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podcasts

Sound Check: An Interview with Tim Anderl and Frank Steele of Sound Check Chat

February 3, 2015 By Dayton Most Metro

 It’s a relatively low-key night at South Park Tavern when I join Tim Anderl and Frank Steele.  The patrons are all scattered around the establishment, as the televisions above the bar are showing one of the few college football games left in the season.  The three of  us dive into a nice little collection of pizza and wings, and partake in some of the draft beers that are available to choose from. Being  in the journalism field since 1996, focusing primary on the music side, Anderl’s bio comprises thousands of hours invested and  countless interviews conducted with artists that are listed in every category and genre that could be ever thought of.  Bands that tour  around the United States to perform in local bar/venues, along with the ones that are seeing success that expands beyond their  wildest dreams-Anderl has the privilege and fortune of being part of the music scene for some time now. With his current roles of  web editor/writer for Ghettoblaster Magazine, New Noise Magazine, along with his local work at Dayton City Paper-Anderl has  become widely known for his celebrated work in the music business.  The next step towards bolstering his name started in March of  last year, when Steele and himself begun a bi-monthly podcast that is titled Sound Check Chat.

With the aspiration of writing for publications like Rolling Stone and Spin growing up, Anderl took the proper steps to fulfill that desire by earning his degree in journalism at Ohio University.  Even with landing great opportunities like interning for Alternative Press magazine during his college days, the hope to release work in the popular music periodicals never truly materialized.  “I was dating someone that I wanted to marry who was still in college,” Anderl explained.  “I went and got a day job and waited for her to graduate.  By that time, we had family in the area, and I had settled into the job.”

Coming to terms with not writing for large publications was difficult, but Anderl went to work on finding different outlets to release his writing.  He created his own website magazine formats for a period of time, including one that is still rolling-YouIndie.com.  Opportunities to do some freelance work for other publications, such as Strength Skateboarding, Substream Music Press and blogs DoneWaiting, Delusions of Adequacy came along the way soon after.  Podcasting was something that had never crossed Anderl’s mind.  He mentions that he has listened to an assortment of shows, mainly on NPR, but when he reflected on venturing into the medium-he decided against it.  “I really didn’t have the time to do it myself,” Anderl says.

As luck would have it, Steele was already setting up possible ideas and formats that would eventually become a podcast. With a background specializing in web, television, movie, production and design, Steele has been creating video media content around the Dayton area.  Success has come to Steele, and with good reason.  With his work in production, he has been awarded with having winning music videos with artists who have appeared on MTV, VH1, and CMT.  He bounced around some concepts for the podcast, and settled on having the show concentrate on music.  Steele pitched the idea to Anderl, and he quickly hopped onboard.  The two friends had previously done some work, with a video production that was shot in Rumbleseat Wine when Jonathan Kingham (singer/songwriter that also was a touring member of Toad The Wet Sprocket) came to town in 2012.

Sound Check Chat’s nucleus is pretty straightforward-the show is centered on Anderl speaking with musicians from all over the United States and beyond. Roughly closing on the 30 minute marker (some longer than others) with each interview segment, Sound Check Chat is an insightful look for music lovers. “Tim is one the phone for a lot of the interviews anyway.  I said to him let’s record the conversation, and make a podcast of that,” Steele explained.  “It would be an extra product that you can offer.”  With the tight editing courtesy of Steele, you don’t get much in the way of prolonged silences, questionable motives, and delayed responses. Anderl’s remarkable interviewing with his extensive research on each guest captures moments that you would normally wouldn’t get with most podcasts being aired, which is what gives the show such a pleasure to listen to.

With sixteen episodes already released, Sound Check Chat is still continuing to grow month by month.  The duo already has sponsorship for the show, which for beginning podcast obtaining such a feat is worth being noticed.   Some highlights of shows that have been released already include JT Woodruff from Hawthorne Heights, Chris Simpson of Mineral, and Violent J from Insane Clown Posse, it’s clear that Anderl and Steele will be providing listeners a wide array of musical talent to hear from.

Steele and Anderl reference that the whole development and growth of the show has taken a little bit of time, and possible will be slowly built.  However, the duo have made the decision to keep it way. They aren’t about going out and chasing numbers.  They want to have a show that is true to them.  “We have been letting it happen organically,” Anderl says.  “It would be disingenuous for us do to any other way…people seemed to be enjoying it, and that’s good enough for me.”

