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[0:00] Macon Prickett: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the fabulous 54 Below. Before we get started this evening, just a polite reminder, please take this moment to silence your cell phones and also there's no flash photography, please. Welcome to the 54 Below podcast. I'm Macon Prickett, the club's assistant programming director. Our guest today starred in the last season of American Horror Story alongside Patti LuPone. In addition to American Horror Story, his "Patti Persona" at Inappropriate Patti is a viral favorite on Instagram and TikTok. A regular guest on concert stages around Manhattan, "Second-Rate Somebody" marks Jonathan Hoover's solo debut. Jonathan Hoover, welcome to our podcast.

[0:43] Jonathan Hoover: So excited to be here.

[0:45] Macon Prickett: We are so excited to have you. We're very excited for your upcoming performance here in Broadway's living room. And just to get a great clean slate, fresh start, I would love to know a little bit about your performance background. Where did this performance bug first bite you?

[1:03] Jonathan Hoover: Really, really early, I have to say. Bite, like people clapped for me, and I knew I wanted more, and my mom really fostered that. And I went and did like Michael Darling in Peter Pan and Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and then just it's kind of snowballed into this thing that I now call a career.

[2:03] Macon Prickett: I love that. As someone who grew up doing some church musicals, I am right there with you. That is amazing. It's always funny to me, though, the titles of those random church musicals and what budding stars can come out of things like that. You know, you sound like you could be a regular Kristin Chenoweth, you know. There was also good things come in small packages. Oh god, what were the VBS Vacation Bible School? Really top-tier titles. I love it. I am very, very familiar with that background. So we're gonna have a blast today. Um, so you're a regular at cabaret stages throughout Manhattan and New York City, and recently even appeared at 54 Below on stage alongside the great Maurizio Martinez, who we love so much. I'm really curious about what inspired you to come and make your solo debut at 54 Below.

[2:59] Jonathan Hoover: That is such a big question. Um, so many things. Um, since I was a little kid, I remember adult actors being like, you need your own one-man show, even when I was a kid, because I've always been doing voices and like been a strange sort of bird of an artist. Um, but I've always been a little afraid to do it, um, especially before I had a Patti LuPone impression, which like kind of feels like a crutch I can hide myself behind. Um, because I think what's terrifying about a cabaret show is there's no character, right? It's you that you have to hide behind or stand in solidarity with. Um, and so I, you know, it's something I've always had in the back of my mind, but been terrified to do. Um, but it feels kind of like the inevitable next step, you know.

After American Horror Story happened, I've been in sort of a place trying to figure out what comes next. Um, and it feels like the best way to do it is to face my next biggest fear and be myself and Patti on stage all by myself with no guests, no anything, just cold naked and see how it goes.

[4:14] Macon Prickett: I love that. It's definitely going to be a treat for all of us to have you here on our stage. But speaking of Patti, I have to ask, how did I begin? What were the beginnings of this hilarious viral TikTok and Instagram account that you've fostered?

[4:36] Jonathan Hoover: Great question. And I do cover a little bit of this in my show, um, so I won't give it all away. Um, but honestly, I always grew up imitating. Um, it just never occurred to me to do someone that people knew. So, like I would do my neighbors or like my third-grade teacher or the woman that was starring as Carmen in the National Tour of Fame. Like I just, uh, it was this like little party trick of a thing that I was doing. Um, and then I heard the story of Patti LuPone being asked to come in for the witch in Into the Woods, and she asked to be seen for Cinderella instead. And that idea tickled me so much, uh, that I couldn't help but like wonder what her "Steps of the Palace" would have sounded like.

And I literally hopped into a shower and started figuring it out and then was like, wait, am I like actually kind of nailing this? Do I have a Patti LuPone impression? And I took it to some friends and they loved it and it became this like party trick. Um, and then yeah, eventually it became such a hit with all my friends that I was like, you know, I should maybe do something with this. Maybe I've always struggled putting myself out in the world. I've never been good at self-promotion, um, which has been, I think, a big career failing for me because you know, people don't know who you are if you're not telling them who you are. Um, and Patti kind of gave me a way to hide behind something that still allowed me to put me out there. And I think that was sort of the idea of like, hey, maybe I'll put this on the internet, and this can be something you Google search and find that you'd never see in a room where I'm auditioning.

