OFFICIAL · DO NOT LOSE
The Show Bible
The World
Talking With Jon takes place in a medium-sized room that is pretending, very hard, to be a big city. Everything is made of cardboard, construction paper and tape. The moon is on a string. The stars are hole-punched. The crew builds buildings half a step ahead of the host.
Who Lives on the Set
- Jon: the host. A real photo, glued to cardboard. Says he's fine.
- Chester: a mustard couch with teal cushions and mismatched button eyes. Sidekick, guest, furniture. Speaks rarely, deeply, and only when it matters ("It's a show.").
- Bob: Jon's real dog, now paper and talking. Owed one treat, twenty years overdue.
- The Jon Five: the all-egg house band. A Mummy (drums), a man with a cane (keys made of red cups), a sombrero guitarist, a silver space trumpeter, and a singer whose name tag just says "hello."
- Desk Jon: Jon's reflection in the glossy desk. Calmer, drier, quietly wiser. Only Jon and you can see him.
- The Crew: black paper silhouettes who are always running, always building, and occasionally eating popcorn.
Rules of the Potato Audience
- Potatoes applaud when the sign lights up. Russets applaud a little longer.
- Heckles must be nice. ("Great hair, Jon!")
- Blueberries count as one ticket.
- Broccoli sits in the back because it is basically a tree.
- Nobody gets mashed. Ever.
How a Show Works
Every segment is a TV channel. Between segments we flip channels with a burst of old-TV static and a green channel number. Some channels last a whole sketch; some last two seconds.