In the desert oasis where stories ignite Skip's little bar, a beacon of light from the Coachella Valley stars to cool everyday joes. Join Patrick and Randy. Let the stories flow that big conversations Little Bar. The magic spreads near and far backed by the MacCallum Theater's Grace. Celebrate the voices that shape this place.

From the coveted corner booth in a Little Bar at the center of the Coachella Valley universe. Welcome to another Big Conversation with Patrick Evans and Randy Florence presented by the McCallum Theater. Visit mccallumtheater.org or reach the box office at 760-340-2787. Gentlemen.

Howard, thank you very much. We are back with another edition of Big conversations Little Bar taped in front of a live studio audience at little Bar in Palm Desert. Skip Paige's Little bar. And we are in the coveted corner booth. Our sponsor, the McCallum Theater. Please be sure to drop by their website, mccallumtheater.org they're always adding shows. It's another incredible season and they're extending the season. So be sure to never miss a program at the McCallum Theater. I'm Patrick Evans. I'm your host. I'm here with my good buddy, my co host, my sidekick. We were high school best friends at different times in different schools. Randy...

I was way behind. Senior year was my best 15 years of my life.

So, Randy, how are you?

I'm good. And I want to congratulate you. So as we record this just recently you just received a pretty cool recognition in town from Supervisor Perez.

And it wasn't in town. I had to go.

You had to dream, you had to leave.

Yeah.

So tell us about that.

All of the County Board of Supervisors select a volunteer of the year for their district. And that was on this particular day we're taping. It was this morning. And so after my morning newscast, I drove to Riverside and it was the regular county board of supervisors meeting. They recognized all of those who were named. And I got to say a few words in front of the congratulations. I got a really nice plaque.

But did you drive there in the car you won for?

I had a police escort. No. And, and I want to say thank you to supervisor Perez, Manny Perez. We've known each other for 20 plus years. And he said really kind and generous things in introducing that award. And it was just, I know he had dozens and dozens of people on that list. And so I was very gratified and well, congratulations.

It was well deserved.

Very sweet what he said and to do that so.

And pretty sweet that I brought it up.

It's really sweet that you brought it up. I already called you sweet in the last podcast.

I don't think I can't call me sweet enough.

Our producer John McMullen is here.

Yay. Am I sweet?

L. That if there's sweet in the universe, you're the point farthest front.

Yes. He's the anti sweet.

And that voice is the voice of our guest, Mr. John Taylor, who is. You know that voice because you hear him every morning on KK Radio. He is the morning drive guy and have been for how. How long? Since the inception.

I have been a rising star in the radio framerment for 44 years. No, since the inception of KG I've done mornings here in Palm Springs.

And when did that start?

Oh, back in the late 50s during the ice. We're going on seven years. Yeah. And there was a period of time when the radio station was owned by a well run by a non profit board who didn't know their ass from their elbow.

Let's just say they knew how not to make a profit.

And. Yeah. And they fired the team that created the radio station. And I said hey, I'm not doing this for the money. This is a labor of love. And I gotta go. Goodbye. And walked out along with Shan Carr and Brad Furr. And we did what gay people do in a crisis. We went immediately to Street Bar and started day drinking.

I think that's a very effective. I think that's an effective way to deal with crises.

But yeah. Yeah.

So we do it every week here.

And then we created the I Love Gay Palm Springs podcast and pandemic happened. Brad brilliantly figured a way to buy the radio station and we got the band back together and it has been the best experience of my. To have an Act 3 in broadcasting be the best ever is something special.

Well, congratulations to you guys. And I need to give a shout out to Brad. Brad for is a terrific guy. I also work for him. I'm on Our sister station 103.1metv FM.

Yes, you are my.

I am your arch nemesis.

You're my evil media nemesis.

I hope we could avoid this ugliness.

But let's just talk about meteorite.

Don't make me separate you two.

Thinks he's so fancy up there with his Star Trek.

You. You know, I'm gonna get back to this arch nemesis stuff because we constantly compete for. We're not competing but we. We're always in the running for. For best dj.

Yeah.

One year he wins, next year I win.

That's weird because I Vote differently alternating years, do you?

It was you. Shame on Randy. Oh, boy.

Don't you know which side your bread is buttered?

But you know what?

I'm not calling you sweet in any podcast if you vote for other people.

The truth is, and if anybody asks me, I'll deny it, I absolutely love this guy. He's so great. You're a great broadcaster and. And to be mentioned in the same breath as you is whatever is, is 100% mutual.

You're great at what you do. And you radio station there, it's the greatest call letters for Palm Springs possible.

What a great coincidence.

No, it wasn't at all. I'll tell you how it happened.

Yeah, tell us the story.

It's a great story. Brad was, you know, always. You know, Brad worked for Pride Radio. There were various out broadcasts, you know, even the short liberal talk network of radio stations. What was it called? Help me out, John. The one with Rachel Maddow. Yeah, yeah. Air America. Air America, yeah. So he worked for a lot of, you know, progressive, kind of. And lgbt, you know, Pride Radio. I used to do work for Brad and we've known each other 30 years. So he want. He had this dream to create this gay radio station in Palm Springs. And he was literally in the middle of the night scrolling on his phone, and he found out that the call letters K, G, A Y had been sort of put on a shelf by a Christian broadcasting group who wasn't real crazy about the idea of the G, A, Y. And he filled out a form on his phone, paid 75 bucks and secured the call letters.

