Stellar Yoga Hosts “Way Out Variety Show”

Nestled on the cozy corner of Church Street is local business Stellar Yoga. The studio hosted a collaborative event called the “Way Out Variety Show” on March 7 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event featured various works of comedy, music, stand-up, improv, drag and other expressive performance arts. 

As per their online advertisements, Stellar Yoga ensured that the evening would be “a wild ride filled with entertainment like you’ve never seen before. Get ready to be amazed by a diverse lineup of talented artists showcasing their unique skills. Don’t miss out on this unforgettable evening of fun and creativity!” Their showcase of talent was nothing short of that description. 

Upon entry to the studio, guests are immediately met with the soothing aroma of incense and a warmly decorated space. With cream-colored walls, yellow decor and strings of fairy lights draping the ceilings, everyone easily sunk into the comfy atmosphere. As the studio filled with patrons, the room was enriched with echoed laughter, applause, some teary eyes and others tapping along to the beat while guests sipped on complimentary Polar seltzers. 

Joseph Davis, commonly known as Jolly Joe Jester hosted the event. Davis is a part of the Way Out Variety productions and Happenstancery Improv. Additional performances were conducted by Conor Wenk, Brittany Chante, Dagen The Pagen, James DeSalvo, Ed Smyth, Happenstancery Improv, Maclain Maier, Phillip Levine and Lilith St. Valentine.

To open up the show, multi-faceted musician Conor Wenk played an enthralling set involving original songs and covers. Wenk utilized a floor-based loop station to record varying layers of instrumentals to then sing along with. In addition to his audibly appealing talent, Wenk makes his own instruments, such as guitars, ukuleles and even “guitaleles,” also known as “ukitars.” As a one-man-band, Wenk mostly dabbles in bluegrass, but he is also in an R&B band called Drip. 

Wenk opened his set with a rendition of “Come on Up to the House” from Tom Waits’ 1999 album, “Mule Variations.” A personal favorite of Wenk’s is Sturgill Simpson’s 2021 album “The Ballad of Dood and Juanita.” From Simpson’s prologue, Wenk performed “Ol’ Dood (Part I)” and “Ol’ Dood (Part II).” 

Before strumming Simpson’s songs, Wenk explained that “[the album] is a frontier tale that lasts about half an hour. It tells the story of a mild-mannered man, tamed by the love of a woman, Juanita, and his name is Dood. One day, a bandit happens upon their happy home and guns Dood down off his meal while out in the field and takes Juanita away from him. So, I am going to play you the first full song on the album that is in the prologue and then the very last one. So, if you haven’t listened to the album, spoiler alert: you’re going to get the bookends, but still, it’s totally worth it.” 

The yoga studio, located at 11 Church St., is owned and operated by Guy and Victoria Gagne, who first opened their doors to New Paltz in winter 2023. Their business is still relatively new to the area, and Gagne’s studio fits in perfectly with the New Paltz community. 

“We try to offer more than just a yoga experience here. We like to try to feature some local entertainers, like the lineup we have for tonight. This is our fourth or fifth time hosting our ‘Way Out’ show, and I’m very excited to say [that] we have some returning acts from previous shows,” said Guy Gagne.

As he took the stage, Davis said “It’s worth it, folks, your energy is part of what your money is, your worth, is your time, your mind, is your money, right? Every artist wants to hear something like, ‘I love what you did here, your art.’ They’re not just waiting to say, ‘are you gonna pay me? Are you gonna f***ing pay me?’”

Levine did his own rendition of the dating app, Tinder, from the perspective of a post-divorce man. Additionally, Levine read off a vast array of quippy jokes written on individual cards from a standard deck of playing cards. 

The extraordinarily unique comic Smyth performed his own interpretations of a cat as a lawn mower as well as a cat as a microwave.

Local cabaret performer and drag queen Lilith St. Valentine was fully prepared with a boombox speaker and various props including pride flags, chains, flowers and hair accessories, all with which she danced and sang. 

Dagen Julty, commonly known as Dagen the Pagan or Lovejoy the Clown, did an improv set which involved vibrantly colored clothing, stand-up comedy and even a bit of interpretive dancing. In collaboration with Davis, Julty is also a Way Out Variety host. 

A string of performances were conducted by Happenstancery Improv, which featured Will Hennessey, Ryan Johnson, Christopher Polack and Davis. For inspiration, the actors turned to the audience for spoof ideas of famous films. Ultimately, the ensemble performed three made-up movies, “Shining Monkeys,” “Bridges of Pussycat Wild” and “Freaky Thursday.”

To close out the night, Hudson Valley-based comedian Brittany Chante had the entire audience hysterically laughing with her extraordinarily quick-witted jokes and whimsical sense of humor.

“I’m gonna throw all the stereotypes. Oh, my goodness, you know, I’m not just the regular Black person, which I hate to say it like that, but you know, I also come from an immigrant family. I am Jamaican. I already told y’all you didn’t need to turn up the mic for me, baby. I’m loud,” Chante said. 

To find out more about these local talents, you can check out the various performers on their Instagram pages. If you are interested in yoga classes or future variety shows at Stellar Yoga, you can visit their website, https://www.stellaryoganp.com/ or their Instagram, @stellaryoganewpaltz.