Lincoln to Host Free Screening of POST FROM THE ROAD

America-land of the weird and home of the wonderful-sings out its marvels at every turn. Emmy Award-winning performer Robert Post has created a delightfully quirky video series that sings along. With dry humor rooted in compassion, the videos take you on an endlessly surprising road trip along the byways of American culture. Whether he's touring a gopher hole museum or dropping in on a ventriloquist convention, Post's affably eccentric interviews and bemused observations introduce you to a cast of quintessentially American personalities who are at once ordinary people and true originals.

CAPA presents Post from the Road at the Lincoln Theatre (769 E. Long St.) on Thursday, April 13, at 7 pm. Doors open at 6:30pm. Admission is FREE. Seating is general admission. Program is approximately one hour.

Robert Post will hold a post-show meet and greet in the lobby during an ice cream social featuring Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.

This free public presentation is made possible through the generous support of the Greater Columbus Arts Council and City of Columbus with additional support from Diverse Media Zone, Inc.

Robert Post is internationally known as the star of his one-man variety show, Post Comedy Theatre. Over his 30 years of touring, he has continually discovered people and places that tickled and fascinated him. Eventually, he began carrying a video camera, letting his curiosity lead him to corners of America brimming with personality. He explored, filmed, conducted interviews, and offered observations. The raw footage piled up-an ocean of affable, and affably eccentric, encounters. Then came the magic of the editing room, and a series of brilliantly crafted, utterly irresistible video shorts was born.

The videos reflect Post's gift for connecting with people, the genial bemusement with which he views the world, his openness to novelty, his taste for silliness, and a sixth sense for finding the extraordinary entwined with the commonplace. There's nothing quite these little road trips.

• They have this you've-got-to-see-it-to-believe-it quality, because the places and people are so compelling-at once "regular folks" and true originals.

• They're fresh. Post, who serves as his own cameraman, producer, and "on-air personality," doesn't rehearse his encounters. There are no "second takes." While the final videos have been edited, they retain the interview's spirit of spontaneity.

• They're funny and engaging. Post has a gregarious, uninhibited, infectiously convivial personality. He'll talk to anybody, and he has a knack for getting people to talk back, so that his "interviews" become lively conversations that take unpredictable turns.

• They're affectionate. All too often today, commentators and slice-of-American-life reporters condescend to and poke fun at their subjects. Post's sensibility is one of bemused appreciation. He'll raise his eyebrows, drop his jaw, give the occasional sly grin, and make the occasional dry observation-but all in a spirit of compassion, and often self-mockery.

• As a result, they're authentic. Because Post can always find a way to identify with the people he meets, and because he brings his enthusiasm to the conversations, the videos don't impose some slant, interpretation, or analytical "take" on their subjects. Instead, the subjects emerge as real people; viewers are invited to nod and chuckle along with Post.

• They tell stories-not just snippets from the lives of the people Post meets, but also amusing and down-to-earth anecdotes from his own life as he tours, driving across America's varied landscapes, stopping to take in the scenery, meeting fellow travelers, checking out the venues for his stage show, chatting with members of the audience, stumbling across and seeking out the odd, the interesting, the endearing. From episode to episode, viewers get the feeling of tagging along with a personable raconteur who loves the open road and the lives that it intersects.

www.RobertPost.org

Photo credit: George C. Anderson