To listen to the show, go to the website http://soundcheckchat.com/.  You can also subscribe to the show in iTunes or Stitcher Radio.

Filed Under: Dayton Music Tagged With: Dayton Music, podcasts

C. Wright’s Parlour Tricks, The June Jazz featured on Sound Check Chat podcast

June 16, 2014 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

 

(C) 2010 Christopher L Corn

(C) 2010 Christopher L Corn

The Sound Check Chat podcasts with Andrew Low of The Jazz June and Christopher Wright of C. Wright’s Parlour Tricks went live on Friday, June 13 via iTunes and Stitcher.  

While magazines and blog interviews often provide a peek behind the curtain and into the minds of music’s best musicians, every interviewer knows that there are nuances of humor, sarcasm, honesty, and even sadness that are left on the tape. Even the best journalist, one who gets close to translating the experience of hearing someone’s thoughts and words in their own voice, could never quite share 100 percent of that experience.

Appreciating this phenomenon, Dayton-based music journalist Tim Anderl (of YouIndie.com, Ghettoblaster Magazine, New Noise Magazine, etc.) teamed with Frank Steele, a professional media and video producer (Frame Jump Music Videos), to create the Sound Check Chat podcast.  The podcast shares the experience of dialing up a musician or talking to them one-on-one, face to face.  The podcast will typically drop on the first and 15th of every month.

On March 15, 2014, the podcast launched via iTunes, as well as at the Sound Check Chat website.  Previous podcasts included interviews with one-half of Insane Clown Posse, Violent J, JT of Hawthorne Heights, Grieves, Drew of Circle Takes The Square, Joe and Justin of The 1984 Draft, and Andy of Buffalo Killers.

Download the podcast at iTunes here: http://goo.gl/cIF7G0 or 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-check-chat-music-lovers/id841331756

In addition to the podcast, Sound Check Chat provides a show notes page providing background behind the podcast and artists covered, as well as links to topics discussed on the show.

Additional details about future podcasts, including those already in progress with Those Mockingbirds, Beebs and Her Moneymakers, Tiger Flowers, and more are forthcoming.  The podcasts are sponsored by Topshelf Records.

Filed Under: Dayton Music Tagged With: C. Wright's Parlour Tricks, Dayton Music, podcasts

Podcasting in the City

July 2, 2013 By Tiffany Shaw-Diaz Leave a Comment

420772_355376381230788_1322605069_nPodcasts are undeniably popular, and they are also astoundingly diverse.  Take a quick peek through the iTunes store, and you’ll find podcasts about any topic that you imagine including news, comedy, art, food, natural living, and science, among other categories.

Thankfully, there is now a podcast exclusively about Dayton—its culture, people, businesses, politics, and lifestyles–to add to that burgeoning roster.

Launched just a few months ago, the Gem City Podcast is the brainchild of Eric Ruiz, a native of Tampa and Austin.  While Dayton is his adopted city, he feels a strong impetus to connect and grow with it.  “Dayton is my home; therefore, I feel obligated to make it an oasis of great people,” he stated.

Inspired by the popular comedy podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, Eric set out to create a show that was equally expressive and candid, all with the aim of boosting Dayton’s morale and promoting peace and good vibes. He attributes this to a radical inner transformation that he had a few years ago, which changed his perception of this world in and his place in it.  “My motivation is to take whatever place I’m at and set up a beacon of positivity,” he offered.  “From there, I want to help promote that and push away all the negativity I see in this world.”

To help him with the show’s production, he teamed up with Chris Jones, Russ Cope, and Chad Wells.  Ruiz notes that they all bring different strengths and perspectives to the table.  “I believe that with the four of us contributing and putting love into the show, we can only get better,” he offered.

Their teamwork is evident.  Even though the weekly podcast began in early May, they have landed some impressive guests, including business owners and Tommy Jones of The Dayton Scene.  They plan to add even more notable Dayton denizens to their line-up as they continue to reach out to Dayton’s multi-faceted community.

“I’m really excited about the amount of people we will be meeting and interviewing,” commented Chris Jones, the podcast’s tech guru.  “I love meeting and conversing with people who may have a different perspective than me. I feel that when you see the world through someone else’s eyes, it makes you a more diverse person. Even better, we get to share those stories and emotions with our listeners.”

