Returning To Radio

Monday November 12th, 2007 - Chicago, IL/Lake Villa, IL

Today could be an historic day in my life. Mondays are historically busy for me anyway. I have a class to teach at Zanies in Chicago and then I often host the new talent showcase afterward. I plan for it and it’s a win/win for everyone because I make one trip to Chicago and take care of several things. That’s always good but now I’m about to get even busier.

My friend Jerry Agar and I have been talking about doing a comedy ‘round table’ format where a group of comics comment on the news on his radio show. Jerry has had this idea for a long time. He went to comedy central with it years ago and soon after Bill Maher got the show ‘Politically Incorrect’. Coincidence? It was fishy at the time and it still is today.

There’s nothing Jerry could do about it then but now he’s in a position to put it together and use it on WLS. That’s a big station and it could really be good for us all. The others in studio are Tim Slagle and Ken Sevara. Jerry is the moderator and has a list of topics and it goes around the horn. We have jokes written and the idea is to keep it moving and funny.

Today was our first installment and it went very well. Tim and Ken are more up to date in news and political issues but I’m pretty good at throwing in ad libs and adding on to the written jokes they have. Jerry and I have known each other so long that we have a rapport that goes way beyond radio. This is a great mix and if we do it right we can make it work.

There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to do it right and today was a fantastic start. We all had material written and had WAY more than we could use. The bit runs from 10:30 to 11am and the plan is to make it a weekly feature. If that goes well Jerry thinks we can do a series of live shows in the area to raise money for charity and I love that idea. This is fun!

In order to get downtown on time to be on the air I left at 5:30am. There is construction hell on the Edens Expressway and also rush hour hell on top of that. This was our first one and I didn’t want to have a chance of being late so I got up and got started driving. I had a hassle free drive in and was way early but I’d rather do that than be stressed out and late.

After the radio show we had breakfast and talked over how it went and where it may go in the future. Everyone was optimistic and the program director LOVED it. That is never a bad thing either. This is how I want to be involved in radio. I don’t have a job in it but it is still part of my life. Once a week on WLS will keep it fun and hopefully get me known a little more so I can be a bigger draw in clubs. That’s the reason I started in radio anyway.

I went to get my mail and read my starting up a business book until it was time to go to Zanies for class. We had a very good class tonight and then I hosted the showcase which I also enjoyed. This was a great day all around. It started at 4am and ended after midnight.

These are the kind of days that I love and I hope there are a lot more. My energy comes alive on days like this because everything I’m doing is fun for me. This is what life is about and money doesn’t matter. I’m doing what I love and nobody in my family ever did that.