This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:09] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's the Roundtable with me, Robert. Well, welcome to another edition of the Roundtable. We're here on Broadway Podcast Network or over here on Broadway World. Our next guest is somebody who has a Tony. She does. I have I don't have a Tony. I've never even, I don't even have a friend named Tony. And literally, and Sarah, Sarah Jones here, not like Meryl Streep says she's had the best night of theater in her life with Sarah Jones. She went out to produce her show. The show became a big giant smash and success. She now has a podcast. She's doing things downtown. We're gonna talk about all of the things. I think she's absolutely utterly brilliant. And I'm so excited and honored that she's gonna be here.

And we're gonna try and she's from Baltimore, and I love Baltimore. I've spent six months in Baltimore, and it was the most fun six months. Have you ever been to Fort McHenry where they wrote the national anthem? I have my own feelings about the national anthem, but it is a very nice boat ride out there. Uh we have so much to talk. Sarah Jones, welcome to the show.

[1:07] Sarah Jones: Hi, I feel I've already had a full experience. I'm so excited. We’ve I feel like we've traveled up and down the eastern seaboard together. There's so much happening. And you're out in LA is what I heard a rumor.

[1:22] Robert Bannon: I'm out in LA. The rumors are true. You like it out there?

[1:26] Sarah Jones: You know what? I do. I come back to New York, but I am such a dyed in the wool New Yorker that I come out here as an ambassador from New York to make sure Los Angeles has sufficient, you know, New York energy.

[1:42] Robert Bannon: Yeah, it needs that. It needs that little bit of um genna se qua out there in Los Angeles.

[1:48] Sarah Jones: Yes, it's a I mean it's a genesse. Come on.

[1:53] Robert Bannon: Jenna say what?

[1:54] Sarah Jones: Yeah, I'm bringing the gene to say what? I can't. So I'm from Jersey and I moved eight months ago. I got married last week. My husband.

[2:02] Robert Bannon: Congratulations to you and your husband.

[2:06] Sarah Jones: He is from Detroit. So I'm in Detroit.

[2:08] Robert Bannon: Oh, Detroit and Jersey, you know, we're scrappy.

[2:13] Sarah Jones: So I'm out here in the scrappy in the 313 talking to you about all the downtown theater in New York, and neither of us are there.

[2:13] Robert Bannon: Neither of us are there. But you know what? It's in us. The theater is in us. We bring it with us wherever we may be.

[2:28] Sarah Jones: And I brought my people with me. Rob, I feel like you knew this was gonna come, Robert. I feel like you knew. So, but Lorraine wants to tell you because as soon as we heard about you getting married, oh my god, muzzle top sweetheart. You're married now. Isn't this wonderful? So for you, your listeners and your watchers who don't know, gorgeous Robert here with his beautiful wedding band. My name is Lorraine, and Sarah puts me in her shows, what she calls a one woman shows, but that's because she comes from one of these multicultural families. So you think New Jersey and Detroit is a match. Her family is black and white and Christian and Jewish and the Latinos, everybody who's getting snatched off the streets right now.

She comes from them. Anyway, Lorraine just wanted to say Mosle. You know, people, if you don't know about these things, and if you don't know about these things, and if you don't know about all the things that is Sarah Jones, what have you been doing? What what have you been doing? What are you even doing?

[3:33] Robert Bannon: Yeah. So before we we're here to talk about specifically about the downtown urban arts festival and it's coming June 11th to the 28th. And I'm very excited to talk about it. And I want to get everyone to get a ticket and see it and be a part of downtown urban theater and how important it is. But I wanted to talk to you about you came out doing one woman shows, writing them. And there is a lineage of women, other women who have done this that made it to Broadway. If you think about the whoopies and the different people that have made it, yeah. When you look back now, is this a dream bigger than you could ever dream? Like this is this is amazing.

[4:08] Sarah Jones: Oh, thank you for that. That you know what that does. I'll say this for you, Robert, in case it's helpful to you in your life. Did you ever think that you would be entertaining people and lifting their hearts and connecting with your fellow theater geeks and right? Like when you look back and you really take it in, it's moving. It's but you just moved me just now. Thank you for that. Because I think we take it for granted, right? We're so busy. Oh my dry clean it. Who can dry what? Did you think this would be your life?

[4:38] Robert Bannon: Yeah.

