Journalist and documentary filmmaker Andrew Callaghan of Channel 5 kicked off the “C5 Carnival” tour on Feb. 13 at Brooklyn Paramount in downtown Brooklyn. The New York City show was the first of 31 tour stops throughout cities in the United States and Canada, and the tour will run until April 26 with a closing show in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Callaghan, who grew up in Seattle, Washington, discovered his talent for storytelling as a high school student documenting the Occupy Seattle movement for his school newspaper. This work earned Callaghan a full scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans, where he studied journalism. While attending college, Callaghan worked as a doorman on New Orleans’ infamous Bourbon Street, and began his man-on-the-street style interview series “Quarter Confessions,” now known as “New Orleans Unplugged.”
Named after its location in the French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans, the series documented the wildness of Bourbon Street, the center of New Orleans’ 24-hour party atmosphere, through compilations of bar and club-goers sharing their darkest and most provocative secrets.
In 2019, Callaghan began his YouTube interview series “All Gas No Breaks” after publishing a zine of the same name, documenting a cross-country hitchhiking trip he took as a teenager in 2017. Callaghan traveled around the United States in an RV with his two-man production team, Nic Mosher and Evan Gilbert-Katz, documenting events such as Nevada’s Burning Man festival, and the 2019 Flat Earth Conference in Dallas, Texas.
The “C5 Carnival” was a chance for fans of Channel 5 and “All Gas No Breaks” — which Callaghan recently bought back the rights to — to experience a live question-and-answer session, documentary screening, talent show and rap battle all in one night.
In 2021, after leaving “All Gas No Breaks” due to contractual issues with the production company which now owned the show, Callaghan started Channel 5 alongside Mosher and Gilbert-Katz. Channel 5’s first video, a compilation documenting spring break in Miami during the COVID-19 pandemic, quickly went viral amassing over 5 million views. Since the initial video, Callaghan’s Gonzo-style journalism has expanded rapidly, scoring him long-form interviews with high-profile figures like Pete Buttigieg and Hunter Biden.
The “C5 Carnival” was a chance for fans of Channel 5 and “All Gas No Breaks” — which Callaghan recently bought back the rights to — to experience a live question-and-answer session, documentary screening, talent show and rap battle all in one night.
Callaghan kicked off the show with a never before seen screening of his latest documentary, a heartfelt snapshot of the life of Ric Shore, an elderly California man who had recently lost his beloved pet bird. Callaghan met Shore while visiting his mother in Venice Beach, after noticing a flyer Shore had posted in the neighborhood in hopes of finding his lost parrot, Orson.
Although Callaghan did not shy away from the ridiculousness of the topic, he approached the ABDL’s featured in the episode with respect and genuine curiosity, aiming to understand their lifestyle instead of mocking it.
Despite his best efforts, Callaghan was unable to reunite Shore with Orson. Instead, the Channel 5 crew gifted him a new parrot, named Duncan. As the pair continued to spend time together, Callaghan learned that Shore also had a background in documentary filmmaking, co-directing the 1978 film “Punking Out,” which documents the birthplace of the punk rock scene in New York City’s iconic music club CBGB.
After the screening, Callaghan transitioned into the rap battle portion of the evening, inviting two audience members onstage to freestyle for a panel of judges that included comedians Willam Banks and Stephanie D’Agostini (known professionally as Stef Dag) and graffiti artist and Channel 5 host Otunba “Polo” Cutty, also known as Sidam.
The rappers, who introduced themselves as Jalon and Julian, performed three two-minute freestyle rounds over classic hip-hop instrumentals. After the final round, Jalon was declared the winner, earning him a spot on the judging panel of the talent show that followed.
Audience members lined up for a chance to showcase their talents on stage, and those given a chance to perform did not disappoint. Contestants whistled, drew portraits of Callaghan in record time, played harmonica, performed stunts and did standup comedy — with one contestant delivering a spot-on impression of United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Brittany Catalano, an opera singer from Staten Island, gave a show-stopping performance from Mozart’s 1786 four-act opera “The Marriage of Figaro.” Ultimately, the winner was Nick, who did not share his last name, and simultaneously performed two talents: “circular breathing” while jumping over his leg.
Following the talent show, Callaghan screened the long anticipated “All Gas No Breaks” comeback episode, in which Callaghan and his crew infiltrate the world of the Adult Baby Diaper Lover (ABDL) subculture — a community of age regressors who find comfort in dressing and acting like babies.
Whatever you want to do, just don’t be afraid to fail. Be able to turn ideas into products, even if it’s imperfect … because even if it’s not that good you’ll learn what to do better next. Andrew Callaghan, Journalist
Although Callaghan did not shy away from the ridiculousness of the topic, he approached the ABDL’s featured in the episode with respect and genuine curiosity, aiming to understand their lifestyle instead of mocking it. As the episode concluded, the audience erupted into laughter and thunderous applause — shocked, thrilled and thoroughly entertained.
Callaghan ended the night with an audience question-and-answer session, answering burning questions and offering advice to aspiring documentary filmmakers.
“Whatever you want to do, just don’t be afraid to fail. Be able to turn ideas into products, even if it’s imperfect … because even if it’s not that good you’ll learn what to do better next,” Callaghan said.
“A lot of people who are really talented sit on amazing raw material for years, obsessed with making the perfect product, so much so that by the time it comes out it’s lost all momentum.”
While discussing the challenges of ethical documentary filmmaking, Callaghan expressed a desire to have existed in a time before cameras as a journalist, because “the presence of a camera modifies everybody’s behavior,” he said.
“You can be having the sickest conversation with somebody, (and) the moment you turn a camera on it’s like they freeze up, they put on a new persona.”
Callaghan also spoke about the deliberate distinctions between Channel 5 and “All Gas No Breaks,” noting that owning both platforms allows him to balance in-depth coverage of serious issues with lighter and more humorous content. He described “All Gas No Breaks” as an “apolitical return to form,” meant to be a reprieve from the “constant panic and fear content,” that inundates social media.
The “C5 Carnival” proved Callaghan’s distinct storytelling and effortless charm holds up in a live setting, effectively walking the line between sincerity and absurdity. If the tour’s opening night is any indication, Channel 5’s next chapter will be bold and boundary-pushing as ever.
