Satirical news-spoof show Gridiron gets the royal treatment in 54th edition
Have no fear, the Fairy Tale Princess will reappear at this year’s Gridiron show.
“For some reason people seem to think she’s extremely funny,” said Bonnie Bing, longtime Wichita Eagle reporter and columnist, who has been a part of the media revue since 1976. “They seem to laugh, anyway. Maybe they’re just being nice to me.”
Bing was out of town during last year’s Gridiron and contributed a videotaped piece, but she says she’s glad to be back in person as the princess.
One topic the Fairy Tale princess will bring up, Bing said, is how rapper Kanye West’s politically incorrect comments lost him a sneaker deal with Adidas, leaving $500 million worth of shoes that no one wants.
“She approaches that from an interesting standpoint,” Bing said. She’ll also bring up “stuff around town, maybe a couple of jabs at our president.”
Gridiron, whose proceeds benefit scholarships for journalism students, stages its 54th edition next weekend at Roxy’s Downtown. Besides Bing, the cast includes Jessica DeVader, Visit Wichita and formerly KSN; Rob Marin, executive producer at KWCH; Mike Iuen, retired KAKE anchor; Suzanne Perez, KMUW; Bob Thomas, KPTS; Bucky Walters, media personality; and Ted Woodward, KNSS.
“I tell a lot of people, I love working with this group,” said Wichita actress-director Jenny Mitchell, directing Gridiron for the second year. “They are so eager to learn and so trusting in the process. There’s no drama and no hangups about anything crazy I ask them to do.”
Gridiron, she said, “is an odd little beast.”
“There’s never any shyness,” she said. “No one says, ‘No, I’m uncomfortable doing that.’”
The theme this year is “Royally Funny.”
“We’re talking about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. There’s George Santos, all over there,” Mitchell said. “And we’re talking about drag queens and the mayor, of course, which we usually do.”
Woodward, morning show co-host for KNSS, said Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple’s run-in with authorities over dumping trash last October is “the gift that keeps on giving.”
“It doesn’t seem like we lack for any material,” said Woodward, also one of the writers of the show. “You don’t have to stray too far from reality to make a funny script. Some of the stuff is just bizarre.”
Woodward is looking forward to the parody of the Spangle’s commercials, with grandmotherly types trying cocktails from the fast-food drive-thru.
This year’s Gridiron will be Woodward’s 27th. He was convinced to join the cast by veteran Wichita journalist Bill Roy, but Woodward had never heard of the show.
“It’s a chance to do something I don’t get to do any other time of the year – write comedy scripts and use music that I kind of like to work into a song,” he said.
Woodward has continued moonlighting in several different theater productions in the Wichita area.
“Gridiron kind of laid the groundwork for me,” he said.
GRIDIRON: ROYALLY FUNNY
When: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, March 23-25
Where: Roxy’s Downtown, 412 ½ E. Douglas
Tickets: $38, from roxysdowntown.com or 265-4400