Photos: Courtesy of Bob Keary
Goodnight Provincetown Returns to the Post Office Cabaret
by Steve Desroches
There is a certain amount of performance in being a bartender. In addition to the skill of mixing cocktails and meeting specific requests, one also must keep a happy face, even if the patron is annoying, pretend you remember someone when you actually have no idea who they are, and keep the jokes running and the vibe smooth, whether you’re in the mood or not. After years of working at the Red Inn, Bob Keary knows all the tricks, magical acts, and soft-shoe routines that make a bar a happy place beyond just happy hour. Plus, Keary has a wicked natural wit, perfect timing, and a jovial manner that is enchanting. Put all that together and it makes sense that over the years so many who ponied up to the bar at the Red Inn told him he should have his own late-night talk show, because in a way, he already had one. He loved the idea.
That idea, however, sat on the back burner for a while. Sometimes ideas are best left unfulfilled, as reality can’t live up to the dream. Nevertheless, it nagged at him and just when he thought, “Now’s the time. Now is my time!”, the pandemic hit. The timing was perfect for another venture. It was then that Wake Up in Provincetown was born, the hit internet-based morning show Keary co-hosts with Harrison Fish, something that could be filmed by a quaranteam and distributed safely.
As good as the a.m. was going, friends kept pushing Keary toward the p.m. And on Thanksgiving weekend in 2021, Keary debuted Goodnight Provincetown, a live, onstage, late-night talk show at the Post Office Cabaret that has become as popular as his morning gig.
“I’m just one of those people that needs to be shoved a bit,” says Keary. “Every time I do the show I need a little push. I’m always feeling, ‘maybe it’s a good idea, maybe it’s stupid.’ I feel that way every time. Once I’m out there I’m having a great time and I feel relieved once it’s over. And then I look back and think of all the ways I f—ked up.”
Live and unscripted, Goodnight Provincetown is full of the unexpected, even for Keary. Staged like a late-night TV show, the format features an opening monologue, special guest performances and interviews, and quirky segments, as well as a house band named the FML’s, consisting of Mike Flanagan, Christian McCarthy, and Ian Leahy. By its very nature, each show is unique, always a bit of a wild romp. While the morning show has grown to be informative, touching on politics and local issues, Goodnight Provincetown is focused on being a good time. Keary is no stranger to the stages of Provincetown, often stealing the show at Showgirls, alone or as part of an ensemble. He’s also a talented writer, penning plays, vignettes, and jokes. All the perfect skill sets to be a late-night show host.
He remembers his younger self watching some of the late-night greats and feeling a certain pull and indeed a kinship. “The first I remember loving was David Letterman,” says Keary. “Then Seth Myers, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert. I love those guys. Those are the shows I watched and were inspired by. Now it’s in Provincetown and it’s my version of it.”
In this Provincetown-centric show, Keary often includes parodies about only-in-Provincetown affairs. For instance, many gay and lesbian people who work in town have a story or two about being approached by a straight couple looking for a threesome, as has happened to Keary on occasion (he politely declined). But he decided to write a spoof of “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” where instead of singing “If you like piña coladas…,” he sings, “If you like peen and vagina.” You won’t see that on Jimmy Kimmel.
Performed once a month from May through October, Goodnight Provincetown is hitting its stride, says Keary. He feels he has a handle on the format and genre, even if controlling a live, unscripted show is just an illusion. He found that out one night when the wonderfully wild and kooky Tammie Brown was a guest. The drag queen, who was on the very first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and has become a perennial summer presence in town, sat down for an interview and had the crowd in stiches. But when it came time for her to leave, she refused. She pointed to the Tonight Show and The Graham Norton Show, where the guests don’t leave a cumulatively filled-up couch. Keary pointed out they only had one chair, never mind a couch, and she’d need to go to make room. She refused. She stayed and stayed until finally in a full-on tantrum, she left, screaming and swearing.
“I saw her on the street and she said, ‘Hey, sorry about the show, I love you, I was just fooling around,’” says Keary. “I said, ‘I love you! That was all great and I totally want you on again.’ She promised she wouldn’t take over the show again.”
Goodnight Provincetown with Bob Keary, is at the Post Office Cabaret on Mondays, May 26, June 30, July 28, August 25, at 10 p.m. and September 29 and October 27 at 9 p.m. Tickets ($35/$40) are available at the box office and online at postofficecafe.net. For more information call 508.487.0006.
