The Roar of the Crowd: Midnight Radio's The Incredible Audio World of Pittsburgh Sports

Since my mom passed away in July, I've had the realization many times that I only have one parent now. Many of my personality traits and interests come from my dad. He was the one who instilled in me a love of Pittsburgh sports, and we've had many bonding moments - especially throughout the past year after I moved back to Pittsburgh - sitting at Heinz Field for a Steelers game or standing behind our seats in the last row of the Consol Energy Center for Pens games.

So when I read about Briolage's Midnight Radio episode about Pittsburgh sports, I knew it was something I had to go to with my dad. We made a night of it: burgers and beers at Winghart's in Market Square (seriously cannot effectively communicate how much I love love love Winghart's) and then a stroll through downtown to the Bricolage theater on Liberty for Midnight Radio Episode 3: The Incredible Audio World of Pittsburgh Sports.


Before the show, the audience enjoyed snacks and free beer in a tailgate-like setting. As we were standing around waiting for the theater to open up, someone tapped my dad on the shoulder. It was one of his old softball buddies from way back in the day - when my dad was playing softball in his 30s in and around Pittsburgh. They hadn't seen each other in years, so it was fun to watch my dad and his friend Randy catch up and laugh and act like they probably acted when they were around my age.




I had never been to a Bricolage Midnight Radio production before, but I will certainly go back after this experience. It was laid back, audience participation was encouraged, and full of great moments. At times I would close my eyes and just listen - afterall, it is a radio broadcast, but performed right before on stage.


Every part of the show was great - from the reenactment of the greatest Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins moments, to the fake news updates (including the tear-inducing hilarity of a yinzer wine review), to the on-stage musical performance of the Steelers polka. I honestly enjoyed every minute of this show. And so did my dad. When the lights went up at the end, he was grinning and already asking me when the next one was, so we could come again and bring my brother with us next time.

Sadly, by the time this posts, Episode 3 will be over, but there are two episodes left for this series. One of which is about ZOMBIES and that is incredibly exciting to me. Will definitely be taking that in come Halloweentime (aka, the best time).

On an odd last note, part of the performance included an audience-inspired MadLibs reading. Before the show, audience members filled out adjectives, nouns, etc. on a large blackboard. One of those words caught my eye, because it is a term I came up with during preseason last year! "Roethlisburgish" was my word, and here someone wrote down "Roethlisburgerish," which amused me to no end.

Here's proof of my word, as drawn by Eric Lidji.

This hangs on my fridge, because it is a work of art that should be admired by all.

The night was a grand success on all levels. The burgers and beer were amazing. The show was incredibly fun. It was good to laugh with my dad again, especially after weeks of being sad and adjusting to our new way of life. Pittsburgh sports have brought us together on more than one occasion, and I'm sure they will forever be a tie that binds.