Let’s step back through some NARN history:
2004 State Fair Broadcast
Guest: The Funky Chickens. A man and woman dressed as chickens, performing primarily for kids. They sang chicken songs. They made “cluck” puns as they spoke. I’m sure their intended audience – 3-7 year old kids – love ’em. They were, shall we say, misplaced as guests on a conservative talk show.
Highlight of Gig: Me, laying an egg.
Booked by: Chad the Elder
Chad’s Status: Absent from the broadcast that day.
2005 NARN Broadcast
Guest: Joe Schlabotnik (name changed
to protect the innocentbecause I can’t remember it) the Conservative Comic. A standup comic. Who was conservative. To be fair, he gave evidence of his conservatism. But in a half-hour interview, he gave no evidence whatsoever that he was a comic.Highlight of Gig: Brian Ward and I, laying a metaphorical egg, trying to squeeze blood from a turnip.
Booked by: Chad the Elder
Chad’s Status: Absent from the broadcast that hour.
2007 State Fair Broadcast
Guest: Sewer Man. A guy who talked for fifteen minutes on the NARN I State Fair broadcast last Saturday about sewage, as he mixed some sort of sewage-like concoction. Brian, trooper that he is, plugged away at it, and did his best, but…ugh.
Highlight of Gig: The guy (putatively) drinking his sewage-like concoction on the air. I didn’t say it was a good highlight…
Booked by: Chad the Elder
Chad’s Status: Absent from the broadcast that day.
2008 State Fair Broadcast
Guest: Transgender Mimes for Kucinich. A group of Transgender (and transgender -sympathizing) mimes who do silent performance art elucidating man’s inhumanity to woman, and why a Kucinich presidency and a Democrat/Green alliance in Congress would be best for the womynandchildren.
Interview to be conducted by Chad the Elder.
Highlight of Gig: Brian, John, Ed, King, Michael and I, sitting in the burger joint in the Horticulture building, watching the fun.
Booked by: Brian, John, Ed, King, Michael and I.
Brian, John, Ed, King, Michael and My Status: Absent from the broadcast that segment. Or three. Or maybe a whole hour of Transgender Mimes for Kucinich.
I think you should book your tickets.
I hate to correct you Mitch, but I was not responsible for booking that lame “conservative comic” and I was on hand for the debacle of trying to get him to say anything remotely amusing.
I will cop to the other bookings, but you have to remember that it’s the State Fair. You can have wonky policy guys as guests for the other fifty weeks of the year. At the Fair you need to play to your audience.
And I had ever intention of interviewing Sewer Man and getting to the bottom of why what we flush is important. Unfortunately, something came up at the last moment and I had to take a pass.
Can’t wait for those mimes next year.
I was not responsible for booking that lame “conservative comic” and I was on hand for the debacle of trying to get him to say anything remotely amusing.
“The sins of the younger brother shall be visited upon the older brother”.
At the Fair you need to play to your audience.
People who drink sewage?
I had ever intention of interviewing Sewer Man…Unfortunately…I had to take a pass.
That seems both fitting AND redundant…
I thought Sewer Man was compelling, groundbreaking radio. A veritable return to Theater of the Mind.
You clearly are a man of vision and imagination Kermit. I’m listening to the podcast right now and it is quite compelling. Who knew that Sewer Man referred to himself in the third person?
Who knew that Sewer Man referred to himself in the third person?
Not the guy who booked him?
Kermit is indeed “a man of vision and imagination”.
What a guy!
You guys are hilarious. Maybe you all should start a radio show.
Silly Mitch. You don’t book Sewer Man. You deal with his mild-mannered alter ego named Dave.
There’s a podcast? Angryclown will have to listen. Especially to the conservative “comic.”
The conservative comic broadcast is lost to history.
And if it weren’t, I’d make sure it GOT lost. I think Chad and I are in full agreement there.
There are plenty of funny conservatives out there. But when you try to tailor your comedy to your politcs, the results are not pretty.
Plenty, eh? The world awaits a rightwing Jon Stewart.
The world awaits a rightwing Jon Stewart.
A smug little twerp who’s a comedic one-trick pony?
Keep waiting.
Dennis Miller is doing pretty well these days.
Oh dude, I thought you at least retained your comedy integrity. Are you going to also pretend that Colbert isn’t a frikken genius? And sure, Miller’s doing pretty well in the rightwing ghetto of talk radio these days. But Miller was screamingly funny before he was a wingnut. The politics are a drag on his humor. Something about privileged white guys whining about illegal aliens and whatnot just doesn’t make for good comedy.
I thought you at least retained your comedy integrity
‘mano, I never had any.
Colbert? Adequate, on a good day.
But Miller was screamingly funny before he was a wingnut. The politics are a drag on his humor.
Actually, the format is. Standup-style comedy and talk radio just don’t mix (see: Marc Maron, Lizzzzz Winstad, Al Franken, Janeane Garawful, Sam Seder). Miller is just smart enough to know it, and adapt.
When he does standup or off the cuff stuff, he’s still screamingly funny.
And I can’t wait til he does his first affiliate tour (Miller’s show is on my station’s sister station)
Are you going to also pretend that Colbert isn’t a frikken genius?
Sure!
In the same way Amos and Andy were!
Colbert’s doing blackface? Who knew? Angryclown’s going to bed early these days.
Bill Maher is no genius, but he’s pretty funny doing political standup.
The folks who made up the Air America lineup weren’t exactly at the top of Angryclown’s comedy go-to list. Betcha Richard Pryor in his prime woulda made that fat drug addict Rush wet his chinos.
Betcha Richard Pryor in his prime woulda made that fat drug addict Rush wet his chinos
Sure!
But could he have gotten numbers doing a talk show?
Prolly not.
They are very, very different media. I happen to like ’em both.
Richard Pryor could do anything but pick movie scripts. Of course lefty radio has the built-in disadvantage of having fewer pissed-off unemployed people sitting on their asses with nothing better to do than call in and complain about the hard-working immigrants who took their jobs.
Colbert’s shtick makes for a good skit, but watching a whole show based on it is like watching on of those horrible SNL movies.
You are amazingly out of it, Chad.
And people in Minnesota aren’t allowed to use Yiddish, got it? Don’t make me come out there!
Chad lives in Saint Louis Park, which has every bit as much claim to use Yiddish as anyplace in Jersey or Connecticut or wherever Clown is from.