Yesterday I told you about losing a radio gig because my “friend” stole my material. Now flash forward four years. I’m writing on MASH and doing a Saturday night disc jockey show on KTNQ (Ten-Q) in Los Angeles. Yes, I finally got to be on the radio in my own hometown. The station wasn’t in a high rise, it was in an abandoned mortuary in Koreatown but still!I’m on the air for about six months when I get a call on the station hot line. It’s Rick Carroll, who was the program director of KKDJ. He asked if I remembered being thrown out of his office. I said, “Yes, I still have the tic.” He went on to say he owed me a big apology. He had been listening to me every week on Ten-Q and clearly his DJ, Bobby had stolen the material from me, not the other way around. It was a lovely gesture on his part and I appreciated it greatly.
The truth is, the only way I could get respect in radio was by leaving it. Before I became a writer I was always being told by my program directors to stop trying to do schtick. Just shut up and play the damn records. I can’t tell you how many memos I got insisting I was not remotely funny.
And then a strange thing happened. I sold a couple of scripts, quit radio full-time, and suddenly I was a comic genius. My content was fresh and original and hilarious.
It was the same schtick. In some cases the exact same jokes.
The point is this: don’t let other people tell you you’re not funny. What the hell do they know? Yes, your material and/or delivery might need a bit of polish, but the first step to success is believing in yourself. All you gotta do is find one person who likes you. Then the ones who didn’t will start going around telling people they “discovered” you. Trust me, it’s a beautiful thing not to take their calls.
25 comments :
They always say you get wherever you're meant to be in a round about way :)
As a college student I'M PRAYING this is true, not just a 95% probability rate.
Shawna's Study Abroad
And you get attractive looking bloggers coming to your site.
“Yes, I still have the tic.”
That's gold.
Come to think of it, I heard one of your airchecks years ago and stole a line which I used in the intro to Jewel Aikins' song, "The Birds and the Bees." It fit great...
It went something like this, "Bobby had a tough Saturday night. He said his mouth tastes like the inside of a Russian horse doctor's bag, but he learned about the birds and the bees!"
Hey, it was funny in '78 on KSD in St. Louis. Remember, this was a station owned by Pulitzer Broadcasting, the company which made us take the word "crap" out of Paul Simon's, "Kodachrome." Believe me, your line was funny in that conservative bastion of knuckleheads.
Good thing I'm no longer in radio. Wait a minute...
KOLA 99.9 Saturday night 7-midnight. Listen for Jewel's song...
For your whippersnappers, we're streaming, tweeting and drooling on: www.kolafm.com
Kind of off, but still on-topic as far as radio goes -- WABC didn't air their usual Memorial Day Rewound show, but have made up for that by agreeing to put up a streaming audio feed of Musicradio 77, through the New York Radio Message Board (Windows Media Player above, but they also are streaming for Winamp/Shoutcast).
The only commercials are the original ones from the 60s and 70s, so you get the full feel of Top 40s radio during its heyday in beautiful monophonic sound (and they did a great job seamlessly reinserting the music into the airchecks).
Hey Ken,
Thanks for being so encouraging to all of us writers who are still trying to make it. It’s one of the many things that makes your blog so great.
I've been hesitating for some time now about posting a question you just answered with this post.
It's ok not to listen to people sometimes.
I wrote a short screenplay that a local screenwriter (honestly, the only one I know) ripped to shreds. He'd already done it once before but I changed that one, figuring he seemed so much smarter than I am...
My gut told me to ignore most of what he said the second time around.
Extremely encouraging!
Just what I needed today - thanks!
I also come out of radio. Back when I was struggling to get established as a DJ/comedy writer, my ex-wife used to like to snap at me, "You think you're funny, but you're not." I think she knew that was what would undermine my self-esteem and confidence the most, so she said it often.
Well, I guess I got a lot funnier after I divorced her, since for the past 17 years, I've been writing a daily syndicated topical humor service used by radio morning shows all over the world, and top show hosts use my lines and pretend they thought of them. My writing partner in it is my second wife, whom I definitely won't be trading in.
"Not funny," my ass.
Speaking of stolen jokes...
"...doing a Saturday night disc jockey show on KTNQ (Ten-Q)"
YOU'RE WELCOME!
wv: banglyc - Tootsie Pops newest dynamite treat! It's explosive!
I remain,
Sincerely,
Eric L. Sofer
x<]:o){
The Bad Clown
I think I may be ahead of the curve as I never listen to anyone, as my driving record clearly proves.
WVW - Mulpho..."the patent remedy for catarrh, torpid liver and consumption."
I've heard a lack of sense of humor was the least of the late Mr. Carroll's problems...
There were those of us who loved, appreciated and hired you when nobody else would. I never thought "Bobby Opal" was funny even when he did your material. Only you could sell it! Elizabeth Montgomery I Love You!
wv: whoubb - Trying to determine the next batter.
People totally underestimate the power of an honest apology. Glad you got one.
