Mothership Motherlode

Sunday July 5th, 2009 - Kenosha, WI/Lake Villa, IL

The hectic schedule of weekend fun continues. Tonight it was back up to Kenosha for a ride on the Mothership Connection on AM1050 WLIP. Tonight was our first time doing a three hour show instead of two and I was concerned that we’d be able to fill up the time.

This was a big step for us. It’s kind of like a comedian advancing from the opener to the feature slot or from feature to headliner. I’ve done both and there’s always a bit of tension only because it hasn’t been actually proven. It’s growth. Everybody has to go through it.

Filling three hours of talk on the radio is difficult just as filling even five minutes can be on a comedy stage. That doesn’t even count the entertainment value. I just mean filling up the actual time with some kind of content that doesn’t make an audience do a double take.

We pulled it off even though I wasn’t thrilled about it, mostly because of a lack of being prepared. In a perfect world we’d have had a much tighter schedule with a whole lot more production value but the audience has no idea about any of that. They‘re very supportive.

That’s a big advantage of being on a station like this. If I was on WGN with a show like this I’d have to be a lot more structured and preplanned. That might not be a bad thing but there is something nice about having the freedom to do whatever I want. Power is a drug.

So is aspirin and I don’t abuse that so I don’t want to abuse my freedom either. This is a great learning opportunity of how to be a talk show host and it’s also a lot of fun because I love the subject matter we get to talk about. I wouldn’t do a political program because it doesn’t interest me. Talking about UFO and Bigfoot sightings and all that totally does.

I also really enjoy working with my co-hosts. Dr. Destruction is a great guy and loves to be part of the whole scene as does Diane Ebert. She already worked in radio so she gets it but she’s a fan of this stuff too and adds to the mix. Gary Pansch is a comedian friend and can only be on once in a while but he totally is part of the crew when he’s in the studio.

Our former co-hostess Lara Shaffer rejoined us tonight after taking a couple months off to go to Korea of all places. She had no radio experience at all but she joined us and fit in right from the start. It’s been really fun because when someone has had to leave the show someone else has come along and stepped right in immediately without missing a beat.

Having Lara and Diane in the mix at the same time was really good. I was concerned it may clash but I don’t think it will. I will encourage both of them to participate and not be shy about speaking up. I like having a woman on the show and two is better. It’s like The Allman Brothers having two drummers. It’s a nice little bonus even if it’s not necessary.

Like with Jerry’s Kidders I’d love to get a syndication deal with this show but for now I just enjoy doing it. We all get along great just as the Kidders do and I’m proud to say I am the one who pieced both of these teams together. Now I need to find a way to turn a buck.