Added Russ Cope, their producer, “Gem City Podcast’s goal is to connect our audience with the individuals who are making Dayton this unique blend of creativity, ingenuity, moxie, and tenacity.  We want to support and promote Dayton’s journey from a grassroots perspective, one interview at a time.”

The Gem City Podcast crew leisurely conducts each interview, often spending up to an hour with each guest, all with the intent to give him or her the opportunity to open up and share their thoughts.  While the program has an explicit rating on iTunes (where you can download episodes for free), the content is mostly tame, although the team doesn’t shy away from discussing mature topics or employing adult, albeit good-natured, humor.

Because it is a weekly production, there is an incredible amount of behind-the-scenes work that goes into designing the show.  This includes researching potential guests, securing interviews, and uploading episodes to various sites. The team also maintains Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages with the latest podcast updates and city news.

Considering the impressive amount of work that is involved in making the program a quality product, Ruiz noted that he is always looking for people to help share the load with their talents.  “We are a family, so anyone who has something to offer is welcome to do so, and together, we can accomplish more.”

Even though the Gem City Podcast is still in its infancy, it has cultivated quite an active following with both social media followers and downloads.  In fact, their first episode was so popular that they encountered some interesting complications as a result.

“The response has been more then we had expected,” said Ruiz.  “We overloaded our server, which was bad, but really great, too, in the sense that we found out people really are listening.  This makes me feel obligated to give them the best show I can.”

Given the outpouring of support, the Gem City Podcast is on the path to making an indelible mark in the Dayton community.  When asked about his plans for the show, Russ Cope, the producer, is adamant about the podcast’s role in promoting Dayton’s significance to a larger audience, especially its scientific and artistic impact.

Ruiz shares Cope’s admiration for Dayton, as well, and aims to change people’s perception of his chosen city, “I hope the podcast makes people more aware,” he said.  “Getting more positive thinking is my goal.”

Filed Under: Community, The Featured Articles Tagged With: Chad Wells, Dayton, Gem City Podcast, Interviews, News, podcasts

Jimmy Pardo: The Jazz Zinger

November 2, 2010 By J.T. Ryder 2 Comments

From Comedy Clubs To Conan, This Comedian Is Never Not Funny

After studying for a year at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, California, Jimmy Pardo decided to go back to his home state of Illinois and entered the comedy scene during the halcyon days of the eighties. Coming up through the ranks, Jimmy went on to become a headliner, appearing in his own Comedy Central half-hour special and making guest appearances on television shows like That Seventies Show and Becker. Always casting a nervous eye on the future, Jimmy has taken a practical approach to his career, creating opportunities for himself instead of waiting for that ephemeral big break. By doing so, Jimmy has created several shows of his own, such as Running Your Trap, You Bet Your Life and a very successful one man show, understatedly titled Attention Must Be Paid: The Jimmy Pardo Story. Not satisfied with becoming stale or behind the times, Pardo hosts a critically acclaimed and wildly successful podcast, Never Not Funny, which is an unscripted talk with various guests from the world of comedy as well as Pardo’s unique humor.

What follows is an (almost) unedited transcript of my most recent interview with the acerbically witty comedian as he was in transit to the world’s best day job…

J.T.: How are you doing?
Jimmy: Good! Jimmy Pardo calling…but obviously you know that.

J.T.: See? I was editing pictures from a pole fitness class. That’s where you rate with me. ‘Pictures of hot, nubile women exercising on stripper poles…what? Jimmy Pardo is on the phone? Well, let me just put these away then!’
Jimmy: Well good for you! And those are ladies you know, right?

J.T.: Yeah.
Jimmy: That makes it hotter, doesn’t it?

J.T.: Yeah, it has that ‘girl next door’ quality to it.
Jimmy: Yeah! Right! I like it. I love the idea of it.

J.T.: Well, how is everything in your world?
Jimmy: Everything is good. As we speak, I am driving to go to work with Conan.

J.T.: That was going to be my first question. I was wondering where that was going to lead because you were there right when the Jay Leno hammer fell.
Jimmy: I was. I was there for the whole seven months of the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and, luckily, I got picked up to go to work again. Today is our first test show and, as I said, I’m heading there right now.

