How one young man became one very funny, "Christian" old woman

October 16, 2007 12:40 PM

Melba Jackson has long been the terror of local Christian radio hosts and various sports programs. Her contributions have tickled many a listener, wondering exactly who this elderly woman from a rural area is, exactly. Turns out she isn't a she at all, but a very talented and shy young man by the name of Brother Russell.

Russell's ability to almost instantly morph into Melba Jackson is stunning, and he can be heard "becoming" her on at least one prank call on Radio Jihad. He has been the bane of such televangelists as Robert Tilton, Benny Hinn, Bob Larson, and Christian radio talk show hosts from Dallas to Austin and everywhere in between. He's pranked the guys at The Ticket and done video collages, chastised Mormons and pretended to be raptured while ordering religious children's books, too. But he is not the supposed 88-year-old Gladys who called the Ellen Degeneres show at the beginning of 2007, despite some startling similarities.

This is my first post... be gentle, o wise MeFites!

posted by Unicorn on the cob (26 comments total)

Young? The two (self-produced, I presume) albums are from 1996 and 1997.

And really, so what? There's not much story here.
posted by yhbc at 12:51 PM on October 16, 2007

Great post, thank you! Reminds me in a roundabout way of the days when the British comedian Peter Cook would call in as "Sven" to the Clive Bull show on London's LBC station. I've not listened to the station in a long time but there used to also be an elderly lady late-night caller by the name of "Babs" who I always wondered about.
posted by ceri richard at 1:13 PM on October 16, 2007

YHBC: Sorry if you didn't like the post. I diligently searched for mention of him previously here, saw none, felt he was a gem that should be shared with the masses, sort of a... cult prank-call hero type of thing. And therefore I posted it. There doesn't seem to be a lot of story behind the single-youtube-link variety of posts, and a man in his early 30's is certainly younger than a woman in her 90's. He's recently started doing new podcasts after a brief hiatus, so I felt others would like to know about it.

This IS my first post. And he has other media for sale, it's just hard to find.

Did I miss the point of Metafilter? I sort of thought it was meant for, "Oh neat! A thing to share with fellow intellectuals!" or "OMG, I have put the pieces together from various sources and made an amazing discovery!"
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 1:25 PM on October 16, 2007

Me likee, UOTC!
posted by Mental Wimp at 1:30 PM on October 16, 2007

Well, Unicorn, I appreciated this one--Melba reminds me of Jonathan Winters.
posted by not_on_display at 1:30 PM on October 16, 2007

No, I'm sorry Unicorn - I guess I was expecting a grand "reveal" from your wording of the post that wasn't there, and now I understand wasn't intended to be. Does that make sense? I mean, I thought you were going to present a surprising no-one-saw-that-coming expose, but instead it's a few links about a guy who - well, is a kind of cult prank-call hero, in your words. My mistake, not yours!
posted by yhbc at 1:44 PM on October 16, 2007

This is my first post... be gentle, o wise MeFites!

This is the sounding call for the snark. Don't do that. Brings 'em boiling right out of the woodwork.

Did I miss the point of Metafilter? I sort of thought it was meant for, "Oh neat! A thing to share with fellow intellectuals!" or "OMG, I have put the pieces together from various sources and made an amazing discovery!"

Rule number one would have to be "don't defend or moderate your threads". It just gets you emotionally involved with defending your posts and provides a target.

Look at it this way: If you were being shot at, would you be inclined to lay low and wait for the bullets to stop flying, or would you stand up just in time for a neat and clean head shot?

Except in the most gregarious of situations, a few people snarking in thread about your post isn't going to get it deleted. It's best to just ignore them and follow through with your convictions.

I mean, you liked it enough to post, right? Immediately going on the defensive sends a strong message that your convictions aren't all that convincing. So, play it cool, eh?
posted by loquacious at 1:45 PM on October 16, 2007 [2 favorites]

See? If you'd just chilled, it'd be yhbc eating the humble egg pie on his face.
posted by loquacious at 1:46 PM on October 16, 2007

Thing about that stuff is, there's always plenty to go around.
posted by yhbc at 1:47 PM on October 16, 2007

Who you callin' an interlectual?
posted by signal at 1:52 PM on October 16, 2007

What loquacious said, just let it ride. It's a fine post and I'd never heard of this stuff, so thanks for pointing it out.

On preview: mmm, humble egg pies.
posted by sleepy pete at 1:52 PM on October 16, 2007

Thing about that stuff is, there's always plenty to go around.

Seriously. I'm sure I'll have some this week at some point. I'll probably be shoveling it in with both feet.
posted by loquacious at 1:54 PM on October 16, 2007

gregarious situations?
posted by found missing at 2:03 PM on October 16, 2007

I enjoyed it, thanks.

*Agrees totally with Loquacious and his Rules For Pre-Empting Flame-outs, Snarkiness, and General Asshattery*
posted by Sk4n at 2:03 PM on October 16, 2007

Well I for one think we should jump the new guy. That'll teach 'em to post in our big blue tree fort.

I'm a happy guy when the miles go by
There ain't too much that I'm missing
But I've got a wife with a frying pan
And when she talks I listen
I'm the king of the road
She's the queen of the house
And it may not be a palace
But it sure beats a load by the side of the road
Broke down south of Dallas Junior Brown
posted by nola at 2:04 PM on October 16, 2007

Anyone need a hyphen? I got a few left.
posted by Sk4n at 2:04 PM on October 16, 2007

Sk4n, we're jumping the new girl. *whiny voice*


. . . * Borrows hyphen for later*
posted by nola at 2:08 PM on October 16, 2007

Anyone who elicits comments like this in Amazon reviews has to be doing something right:

I have found most people who harbor this type of venom towards Christianity either have a sin issue or a fear that Christians are right and someday they will have to face God and account for themselves.

Good post.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 2:11 PM on October 16, 2007

"Me? You really want to know? I mean, I, I guess: Three, one, uh, four one five, uh, um...naw, you don't want to hear all that. I'm just pleased to make your acquaintance..."
       - humble pi
posted by cortex at 2:11 PM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

"Well I for one think we should jump the new guy."

Yeah, but you always think that.

Slut.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:14 PM on October 16, 2007

Mmmmm, gang-jumping cardio. Thanks all!
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 2:26 PM on October 16, 2007

I should point out that non-dallas residents probably don't know what the ticket is.

And I've been listening for a couple years but don't think I've ever heard of this guy before. Must be from before my time.
posted by puke & cry at 4:19 PM on October 16, 2007

Good post, and nicely appropriate for the first anniversary of Bob Lassiter's death.
posted by Kinbote at 4:32 PM on October 16, 2007

Interesting post, Unicorn on the cob!

And extra props (or big ups, or whatever the kids are calling it these days) for your clever username.
posted by amyms at 5:46 PM on October 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

Yeah, just wanted to say I liked the post as well. Good job.

amyms: Big ups to you as well, for that.
posted by DMan at 7:40 PM on October 16, 2007

Did I miss the point of Metafilter? I sort of thought it was meant for, "Oh neat! A thing to share with fellow intellectuals!" or "OMG, I have put the pieces together from various sources and made an amazing discovery!"

No, MetaFilter is all about savaging other users for their efforts in bringing good stuff to the place.

You did well. Ignore the gomers.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:46 PM on October 16, 2007