Spank Bank Time Machine

Feb 26, 2025 - Mar 26, 2025

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Spank Bank Time Machine is a whimsical blend of Angels in America and Snakes on a Plane, with an emphasis on drug awareness. Join Trauma Clown John Michael as he navigates through time, creating a space to mourn and celebrate those lost. This show raises awareness about Narcan, offering a chance for a do-over.

 

John Michael is a queer health educator, playwright, and international trauma clown. His 11 solo shows have sold-out and won critical acclaim in six countries…if you count Texas and Florida. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, John Michael is a Tejano tall-tale teller focusing on celebratory grief and creating Dia De Los Muertos plays that open a direct line to our ancestors. John Michael’s solo performance work is chiefly a product of the mentorship of Matt Tomlanovich, who passed in 2014. Matt taught John Michael the Fitzmaurice Voice Technique, directed and developed his first plays, and influenced John Michael’s move to Chicago. He learned how to be seen and heard in the theater through Matt’s tutelage. 

 

John Michael has been seen  on stages in Chicago, Dallas, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Orlando, Bergen, Gothenburg, Winnipeg, Edinburgh, Ottawa and Toronto. He is most known for the wildly entertaining Meatball Séance, where he cook meatballs onstage to summon his mother from the grave so that she can meet his boyfriend played by the audience. His other plays include:John Michael and the Order of the Penix, Dementia Me, The A-Gays: Stillwater, Oklahoma, Would You Like guys with That? and It’s Not All About You John Michael.

 

When John Michael lost his third friend in a row to overdose during the pandemic, he created a new show called SPANK BANK TIME MACHINE that handed out over 2,000 Narcans during its run. The Neo-Futurists took to the message so well they became a year-round Narcan distributor and to commemorate National Recovery Month, the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois commissioned a workshop of a young adult version now called Narcan Time Machine.

 

About the Co-Creator & co-director: Sammy Zeisel recently completed his MFA in Directing at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University where he was awarded the Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize in directing. He is currently the directing fellow at Rattlestick Theater. At school, Sammy has directed Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and new plays The Figs by Doug Robinson and rent free by Danielle Stagger. Previously he has worked at institutions including Steppenwolf Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. His short films Clambake, The Care and Keeping of You, and Cheese Shop (WINNER: Best Chicago Director, Windy City International Film Festival) have been selected and screened at festivals across the country. Spank Bank Time Machine represents his fifth joyous collaboration with John Michael, including the critically acclaimed Meatball Séance which performed in festivals in the US, Canada, and Europe. He is thrilled to be working once again with his favorite performance artist. He received a degree in theatre from Northwestern University.

 

About the co-Director: Elizabeth “Lizzie” Lovelady is a director and playwright based in Chicago. She received her BFA in playwriting and directing from Southern Methodist University, where she was awarded the Garland Wright Directing Award and the Rosenfield Playwriting Award. In 2021, she received her MFA from The Lir Academy at Trinity College – the Irish National Academy of Dramatic Art.  Selected directing credits include As You Like It (Fair Assembly, Dallas), Constellations (The Lir, Dublin), Photograph 51 (20% Theatre Company, Chicago), Crimes of the Heart (Oil Lamp Theater, Glenview), and He Said Yes/He Said No, an international collaboration with the German company Bluespots Productions. 

She also wrote and performed the one woman show A Simple Lesson in Baking with Marie Antoinette. Her adaptation of the noir film DOA, which she also directed, won the 2016 Non-Equity Jeff Award for Best Adaptation.

 

Runtime: 65 minutes