[6:23] Macon Prickett: Right. I mean, besides it being hilarious, it's also just we're in this age where so many TikTokers and influencers are doing these vocal impressions, but I have to say, as someone who has seen so many, the specificity of this impression that you're doing is quite inspiring. And, uh, if I'm correct, Patti's not the only one that you can do as well.

[6:50] Jonathan Hoover: I've got a large arsenal. I can do Bernadette, Carol Channing, Mandy Patinkin, Brian Stokes Mitchell, uh, Daphne Rubin-Vega. There's a, the list goes on. Um, but what's funny is like Patti is the thing. So, like, I did the very first video I ever made was an accident. Um, and I'll cover this in the show so I don't again want to give it too much away, but I made a video for friends of me being Carol Channing, Bernadette Peters, and Patti LuPone singing a song together. Um, and I put it up on YouTube to give to my friends for Christmas. Um, and it really took off on YouTube. It was the first thing that had ever like landed on the internet. Um, but the thing that was in the comments is everybody was like, that Patti though, but listen to that Patti.

Um, and even my friends, they would ask for Bernadette singing songs and Carol singing songs, but Patti, Patti's the one that everyone always came back to. And I think that a large part of that has to do with the fact that lots of people have a Bernadette Peters and a Carol Channing and an Ethel Merman and all those things. But not many people, especially at the time that I started doing this, um, was really one of the only people who I think kind of landed close to the realm of what she actually sounds like. She's a tough impression because she sings like a man, I think. Um, and so I feel like that was sort of why Patti took the forefront.

[8:14] Macon Prickett: Absolutely. Yeah, and you know, speaking of Patti, she famously performed um our the 54 Below opening night. She was our very first headliner over 10 years ago, and then she was recently back with us.

[8:29] Jonathan Hoover: Yes, she opened the club.

[8:31] Macon Prickett: Patti opened 54 Below, and she was recently with us last December. So I have to ask you, you know, how does it feel to make your solo debut on the same stage where both of these performance events have taken place?

[8:45] Jonathan Hoover: I mean, honestly, this whole thing is humbling. Uh, even selling tickets and watching them sell is like, uh, I'm a little nerd that started singing like Patti LuPone in my bathroom. So it's very surreal. Um, and I feel like, uh, I am of course extremely nervous to put myself out there like this, especially on such a storied stage. I've seen so many performances that I have loved on the stage of 54. And that's kind of why I chose it, right? Is because if I'm gonna do the thing that scares me most, I should do it in the scariest place because then it's like all things all at once. Um, it's an honor. Honestly, like the fact that you guys would even let me do a show is such a huge honor. I'm constantly surprised by, uh, the reach of this account and like this is a part of that.

I, it's an honor to be able to add my name to the list of people who have gotten to tread the stages of 54 Below. Um, and you know, I don't know which dressing room I'm in, but I plan to soak in whatever energy Patti has left behind to take with me onto that stage.

[9:58] Macon Prickett: Oh, I love that. I also, I just have to ask, you know, knowing these things and having this social media following kind of grow and grow. I'm curious to know how this social media journey that you've kind of been going on has inspired you as a performer, both a cabaret performer and a performer of many roles, and an actor on the stage. How has this social media journey that you've been on recently kind of inspired and nurtured that?

[10:26] Jonathan Hoover: Such a huge question that I haven't even considered. What a brilliant question. Um, I do think that it has made me more brave in my work. I've always been a chance taker. I love living on the edge. I love not knowing what's going on out there. Um, but I feel like it doesn't get more insane than what I've been doing with Patti LuPone, you know, turning pillowcases into costumes and finding props to ruin around my house to include into all of this. Um, I feel like that's really opened up my work. Also, I feel like before the world of self-tapes and Zooms, like I already was getting comfortable with the medium of like putting myself on camera. Um, so it really, I felt like I kind of had a leg up when things moved to the pandemic.

