Moving from Miami, Florida I was worried about adapting to life in a small town. Though I saw a lot of postings to the change, I was worried about finding things to do. Also I love culture, theatre, art and was worried I would have to travel far to experience that. My realtors from Beegee Realty, The Gambles, gave me a tour of Van Wert and one of the third stop on the tour was Niswonger Performing Arts Center. It's a beautiful theater, and I was pleased to know I can see quality theater blocks from my soon to be home. We went up to the ticket counter and we spoke with those working there and they gave me a short tour of the theater, they also explained to me it was already well into their season but they showed me which shows remain. I got a chance to come here, when I won some orchestra tickets at a company raffle (in my first week working there! Score!) to come see Jeanne Robertson at Niswonger. I love to laugh! So I was excited to see her. I have seen many stand up comedians in the past, but I noticed she is a humorist. That is something I had not seen before. There is a difference... more high brow and sophisticated. Per wiki: "Humor is the quality which makes experiences provoke laughter or amusement, while comedy is a performing art. The nineteenth century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer lamented the misuse of humor (a German loanword from English) to mean any type of comedy. A humorist is adept at seeing the humor in a situation or aspect of life and relating it, usually through a story; the comedian generally concentrates on jokes designed to invoke instantaneous laughter. The humorist is primarily a writer of books, newspaper or magazine articles or columns, stage or screen plays, and may occasionally appear before an audience to deliver a lecture or read a piece of his or her work. The comedian always performs his or her work for an audience, either in live performance, audio recording, radio, television, or film." So I was excited to experience something new... something I had not seen even in Miami. Walking into the theater, I walked around and looked at the art. I checked my coat with my family in their coat room and relaxed before going to find our seats. It was easy to get to them and everyone who worked there was helpful. Watching Jeanne was a pleasure. I was in tears most of the show because she is just so funny! She is also very personable and endearing and you cannot help but love her and her show. Truly it was an amazing experience. If you want to get an idea of her humor, she has gotten a lot of notoriety on YouTube... with 12 million views with her story on her husband (who has a PhD) epically failing at buying the necessary ingredients at a grocery store for 7-Up cake. Which oddly is one of my favorite cakes, but I digress. Just look up on YouTube: "Don't send a man to a grocery store!"... you will laugh I guarantee you! Wonderful show! Enjoyed every moment! I am truly happy to be able to go to such an amazing performing arts center in my new home! read more

See all