Before and After with Hannah Ballou Artwork

Multiple Os

Talk show host Oriana Fox interviews an eclectic array of artists and other experts who have no difficulty ‘spilling the beans’ about their lives and opinions, especially when they defy norms and conventions. If you’re interested in candid confessions, non-conformity, creativity and mental health, you’ve come to the right place! 'Multiple Os' is the spin-off podcast for Oriana's performance piece 'The O Show', an instantly recognisable yet innovative take on the talk show genre. Topics explored include gender, sexuality, shyness and success, integrating therapeutic, artistic and political perspectives.

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Multiple Os

Before and After with Hannah Ballou

February 04, 2022 • Oriana Fox and guest Hannah Ballou • Season 2 • Episode 4

This episode is a double feature as it includes not one but two interviews Oriana carried out with the performance artist Hannah Ballou. Last year, Oriana spoke with Ballou after she had just completed filming Goo:Ga II, itself a sequel to her 2015 feminist live art comedy show Goo: Ga I, which playfully subverted the gender reveal party and announced the sex of her first child, a much-desired daughter. As Ballou explains, she always wanted to do a follow-up show. But due to Covid, Goo:Ga II had to be staged in an empty theatre for the camera. The hilarity of the first performance continues in the film sequel as a heavily pregnant Ballou, accompanied by her now 5-year old daughter in matching leopard-print bikinis, takes us through a vibrant dance routine, replete with a giant yoga ball that Ballou vogues with, making a spectacle of her bump, Meghan Markle-style. The mood swiftly changes though, as we learn that the gender binary paradigm is the least of this fetus' problems since being diagnosed with a very rare heart anomaly. The mood of Goo ga II darkens as Ballou grapples to keep hope at bay, not knowing if the pregnancy will come to term. It's a film that will literally make you laugh and cry. Oriana's follow-up interview with Ballou, which took place recently, i.e. 7 months after the first, finds Ballou with the relief of her baby boy alive and thriving, and with a string of upcoming film screenings to plug.

The first interview was recorded live on Instagram in May 2021 as part of Oriana's digital residency at Mimosa House Gallery. You can watch the episode here.

***Tickets to the next screening of Goo:Ga II at Colchester Arts Centre on 4 May 2022 can be booked here.***

Oriana Fox is a London-based, New York-born artist with a PhD in self-disclosure. She puts her expertise to work as the host of the talk show performance piece The O Show.

Hannah Ballou is a live artist whose practice integrates neo-burlesque, stand-up comedy, and audience participation. She holds a Ph.D. in feminist comedy from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and is currently a Lecturer in Drama & Theatre Arts at Kingston Univerity, London. You can follow Hannah on Instagram or Facebook.

Also mentioned in this episode is the book Maternal Performance (2021) written by Lena Simic and Emily Underwood-Lee, which includes writing about Ballou's work among other performances dealing with maternity. Register here for the online book launch event taking place on 15 February at 7pm GMT.

Credits:
Produced, edited and hosted by Oriana Fox
Introductory Voiceover by John Kilduff, aka Mr. Let's Paint
Original theme song written and performed by Paulette Humanbeing
Special Thanks to Sven Van Damme, Katie Beeson, Janak Patel and Mimosa House Gallery, London

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