Rebecca Eckler among the season’s guests
TORONTO — Rogers Sports and Media’s OMNI Television announced today its unscripted talk/variety show, The Elevator Show, will have its season premiere on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 10 p.m. ET on Omni 1 across Ontario.
“The Elevator Show concept can be described like this: Quirky Jewish host (Ieden Wall, above left) commandeers a condo elevator and uses the open elevator as a stage for comedy bits, man-on-the-street interviews and variety acts,” reads a press release.
“Residents gather outside the open cabin and become the studio audience. Wall wanders away from the elevator to partake in colourful, offbeat encounters in obscure parts of the building,” the release adds.
When Wall first pitched the idea of a show shot in a residential elevator, he “was greeted with snickers and disbelief,” the release says.
“It was almost impossible to convince people that a show from a condo elevator, with live audiences on multiple floors, was even remotely plausible,” Wall says in the release.
To bring The Elevator Show concept to life, the show’s technical producer Efim Bulshtein “set up 27 cameras throughout an undisclosed condo building in the GTA — in stairwells, hallways, garbage rooms, underground garage, sauna, electrical rooms” to allow Wall to “roam and improvise the show without boundaries,” the release explains.
The premiere episode will feature an interview with talk show legend Dini Petty, as well as a surprise drop-in to a neighbourhood convenience store and a live performance by Jewish magician Ben Train.
“This is not the first time Ieden has pushed the envelope…this elevator concept is wildly creative and should be celebrated for its originality,” Petty said in the press release.
Former National Post columnist Rebecca Eckler (pictured above, right, being interviewed in the condo’s second floor stairwell), who has opened up her own publishing company RE:books, makes three impromptu appearances on Wall’s show throughout the season.
“His whole approach and style is just so contrary to the usual talk show BS,” Eckler said. “He brings you into his bizarre elevator world and opens you up about topics both deep and silly.”
Natalie Portman and Howie Mandel are also scheduled to appear this season.
“Journalist Susan Minuk is back again this season with her signature ‘In-Studio’ Jewish-themed interview segments, showcasing leaders and luminaries from across Canada,” the release says.
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Image taken from a video of Wall’s interview of Eckler.