Um, and also I would say like the biggest thing that I've taken from it is, um, this account, you know, I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out why it's reached people, why it's the only thing I've ever put into the world that really resonates. Um, and something that it has shown me is like I'm surviving off the coattails of everyone's love for Patti LuPone and like how they feel, you know, there's a reverence that people have for her. And even getting to touch the slightest little bit of that, um, with this essentially a joke weirdly gives me the confidence to try to own some of that for myself, if that makes sense. Like it's honestly given me access to rooms and things that I never thought I could be in.

So like it's just, it's been a gift all around, honestly. Um, and I'm struggling to answer this question because I do owe this account so much. You know what I mean? It's given me not only great opportunities, but as someone who, you know, I think every artist feels very precious with themselves as they put themselves out there in the world. Um, and it's given me so much more confidence to put myself out there in a way that I'm willing to put Patti LuPone there, you know.

[12:37] Macon Prickett: Right, right. Well, as someone who does enjoy your account and all of the videos that you've made, I mean, you're doing a fabulous job. Um, I'm just curious. You know, you said your mother was an opera singer and that you grew up doing these church musicals, but I'm really curious where the diva love started. And you know, when did your love for divas, not only Patti but Bernadette and Carol Channing and these great performers that you do these fabulous impressions of, where did you really start to fall in love with them in your life?

[13:15] Jonathan Hoover: Oh man, like so so early. Um, like uh there was a 1980s Alice in Wonderland that was on television. Um, I think it came on in 84 or 86. Um I know it was like right before I was really old enough to have watched it, but yet I still watched it um after the fact. And I remember being Carol Channing was in it, and I remember being fascinated by her, this weird anomaly of a woman. Um, and Phantom of the Opera was like my entrance into musicals. Um, but like I did grow up on Annie, not really considering it a musical and like not really under I just knew it was a music uh a film with music and really enjoying that. So like Bernadette Peters was also, I, you know, Patty's my girl, but Bernadette was probably my first like real Diva worship love because of being exposed to her on Sesame Street, um, and exposed to her on uh the Muppet Show.

We watched a lot of reruns of The Muppet Show. Um, and then Annie. Um, I you know, it's almost it's a chicken egg question because as soon as I love musicals, I think every queer boy is sort of drawn to these leading women, you know. They they they stand center, everybody loves them, um, whether their character is good or bad, uh the stakes are super high. Um, and there's this like fearless, reckless abandon, you know. I think it's the same thing that draws young gay boys to Judy Garland. Um it's uh it's this uh uh there's this vulnerable authenticity that make these divas the powerhouses that they are. And I feel like as a young queer boy, you admire that because even when you don't have words for it, you know that there's a part of you that you're keeping for yourself that you're afraid to put out there.

And these women don't do that, they share all of that vulnerability from you know, zero on the center of a stage. Um, and so yeah, uh trying to know exactly when they uh all entered my life, it's so even hard to pinpoint because I feel like they've always been there. You know, Facts of Life was on television when I was a little kid. Le Miz was like the fourth musical I ever heard. So like I already had the idea of Patti LuPone as an artist. Uh I remember my mind being so blown when I got the double disc of the London cast of Le Miz and being like, wait, Corky's mom is a Broadway star. Um, but yeah, that they've kind of always been with me. I I I feel like, and I think a lot of queer young boys feel this way.

Like a little diva lives inside of all of us. And so seeing it, so like seeing it on the outside, I it's a weird thing to say because it's not queer representation, but I do think that there is this like, hey, that's me. That's who I'd like to be that all queer boys have when they see their first mama rose, you know.

[16:14] Macon Prickett: You're exactly right. I you know, I specifically remember seeing the Whitney Houston Brandy Cinderella, and as fabulous and gorgeous as that movie is, there was one character that mattered, and it was the evil stepmother. And Bernadette was so like horrible, so Cinderella, but I didn't care because she was so fabulous and she looked amazing, and she was this ethereal being, and it it was just magic seeing that kind of performance as such a young kid. It was so formative. I remember that.

