Danyel Thompson’s ‘Pop Up Conversations’

[Written by Don Burgess]

Is the barbershop for ‘woke people’ or males only? What happens when you insert a woman into this male-dominated atmosphere?

We are about to find out as Bermudian Danyel Thompson is capturing that in her new TV show called Pop-Up Conversations.

Danyel and her husband Calvin own Gombey Productions and have already filmed the pilot episode in California.

“I’m out on the west coast, and I’m an island girl, and I want you to know about Bermuda,” Danyel said. “What better way than to name the company Gombey?”

Initially, she was going to do a show about flipping houses, something the Thompsons are familiar with and have already starred in for a different series.

But several things didn’t mesh together as the producer’s timing did not match when Danyel had to close on some homes, and the producer wanted it done in Los Angeles rather than Temecula, where the Thompsons live [Temecula is about halfway between LA and San Diego].

So that inspired her to think about doing a show on a different idea. Danyel and Calvin, who are known for their lively banter, speculated a new show could centre around that. They started off in coffee shops, and that evolved to trying it in a barbershop.

“It was a hit,” Danyel said. “I can’t tell you what I said because it wasn’t PG, but everyone was laughing, and it was engaging. We came home and said ‘We need to do this.’”

They came up with a name for the show: Pop-Up Conversations. “We just wrapped our first show on January 22,” Danyel said. “The background is that my husband claims I am not allowed there because it is only there for ‘woke people.’

“Of course, it’s a man’s world, but it was fun. We are doing this across America. It’s not just going to be one barbershop or one area.”

Pop-Up Conversations will do the second show in San Diego before travelling to Los Angeles, Texas, Atlanta, New Jersey, New York, and Chicago.

Each barbershop has been selected due to either having well-known barbers, or famous clientele or both.

“There won’t just be average people sitting in the seats. They will be up-and-coming rap stars, agents, executive producers, NFL players in there, so there are a plethora of people.”

Danyel said one of the criteria for the barbershop and guests is the social media presence on Instagram.

She described Pop-Up Conversations as an adult comedy. Guests are free to discuss whatever they want, with two restrictions – politics and religion.

“That just sends people in a whole different world, and it’s not funny anymore. It’s just sensitive.

She said barbers are very competitive, so one of the unique aspects of each show is the opening song will be crafted by the host barbershop.

“It will be a video, and they will rep their city,” Danyel said. “It will give them a chance to show how they want their city portrayed.”

She said the show has yet to be picked up by a network; however, because of the Thompson’s LA connections, there is some interest.

“Everyone is looking for new ideas, so I have some connections in the industry that can get me a meeting with execs.”

Danyel said the show is currently being edited, and once it is finished and the trailer is done, she will start having the barbers blow it up on their Instagram pages.

Once the trailer is done, Pop-Up Conversations can then be pitched to Hollywood. If successful, Gombey productions could then be dancing its way across Bermuda’s TV screens soon.

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