[4:39] Sarah Jones: Thank you. Thank you for that because it's a reminder. I had on um a couple of months, not to take your time, but I had a couple of months ago I had Jasmine Brand on. But she has a and Jas. I said, Oh, you just come on my little show. And she said, Don't ever downplay yourself and say you have a little show. You built this platform, it's yours, and it's not little, and there's nothing little about it. And it's that perspective that, yeah, I'm living my dream every day. Yes, yes, yes. Okay, and I don't want to be too woo woo, right? But so the thing I get to do with the amazing folks at the downtown urban arts festival, which plug, plug, plug, plug. Um, they've known me since I was a little baby and first started doing my thing.

And you know, these characters of mine, they're New Yorkers, they're right. You just met my I my that character, my Bubby Lorraine. She really is. I really, you know, I worry sometimes that people forget uh New York is uh the home of so many different people, just Queens, where Sarah is from. People should come out to uh June 14th, and I don't know anything anymore. What is time? No, it's June 13th and 14th. We'll be at Joe's Pub as part of the downtown urban arts festival. And I said to Sarah, I said, Queens, where she grew up. It's the most diverse borough place in the whole world. How lucky, how lucky.

[6:03] Sarah Jones: So I yeah, I for me, that's what theater also offers us, right? Is like we just get to be this, we get to be what some people are trying to legislate out of existence, which is literally beautiful pluralist, diverse group of people all sitting in a room together, feeling together, laughing, crying. But wear a mask if I don't know. Well, I'm careful, like the because we don't have a C D C anymore, honey. We don't have a C D C. So just take, you know, wear your things. Be and be careful. Don't be careful, take your immuno supplement. You know what I mean? Yeah, D U A F N Y C dot com for the full entire time that the downtown uh festival is going on because it's from the 12th to the 28th at Theater Row.

That's right. I'm I'm the 13th and 14th, but the 11th, all the way until when does it end? The 28th. The 28th, it should never end. But make just clear your calendar so that you can spend all that downtown urban arts festival time with all of us from the 11th until the 28th, and I'll be there the 13th and 14th, smack in the middle where I belong. Right in the middle at Joe's pub. Joe's pub.com. It's they're too cool to have me. Only the cool people can go to Joe's pub. I mean, that is the spot, y'all. Go downtown, go to the public, go to Joe's pub, have a charcuterie board and get a glass of wine and have a party. They do they have vegan sharks? So Bella wants to know what are the vegan options though?

Like, what are we doing? Anyway, all my people are here, Robert, to like chat with you. So we don't want to do real things. I just wanna say, like Sarah Jones puts us all in her shows. And like as a as a queer feminist, obvious. Um, like first of all, I was uh double major um like feminism and and like social justice, but like minoring in social media with a concentration on notable TikTok memes. And so I just love what you're doing with like your platform. And I feel like theater is like it's like the IRL TikTok in a way that like people don't understand. So you all have to come to the theater.

[8:00] Sarah Jones: Yes, they're all coming to New York. And you know what? For people who remember me from Bridge and Tunnel Days or Sell by Date. Um, those are two one-woman shows. I have these characters who live in my life and they live rent-free in my head, and I'm like a one-woman Airbnb, and they don't pay rent. But but they are all loosely based on my real family. I really do come from a mixed cultural, racial, religious, all the things. And just like America, we are a giant dysfunctional multiracial family that is sometimes at war with itself, but we do the best we can. And so that this piece that I get to do with downtown Urban Arts Festival at Joe's Pub is based on a podcast I started called America, Who Hurt You?

[8:48] Robert Bannon: Girl, America, who hurt you is the question on all of our minds, especially since November and January and every other.

[8:57] Sarah Jones: Oh my God. But we're gonna make it through together. Do you know how, Robert?

[9:01] Robert Bannon: Tell me, Sarah Jones.

[9:02] Sarah Jones: Getting together, IRL, getting out of our doom scrolling. If you are doom scrolling on your phone, I love you, but you're not doing it right. We have to face this moment in our country together. And together is not, it's not the same, just clicking and scrolling. Like we have to get together in the theater. So that's why you have to code to Joe's pub. Okay. So you have a podcast that is out called, like you said, America Who Hurt You. And you have you're out here on the streets advocating, fighting, talking. Are you exhausted?

