By Rami Mansi
A singer, four comedians, and a drag king magician all came together for a night of comedy and laughs in the Brooklyn Art Haus on Feb. 22. Hosted and created by local Brooklyn roommates Mitchell Goecke and Tony Lipka, the duo hosted the event to a packed audience.
The show, entitled “Who in the World Has Any Talent,” is a talent show centered around six contestants all vying for the mystery grand prize and the audience’s admiration. Contestants each received five minutes to perform their talent, followed by an interview by co-host Goecke. This show however had an extra twist: reminiscent of Valentine’s Day, all the contestants were put on blind dates with random members of the audience.
Before the show, The Vanguard was able to talk to Alex Cadabra, one of the contestants and a drag king magician based in New York City with a thick New York accent and a sequined suit to match.
“I wanted to be a king because I felt that there’s not enough representation…I just want to inspire people who look like me or who want to do something a bit different.” Cadabra, whose been doing drag for two years but magic since he was twelve, speaks on what it means to be able to have a stage to show off his talents. “I was the only girl at magic camp so I was always the assistant. So it became my goal to be the magician and not the assistant.”
Starting the show off with an opening monologue from Goecke, speaking on the old-as-time question “What is Love?”, a silent introduction from Lipka, a loud introduction of the security guard staple of the show Bob Lombardi, and applause from an excited audience, the show began with its first contestant: Corin Hughes.
Hughes began with experiences surrounding homeschooling, calling it an “all-family school” and pivoted to his bit on wanting the trend of male beauty standards to settle into “a young Mitch McConnell.” When his five minutes ran up, his blind date came to the stage: an “ex-FBI agent” who did not want to make a match with Hughes.
Coming up second was Cadabra, teaching the audience a magic trick, in which he put handkerchiefs inside an egg, revealing the egg as real in the end. With gasps of affection and claps of awe, Cadabra sat down with Goecke for her deeply personal interview and her blind date. This date was with contestant #32 who introduced herself as “trying to be a mom.” Needless to say, this was a successful attempt and it was a match on both sides. The audience soon then raptured into applause and laughter after the two shared a kiss on stage, revealing each other to be already dating. A true crowd-pleaser.
The next contestant, Max Whaley, began to juggle without skipping a beat or an introduction. He juggled three oranges in intricate patterns to the audience’s amusement, which was then amplified by the whiplash of immediately pivoting to his history as a nanny for children. Whaley then proceeded to have the audience in an uproar by juggling and simultaneously delivering his lines with efficiency. After his performance, he sat down for her blind date with the third audience member chosen for the date, who described herself as a “librarian, and not in a sexy way”. The two shared their thoughts on the city of Minneapolis and their mutual connection with Tufts University, and formed a successful match.
A proclaimed “classic” within the talent show’s running history, David Rey Martinez, went on the stage and sang a song. The audience proceeded to snap along to the song, which was abruptly drawn to a close as per Martinez’ comedic requests.Martinez would spend almost the entire five minutes singing a song to the laughter of everyone in the audience. After the award-winning performance, the blind date was brought on stage with a curse and an introduction to start: “I have substance abuse problems.” After the deep dive interview revealed Martinez’s drag alter ego, “Anita Job,” the two became a match and shared a side hug.
Before the last two performances, the show premiered a segment where they shared “a message from their sponsor”, the sponsor being Meta’s Virtual Reality Headset. Narrated by Lipka and performed by Goecke, the demonstration of the headset was followed by a visit by Adam Malev who looked and acted quite similarly to the founder of Meta: Mark Zuckerburg.
After the sponsor’s notice, the fifth contestant was Ariah Noetzel, who played the guitar and sang an original song. A break from the comedians took the audience into Noetzel’s world, enamoring the audience with lively vocals and a string display of artistry with her guitar-playing. Following the musical-inclined performance came a review and analysis of Noetzel’s working resume circa 2018. Her blind date, a young man with the number #1000 and who introduced himself as: “I’m having a great time,” decided to swipe left on Noetzel due to wanting to “focus on himself,” to both the uproar and hysteria of the audience.
Last, but certainly not least, was the self-proclaimed “Viola Davis of Comedy” and the “Diversity Hire for Tonight,” the comedienne Frankie Benz. Following her performance, she sat down for the last blind date of the night with a man who described himself as: “I work in banking. I like to ice-skate and bike.” The two shared the sentiment of being young, dumb, and in love, and it was a match.
Before the audience could choose their final winner, Shelley, portrayed by comedian Ann Tankersley, came and confessed her love for Lombardi, much to the audience’s joyful shock.
The last segment, and show finale, entitled “Yeji’s Edgy Questions,” featured interactive audience questions. Yeji Chung walked around asking questions regarding Black History Month, crabs, and playing an explicit game with both the audience members and the three leading generate man of the night. The segment was met with laughter from Chung’s comedic timing and the audience members’ participation.
Finally, the time came to announce the winner. The winner was decided on by the audience, via online voting through scanning a qr code. The winner was announced to be the orange juggler and ex-nanny himself, Max Whaley, earning himself the title of winner, a card congratulating him, an electric cord, and a trophy with Goecke and Lipka’s face in the photo slot. A victorious end to a joyful night.
“Everyone comes together for this one night and it feels good to have helped create that kind of space for people to come and get together and have a good time,” Lipka stated.
Those interested in “Who in the World Has Any Talent” can learn more information on the show’s Instagram, @whointheworldhasanytalent.