"Yes, it's that special time of year," Henkin intones in his deep, radio-announcer voice, "when we find ourselves learning all over again that we can only get so much comfort out of a measly air-conditioning window unit, a time of year when no matter how sophisticated we fancy our palates, nothing satisfies quite like an ice-cold can of Natty Boh. It's summertime in Baltimore and, miraculously, here in the middle of this sweltering, motionless month of July, animatronic Christmas decorations still deck the yards of Hampden's 34th Street."
You can't help but smile.
Jess Henkin likes to say that Baltimoored is "A Prairie Home Companion meets H airspray," and indeed, the new show owes an obvious debt to humorist Garrison Keillor's weekly public radio broadcast. But the energy, enthusiasm and can-do spirit of this group of thirty-somethings also calls to mind the MGM musicals from the 1930s and 1940s starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.
"We're learning on the job," Jessica Henkin says. Perhaps. But they're also formidably organized. Their daily schedules would put a Cabinet minister to shame. Not only are Wexler and the Henkins employed full time, they are the parents of young children. Stoop is just what they do in their spare hours.
"They really have their act together," says storyteller Rain Pryor, who should know - her father was comedy legend Richard Pryor. "They are so well-organized, it's hard to believe they have other jobs besides the Stoop," she says. "When they told me this wasn't their full-time gig, I was like, 'What? No way!' "
The Henkins are married. Aaron, 35, is the producer of The Signal on WYPR, where the Stoop broadcasts will be aired. Jessica, also 35, is an administrator at the Kennedy Krieger School in Rockville. They are the parents of a 2-year-old girl and 1-year-old boy.
Wexler, 37, is a senior editor at Style magazine, and teaches writing at area colleges. She and her husband, Mike Subelsky, are the parents of a 1-year-old girl.
"It's been a challenge," Wexler says. "But, I really, really enjoy it. As a writer who works mostly alone, I've relished the collaborative process, though at times, it's nearly killed me."
She and Jessica Henkin are longtime friends and members of the Baltimore Improv Group. The inspiration for Stoop, in which seven guests speak for seven minutes apiece on a pre-selected theme (such as Family Secrets, or Money Changes Everything), was inspired by similar programs in other cities. Even the name of the Baltimore series is a nod to its predecessors: The Moth in New York and The Porchlight in San Francisco. "The moth is attracted to the porchlight, which shines on the stoop," Wexler says.
