Best Variety Show Host 2014 | Shanan Kelley | Arts & Culture | Bend

Best Of Central Oregon

Best Variety Show Host

Shanan Kelley

Shanan Kelley pointed out that naming her best variety show host is like saying she's our favorite only child. She's the one-and-only variety show host in town, and with her team of expert humorists, musicians and film crew, she's been putting together live episodes of The Night Light Show at Tin Pan Theater for the past eight months, a concept that took shape in just two days with Kelley's vision and a little help from her friends.

"We wanted to make people laugh," explained Kelley. "To bring people together and to come to Tin Pan and bring more energy to that space, expose it to a wider audience, and feature people doing cool stuff. I have a lot of friends doing amazing things."

For the uninitiated, the Night Light Show is a variety program somewhere between Johnny Carson and Saturday Night Live. Kelley hosts the show, conducting interviews with local business owners and cultural masterminds, and she shines in hilarious film and live skits and serves as a general emcee introducing comedians, musicians and other uniquely Bend guests. Kelley hopes that bringing the community together in this fun, monthly format (now streaming online!) will help to build connections in the community and entertain Bend in a new format. "This is a unique platform," said Kelley, "an alternative to the newspaper or the TV news. Bend is small enough where we can actually do something, and have a life that leaks over and helps everyone around us." (BB)