[9:34] Sarah Jones: I'm exhausted. So let me tell you the exhaustion thing. So this is the thing I love about America Who Hurt You. It came to me when I was like, we have this great country where this potential of being this city on a hill, right? That are all of our different backgrounds, we should be this beautiful beacon and example. And instead, we are letting I'm just gonna be kind and say uh deeply disturbed people. We're letting deeply disturbed people drive us over a cliff. Why are we doing that? And it occurred to me that we need to put America on the therapy couch. Just like if you have a friend where you're like, girl, what are you doing? You're ruining your life. Like you would, right? An intervention, some therapy.

So America Who Hurt You is us. I and my characters are putting America on the therapy couch. We're gonna get the audience involved on the podcast. We had wonderful guests. People can go listen to it wherever they get their podcasts. Um, uh, my I think my first America Who Hurt You episode. Well, we had a Laverne Cox on talking about trans rights. We had Jane Fonda talking about climate. We wanted to get smart people and people we all know and love to talk about what's ailing America and how can we heal it? So that's the whole idea. And we're gonna have fun. We're it's gonna be a lot, but we're gonna have fun.

[10:54] Robert Bannon: Do you feel when you have conversations with Laverne Cox or Jane Fonda, which they're very famous and fabulous and amazing, but then you hear from people, I'm sure on your social media or reach out to you or see people on the street, and they're inspired because I feel like a lot of the times we do not feel good. We wake up and we don't feel uh excited or helped, like we don't feel optimistic at all.

[11:14] Sarah Jones: So, Robert, for people who are just listening and can't see me, I just put my hand on my heart, which the old me would be like, that's so cringe. Like, what are you doing? You're in well, that's Bella, probably. But the feeling of the letting in the reality that we are feeling not okay as a country collectively, we are not okay, y'all. And here's the thing that's not a cause for panic, that's a cause to look at what's going on. You wouldn't, you know, avoid the doctor if you're feeling sick. You actually want to go and say, Hey, could you look at what's going on with me? Did I eat the wrong thing? What am I doing here that's making this so awful? And the thing that I love about gathering people, you know, doing America Who Hurt You as a podcast is fun and amazing, and we're coming back with season two.

And part of that season two is this live experience. When you put when I put my hand on my heart because I feel your pain, it also soothes my own heart. And there's a kind of connection that you're gonna have in the theater that you really can't have, you know, when we have our kind of social media silos, which is part of how we got here, right?

[12:26] Robert Bannon: So I I do want to say though, there's one other person. Hi, Robert. My name is Nereva. I am very excited to be here. Hi. I love you. I see you saying you love me, and that feels amazing. No shade to your husband. Um, because it's not that kind of love. I know he's fine, it's fine, it's good, it's great. Um, but what I wanted to say is Sarah Jones comes from this multicultural family, and you know, I am based on one of her cousins.

[12:48] Sarah Jones: And you know, just being someone who is coming from an immigrant background and knowing that this country was built, all of us are immigrants, right? Like whatever your last name is, Bannon, that's not a Native American name. So your family came here at some point in history. My family came here a little more recently. But why are we trying to attack what makes us truly great? I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, you know, elaborate on that. But what I wanted to bring out to people is the idea of America Who Hurt You when they come to the theater, and I think this is across the downtown urban arts festival experience. You're gonna get an authentic experience with real people and people who reflect all of who New Yorkers are, all of who America is, and we deserve that right now because we're being erased.

They're scrubbing the websites, they're trying to sell us like stuff didn't happen that happened. Oh, women, people of color, minorities, the queer community, the trans community. They took the T right off Stonewall. They don't, they do not care. And if they're coming for me and coming for you, they're coming for you next. So we really for everybody, they're coming for everybody. And I just want to say this that is not a reason for us to hide or because they're that's what they're depending on. They want to erase us and make sure that we don't fight, that we just become like sheep. And I just want to say this country deserves to be its fullest, not hiding and letting, you know, people who, I'm sorry, how many gold planes, gold toilets?

What what what is this obsession with like? I mean, to me, it's like, oh, here's what I will say. I know that most people who behave like that, they have some trauma. So that we're gonna get down to it, Robert. When we get on that stage at Joe's Pub on June 13th and 14th, and when everybody comes and hears all of the festival, they are going to feel their feelings. This is not about numbing. And I'm sorry to say it, I'm just as addicted as everybody else. But the phone addiction, have you heard about digital dementia? Ew. Oh my God. We have we all have it. We all have something called digital dementia. I'm like too young for any of this. And it's like we have to, the way that the antidote to that, if you look it up, you need to take two weeks and look at that.

