This probably really IS the next best thing to being there. It’s WayneBrady.com, a new Website launching at 6 p.m. PST August 22 featuring live animation and real-time voice interaction with actor/comedian Wayne Brady, star of ABC's "Whose Line Is It Anyway."

"The technology from Macromedia and HearMe lets me personally connect to my fans online while maintaining the interactivity of a live comedy event," says Brady. "All of that and I can be sitting at home in my pajamas! I love the Web!"

The Wayne Brady website, driven by Macromedia Shockwave and HearMe VoiceXTRA, is a community site for fans that uses voice-enabled, multi-user chat rooms to allow Brady to host live, interactive improv events driven by real-time fan input. Brady gets his own private remote control which lets him control an animated version of himself and also lets him decide what is on users’ screens, and when.

"Wayne Brady is best known for his ability to do live improvisation, so the challenge in creating his site was to bring the immediacy and intimacy of an improv show online," said Steve Zehngut, president of Zeek Interactive, developer of the site."Using Macromedia Shockwave and HearMe voice technologies, online users will be able to interact with Brady, hear his voice in real-time, and see an online representation of Brady that can augment his improvisation."

During the Tuesday launch, users will be treated to three events. The first showcases Brady’s improvisation talents. Random pictures of elements will appear onscreen and users will mix and match them. Brady will then have to come up with a story on the fly using those elements. In my sneak peak, I chose a picture of Gandhi, a waterfall landscape, and a bucket of water, for example.

In the second event, users will click on random animations of characters, and Brady will improvise a voice. "Brady is so popular because of his ability to make up songs on the spot," says Zehngut. "In the last event, he will ask the audience to make a suggestion for a Rap song. He’ll choose one and provide the music and lyrics."

The crowd will then go to a live chat room for a chat with Brady. Users will submit questions, which go to a moderator. If the person’s question is chosen, the moderator will turn their mic on and they can ask their question live. When that question/answer is done, the moderator will turn the mic off and go on to the next user.

"In that way it works much like a radio call-in show," Zehngut explains. They plan to do the live event roughly once a month to see how well it’s attended, then will decide if they want to do it more frequently.

"We’ve taken chat to the next level," says Zehngut. "We’re offering Wayne’s fans a reason to come back and build a community around this site."

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See related article: Using Shockwave to develop dynamic online experiences