[16:48] Jonathan Hoover: Same. Uh we're probably I I'm guessing we're close to the same age because that was also a very formative, uh young gay man. I mean Whitney Houston and Brandy and Bernadette Peters and Whoopi Goldberg and Victor Garber. So gang. Yeah, absolutely. It was what what a moment that was for all of us.

[17:09] Macon Prickett: I um just to segue a bit, I am fascinated to hear a little bit more. And if you touch on this in your show again, we don't want you to give it all away, but I'm fascinated to hear where this American Horror Story journey began because I was a fan of the show. I obviously watched as soon as I heard that Patty was going to be back on the series, I was there. And to see you on it was just so thrilling. I'm just very curious to know how that all began.

[17:39] Jonathan Hoover: It's still something I barely understand or believe is real, even though it happened to me. Um early in the pandemic, um, and you know, there was a lot to mourn that the pandemic took from my career. However, I remind myself that uh so much came from it. And one of those things is that early in the pandemic, Ryan Murphy had nothing to fucking do and started following me on Instagram. Um, and so that happened, and I screenshotted it and sent it to my partner and was like, oh my God, this is like lots of people I admired had started to follow me, but like Ryan Murphy is like uh one of the champions of queer culture in a way that I feel like uh especially I feel like we just he we owe a lot to him in terms of our queer pop culture, even from like Nittuck era.

[18:31] Macon Prickett: So I totally agree.

[18:33] Jonathan Hoover: So I've been a huge fan of his just by virtue of that. So the fact that he was even like watching my videos was a big thing, and then his producer Tanase also followed me, and I don't even know how I linked together that they were him, but I followed him back and he messaged me and sent me this like just so you know, Ryan and I keep sending your videos back and forth, and you're getting us through a tough time to keep up the good work. And I sent something back, like humbled and like didn't want to like seem like a nerd, so I think I like left it at that. Um, and then I didn't hear anything for a long time. And then I got another message because I'm very lazy about posting. To me, I it only works when I feel inspired to do it.

I don't ever want to feel required to do it. Um, and so you know, months will go by where I don't post anything, and one of those spells happened, and the producer wrote me and was like, Ryan and I were talking today about how we need more Patty videos, so get to it. And I message something back like, I just don't want to oversaturate, but thank you. And then never heard anything ever again. And then like a year went by, and weirdly, Ryan Murphy followed me again. And I was like, is this like a fake account? What's happening? And then I looked up on the internet and realized that he had wiped his Instagram clean because he was getting ready to launch some show. Um, but he had gone back and followed exactly 54 people, and I was one of those 54 people.

And I was like, wow, that feels like I thought I was cool before, but to be the like first of 54 people that Ryan Murphy thinks of. Um, and then like two weeks later, Memorial Day, I got a DM from him just so simple, being like, Hey, it's Ryan Murphy. Uh, I'm writing a part for you, top secret in a scene with Patti LuPone, uh, where she hires you to impersonate her in a nightclub for when she's too busy, interested.

[20:34] Macon Prickett: Um, which I I literally, when I saw that he was split into my DMs, um, you know, you can only see like the first couple of words, so all I could see is hey, Ryan Murphy here. And it took me an hour, it it took me an hour before I could even open the message because of the case.

[20:50] Jonathan Hoover: I can imagine. Oh my goodness.

[20:52] Macon Prickett: Yeah, because like my partner and I had been joking, like, oh, when Ryan Murphy followed me, like maybe he'll put me in a season of American Horror Story and like Patti LuPone can possess my body, or I'll I'll be her son or something. Um, and so like it had been something that my partner and I had like joked about, but like I really never thought was gonna come to fruition. I truly doing a show at 54 was like the best I really ever thought this account could lead me to, right? Um, and so when I read the message, I think it took me another hour to respond because I was just like, what is happening right now? And I tried to like play it cool and be like, um, don't want to overstate my interest, but yes.

Um yeah, that it like it then I didn't hear anything for three months, and I was like, he was drunk. It was Memorial Day, they were having a good time by the pool, and he was like, Yeah, it'd be hilarious. Um, and then I got a message from that same producer being like, Hey, what's your email? We're gonna hire you. Um, and that one episode turned into two episodes, and that that's how it happened. It was truly so crazy.