I've probably been told I'm funny as many times as I've been told I'm mentally unbalanced... I think I'll go with the "funny" analysis...
Yeah, I was told I wasn't funny. Since I've been consistently paid to be funny, that criticism has lost its sting. Sadly, it cowed me for awhile when I was younger and slowed progress.
The phenomenon of leaving to finally be recognized as a great success is common, too. It affects all of Canada, for instance. To really succeed in Canada, The Bare Naked Ladies had to go platinum in the States first. Many a Canadian actor has been told, who do you think you are? Then they went to Hollywood, went huge and there's still some knob in a backroom at the CBC saying they "discovered" Michael J. Fox or Jim Carrey.
I say fuck 'em if they can't get a joke. (Robin Williams Corollary: Joke 'em if they can't take a fuck.)
I can believe it's hard not to steal from the greats.
All the writers of today have sometime stolen from Redd Foxx, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Mel Brooks, Eddie Murphy, Neil Simon, Norman Lear and Bob Newhart.
And all of them stole from Steve Allen, Garry Moore, George Burns, Bob Hope, Nat Hiken, who stole from...Chaplin, Keaton, Shakespeare, G-d.
Favorite story happened to a former radio co-worker: In an aircheck session in '82, PD (of station in market 200 or so) told him he sounded like he was slobbering down his chin on to his chest. Two weeks later he was hired in San Antonio for two to three times the money. Ended up doing mornings in major markets. Last I heard, the PD went into TV sales.
If you want it bad enough, stick with it and don't listen to the naysayers.
Glad it worked out well for you at the end, Ken.
You said:
"The point is this: don’t let other people tell you you’re not funny."
Yes, it is encouraging, but there are many comedy(?) writers and performers who are just not funny. In fact, most of the so-called comedy on TV today is not funny. Yet somebody writes this crap, and someone else deems it worthy of producing and airing. But no one is laughing, not for long, that is -- if at all.
For me, "Frasier" remains the gold standard of TV comedy, unsurpassed and probably unsurpassable. I'd rather watch the nteenth rerun of a "Frasier" episode (so well etched in my memory that I could quote the lines of its dialogue) than most, if not all, what passes for TV comedy nowadays, which is usually strained and unbearable, and too often simply cruel (as if sadism replaced the writers' sense of humor -- or perhaps they mistake one for another).
Sometimes not funny is just not funny. But this, as so many things, may be a matter of taste, I'spose.
I once had a PD tell me to "avoid attempts at humor". It wasn't until I saw Howard Stern's "Private Parts" that it became clear to listen to ones own voice.
That PD today is washed up and out and I've done pretty well in broadcasting over the years. Well enough to actually enjoy time on the beach.
B
On the other hand, after reading this post it's hard not to think of the would-be DJ prick in Good Morning Viet Nam saying earnestly (and erroneously), "Sir, in my heart, I know that I am funny."
I'm an actress. I once auditioned for a guy named Brad Hall. He happens to be married to the actress Julia Louis Dreyfus. He ripped me to shrrrrreds in the room. Blind sided me! I felt like he cold cocked me in the nose. The casting director sat there speechless with her mouth agape. Is agape a word? Anyway, her jaw hit the floor. He ripped into me telling me that I didn't know how to audition. Period. That I wasn't funny. Period.And so on. Period. I stared blankly at his mean paste-y white mug. I thought to myself that he bore a striking resemblance to an old boyfriend, an actor from New York and former SNL alumn. So, I decided to share this little piece of trivia with him and gracioulsy attempt a quick thanks and goodbye. But nooooo.... Brad HAD to have the last word. So, I let him.......And I made sure to send him a copy of TV Guide not long after this memorable meeting. I wrote a old Brad a little note. After all, I was on the cover. Imagine that?! And I promised myself I would never work with an asshole like him. No matter what! Gary Shandling was cut from the same cloth. Same ranting, different meeting from yet another asshole. Only more whining, actually. Gary bitched and whined simultaneoulsy. Like a girl. Glad I'm not them and even more grateful for the wonderful work and exceptional people in this business.
Truth be told, I first heard Ken (as Beaver Cleaver) on KSEA, San Diego about a year and a half after I first heard B....um..."Bobby". And I was SURE I was listening to some guy ripping off "Bobby"'s act.
When I heard him next (on B-100), I couldn't believe the PD (real name Bobby) would hire him instead of the real deal.
But the more I listened the more I realized that Beaver Cleaver was the real deal.
Of course, I figured there were two real deals and it was all a coincidence until I learned about their friendship in college and developed a correspondence with both guys.
"Bobby" and I have never discussed it...but it's great to read Ken's version of the events.
And after a disappointment that ends a friendship, an abandoned mortuary in Koreatown is a happy ending by comparison...even without a call from Rick Carroll.
Radio's so slick these days though that pretty much every presenter sounds like a bit of a pr*ck.
...of course that also gave us the greatness that is Chris Morris.
Some great advice that is easy to forget when rejections pile up.
-M
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