Review of Just a Show

Keith King decided to give up his Bar Mitzvah DJ business in 1997 to host Ripped Off with Keith King, his first Twin Cities community television show, which was followed by The Show with Keith King in 2001. With over 6 years of public television experience, Keith, along with his friends, collaborated on Just a Show in 2003 and transferred the group’s community hit to the web in 2005.

Like any late night talk show, Just a Show relies on several recurring characters and sketches to fill its time slot. And like any public access show, its production budget is pretty low, as you can tell from the cheap sets, which are referred to in other circles as “sheets of fabric”. The comic in the crowd does “sit-down” comedy throughout the night, and Keith cops a segment from Jay Leno in “Hits the Pavement” when he interviews passersbys on the street. His interviews are always irreverent and result in mocking imitations of the passerbys during subsequent segments. The episodes can be a little long, but it’s worth flipping through them for comedy group Flapping Crane’s

short sketches. You can also skip the whole episode and watch specific segments by scrolling to the bottom of the Watch page and clicking on individual clips and bonus footage. The site also hosts Keith’s personal and uncharacteristically serious blog. Keith often takes the show on the road to places like New York City and Las Vegas, so don’t be surprised if you find an oddly aggressive man standing on your street ready to pounce on you with a microphone.

Flapping Crane’s sketch comedy piece Johnny Green: Cell Phone Photographer is really funny, as is watching Keith whore himself out on the streets of Minneapolis trying to unload signed headshots to a skeptical crowd. Even better is when the group stumbles upon a willing bystander, like Alejandro in Tijuana, and end up with more funny footage than they can air.