The Orbiting Human Circus · WNYC Studios and Night Vale Presents

The Orbiting Human Circus Holiday Vacation

December 18, 2019·30 min·2 clips

A storyteller describes a rich but isolated orphan boy named Alistair whose entire emotional life is contained within one annual moment — his aunt hanging Christmas ornaments and saying 'now it's Christmas.'

The episode is framed as a holiday pause from the main Orbiting Human Circus narrative, explicitly positioned as not part of the ongoing story. It opens with an all-new original poem, 'A Visit from the Platypus,' written and performed by Drew Callender, who plays the Orbiting Human Circus narrator. The poem parodies the structure and meter of 'A Visit from St. Nicholas,' replacing Santa with the great recitating platypus of the north, who arrives at the Eiffel Tower on Christmas Eve with a sack of toys, a singing saw, and leathery flippers. Julian Koster then delivers a spoken personal reflection about his grandmother, who he describes as one of his guardian angels, and his uncle Evan Harlan, who played the accordion and is now deceased. Koster explains that the klezmer song about to be heard was recorded in his grandmother's living room at holiday time, with his uncle on accordion. He encourages listeners to picture his uncle wearing a large oven mitt as a hat, as he sometimes did around the house. The episode's main story, 'First Night,' is performed in a New York cafe storytelling voice by Larry Ratsoe-Slowman. It tells the story of Alistair, an orphaned boy living with a cold but loving aunt on Park Avenue, whose only emotional connection with his aunt comes once a year when she climbs a ladder to hang precious family glass ornaments on the Christmas tree. On Christmas Eve, a feverish Alistair sneaks under the tree, knocks it over, and shatters every ornament. His aunt sends him to bed and he develops a 103-degree fever. The narrative shifts to a homeless man who wakes up in a Times Square alley to find a blanket, food, and a barely legible note from the delirious child saying 'the world needs you.' The man realizes the child thinks he is Santa Claus, sees that the boy is dangerously sick, and delivers him anonymously to the 18th Precinct. After reading about the runaway rich kid in the Daily Mirror, the man travels to his brother-in-law's house in Jersey City, cleans up, buys a half-price Santa costume, and returns to Park Avenue. He visits Alistair and promises in his best Santa voice to bring Christmas back from the North Pole. This breaks the aunt's reserve, prompting her to mobilize the entire household to create Christmas in five minutes. The episode closes with the show's stagehands singing 'Silent Night' backstage at the broadcast ballroom, followed by cast and crew exchanging holiday wishes.

As heard by us

A strange holiday pageant where absurdity and tenderness share the frame.

The holiday special braids together two winter scenes: a darkened Paris where the Eiffel Tower has gone out and a platypus arrives in the manner of St.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play if you want Christmas to arrive through Paris, a dark Eiffel Tower, and a platypus with a sack.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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