Jokey And The Bandit

Friday January 30th, 2009 - Milwaukee, WI/Chicago, IL

I feel like a cross between a NASCAR driver and a trucker with all the hard miles I put on my car today between Milwaukee and Chicago. Lake Villa is right in the middle of the two cities and today I made the rounds and completed a full circuit. I had business in both places and was pressed for time so I ended up starring in my own one man chase movie.

I half expected to see Jackie Gleason chasing me in a police car and Burt Reynolds and Sally Field running interference in a black Trans Am. I was all over the place today but it needed to get done. My first stop was to get breakfast at my favorite Red School Diner on US 45 right over the Wisconsin border. It was right on the way and I felt kind of hungry.

Just when I got there everyone was very stone faced because apparently some guy at the counter almost choked on a big piece of ham. He swallowed it and it got stuck and he was not able to get it out. By all accounts it was very scary and nobody thought he would live.

Two minutes later I walked in and could feel the eerie vibe. I heard the story about eight times from every angle but it must have been a close call because everyone who spoke of what happened all had a quiet somber tone in their voices. The guy was lucky to survive.

I was lucky to be there on a day when my favorite cutie waitress was working but she’s not a blondie anymore. She had dyed her hair apparently and now it’s back to her natural brown. She still looks great though and she flirted with me for a while which I enjoyed at the time but I don’t think we’ll ever hook up. She’s in her own world and it isn’t mine.

Plus I really find myself liking the woman in Milwaukee I’ve known forever. She’s very smart and funny and it just feels right when we’re together. We’re very comfortable being with each other and the last few times we went out it’s gone really well. She’s got her son to take care of so I’m not going to put pressure on her but for now we are hitting it off.

The reason I had to go to Milwaukee was to drop off a copy of my raw recordings of the week of shows at Zanies in Chicago I recorded last year. I thought my ex partner had kept them but I ended up finding a copy and my heart raced with joy. That was a lot of work.

I remember having some hot shows and switching bits around so I bet there’ll be enough for two or three projects. I paid money out of my pocket to have a sound engineer come to Zanies and set up for the recording and losing all that work would have been devastating.

Donna Gurda produced my friend Tom Green’s CD projects and she knew of a guy she trusts to cut up the bits and clean them up and edit them down into a CD format so I’ll be able to release at least one new CD if not two or three. I can really use some new product.

After I dropped off the master I dropped off a hamburger for the woman I like. She was working all day and I wanted to give her a treat and she loved it. That made my day to be able to bring some unexpected happiness to someone’s life but especially her. She’s great.

Then I hot footed it down to Chicago intending to be on WLS where Jerry Agar filled in for Roe Conn‘s afternoon show. For a guy who just got fired he’s working on the air a lot more than some of those that are actually working there. He’s their main go to fill in host.

Jerry knows what he’s doing on the air and he should have a full time job. Period. He is good at what he does and has ratings to prove it in Chicago so why he’s only doing fill ins is a mystery to both of us. He’s smart to take the work though. It keeps his name out there so program directors of other stations can hear him. I think he should have a job by now.

So does he. We talked about it today but the other stations in town haven’t made him an offer. The same thing happened to my partners and me when we got torched at the Loop. I would have thought we’d get at least a couple of phone calls from SOMEONE but we did not get a single one. That blew my mind and still does. I’d have thought we’d get a call.

Radio is like that though. Sometimes someone gets branded with a station and that’s the way that person is seen. It’s tough to change stations even though many have done it. I’ve never done it in the same town other than going from the Loop in Chicago over to WLS.

That’s a little different though. I was only a regular guest on WLS with Jerry’s Kidders. I was a co-host of the morning show on the Loop. BIG difference. For one thing I got paid on the Loop. Jerry’s Kidders was a lot of fun but we’re still doing it for free. Not good for the career especially since we weren’t able to stay on long enough to draw for live shows.

Jerry called this morning and asked if I would come down to the station to do a Kidders bit to close out the show. Ken Sevara was iffy but Tim Slagle could definitely make it out so it sounded good in theory but I wasn’t able to make it on time. I got stuck in traffic and ended up having to do a phoner as did Ken Sevara. Tim Slagle was the only one in studio.

Jerry said it went well even though two of the three Kidders weren’t there live but that’s the mark of a pro. He pulled it off flawlessly as did we and we gave the best we could in a short notice situation. The audience never knew and we still managed to nail some jokes.

I got to the station downtown just as the show ended but Jerry and Tim and I kept up an ongoing Kidders tradition of an after show meal. We shot around ideas like we usually do and everyone agreed it’s a bizarre situation to still be on from time to time after we’ve all gotten the heave ho. Jerry got gassed and that should have meant the end of all of this.

But alas we’re still alive. We did our year end special which all of us loved doing and it was all of our thoughts that would be our last go round on WLS but today we did it again even if it was in an altered form. We were on the air doing jokes about the news on WLS.

Not a lot of comedians or radio people can say that and it still is a thrill for me to say it. I respect the history of radio and knowing I have been on such a legendary station is a real honor I don’t take lightly. Every time I can do it I will and today I did even if it was only a phoner. Today was a lot of driving and a lot of stress. This isn’t a habit I want to develop.