Andrew Callaghan
Royal Oak Music Theatre
Sunday, March 1
How do you turn a groundbreaking news channel into a live touring show?
By making it hypercasual, sharing unreleased material and hosting a talent show.
Andrew Callaghan did that when he brought his self-proclaimed “circus” of a live show to the Royal Oak Music Theatre on Sunday.
If you’re not familiar with Callaghan, you’d likely recognize his face from your social media feed. He’s a self-made journalist who pioneered Channel 5 and All Gas No Brakes, both of which have become staples of an alternative journalism movement. He tours the country (and now the world) in an RV, with a ragtag crew of camera people and a mission to tell a story.
His man-on-the-street interviews have become legendary, garnering over 1 million followers on Instagram. His mini-docs have shown that he’s more than a one trick pony, bringing larger-than-life characters into focus and putting a bit of emotion behind them, too.
For the live show, Andrew plays host, premiering two new docs that haven’t been seen before to a diehard audience that is down for anything.
First up was “Finding Orson,” a heartfelt 30-minute-plus feature that follows a man in Venice searching for his missing parrot. The tagline doesn’t do it justice. The places this doc goes is impressive, exposing crooks masquerading as pet therapists alongside the sense of loneliness that comes along with getting older.
Next up is a shorter doc about the adult diaper community, which is exactly what you think -- grown men wearing diapers, paying top-dollar for cradles that can fit them and the women they pay to pretend to be their mothers. At no point are the subjects in this film the butt of the joke. It’s an honest look at how and why anyone would get into this movement to begin with. Throughout the film, we learn that as the world feels overwhelming, people will seek out ways to recapture their youth -- like, real young.
The casualness of the whole presentation is a sign of where things are heading. Why do we need bright lights, glitz and glamour to produce a live show? Can’t it just be about great content? A sense of human connection in a world that feels less connected than ever by social media and the internet?
The human element was on full display when Callaghan introduced the talent show portion between docs, inviting random members of the audience to perform their “talents.” And that was a stretch! There were white rappers with some of the worst bars you’ve ever heard, a woman who could burp on command and a human beatbox. (“I couldn’t bring my boombox, so I thought I’d use my mouth.”)
In the same way Callaghan has helped showcase a model of what journalism will look like in 2026 and beyond, he’s pioneering the idea that selling tickets to a live show means ditching the glitz and the bullshit to talk directly to the audience without thinking they need something more than a great night out supporting a produce they already love.