J.T.: That is just ultra-cool.
Jimmy: Yeah! I’m really excited about it. I don’t…and if I’m repeating myself, I apologize… this is a great group of people to work with and Conan is just a terrific guy and I’m honored to be part of such a terrific team. I know that sounds like a press release, but I mean it.

J.T.: Oh, well yeah. You know, the way that Conan has handled this whole situation, from beginning to end, has just been classy and funny at the same time. I think that it has boosted his image in a  lot of people’s eyes.
Jimmy: It really has. It’s made him sort of like this underdog/folk hero too. People are like, here’s this guy who, for no reason, got shit on, basically. He was putting on and doing a great show, he was being funny and he was getting the ratings in the demographics that they had told him that they had wanted him to do, and then they went, ‘Yeah, you know what? That’s not what we want after all *click*’ It’s just ridiculous.

J.T.: Yeah, and things went the other way for Leno as well.
Jimmy: Oh, absolutely.

J.T.: On many different levels.
Jimmy: You know, (Leno) didn’t come off well in any of those interviews that he gave, during and post, in my opinion.

J.T.: Well, switching gears, Never Not Funny is doing really well…
Jimmy: We are doing very well and I’m proud to be a part of that as well. I’ve never been prouder of anything than I am about the podcast.

J.T.: Well, I read a while back that it even got a write up in GQ Magazine…
Jimmy: Yeah! They were nice enough to mention us as their Number One Relatively Obscure Thing To be Paid Attention To and hopefully that got us a few more listeners.

J.T.: Well, that’s kind of a left handed compliment, isn’t it?
Jimmy: (Laughing) Yeah, right! Well, you know how everything needs to be snarky, right?

J.T.: Yeah, but it’s like, ‘Should I say thank you or smack the fuck out of someone?’
Jimmy: Yeah, well, you read Entertainment Weekly and everything has to be some backhanded compliment. It just can’t be, ‘Hey! This is great!’ Everything just has to have that subtext of snarkiness to it.

J.T.: Right! You know, when people have asked me to describe your show, I always say…and you might disagree with this…but there seems to be different styles of stage presence and types of delivery, so I put it into musical terms which is to say that there are those whose performance is more like grunge and some that are more like classical jazz. I’ve always describe your act as being like watching classical jazz. It’s almost got that Catskills quality to it.
Jimmy: I don’t, uh…I don’t disagree with anything you have said. In fact, I’m very flattered when people refer to my delivery as jazz because I do think it has some of those elements, if you are trying to compare it to music because it’s got that rhythm and it can take off into another rhythm. No, I one hundred percent agree with you and I appreciate the compliment and I take it as such.

J.T.: Well, how would you describe your act to someone who hasn’t seen you perform?
Jimmy: You know what? I’ve been trying to figure that out for twenty years. How do you put into words the nonsense I do? You know, I used to call it ‘high energy sarcasm,’ or somebody once described it as that in a review of my show and, at the time, I thought it summed up what I do. I still think it does, but when people think of sarcasm, they picture some dour guy, like a guy that just stands there and is mean, bitter and angry…and that is certainly not what I am. But when they said ‘high energy sarcasm’ I thought, ‘Well, that makes sense because I’m also not Dane Cook or Steve Byrne, who are both fine comics. I’m not one of these guys that shits on those guys. But, they are these high energy kind of guys, but they aren’t really sarcastic. So, for me, high energy sarcasm worked, but I do so much improvisation on stage these days that if there was a way to figure out something like, ‘high energy improvisational sarcasm’…but boy, doesn’t that sound like a shit show? (laughing) I don’t know. I really don’t know how to describe it.

J.T.: That’s what I mean. I have a hard time describing your show because you can go from an egocentric dictator at one point directly into some self deprecating rant about yourself.
Jimmy: It’s, uh…you know what? I mean, that’s exactly it too.

