A Radiorgasm

Sunday December 28th, 2008 - Chicago, IL/Kenosha, WI

I just put in a sixteen hour day of solid hard work and didn’t get paid a penny for it. The funny part is I feel excited about it and would do it all over again tomorrow if I could. It’s amazing how doing something for fun can make up for money…at least for a little while.

Today happened to be back to back radio shows and in all my years of being on the air I would have to say this was the most sheer fun I have ever had. The first stop was Chicago for our ‘year in review’ two hour long Jerry’s Kidders special on WLS. That was strange.

I’ve been fired a lot in radio but never have I had a chance to go back on the air after the hammer came down. I never knew when my last show was and on the day it happened the head ‘radiot’ would take me in the office and say the three magic words - ‘Shut the door’.

Nothing good ever happens after those three words and then it’s like I never existed. It’s humiliating and embarrassing and in my opinion doesn’t have to be handled in that cruel and inhuman kind of way but we’re dealing with social retards so I guess that’s how it is.

This time it was different. Jerry Agar got pushed out by Manclown Muller who bought his way on the air and there was nothing Jerry could do about it. He handled it as classily as anyone could and that kept him in good standing with the station so he could still do all kinds of fill in work which he’s been doing. That was arranged by the program director.

Kipper McGee was the program director and then he got fired too. What an ignorant act of pure stupidity that was because Kipper is one of the best there is. He helped nurture the whole concept of the Kidders and we were all very grateful to him for his strong support.

He was the one who signed on to having us do a year end special and we were all happy to do it. We get along great and it’s a fun process to arrange the stories and no matter how insane radio is to get to play around on a legendary station like WLS is not to be missed.

The new program director has enough other things to be concerned with and didn’t pull the plug on us which easily could have happened. Nobody knows why and we didn’t care. All we wanted to do was come in and hang out one more time and go out with a laugh.

Jerry wanted to get there early to prepare and he came and picked me up at 7:30am. We got to the station around 9:00 and all of us went to work arranging the news stories so we had an order and flow. Normally we did a half our show each week but this was a full two hours and we’d never gone that long before. It was a lot of work but we all loved doing it.

Ken Sevara and Tim Slagle are the other comedians and each of us has grown to feel at home with each other both on air and off. It was old friends getting together and we had a three hour laugh fest putting the show together and then we went in studio and it went the way we thought it would. We were prepared and loaded to the teeth and it showed. If this was the way we had to go out on WLS we did both the station and ourselves very proud.

We all got together afterward to have our traditional meal and it tasted very good after a killer show like that. It’s like a sports team after a big win. The drinks are colder and food tastes better and all is right with the world. It’s a positive energy and it feeds on itself in a good way and we all felt like we accomplished something. And we did. This wasn’t easy.

It’s too bad we’re not going to be on WLS anymore at least for the foreseeable future. If Kipper lands somewhere else I’m sure he’d bring Jerry in if he can and if the concept of a bit like this fits I have no doubt we’d be back on the air in a second but that’s not for now.

Kipper and Jerry both have to find jobs first and there’s no guarantee they’ll be working in the same city much less the same station. We all understand that. We also understood it when this concept came together how rare it was. All of us got along extremely well and I can’t remember having so much fun on the radio on a consistent basis. This was a blast.

The second most fun I’ve ever had on the radio is doing the Mothership Connection on AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha. That’s where I was tonight doing our big year end program there too. I am growing more and more attached to the whole concept of the paranormal and having a chance to talk about it on the radio two hours every week is very exciting.

I love listening to Coast to Coast AM and maybe some day I can be a fill in host on that show but even if that never happens I’m still enjoying the hell out of what we’re doing on Sunday nights in Kenosha, WI. We’ve had some really interesting guests and I can see the show taking shape with several regular and semi regular characters finding their places.

My old co-hosts had to leave for work reasons but we’re all still in contact and on really good terms. There’s no fighting at all because I’m the one in charge and everyone is up to speed on that. The buck stops with me and there aren’t any power struggles to deal with.

That’s how a successful operation runs. Jerry’s Kidders worked the same way because it was Jerry who ran the show. We all knew it and nobody was upset about it. We all had an understanding of our roles and we filled them perfectly. That’s how it’s working here too.

Lara Shaffer is the current co-host and is doing an amazing job just as Scott Markus did before her. He was the one who invited her on the show and she’s stepped up without any problems. She’s just right for the spot and tonight she added a lot to the show. My friend Gary Pansch adds to the mix as well even though he can only be on for the first half hour.

He’s got a night job and has to leave but he does a weekly feature that has been kicking ass called ‘The Mothership Hall of Fame’ where he showcases a weekly wackadoo and it always is well written and well delivered. Tonight we were all on point and it all worked.

Driving home I felt a huge feeling of accomplishment and even though I almost nodded out at the wheel because I was so exhausted. I gave both shows my all and worked with a group of sharp creative people and we all respected each other’s space and I don’t think it could have gone any better either time. Now I have to find a way to make this pay bills.