gags

 We had a good show today. It went by faster than usual, still I find myself standing for the entirety of it. My quest for an unused chair or stool mechanism of some sort has yet to be fruitful. More on that later.

The top of the show this morning was Larry-less, the man has a tendency to be late but he’s the funniest thing on the show so I feel like they kind of let him get away with it otherwise it would be a rather dull show. In Larry’s absence, the other two called his cell phone I guess because they thought it would be funny or fill airtime or something.

The machine that picked up was talking in Spanish. Although it turned out to be the wrong number, we all went along with it and created kind of a gag out of the misdial. Larry showed up, unbeknownst to the listener, and got creative. He pulled me out of the studio and asked if I spoke any languages other than English. I told him I took two years each of high school Spanish and Chinese. Larry pulled me into the editing room, outfitted with several mics, and told me to say something in Chinese. “你都應該說中國在這裡謝謝你再見” I said. I only remember the phrase because I sometimes hear Tabor faculty yelling it to international students. Anyways. He edited up my recording and made it sound like a new voicemail message. And with that, the multilingual answering machine gag was created out of a wrong number and what most people will consider Chinese.

Its creativity like this that keeps the show alive. I mentioned yesterday that the DJs were entertainers and that takes some effort. If all three of them were really groggy, or hung-over or something, you probably would be able to tell as a listener. The job is half News anchor and half stand up comic. I’m slowly realizing that being on this show is actually an art form, and not just three guys talking. Yes, there’s something to be said about witty banter, and I’m sure it’s been the norm for many shows, but the on-air conversation needs some prep work. It needs to be universal as well, being relatable to the mainstream listener. There is definitely more to the job than what meats the ear.