J.T.: Maybe highly energetic schizophrenia.
Jimmy: You know, I want to say that somebody used that term to describe my show once before too. A woman in Ann Arbor called me that. But, I don’t disagree with that either. You’re right…I mean the egocentric dictator is kind of rough…but yeah, I turn it around and then I’m the stooge, which I think is necessary because if you’re just up there yelling, you’re just an a-hole, don’t you think? I mean, you have to turn it on yourself at some point. I think some of these young comics don’t realize that part of it. I apologize J.T., but at zero with this question. It’s odd to try and describe what it is that I do. It’s just funny and…I don’t know. I’m a failure. (laughs)

J.T.: Let’s talk about the Never Not Funny podcasts for a minute then. What do you have coming up with that? Any interesting interviews slated?
Jimmy: You know, we have Scott Aukerman makes his return (October 27th) and next week my beautiful wife Danielle Koenig will be on the show. We’re coming to the end of this season, and we’ve had a lot of new guests this season and added some new faces to the show and I already have a lot of new faces lined up for season eight, but I don’t want to give those away because it won’t be a surprise when we do it.

J.T.: That and you’ll jinx yourself and they’ll pull out at the last minute the moment you utter their names.
Jimmy: Oh, of course. The minute you printed their name, that guy would cancel. We also have the Podcast-o-thon coming up the day after Thanksgiving. This year we’re going to go for twelve hours where last year we only went for nine. We raised over twenty-one thousand bucks last year. We’re hoping to best that, but I don’t see that being possible, but I would should love it if it happened. Starting today, as a matter of fact, we began to book the people for that event. I sent out a bunch of invitations to appear for it and hopefully soon they will start to come back to me, so there will be that as well as well as the regulars from the show and we will have a great twelve hour marathon.

J.T.: What is the charity that you are raising money for?
Jimmy: It goes to Smile Train. That’s the charity that goes to Third World countries and fixes cleft palates.

J.T.: Oh yeah!
Jimmy: Yeah, you’ve probably seen the ads like in the back of Parade Magazine.

J.T.: Yeah, some of the most horrific pictures in those ads.
Jimmy: They really are. I picked up Parade Magazine and I saw this ad and it says, ‘Each surgery only costs $250.’ So, I immediately donated…not because I’m this big money guy…I don’t have money to donate, but I was so moved by those horrific pictures that I thought, ‘Jesus Christ! For $250 bucks you can fix this kid’s face? Why not donate?’ Then when it came time last year for the end of the season, we said, ‘Hey, let’s do a marathon podcast just for the fun of it!’ and then I thought, ‘You know what? Let’s do it for this charity.’ So, when we raised this much money…I never…I never felt like I had done something better for the world in my life than giving this much money to save this many kids. It really felt great and hopefully we can do the same this year.

J.T.: Well, I sincerely hope it does as well. With the podcasts getting more popular, are people seeking you out asking to be a guest instead of visa versa?
Jimmy: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! People…uh…not so much calling, but if I’m like out at a show, (comedians) are like, ‘Yeah, I’d sure like to show up on that podcast!’ Nine times out of ten, I go, ‘Yeah!’ and walk away and hope they never bring it up again. With the one out of ten, I’ll go back to my co-host producer Matt (Belknap) and tell him, ‘Hey! Kevin Pollak wants to do our show!’ and so it’s like, ‘Great! Let’s book him!’ and we definitely get him on as quickly as we can. But, with all of the requests, sadly, there’s a reason you haven’t been asked my friend. By the way, some of those are really funny people, but not funny in conversation. You know, I used to hear Steve Dahl and Garry Meier do radio out of Chicago and they interviewed Jerry Seinfeld who, at the time my…you know…and man, he was awful!

J.T.: Oh yeah, I’ve seen a ton of interviews where you would have gotten better reactions out of coma patients.
Jimmy: Don’t you think?

J.T.: Yeah, he always just gave really short, deadpan answers.
Jimmy: Just horrible! Not even funny! You’re not promoting your show! You just…showed up! So, again, it’s not an insult to these people when I don’t want to have them on, it’s just I know that they are not going to be right for that format.

J.T.: I’ve always thought that about some of these morning radio shows. There are some absolutely hysterical people that have been on there, but the format kills them.
Jimmy: Right!

J.T.: Ron Shock is a perfect example because he is a brilliantly funny man, but his long drawling type of storytelling does not survive on that ADHD programming format. I mean, before he is 1/16th through a story, someone has already interrupted him and derailed the whole thing…
Jimmy: Exactly! Boy! You’re not kidding either. You’re just derailed and, like in Ron’s case, with that Southern drawl, how do you go back like, ‘Anyhow, what Ah wuz sayin’ wuz…’ It would make you sound like a dick, so you drop it and you’re done. So, instead of coming off with this really funny story, people listening are like, ‘Well, that made no sense! Thank God someone interrupted it!’ Yeah, I agree with you. I one hundred percent agree.