Holy cow.

I don't know if that was the exact amount, but it was, you know, it was just like an application fee. And John McMullen is a great broadcaster and knows all imagination behind the scenes on how to make radio happen. I don't know, I just turn the button on, talking to the mic, blah, blah, blah, Play some music, blah, blah, blah.

That is not. I've seen your setup, your home studio.

I have a 4000 pound custom made soundproof booth at home. Yeah.

Wow.

But I have.

Let's do a remote.

I have. But I also have. I have another setup outside of the soundproof booth so I can do it with a guest. So when Brad and I do our little. This is the top three things I have. I have three cameras, I have lights. It's crazy.

No, his home studio is. It's amazing. It would rival lots of TV studios.

That I've worked in and I've learned from TV people on how to do lighting. I went to Emerson College. So we were. It was a good school.

Yeah.

And I absorbed some of the basics. You guys are like into stories. All right. So I have to tell you, we're very into stories.

All right. It's a story based podcast.

All right. So picture it. Emerson College, 1983. A fresh faced young boy from suburban Boston comes. No.

God, I hope it's you.

It was me. It was me.

So that's the spoiler.

So I went to Emerson in Boston and I got. I got in with this incredibly talented group of potheads who, they were the kind of people that if they smoked pot, they got more creative. I was the kind like, oh, I'm way behind. I better not smoke pot. So I'm not a pothead. But they were. David Cross, you remember, from Arrested Development. Laura Kightlinger, amazing standup consulting producer on Will and Grace. Anthony Clark, the star of seven seasons of yes Dear. They were all in my comedy troupe. My comedy teacher was Dennis Leary.

Wow. So one of my all time favorites.

And during comedy writing class, we started out with like 25 people. But because Dennis Leary constantly smoked, all of the asthmatics dropped out. We were down to like nine.

And it was a culling method that he used.

But I came from this. It was like Saturday Night Live and all of these incredibly talented people. And so that's where I came up. But then I kind of took that with me to radio.

But let's go back before Emerson.

Okay.

What got you into comedy at Emerson College?

Well, before Emerson, before.

So you were born in a small town?

I was born in New London, Connecticut. Dad was a teacher at the Coast Guard Academy. We were not Coast Guard brats. Dad then worked at Harvard. He went to mit. He was like an amazingly smart guy who kind of had the Asperger's thing going on. A Beautiful Mind. He solved a problem on a blackboard and got a full four year MIT scholarship.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, he was like crazy brainy, but he didn't necessarily connect. I'm gonna divert for a good story.

Okay.

So about, I don't know, 10 years ago, my younger brother, who married late in life, his wife was pregnant and we were having our conference call with me and my two brothers and my dad and I said, dad, you're gonna be a grandpa again. I'm so happy. He goes, yeah, I'm happy too. I said, I don't think I'm gonna give you any grandkids. And dad said, yeah, I've always thought that was a shame. I said, why so dad said, I always thought a world with multiples of you would be a better place.

Your father said that?

My father said, I love you in an equation.

Wow.

John times X equals better world. And strangely enough, he died suddenly a few months later. And so I have the equation.

That's phenomenal.

That and dad didn't connect on a lot of emotional levels because of that beautiful mind, but I have that. So I was like, I'm good.

Did he realize at some point that you had achieved some of what he was hoping for? You too?

I don't think dad had necessary. I think he was always a booster and, you know, a fan of his own kids. All of them. All three of them. But I don't think he necessarily got it. It's like, okay, you just keep doing what you're doing, you know? You know what I mean? It's like any. Any. You've talked to a lot of people in show business. It's just like parents don't. They don't say, hey, yeah, continue on with that thing that doesn't look like it has any future.

Yeah. You seem like you're going to be unemployed a lot.

Yeah, but I haven't been. But you haven't been for 44 years.

So when you got out of Emerson, I mean, like, you. You were in this incredible bubble of great comedic talent.

When I was kicked out of Emerson.

Oh, you were kicked out.

Another story.

Yeah, well, dad had some success in his computer career and then some fa. You know, some down times, and so the checks didn't clear, so they said, we're security. You have to leave.

Okay. So you departed Emerson amicably.

I did.

Well, they weren't mad at you. No.

No. And I. I realized, you know, my welcome is worn out here and it's time to go. And so my grandmother. And you know, there are a lot of people that are lucky enough to have a. An amazing grandmother. My grandmother said, but you. You used to like to do the radio thing in high school. Let's get you a radio job. I said, it's not that easy. So she paid some money. I think it was like 400 bucks. My friend Christo Charis, who did all the audio bits for our Emerson shows, we faked a demo tape. Like, I worked at radio stations. Oh, perfect. And he made 100 copies and labeled them. And my grandmother drove me around New England station to station, like Loretta Lynn and Coal Miner's Daughter, wherever there was a tower, and pulled over. And we started in Cape Cod, where Grammy was from, and we ended up In Western Mass, Maine, New Hampshire. And I got a gig full time. Right off the bat, I would go in and, you know, she would say, did you talk to the manager? And I would say, well, no, he's at lunch. He goes, I'm enjoying my book. Go back in and wait. No, it really happened. And Rochester, New Hampshire, is where the first gig happened.