The downtown urban arts festival is about two weeks or so when you can go and heal your digital dementia, get out of your. There's nothing wrong with social media. Well, there's a lot of things wrong. But there's a lot of fun on social media. I get that. But if you want to feel hopeful about this country, if you want to, I'm guessing the people who watch you and listen to you, Robert, they're out in the streets protesting and saying we want our country back. So this is one way that you can enjoy yourself and ask the questions and feel the feelings. Like the Nemo can feel, you know, I'm not gonna, I'm speaking Spangl, but we have to feel all this stuff. You know the my favorite expression feel, deal, and heal.

That's the only way we're gonna get through the next three and a half years. Oof. And I only hope, thank you. I only hope that these these three and a half years we swing the pendulum back the other way. And we we have to go backwards to go forward. I ends every show, you know, with saying there is more good than there is bad. There's more joy than there is sadness, and there's more love than there is hate. Because I feel like the perspective, we've I have a cousin Adrian. I'm gonna talk about June scrolling, and I'm gonna tell her to watch this because I tell her to her face. Adrian will write me, send me TikTok videos and tell me all this stuff. And I say, Adrian, put the phone down. You're stressing yourself out.

You're making and what what is your Sarah Jones? What do we do when we are obsessed with the phone and we can't stop going to Huffington Post or whatever, whatever's your website? I don't know what what do we do? I'm like, girl, all of them. Well, I'm gonna come back to myself for a second and say, I have a hack for everybody. If you come to Joe's Pub, I will elaborate on this hack. But for your beautiful listeners and viewers, grab your phone, whether you have an Android or an iPhone, whatever, go to accessibility shortcuts, and make it so that you can toggle it with your side button with just three clicks, you can turn it black and white. Get grayscale. It's the ugliest thing you've ever seen.

Your brain doesn't want to watch a black and white screen. And it's that pause that you need to just breathe and take your energy back from the phone in real time. It literally takes three clicks. And it has helped me so much, Robert, just to literally put down my phone. So who is it? Adrian? Adrian. Adrian, honey, you have to turn your phone grayscale. And it doesn't have to stay that way all the time, but when you need to breathe, and that's the other thing I would say. Breathing is gonna save us. It's free. They can't put a tariff on it. Although, girl, I can't wait to talk about taco Tuesdays when I got on stage. I know it. I eat it out here in LA. I'm like, it's taco every day. Because Trump always took it out.

Anyway, we're gonna have a good time. You know what I mean? That's all we have to do. That's all we have to do is come home to ourselves. Put the phone down for a second, and remember who you really are, honey. You are you are everything. You are everything. So the phone does not have to be your everything. Just put her down for a second. She'll be there when you pick her back up. Amen. Sarah Jones Online.com is where you can find more information about you. And your stuff is streaming and you're we can we can turn this, we turn the phone back to color and follow you on Instagram. The links will be below as well. And podcasts, you don't have to have your phone open to listen. We could be listening, you could be vacuuming the floor, cleaning the backyard or cutting the ground, whatever you all do out here, and listen to Sarah Jones in a fun.

Because when we talk about politics, I know what you do is funny. So you're gonna get chuckles and little drops of gold. I know. Listen, my name is Rashi. Robert, I just want to say from one, yeah, I mean one person to another who's out here in these streets trying to fight. Yeah, I'm the only dude Sarah Jones brought with her. Everything you just said, all we gotta do, connect up. Yes, turn on the color for me because otherwise you won't see my hat. I mean, I made some effort, so y'all need to turn on the color for me. But whether you a black person, a white person, a Latino, you know, uh A P I, everybody out here, L G B T Q. Look, we in this together. Don't let nobody divide and conquer us because that's how they're trying to win.

It ain't real. Let's get together, let's get together in real life. Ain't no AI that's gonna tell you it's a deep fake. I'm real. You know what I mean? We need sometimes you just need the truth with no question. Is this generated chat GPT? Nah, I'm just Rashi IRL. Now I mean. I know Rasheed. I've hung out with Rashid in my life. You know, a little too much time with him, to be honest. This is the best cameo I ever paid for, everybody. This is the best ever. I feel like this, I should be paying somebody for this. This is such great entertainment. Do you constantly write? I do. I'm writing in my head all the time. And that's what people should also know is the show that I'm getting to do, plug plug downtown urban arts festival.