J.T.: By the same token, there are people that are absolutely hysterical on radio, and you would think that their stage show would utilize that improvisation, but after four or five years, it’s the same routine.
Jimmy: (laughing) Right!

J.T.: Well, that’s like that air bass thing you do on Bob and Tom. At least since their program has been picked up for television broadcast by WGN, you can get the more subtle nuances of the air bass performance.
Jimmy: Definitely. You know, as much as I want exposure, the downside is that anytime I go to a Bob and Tom market, there’s always at least one guy that yells out, ‘Air bass!’ It’s like, ‘Okay, there’s no music playing sir. It doesn’t apply to what we are doing currently.’ And by the way, and you know this: They don’t yell out when it’s quiet…they yell it out one word before the punchline. ‘Air bass!’ Yeah, thanks.

J.T.: Well, have you picked up any other air instruments like the accordion?
Jimmy: I have not. I stick strictly with the bass. You know, when you perfect an instrument like that, you don’t want to take away from its uniqueness. How’s that for a ridiculous answer (laughing).

J.T.: What you should do is if someone yells out for air bass, you should just stop what you’re doing and do like a three minute solo without any music or noise whatsoever and then, when you’re done, remind everyone to thank the gentleman after the show for suggesting that encore performance.
Jimmy: Right! I mean, obviously I do other nonsense, like I tap dance for no reason…you know, I’m doing this Cajun character who just shows up out of nowhere now, for no reason.

J.T.: (laughing) I haven’t seen that yet.
Jimmy: Oh, it is the dumbest thing you will see in your entire life. I’m not going to lie to you: I’ve never, in my entire career in comedy, I’ve never heard an audience laugh harder than when I do this dumb Cajun guy. It doesn’t last more than two minutes, because it can’t because it is so ridiculous, but when I do it, I still get spit-takes. I mean, Jesus Christ, I’ve worked my ass off for twenty years and, as it turns out, I do this dumb Cajun guy and he gets the biggest laugh. Fair enough.

J.T.: You caught the Larry the Cable Guy syndrome.
Jimmy: Yeah, right. But I never go more than two minutes because I don’t want to be that guy…you know, with all of his billions of dollars. I don’t want that. No.

J.T.: That’s funny because I just watched the roast of Larry the Cable Guy and Greg Giraldo just tore into him.
Jimmy: He was great, Greg. Everybody says Jeff Ross, they call him the ‘master of the roast,’ but I think Greg was. Don’t you think?

J.T.: Greg’s stuff was brilliant.
Jimmy: Nobody was writing sharper material than Greg.

J.T.: Oh, I mean, Greg Giraldo doing the Flavor Flav roast with, ‘You look like Idi Amin after a three year crack binge on the sun!’ That is an elegant reference.
Jimmy: (laughing) Gorgeous!

J.T.: I got to meet Greg once when he middled for Colin Quinn. I was very surprised. He was a very subdued guy off stage.
Jimmy: You know, it surprised me to. I met him a couple of times at the Montreal Comedy Festival and he’s one of those guys that, like when you see him, with what he does on stage, which is so quick and sarcastic, but off stage, it’s like, ‘Hey man, I’m Greg.’ And it’s like, ‘Oh! Oh good! We’re just people.’

J.T.: If you ever get a chance to, look up Greg’s interview in Psychology Today…it definitely gives some insight into what happened.
Jimmy: Okay. I will definitely look that up when I get home tonight.

J.T.: So, your role on Conan: are you doing the warm up only or are you going to be getting into the writing as well?
Jimmy: You know, I’ll still be just the opening act, but I’m hoping to get in some more sketches this go-round. I did a few for the Tonight Show (with Conan O’Brien) that, due to time constraints, never aired. I am hoping to get in some more sketches and to be a little more involved, but for the most part right now, I’m happy to just go out and be the warm up act and have, quite frankly, the greatest day job in the world.

J.T.: That would be fantastic. Have you been told to keep things in check?
Jimmy: You know what, the only notes that I was ever given, to be honest with you, is just ‘don’t swear.’ That was it.

