The not-for-TV talk show

The show is supposed to start at 8 p.m., but like any good DIY, no-budget show, it’s running behind schedule. Everyone in the Red Museum is a little unsure what exactly to expect with this local late-night talk show experiment, including hosts Michael Cella and Shahera Hyatt, who nervously pace around the venue. Other random crew members scramble around holding clipboards and setting up instruments. The audience of roughly 50 people sits on old benches that face the stage, which is set with a red velvet couch, a small coffee table and a gaudy flower-covered chair. In other words, this is the punk rock version of a late-night talk show.

Cella and Hyatt say they created the series to make a platform for Sacramento fame, whether it’s through music, art, comedy or activism. Other live show series, like High Anxiety Variety Show!, operate more as a voice of the cutting-edge artists you might never have heard of before. Cella and Hyatt want not only to make getting on their stage a badge of honor, but also to create a judgment-free zone to talk about the political and social issues in Sacramento that affect us all.

It’s called The Latest Show, and it has much in common with your tried-and-true after-hours talk show format, &#;agrave; la Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert: The two hosts are comedians. During breaks, a house band plays, plus they’ll interview guests like Sex Positive Sacramento sex educator Heather Woodford. After an opening monologue, the debut show eventually features comedy bits by Mike E. Winfield and musical guest Hobo Johnson.

Although a camera’s rolling, the monthly production isn’t airing anywhere. Everything is quite literally for the studio audience.

“It’s not a TV show. It’s certainly a take on a TV show, but it’s not made for that. The focus is live,” Cella says. “All kinds of stuff is going to go wrong. And I don’t mind if it does. That’s where we’re going to be able to seize on stuff.”

The first show, which took place on May 25, goes surprisingly well—despite the 8:30 p.m. start. The biggest technical difficulty comes during the opening monologue, when Cella and Hyatt deliver jokes accompanied by images projected on the wall, similar to how it’s done on The Daily Show. But Cella never seems to land on the right slide. The hosts improvise, turning the projector flubs into cringe-worthy laughter.

After the opening segment, the flow only gets better. Cella and Hyatt find their groove as hosts. Their first guest, Winfield, has appeared on Late Show with David Letterman and is impressed with what they’ve done on such a grassroots level.

“This has big potential,” Winfield says. “I feel like they’re already doing it at a high level. I could see it on a cable network. I had a great time. I would do it again.”

The format may be familiar, but the local focus is unique. All three guests are from Sacramento. There aren’t a lot of late-night talk shows out there that cater to specific cities.

“One of the things we talk about is cultivating Sac fame,” Hyatt says. “Having a nighttime talk show to feature local artists is a cool way to help put people on the map in a really authentic way.”

Even many of the jokes in the opening monologue comment on Sacramento news that only locals would fully understand. Cella told one about how homeless people are using the library bathrooms, which racked up $150,000 in extra costs for the libraries. Mayor Darrell Steinberg commented on the situation by asking: “If not here, where are people to go?”

“So is the problem that homeless people are using the library bathroom or that we’re using the bathroom library?” Cella joked during the show. “I mean, until Sacramento has more public bathrooms than libraries, maybe those of us with a place to live can just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and go to a bookstore.”

The idea for the show started earlier this year, when Cella did one solo Latest Show in January at a different venue. One of his guests was Hyatt, and she loved it. After that, she was determined to do her own late-night talk show and told any friend of hers who would listen.

Cella enjoyed his performance, but didn’t feel like the venue was a good fit for his idea because it didn’t have the resources to make it as big of a production as he wanted it to be. He and Hyatt were hanging out one day, discussing their mutual love for doing a talk show, when it occurred to them that they could join forces.

“We cheered with some sake,” Shahera says.

They got more people involved, like musicians Drew Walker and Damien Verrett, who agreed to be the house band. The game-changer was the involvement of the Red Museum, which offered just what they needed: a viable space for multiple musical acts with a digital projector. Plus, the venue comes with a built-in community of regulars who are music and comedy fans.

“The whole Red Museum team was super encouraging of the idea,” Hyatt says. “I’m stoked that they were, especially on an ongoing basis.”

The two comics decided that there wouldn’t be a lead host and sidekick. They each offered something unique, so it would be an equal partnership. “It happens all the time on podcasts,” said Cella.

Cella, an Iraq war vet and a substitute teacher, has a comedic style that plays off of his weird, awkward insecurities and non sequiturs. Hyatt, when not doing comedy, directs the California Homeless Youth Project. Her delivery is wry, soft-spoken, and an odd mix of silliness and braininess.

Their stage energy has a nice counterbalance to it. When they interview hip-hop artist Hobo Johnson, Hyatt asks a detailed, thoughtful question about the period of time Johnson spent being homeless, living in his car. Cella follows it up by asking if he could teach him how to rap—but not now.

Before Johnson’s appearance, they interview Woodford, who discusses the topic of sexual consent, which seems obvious—but isn’t always. So she performs a demonstration for the audience using puppets. This diversity of guests keeps the approximately hour-and-a-half long show moving smoothly.

“We do open-mic comedy sometime,” Hyatt says. “You’re there for two hours and people get very fatigued listening to one form for so long. It helps to be able to strike a bunch of different tones. We’re going to talk about things that are super important, but also with a comedic flair. I think there’s such a hunger to be engaged more with the community, especially post this most recent election.”

While they don’t plan to air the video of the show—it’s mostly being recorded for the hosts—Walker plans to take the audio recording and upload the show in podcast form so that people who don’t make it can give it a listen.

What form the show will ultimately take, no one knows. But no matter what, Cella and Hyatt have achieved something spectacular: They host an actual talk show.

“That’s the endgame for so many comics. That’s the dream,” Hyatt says. “It’s cool to do a super DIY, local version.”