If you haven't heard of St. Louis' only late night talk show, you're not alone.
Even though STL Up Late begins its fourth season Saturday night, the interactive show’s reach is limited because it’s a live stage event without a means of distribution. But that could soon change.
“We’ve been doing it for a while and we’re hoping we can get a bigger audience by getting this online or on TV,” said Eric Christensen, the host of STL Up Late. A pilot of the show was recently filmed.
The show includes a team of writer/actors who combine sketch comedy, video shorts, musical acts, and interviews with local guests – think Jimmy Fallon meets Saturday Night Live.
The genesis of STL Up Late got its roots when Christensen saw a similar show in Chicago. “I did comedy in Chicago for a long time,” he told “Cityscape” host Steve Potter. “I was sitting at home. I had a daughter who was about six months old at the time and I was watching a lot of Jimmy Fallon when I had my daughter there and I was like ‘man I love comedy, I really love St. Louis, let’s figure out a way to kind of pair those two things together’.”
One recent joke had to do with the proposal to build a new NFL stadium in St. Louis.
Christensen joked about the high costs, saying there were rumors of cuts to nonessential items like seats, trophy cases and the Rams end zone – after all, the Rams don’t really use them.
He said the live audience plays a huge role in the show.
“It gives us the energy, it gives the show a very unique feel. We have the audience members come on stage, we do games with them, it’s fun to mess with the audience,” he said.
STL Up Late is performed every other week at the Satori Theater at 3003 Locust St.
The show’s website has the latest information about tickets and details about the upcoming fourth season that starts Saturday, April 11.
“Cityscape” is produced by Mary Edwards and Alex Heuer and sponsored in part by the Missouri Arts Council, the Regional Arts Commission, and the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis.