[22:00] Jonathan Hoover: And still, again, I don't I don't believe that it happened.

[22:04] Macon Prickett: Well, luckily for you and for us, there is video proof that it happened, and that will exist forever, which is just incredible, especially on such a landmark television series like American Horror Story.

[22:19] Jonathan Hoover: That there's some DVD moment though, because they they left all of my material in there except for one little moment where she stops me because I uh get too nasally with my impression, and then there's something that they cut where she coaches me to do the impression, and I'm like, ah, be a special DVD feature, I need to see it.

[22:39] Macon Prickett: Uh yes, whatever we have to do to get Jonathan those those deleted scenes, let's do it.

[22:45] Jonathan Hoover: Absolutely. Uh well, I have to ask, just following the American Horror Story discussion, meeting Patty on set for the first time. What happened? I'm dying to know. Tell us as much as you can.

[22:59] Jonathan Hoover: Everything. It was surreal. And also, I think the way we met was exactly the best way that we could have met. She, the uh wig person was like, I said that I'm going to be the only person that sees you two meet. And my wig had been on for like 10 minutes. And he was like, But you're gonna sit here until Patty comes in to get her hair done because I swore that I'm gonna be the person to take that video. Um, and it was so anti-climatic in the best way. It was like I I was, I don't know what I was expecting, but uh the way that she walked in was very like, hey, I'm Patty, and we're gonna work today. So nice to meet you, you're wonderful. And then like goes to chat with the dude who's doing the hair, and I was like, that's it.

That's it. We did it. Like, I met Patti LuPone. Um so like the actual meeting itself was very like, hey, we're colleagues today, which I it eased, I don't know if she knew she was doing that, but it really put me at ease. It like made me feel like, okay, like I've got nothing to prove. I'm just hired to do a job today. Um, and like it's not that she was being cold, but it felt like, okay, this is business, like let's get to work. But it was like as we filmed, that like I really felt like I got to know Patty. She like slowly was warming up to me. Her questions went from like, where are you from, to like really personal deep dives. Uh uh, she kept making me come sit with her um while we were in between takes.

She stopped the filming at one point because she found out that there was no seat for me where I was exiting, and she and I had to like stand in this like dark hallway huddled against a wall while her and Joe Mantello did the next scene. And so she found out that I was sitting back there and halted everything because she thought it was ridiculous that I didn't have a chair because I was standing in heels all day um which is probably the most Patti LuPone thing to happen all day. And yeah she was wondering she invited me to her dressing room to run because we filmed both episodes in one day. And so in between she invited me to her dressing room to read lines with her and then once we were done running lines she was like hang out let's like hang out and shoot the shit until we're ready to film and she I like they say don't meet your heroes and I've said this before but if your hero is Patti LuPone she's worth meeting she was everything I expected her to be and also so much more and I I I don't even mean that in like a a grand way but when you see the real humanity of someone you know you hear the wild stories about her and uh her unhingedness or like how funny she is but like watching her work and like watching the quiet parts of her was fascinating.

I mean I I got paid to hang out with her and take a master class from her as far as I was concerned you know and like the it was a 14 hour day and the last hour was really hard. We were all tired you could feel that tensions were really high because there was just so much to accomplish between doing the musical number I sang live. There was just so much going on and she could like sense that we were all getting tired, and like she's the one keeping things light, like pretending to jump into the bathhouse pools so that we would laugh and like acting like, hey, you, me, let's get the fuck out of here.

[26:28] Jonathan Hoover: Let's just stop and get out of it. And she just was a dream come true. I can't overstate. And I don't know if it's because she also had the sense that I love her and admire her, but I really kind of got the sense that she just brought her like I just watched her on any normal day, how she'd interact with anybody. It was amazing.

[26:49] Macon Prickett: Well, that is just absolutely thrilling. Thank you so much for sharing that story with us in particular. I know our listeners are going to love hearing that. How exciting for you? And you just to move on, as you know, the two of us could talk about Patti all day long, but I would dead long all day, you know. And we'll do that. But what I would love to talk about is as a performer who does have this ability to do impressions and as someone who grew up, you know, doing impersonations of people and kind of mimicking. How do you find as a performer, as Jonathan, when you're going into the audition room, or when you're about to walk on stage as a character that is not Patti LuPone or Carol Channing, how do you center yourself and find yourself in those characters in a way that is different from these incredible impressions you do, or do you find that it is kind of a similar thing for you?

