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Joe Pera Talks With You aired on Adult Swim in the early hours of the morning. The show like much of the channel’s programming found niche audiences. Pera’s soft voice and discourse about the simple parts of life made for interesting television after awaking on the couch after falling asleep. But Pera’s show about a socially awkward, wholesome Marquette choir teacher, aired for the last time December 13th 2021. Pera’s connection to the Upper Peninsula began when for the first episode the show runners needed snow and the perfect Christmas tree, so they looked to Marquette.
“And they needed an area with snow, and the U.P. was kinda the only place on this side of the country with snow at the time. So they decided to film the show here. And he liked it so much, he decided to make his character based here.” – Matt Riutta, CLK Schools, Elementary Music Teacher
CLK Elementary Music Teacher, Matt Riutta, and Pera, began connecting after Riutta reached out as a fan of the show. To say goodbye to the show, his colleagues and fans, Pera held a series of stand up comedy sets in Brooklyn, new York. In the spirit of Pera’s wholesome character on the show, the proceeds from his comedy sets, will help Riutta’s students. In total Pera donated 11,613 dollars to the schools program. Riutta has said that he doesn’t know yet what the funds will go toward, but he hopes take students on a trip and make improvement to equipment for the middle and high school bands.
