Married duo Jahmeel and Beth Powers have been part of Scranton Fringe since their 2019 debut in Just a Penny, and this year they’re back on stage together. Their new show is an improvised late-night talk show that can’t happen without the audience.
Created by Jahmeel and Beth as Ultimate Form Productions, and co-produced by Gaslight Theatre Company, LIVE… From This Room! plays the Trolley Museum on Friday, October 2 at 7:00 PM, Saturday, October 3 at 3:30 PM or 7:00 PM, or Sunday, October 4 at 3:30 PM.
Recently we talked to Jahmeel and Beth about clowning, the end of an era in late-night comedy, and the challenges of making a show with a spouse, three kids, and the occasional 3 AM rehearsal to juggle.
In your own words, what is your show about?
Live…From This Room! is really a love letter to the things both my co-creator and wife (Beth) and I (Jahmeel) love about performance! We love the thrill of creating something on the spot so that each show produces itself based on the audience—making each show a unique gift for every audience member who comes. Our show is an exploration of two clown characters–Daisy and Oscar–that we learn and grow with! We use our experience with commedia dell’arte theatre and explore the similarities between it and the structured but loose atmosphere of late-night talk shows that create a sense of “anything can happen!”
What sparked this piece?
I know one moment was realizing I missed performing at the Scranton Fringe! Beth and I have been involved with Scranton Fringe in some way from 2020 to 2024. Beth was last seen in Mimosas as part of the 2024 Fringe, and I was so proud of her in bringing her character to life! I also missed performing with Beth, because we’ve been involved in so many things separately, but it had been years since we worked on something together. When the opportunity arose this year, we knew we had to take it!
When we were brainstorming ideas, we were inspired by the news of Stephen Colbert ending The Late Show. It was our cathartic hit, as it sparked the idea that late-night talk shows might not be around forever. This pivotal thing we had grown up with (at least when we were finally old enough to stay up to watch) could now be a thing of the past.
So we took that love of late-night comedy and began to combine it with our other fascinations: my love of physical comedy and the actors that inspired me to perform (Tim Curry as Wadsworth the Butler in Clue, Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, Jim Carrey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Robin Williams, Keegan-Michael Key, and so many not mentioned here) and the work of commedia dell’arte, which Beth and I studied while completing our MFAs in Acting at Regent University. Our thesis roles were in Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters, which we actually got to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018!
So we took all of those influences and mixed them to create Live… From This Room! An improvised scenario based around two clown characters caught in the rush of putting together a live taping of a late-night talk show.
What does “Fringe” mean to you as an artist?
“The Fringe” has had such a monumental impact on our lives; not just as artists, but as human beings. As mentioned earlier, our professor at Regent University, Dr. Michael Kirkland, brought our performance of The Servant of Two Masters to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018. On the opening night of our performance, I made that lifetime commitment to Beth by proposing to her on the top of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. She said “Yes!” and we’ve been climbing the mountain of life together ever since!
Fast forward a bit, and Beth and I made our Scranton Fringe debuts in PATAsphere’s production of Just a Penny in 2019. And since the first Fringe Under Glass in 2020, one of us has appeared in some way with Scranton Fringe. So the Fringe to us will always mean more to us than just a performance space. Fringe is a space where you find who you are as a human being, which is the most powerful tool you have as an artist to inspire others.
What do you want someone to feel — or think about differently — after seeing your show?
I would love the audience to look at the world around them differently. Being present to the world around you is the best “present” you can “gift” to the world. Be an active part of the life around you, because you never know when you might miss the golden opportunities of true connection with other people; whether it’s the person in line with you getting coffee, a friend you could make in a waiting room, or the people in your life or the family that maybe you’ve lost touch with. Much like the clowns in our play, if you take a look at your life through the lens of “gratitude” and “gifting” your experiences with others, you will always see the beauty in both the “bad” and “good” in your life.
What’s been the hardest or most surprising part of making this?
One of the hardest parts logistically is the balance of being the parents to three wonderful children! Having both of us in the show requires a lot of logistics of finding sitters and relatives to watch them. This in turn has inspired creative uses of our time, such as getting the kids’ input on ideas, having a built-in audience, and the occasional 3 AM rehearsal while the kids are asleep.
Not only working around our kids, but balancing work as theater professors at King’s College (at the time of writing this, I’ve already closed a show and am heading into auditions and rehearsals directing The Taming of the Shrew), and the recent acquisition of MUSICare (a parent/child music class for ages 0-5) with our LLC. There are a lot of plates spinning at once, but I wouldn’t change a thing about our hectic lives, because we’re doing what we love, with WHO we love—each other!
Anything else you want people to know before they walk in?
This is an experimental, interactive, improvised show where the lines of dialogue and comedic bits will change every show! Audiences are free to engage with the show as much as they’d like—whether they just want to watch, or if they want to be a main character onstage, we will make the show together! We just invite you to bring yourself, your inner child, your suggestions, and your laughter!
All ages are welcome!
Catch LIVE… From This Room! at the Electric City Trolley Museum on Friday, October 2 at 7:00 PM, Saturday, October 3 at 3:30 PM or 7:00 PM, or Sunday, October 4 at 3:30 PM, as part of the 2026 Scranton Fringe Festival. Buy tickets here.
