Having regretted missing the chance to see Garrison Keillor's final Prairie Home Companion show in Galveston in 2016, it was great to find that the man himself would be doing a solo spot in Houston. The effects of Hurricane Harvey were still being felt, and the show was moved from Jones Hall (damaged in the flooding) to Cullen Performance Hall at University of Housotn.
Garrison Keillor (real name Gary Edward Keillor) is a unique individual, down to his trademark red shoes:
Keillor made his name hosting Prairie Home Companion from 1974 to 2016 (with a small hiatus from 1987-89). Prairie Home Companion is a traditional variety show broadcast by NPR, produced by local NPR station Minnesota Public Radio. Keillor created ficticious places in Minnesota (such as Lake Wobegon) and even fictitious sponsors for the show (such as Powdermilk Biscuits - "Heavens they're tasty, and expeditious"). The show continued after his retirement, with new host Chris Thile, an excellent mandolin player who has a spot on the current show where he takes song requests on Twitter and plays them, with the backing band with no rehersal.
Keillor's solo show was just as wacky as we expected: Two hours of songs (such as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "America the Beautiful”) and his freewheeling, stream-of-consciousness stories, interspersed with limericks:
“There was a girl from Madras,
Who had a nice ass,
Not the kind that you think,
All round and pink,
But had two ears, a tail and ate grass.”
To give you an idea, here's Keillor doing one of his stories:
Shortly after his show in Houston, Minnesota Public Radio terminated its contract with Keillor because of "allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him". Because he owned much of the intellectual property of the show, it has since been renamed: It is now called Live From Here. We may never see him again in public, so I'm glad we had the opportunity to meet him (and his red shoes) in person, compare beer bellies, and get our books signed:
