette Show was listed on the Makeout Room web site as having a show on Friday, September 3rd. Sorry to disappoint, but that was listed incorrectly. Please join us there on September 16th, though!

Last night's show was by far our best ever. I had felt pushed to experiment more after feeling fairly dissatisfied after our July performance; even though we had a record number of people (120+) at The Makeout Room, there were technical difficulties and we had a hard time keeping people's attention on chatroulette.com. Sure, it was still fun, but it lost some of the magic of the previous shows.

So this time, we tried a number of different things. First, we had a wonderful guest from the July show, The Ukalady, be our emcee - which worked really welll, as she's awesome at that job, and it left me to better take care of running the show on the computer. Second, in addition to a fantastic lineup, we nixed asking if anyone wanted to get up and perform, and instead held participatory activities with audience members - Twister, and Chubby Bunny (a how-many-marshmallows-can-you-stick-in-your-mouth-and-still-speak contest). Really funny.

But we also had something else working in our favor, which was actually out of our hands: chatroulette was down (they've spent a week announcing that a new version of the site will soon be up - hopefully with less male genitalia displayed). So we used omegle.com, a competitor site that's in fact been around longer. It had multiple benefits:

1. People stuck around and were more eager to engage with the show (yay!);

2. Fewer penises (sigh of relief);

3. The site was completely stable and never crashed (whereas chatroulette crashed quite often in previous shows).

We'll see what happens when chatroulette.com returns, and whether perhaps it's been made more suitable for the whole family. It's tempting to stay with Omegle, but... "The Omegle Show?" Just not quite as catchy, ya know?

For future shows, we're looking at holding more simple activities for the audience to participate in. No, don't worry - you'll never be coerced, and it's completely optional and voluntary! But hey - everyone else hanging out on chatroulette and omegle are just normal folk, so why not? ...Thoughts, anyone?

Your ideas and feedback are very invited, either as a comment on this blog or via email to info@chatrouletteshow.com. Thanks!

Jonathan Bender
Artistic Director, The Illuminated Theater

Many people have inquired: why? Why create a show like this, and how did the idea originate?

One of my primary interests is human connection. In addition to my work as a creator of theater and performance events, I coach public speaking, acting, and self-expression (www.wholespeak.com) - it's my passion to help people express themselves fully in the world, and connect authentically with others.

When I first heard about chatroulette.com and checked it out, my perspective was that it epitomized everything that's wrong with the world: we're so interconnected, yet people are so disconnected and lonely that they are getting onto a web site to connect with strangers, or commit lewd acts there (not that all chatroulette users are lonely, but it's a guess that many are). But when I first watched  the video by Merton, who utilized chatroulette as means to entertain and connect, it really stirred my imagination. What if this happened live? How would an audience react if they could see and interact with people on chatroulette, while performers entertained both a live and virtual audience?

When performers are able to really grab the attention of people on chatroulette.com, and simultaneously entertain the audience, a magical triangle happens: the audience goes crazy when chatroulette.com users get excited, and the performers, audience and people on chatroulette.com all feed off each others' energy.

Yes, there can be a lot of nudity onscreen during the show, and while it makes for a fun drinking game, that's not the point. We're constantly working to improve the nature of connection. Upcoming shows will feature a bit more audience involvement, for those who are interested (completely voluntary!). Others can just sit back and watch, and drink, cheer and jeer when inspired. Regardless, come join our experiment. And give input - it's very welcome.
-Jonathan Bender