[27:51] Jonathan Hoover: Similar. The only main difference I would really say is like whenever I'm acting in a part, there it's 50% me and 50% the part, you know. Like, I feel like good acting is when those two things converge, and you're bringing the parts of yourself forward that are, and with Patti, I would say parts of it have become myself because of what she's given me in terms of my performance, but it's almost more of, I don't want to say channeling because that makes me want to vomit all over myself, but there's this awareness of how she would do things, which is not necessarily a lens that I bring to every character, right? Because you figure out what parts of yourself for that character, where Patti is this like almost split personality that exists inside of me separate from myself in a way.

It's almost like putting on a shirt, you know. It's a little different than being a character which I feel like is sort of unbuttoning your shirt, you know. That's sort of the idea of a strip tease and revealing yourself. Patti is more like an armor in a way.

[29:15] Macon Prickett: Understood. That is so fascinating how different performers have a different approach to portraying different characters and then bring ideals from or their approach to those characters onto, say, the cabaret stage, or you know, when they're sharing them in symphony concerts. It's fascinating to see how different performers tackle those different performance experiences. But speaking of that, you know, your cabaret is titled Second-Rate Somebody. I would love to know the history of deciding on this title, and talk a little bit about what fans of yours, both from social media and fans who love seeing you on stage in general, what they can expect in this upcoming show.

[30:05] Jonathan Hoover: Title of my show comes from a very famous Judy Garland quote, which is never be a second-rate version of somebody else, always be a first-rate version of yourself. And the reason that I wanted to use that as a title is that's not true for me. Being a second-rate somebody else has been the launch pad for my entire career. I, you know, I was trucking along before I did Patti, but this has been the thing that brought me recognition, that has gotten me into rooms that I've never been in. It's what built the door for Ryan Murphy to knock on. And so I wanted to title it with something that sort of lives in the mainstream. I had many ideas, but second-rate somebody just felt like the real heart of what I do, you know.

Especially getting to what people can expect from me in the show. I planned for my Patti audience to meet Jonathan Hoover and for my Jonathan Hoover audience to really see my Patti. And so it's sort of the idea of like the second-rate somebody and the first-rate version of myself converging in one show. But simply titled second-rate somebody, so that it's succinct, if that makes sense.

[31:33] Macon Prickett: That makes total sense. I love that quote, and I love that you've incorporated that quote into the title of the show. Speaking of all of those great divas that we love, so that is really special. And I'm certain our audiences and fans of yours who are coming to see the show are going to be so excited and intrigued to meet the real Jonathan and what you bring to this solo cabaret show. I think it's going to be thrilling for all of us and exciting for you as well.

[32:07] Jonathan Hoover: So excited and scared, of course, but that's why you gotta do it, right?

[32:12] Macon Prickett: Of course. That's exactly why you have to do it. I want to ask a little bit about, you know, the various impressions that you do and the things that you have on your special skills on your resume, you know. Do you ever find that doing these impressions? You know, you've spoken a lot about how you've been able to conquer these various impressions because the list is insane and you do them all so well. How have you found that they have, um, so sorry, got a little tongue-tied. Have you found that they have helped you find your own voice, make your own voice, make the voice of Jonathan Hoover stronger and, you know, more ready to take on bigger roles, especially those of doing your own cabaret show, which is quite the undertaking?

[32:59] Jonathan Hoover: First of all, like from a literal technical standpoint, I've always had a high belt, but the Patti placement has helped me find places in my own Jonathan Hoover voice that I've been scared to access, especially I grew up classically singing because of my mother's opera training. So, like the idea of brassy belting, you know, B's and C's where I'm used to rounding them and making them lovely, has really expanded. But I, you know, I said it earlier and I don't want to be a broken record, but for me it's the daring, you know, the stars are stars because they take chances and because they do it fearlessly. And so because I have tried to incorporate that energy of Patti when I perform or Bernadette or any of the people that I do, I would say their common thread is vulnerability and fearlessness.