I'm just gonna keep saying it over and over again. But um, you know, getting to do this show, America Who Hurt You Live, it offers a chance for it's like part political commentary. So you know, we probably got like 200 executive orders between now or whatever, watch this and whatever people show up at the theater. So it's improv, it's it's engaging with the audience. We're gonna do some like exercises together. I don't want to freak you out. But you know, if y'all haven't heard of the Vegas nerve, honey, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, meaning your parasympathetic nervous system when you're in the theater laughing or singing along, literally, your system is healing itself. So theater is healing.

That's why we're doing this. I mean, of course, we want to have a good time, we want to laugh, and that's how we're gonna survive this moment we're in. I feel when I was in acting school, um, my acting teachers say being an artist is such a noble profession because it's documenting history. And in one time, when people look back at the times we're living in, and we talk about in history books, we will be using the films and the music and the television and the stage work that and the comedy that has been written about this time to document and what you're doing, Ms. Jones, is so very important to not only make us laugh and feel good and teach us, but also it is a part of history. You're documenting the times we're living in, and we're gonna look back and need this to remember.

I love that you said that. And I'm gonna bring Lorraine back for a second because she really has an opinion about that. So I'm off breaking the fourth wall, everybody. Watch Sarah's hand because she's such a good actor because she's got the impediment work down, like nobody's business. Watch this, it's so good. Okay. First of all, he's saying a lot of words, but I'm here to celebrate with all of you that I survived a time like the one we are living in now. And I don't mean to make us too serious for a moment, but as a much older person, I'm not gonna tell you my real age, but let's just say I like to think of myself as living proof that over 85 is the new 70. Anyway, I didn't think I would live through what I lived through only to have to watch you kids.

I I won't um I don't want to be too uh emotional about it, but please we didn't live through and survive what we did so that you all could do the what is my granddaughter call, a reboot. We don't need this. You don't need to feel fascism for yourself, just watch the documentaries. My God, it should help us turn this around to know that some of us are now having to live through it twice. I never thought I would see it in my lifetime. And uh for some of Sarah's relatives, you know, I mentioned we're Christian, Jewish. The intermarriages, it's a long story filled with intrigue and interfaith guilt. Thing we all have in common is we all know from persecution, and we all know this should not be happening.

And when we say never again, we mean it. So let's please. Yes, we're in the theater. Yes, we want to laugh and be together. Uh, but um, what do we have to sacrifice to make sure that this doesn't get worse? And I'll tell you this it's comfort. You might have to get uncomfortable. Speak up. Uh the people who say they're socially liberal but fiscally conservative, and so they're benefiting from this. I don't want to say the wrong bad words on uh your show. So I'll just say it my way. Geneva Shestickler. If go pulling out in Washington, it means dirty tricks, but it's stronger in Yiddish. Anyway, we should not have to watch this. And I don't care if it's making people richer, it's making all of us poorer as human beings, as human beings.

So please think about that and fight. You have to fight so this doesn't happen to your great grandchildren, like I'm watching it now. Well, it couldn't have been said better than she just did. That was that's how we all are, and that's why this show is important, and that's why what you're doing is important, and that's why you're not only a brilliant artist, but an advocate and activist that we need nowadays more than ever. I ooh, and you do it with comedy and joy and heart and love, and that's what we all need. A big jose, a dose of all of that. Thank you so much for doing that, sharing what you do. Um, follow on Instagram, everybody. Yes, I'm Sarah Jones, is where you can go to Instagram.

Sarah Jones Online has the link so you can check out the podcast and also get your tickets. Go to joespub.com. Get your they're gonna sell out, so they'll be gone, so make sure you get them. And then the downturn downtown urban arts festival, it's d u a f n y c dot com. You can get your tickets for the entire experience. I just want to be your best friend and hang out with you, and I want to take a selfie with your Tony. And um, and I want to try on the glasses and learn how to do accents like you do them because you're so good. We're gonna do it all. It's all happening. Prepare to be sick of me, Roll. Let's go. Come on. I'm ready to be your let's go. I'm here. Uh thank it. It was an honor to have you here.

I remember the commercials, I remember the posters, I remember you performancing on TV, your performances on TV. It's an honor to have you here on my show, and I can't wait for the next things that you have up your sleeve. We need you more than ever. Bless you. I'm putting my hand on my heart, thinking of you, and I'll see you at Joe's Pub, you and everybody. Everybody, go to Joespub.com. Thank you so much, Miss Jones. Sarah Jones is here. Yay.