Funniest man on radio.

June 17, 2001 2:08 PM

Funniest man on radio. There are hundreds of television channels, and multimillion dollar movies being made, but I'd rather listen to an AM talk show. You can also listen on the internet here.
posted by Doug (20 comments total)

Agreed. This guy is the funniest thing I've heard in years. I've been listening to him daily since I moved to Atlanta and discovered his show.
posted by bonzo at 2:27 PM on June 17, 2001

That would have been a really great article if the author had spent a little less time trying to insinuate that sT00pId cUnSurVativEs were to blame for the existence of this man's show. The imbeciles he gets to call in seem pretty equally balanced to me. (Blaming NASCAR for one kid's auto accident is not exactly a conservative POV, for example.)
posted by aaron at 2:34 PM on June 17, 2001

Well, it's more sT00pId people in general. Imagine how easy it would be to troll the Freepers, for instance. I think the point is that there are a lot of people out there who are so stupid and so consumed with anger that they'll take practically any bait. But, as Gladstone said, "conservatives are not generally stupid, but stupid people are generally conservative." (I'm sure I've made a minor botch of the quote.) If that's true, it's not about conservative ideas at all.

And remember, the NASCAR joke stiffed, according to the article. So at least some non-conservatives failed to take the bait.

(Glad you're back, Aaron.)
posted by rodii at 2:50 PM on June 17, 2001

(Thank you.)
posted by aaron at 2:54 PM on June 17, 2001

Phil Hendrie is sometimes riotously funny, but sometimes really boring. He depends on stupid people to make the joke work.

But there appear to be lots of stupid people in the world. And I find stupid people to be extremely entertaining. Finally someone is taking advantage of this untapped resource.

He is the ultimate troll. A welcome change from all the really *bad* trolls we see these days.

(hi aaron!)
posted by y6y6y6 at 3:33 PM on June 17, 2001

I used to love listening to Joe Crummy in LA, who used to do the same thing, but this guy does it a lot better. It's seemless. You can't tell it's the same guy at all.
posted by mathowie at 5:22 PM on June 17, 2001

We used to listen to Phil everyday at my former place of employment. Amazing how often he explains the "joke" on the air, yet people continue to call that very same show. One question though: Who is the "Comb-Over Boy" he is always railing against?
posted by jca at 6:17 PM on June 17, 2001

Comb-over Boy is Tom Leykis, quite possibly the most annoying radio personality in America.
Hendrie will laugh sometimes, in the middle of a sketch, and people won't catch on. He'll speak in the guests voice through the mike, and his voice through the "phone" and people wont catch on. It's pretty amazing.
posted by Doug at 6:31 PM on June 17, 2001

Actually, the most brilliant man in radio is a fellow named T. D. Mischke on KSTP AM 1500, 8-10 CST. Funny and peculiar fellow with no professional radio training - he started as a caller, got his own show, and even had a nice little write up in The Atlantic last year.

He once did something that no other host ever had, or will have, the nerve to do: he went an entire show without talking. He took calls, but he didn't say anything, so between calls there were yards and yards of dead air. It was a high-concept bit, the absolute opposite of what a show is supposed to be, and it grew funnier as the hours went on - you'd hear a jaunty commercial, then theme music, then . . .nothing. And you couldn't turn it off, because he might start talking . . .or the next call might be really, really odd . . . or he might make it to the end without saying a word. (He did.)

Mind you, this is on a 50,000 watt station that blankets about 20 states and five Canadian provinces after sundown.
posted by lileks at 7:00 PM on June 17, 2001

Hendrie rules. Listening to him got me through high school in FL (you haven't heard anything until you hear a Marlins game involving blind grannies and automatic weapons), and it was a pleasant surprise to find him here in LA.
posted by owillis at 7:23 PM on June 17, 2001

His is the only name that comes to mind when I'm asked "Anyone on the damned radio not a g'dang Stern clone?"
posted by dong_resin at 9:09 PM on June 17, 2001

Hendrie's great.

Another "Oh my God are people stupid" wake-up call is Leno's Jaywalking series... I'm stocking up my bomb shelter as we speak...
posted by fooljay at 10:04 PM on June 17, 2001

Finally Hendrie gets the media attention he has so long deserved. The last national-type story I read was an interview with him in the Hollywood Reporter by Steve Coulter the now-drummer for Tsar.

Tragically, his own local rag continues to ignore him, as they do most of their local talent.

Did anyone think it was funny that the article ran in The New York Times magazine and yet Hendrie is on "86 markets, but not New York"?

I'm just bummed that Hendrie got moved up to the 7-10 p.m. slot in LA. the 4-7 was easier to catch. But, uh, that's just me.
posted by josholalia at 10:17 PM on June 17, 2001

When i'm a bit more alive (it's 6:30 am here :/) i'm gonna have to check out the webcasts. Sounds too good to miss. I'd feel guilty if i went to bed without leaving this link (real audio format) to the Quin chronicles though for anyone who hasn't heard it. One bloke playing four characters to one of the most entertainingly ridiculous crank victims ever. More info here. Enjoy.
posted by Kino at 10:28 PM on June 17, 2001

josholalia: The Daily News had a big spread on Hendrie a few months ago, including some in-studio shots.
posted by owillis at 10:46 PM on June 17, 2001

Hendrie pins a "Kick Me" sign on the backs of the nation's mob of angry radio cranks and then permits his listeners to laugh at them.

I think there's a MeFi tagline in there somewhere...
posted by fooljay at 10:48 PM on June 17, 2001

Hendrie even conned Neil Boortz, an Atlanta-based conservative talk show host last month. Neil came on the air raging about some liberal news item Phil trolled him on as Neil was driving home the day before. Needless to say, Neil issued a quick mea culpa the next morning and used the famous line "fool me once..."
posted by darren at 5:52 AM on June 18, 2001

The funniest person I've ever heard on the radio is Gordon Keith, who appears on the two drivetime shows on The Ticket, a sportsradio station in Dallas.

A few recent examples of his work:

• Gas Cap Louie, the Team Hyundai NASCAR driver (clip 1 and clip 2)
  
• Nolan Ryan describing the threat of the snowmonkeys
  

posted by rcade at 7:04 AM on June 18, 2001

the most brilliant man in radio is a fellow named T. D. Mischke on KSTP AM 1500

Damn, I just could not remember this guy's name to save my soul. Mischke is brilliant in that Ernie Kovacs/AndyKaufman way -- maybe you'll get it, maybe not, and sometimes it really is just weird and not at all funny.

You can listen to him on the web, too, but only when he's live.
posted by briank at 7:32 AM on June 18, 2001

(Thanks Oliver, I'll check it out.)
posted by josholalia at 10:03 AM on June 18, 2001