And as someone who I do consider those my strengths in acting, I think that they have given me more permission to lean into those parts of myself and to not be afraid to share them because if I'm not afraid to share them as Patti LuPone, then I should be even less afraid to share them as myself, you know.

[34:17] Macon Prickett: Right. No, 100%. Speaking of though, these special skills, I see that you have some interesting ones on your resume, such as balancing the objects on your body. So, how as an actor do you take or do you not only discover these special skills, but how do you refine them so that when you're in the audition room or when you're asked to do something for a role, how are you able to just channel those skills and bring them to the forefront to make you the most interesting person in the room, which I'm sure you are excellent at doing?

[34:53] Jonathan Hoover: I mean, it does depend on the role because if you're calling me in for something sweet and innocent, I'm gonna give you sweet and innocent. But specifically the balancing objects thing came from I went to a conservatory and we did units on all kinds of parts of theater, and we did like a six-month intensive and circus training of clowning, tightrope walking, juggling, tumbling. And for some, we all like what was interesting about your class is you'd watch them take the skills and mine was I was really great at balance it, like I can balance a chair on my chin if the chair is weighted right. And you know, those just all become like little Swiss army tools that once you've sort of learned what the trick of those things are, you can almost always call them out.

And like there are other like juggling I can do, but it's not on my resume because I'm not great at it unless I've been practicing. And so like I would never put that on my resume and take it into an audition room because they're gonna expect me to like be good. But like, you want me to balance a chair on my hand? I got you. I can do that. That's a skill that now I've learned, or the impressions. Like, I only list the ones that I know I can pull from the recall of my brain. So it's all that that list is specially curated to be skills that are always at the ready. I used to have point dancing on there, but I don't do that anymore. I used to have some light tumbling that I don't do anymore because you know you gotta keep it up. But yeah, so those have all just been like little pockets into the inner weird, which I think is like the secret to everyone's success is sharing the weird.

[36:41] Macon Prickett: Yes. Yes. Well, it sounds like you're quite the versatile performer, as far as those special skills go, which we love on having on our stage as well. I also just want to quickly ask about putting together this show, Second-Rate Somebody, you know, deciding on your director and music director, and this team that's going to be supporting you and sharing the stage with you on the day of the show. Can you talk a little bit about building that cabaret show process from the beginning?

[37:14] Jonathan Hoover: My headphones, I think are about to die. But putting the show together, I had done concerts with Robbie, and I love his banter and his humor. So I knew that I wanted him on my side to help me curate that. And then Drew Woodkey as my musical director. Drew was the pianist for a musical theater acting class that I took, and he is so smart and so brilliant. And I've had I've been working on this idea for a long time. Basically, since the pandemic started, I kind of knew that I wanted to end up doing something like this. And American Horror Story was sort of the last push that I needed to like give me the feeling that I had the right to do it. I knew there's some pretty unhinged ideas that are going to make their way to your stage. But I knew that Drew was the right person to help me make that insanity happen because I just I trust him with my whole heart. And let me tell you, he saw some of my hats on top of other hats and added more hats. He's a genius.

[38:26] Macon Prickett: Amazing. Well, we are really looking forward to Second-Rate Somebody on Sunday, August the 13th. Tell our listeners where they can follow you, where they can find you on socials, so that we make sure that they are all a part of this incredibly hilarious social media community that you've been building.

[38:49] Jonathan Hoover: You can find me on Instagram or TikTok at Jonathan Hoover, although I don't really do the TikTok as much because I'm an old. But yeah, that's the best place to follow up and keep up with all things crazy Jonathan.

[39:04] Macon Prickett: Amazing. Well, thank you so so much for your time today, Jonathan. We are so looking forward to your show. Thank you for speaking with us and we will be seeing you in Broadway's living room soon.

[39:17] Jonathan Hoover: I can't wait! You've been listening to The 54 Below Podcast, part of the Broadway Podcast Network. To find out more about our upcoming shows, visit us at 54below.org.