Batman Radio

Sunday July 20th, 2008 - Kenosha, WI

Another dose of the Batman today. That was the theme of our show on the Mothership Connection tonight on AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha. It’s not really a paranormal topic but everyone and their grandmother is talking about it so why let that opportunity pass us by?

It doesn’t really matter what we talk about actually because I doubt if anyone’s listening to us. Yeah, it’s a real radio station and all that but the truth is we’re probably just talking to ourselves for two hours. This is practice and I knew it when I took on the challenge but that’s how a show develops. It’s like open mike nights in comedy. This is very important.

Tonight was our first ‘theme’ show. In the past we’ve just put anyone we could find that was willing to talk on the phone on the air and we’ve done ok with it. We’ve had several very interesting guests and even though we were just winging it we pulled off good radio.

It’s starting to fall together and there were a lot of positives tonight. First, Scott Markus my regular co-host is really doing a fantastic job. He’s excellent on the air and really gets the concept of how to keep the show moving and keep it interesting. He arranges many of the guests and he also created our website for the show. It’s www.mothershipradio.com.

I wouldn’t have been able to do that and he’s really into the whole concept of this thing so that’s one less problem I have to worry about each week. We’ve been communicating very well and adding things every week. I can see this show growing by leaps and bounds in a relatively short time and that could be good for everybody. Plus we’re all having fun.

My friend Gary Pansch is also a regular contributor and part time co-host. He has a job on Sunday nights and can’t come in every week but once a month he can and tonight was it. He came up with a great idea to do a weekly ‘Mothership Hall Of Fame’ feature that he started tonight that’s very well prepared and smooth. There’s another piece of the puzzle.

He spotlights a random nut bag and does some background on that person. It could be a local person or a national figure or someone living or dead. If we can keep up this kind of growth we’ll have something we can hopefully get paid for at some point. That’s the idea.

Gary and I saw the Bat-movie before the show because he hadn’t seen it yet. I loved it the first time and didn’t mind at all sitting through it again. I caught a few things I hadn’t seen the first time most notably the sign on the semi trailer truck the Joker flipped over.

It had ‘Laughter is the best medicine’ printed on the side of the trailer but someone had spray painted an ‘S’ in front of ‘laughter’ to make it ‘Slaughter’. Very clever and I missed it the first time. It fit in perfectly as the Joker was shooting his bazooka at people. Subtle.

Scott brought in a couple of guests that talked about comic books and role playing game geeks and it all tied in really well. I had my friends Michael Alexander and Joey Callahan call in who are both comedians but also big Batman geeks and it all fit together perfectly.

I think I’ve really found out what the true secret to life’s success is and that’s having the right connections. That’s probably not a big revelation but I thought of it today as all of it came together on the air. Indirectly I’m the one who made it happen and I love the results.

There was a fun vibe in the room and we had callers who contributed and the two hours went by so fast I couldn’t believe it. I was the one who put this idea out there and we tried some different things but in the end we pulled off a fun program. The guests all loved it. I felt the positive vibe as we walked out of the station and it felt great to be the leader of it.

It’s the same thing on WLS on Mondays. Yes it’s Jerry’s show but he will admit that he came up with our segment so he could have me on the air because he believes I can add to his show. I helped pick the other comedians and as we got started I was the main one who acted as the go-between between the comics and Jerry. Now we’re gelling well as a team.

I don’t do all the jokes nor do I claim to take credit for it but I am the leader of the bit as it happens in the studio and I direct the segment. Even if that means pointing to one of the other guys who has his hand up at least there’s a point of focus that we can all agree on. It helps us to avoid talking over each other and it just feels right all around. I love that role.

It’s on a much smaller scale of what George Clinton does during a live show. He is who everyone watches for the lead and it starts with him. I feel very comfortable with that role on both of the radio shows and I will do exactly the same for Uranus Factory Outlet. It’s a matter of knowing who has the hot hand and dishing it off to them when they do. I love it.

George Clinton said in an interview that his only real talent was being able to take all of the craziest people in the music business and get their absolute best when nobody else had a clue of how to do it. I feel the same way. I can get the best out of other people’s talents.

Now I need to find a way to turn a buck with all this. Maybe that’s the part that causes a problem but we all need to eat. Nobody is getting paid for either of the radio shows so we all show up just for the fun of it. For now. If and when money is involved there may be an ulterior motive for some people. For now we’re all just having fun and I’m enjoying that.

Yesterday I got to hang out with Kipper McGee in downtown Chicago. We intended on going up to Milwaukee to see our friend Pat Martin’s daughter get married but traffic was so heavy and it was raining so we had no chance of making it on time. We called Pat with the news and he didn’t seem too pleased but I heard from him today and he wasn’t angry.
Pat was the guy who got me started in radio. He was also very instrumental with getting Kipper’s career going too so we both really appreciate Pat. He’s a great guy but not one of the bigwigs in radio and he’s struggling along like everyone else. Still he’s a giving soul.
These are the kinds of people I want to and have surrounded myself with in life. Kipper is a huge supporter of Jerry’s Kidders and Jerry lets us on the air every week too. I have a bunch of great friends I cherish very much and there are indeed good people in this world.