APPLETON, Minn. - The public is invited to be a part of a live TV audience for a new regional variety program featuring a mixture of comedy, ventriloquism and Minnesota performers. The taping session for Minneshowta will be held Sunday, October 8 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Edson Auditorium on the University of Minnesota, Morris campus. The event is free, refreshments will be served and the first 75 audience members attending will receive a free Minneshowta hat, t-shirt or other door prize. For more information visit www.pioneer.org/minneshowta or call Kayla Hawkinson at 1-800-726-3178.

Minneshowta is the brainchild of comedic ventriloquist James Wedgwood. Wedgwood received a legacy grant from the Lake Region Arts Council to create a pilot episode for the show with Pioneer Public Television. The program will feature performances by the a cappella group The Sound Exchange and comedienne Mary Rowles, along with a humorous profile of Vining, Minnesota. The show will air on Pioneer Public TV in 2018, and if successful, additional episodes will be created and aired.

For more information visit www.pioneer.org/minneshowta.html or call 800-726-3178.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Lake Region Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.