J.T.: I interviewed Archbishop Schnurr and the whole way to the interview, I’m smoking like a freight train telling myself, ‘Don’t say fuck, don’t say fuck and for fuck’s sake, don’t say goddamn.’ Then I got worried that I had hyped myself up so much that the first words out of my mouth were going to be, ‘Fuck, fuck, fucking, fuckity fuck!’…and then I would go straight to hell.
Jimmy: (laughing) Of course! You know, it’s funny, I did a private gig once, which I can’t stand doing, by the way, and before I went on, the guy goes, ‘The only thing I ask is just  don’t say fuck.’ So I said, ‘Oh, okay.’ So I decided to replace every ‘fuck’ in my act with ‘goddamn.’ As it turns out, that might be a little more offensive to some people. Turns out that saying, ‘This goddamn thing and that goddamn thing’…some people truly get offended by that. Okay, good enough.

J.T.: Now, you’ve played Wiley’s a few times…
Jimmy: This will be my third time there. I used to play Joker’s way back in the day, so when that kind of went down, Rob (Haney) was kind enough to call me up, so I went over there and I love it.

J.T.: Do you think it’s a good room for you?
Jimmy: You know what? I’m a guy that speaks so positively about comedy clubs as opposed to venues, and you have one of each in Dayton. I love Wiley’s and while he might not get the numbers that the other club gets, in my opinion, you’re getting comedy fans as opposed to people who just want a night out. I like a nice 150-200 seat room with the stage right there and the people are right there with you, so you can communicate as opposed to perform. That’s the problem…well, I guess it’s not a problem…well, I kind of think it’s a problem…I think that having the stage and the audience so separated has made some comedians go in the direction of, ‘I should perform! I need to kill!’ as opposed to just worrying about being funny. That’s what I love about Wiley’s…even back in the day when Joker’s was there. There were many years when Joker’s drew tremendous crowds. Then, sadly, it became a place for bachelorette parties and you end up wanting to slam your head against a wall.

J.T.: There’s no competing with a bachelorette party.
Jimmy: The day that someone puts a rule out across the country that bachelorette parties are not allowed at comedy clubs, that guy will be my hero.

J.T.: Speaking of Rob, when he told me he sent you an email warning you that I wanted an interview, he said, ‘Oh, I told him that a local writer wanted to interview him and that you were a big fan of his iPod.’ Rob and technology equals a bad mix.
Jimmy: You know, Rob will send me an email and if it takes me more than one word to respond, he’ll write back, ‘Can you just pick up the phone!’ He’s like a dad in that way. Like a dad…if you picture the stereotypical dad…that’s Rob. ‘I don’t understand this future!’

J.T.: When he said I loved your iPod instead of Podcast, I was like, ‘Yeah, I love how Jimmy’s playlist jumps from Marilyn Manson to Air Supply…it’s such an eclectic mix.’
Jimmy: You know, there’s a good chance that might happen. Yeah, you’ve seen my iPod. You like the way I handle it. You like the case and the clear plastic I put over it to prevent scratches.

J.T.: Well, let’s wrap this up. Is there anything that you want out there that we haven’t covered?
Jimmy: Nah, I think that covers it. In fact, I’m going to be pulling into a garage and I’m probably going to lose you. I sure do appreciate you taking the time to do a story.

J.T.: And I surely appreciate you taking the time to talk with me. I will definitely see you when you get to Wiley’s then.
Jimmy: Fantastic! I look forward to it. Thank you so much and I appreciate it J.T.

You can catch the sweetly sardonic humor of Jimmy Pardo for a limited engagement at Wiley’s Comedy Niteclub (101 Pine St. in the Oregon District) on Friday November 5th at 9:00 pm and for two shows on Saturday, November 6th at 8:00 pm and 10:30 pm. Tickets range from $10 to $12 and, since this is a special show, no coupons, passes or offers can be accepted. Call (937) 224-JOKE to make reservations and for more information, check out Wiley’s website at www.wileyscomedyclub.com or become friends with them on Facebook.

Filed Under: Comedy, The Featured Articles Tagged With: Conan O'Brien, Greg Giraldo, Jimmy Pardo, Never Not Funny, podcasts, Pompous Clown, Rob Haney, stand up, Wiley's Comedy Niteclub, You Bet Your Life

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