And what was the first show?

Just the first show was the day that somebody shot Ronald Reagan.

There was some news.

At least there's a quiet news day.

Yuck. No. And I didn't know how to run the equipment. I had bamboozled my way in with that really good demo.

Right. The faux demo tape.

So my job was to flip one switch to ABC News. That was it. And then I learned behind the scenes that day. So I'm sorry about Mr. Reagan's gunshot wounds, but they really helped me.

Well, he recovered, and it worked out for.

It worked out for both of us.

I know the first day is April 30th. Yeah. 1981. Wow.

So how long did you stay at this small Rochester?

Yeah, I moved on up. I moved to Laconia, or actually Wolfboro, the Winnipesaukee Lakes region. And. And I worked for a guy named Jay Williams, and he owned the radio station. And at the age of 14, I had actually made dumb demo tapes that were bad, they weren't professional, and actually rode my bike hundreds of miles around suburban Boston to deliver them. And I had misrepresented myself as his son, and he's still childless to this day, to the receptionist to deliver my tape. And Jay Williams hired me at age 19.

Did you tell him that story?

Oh, yeah. He knew it. Oh, he knew I had the letter. He wrote me a letter from F105, WVBF in Boston, which is still a station, I think, but. Yeah. So. And I worked for Jay Williams there and in Worcester, and. Yeah, for many, many years.

So how did you end up here on the left coast in Palm Springs?

Well, I had come to California at the age of 40 in 2005 with no invitation. So I went to Hollywood without invitations, and I called my grandmother, the one who drove around, and I thought that I would tell her, you know, I'm moving to California. I'm gonna go after this voiceover career. What do you think? And her answer was, it's about time. Right. Believed in you always. Believed in you always.

She knew the goal before you knew the goal.

Yeah. And we don't necessarily know. Well, you know, things like that. That's a big step. Anyway, I Took it.

And were you in Florida at the time?

Yeah, I was in Florida.

And how did you get there?

A bus?

No, no, I flew. I had a husband.

I 95.

I had a number one show in Worcester, Mass. And it was great. That town was great to me. The audience. I still have friends from there, listeners and friends. But I. I met the Cuban and he was movie star handsome with a porn star body. And. No, I mean, and just like you, Randy. And he.

I noticed the look.

I felt like he, he wooed me and said, it is. Can I say the S word?

Absolutely.

He said, this long distance is not working out. You have to shit or get up off of the pot. Either you move to Miami or forget about it. So I threw away my number one show.

Wow.

And moved to the beach and lived in the condo on the ocean.

No hesitation.

Because I mean, you heard movie star.

Good looks, porn star.

I mean, Brilliant. Had a PhD. He was the assistant superintendent of the Miami Dade Public Schools. He was a brilliant man.

Total package.

Yeah, yeah. And I was like, oh. And so I moved in. I was out of work for 10 days.

Wow, you got snapped up. Looks like that, yeah.

By a very evil company. I won't mention the name, but I'll mention the name. No, I'll just say the initial cbs. But I worked for them and in West Palm and had a. It was rough. Big corporate media, you know, I work for pop and pop. Now there's something to be said for a family business where the family is family to choose and longtime friends. And CBS was, Was rather harrowing.

Well, all, all of that corporate, I mean, these days, the corporate ownership of both radio stations and tv, it's really a tough world. I'm very lucky because I work for the radio group that you work for. Work for Brad. But also the Bradleys who own the kesq, they own a few other TV stations. But it's, it is a family owned, family run business and I'm very lucky to still be in that world, for sure.

But the big corporate thing, you know, it's not a place where you can thrive. You just have to fit a slot and whatever. And I never fit in anywhere.

And big corporations, they're scared of innovation, they're scared of breaking molds. I mean, it's hard, harder to be creative and do what you do in that world.

And in the, in the final analysis, it is their fiduciary responsibility to deliver stockholder value. And that is not our gig here. And the thing is, you know, I've done this on you know, with a certain break in the middle seven years. I've never had a morning show meeting.

Wow, isn't that nice?

I've never had a air check meeting. Well, let, let's examine what you're doing. And you know, I've never had a program director meeting.

Well, because you guys kill it in the ratings.

Well, the thing is these are my friends and we've all come up in the business over 30 years together. So there's nothing I knew you're going.

To tell each other.

Right.

But also we, we kind of learned from really great broadcasters the basics. You know, I'm talking Guy Zapoli and, and you know, people names that don't mean anything to anybody outside of radio. But we all were steeped in, in radio best practices that came from people that really knew. And we, we've all come up in that. So there wasn't any like, you know, it might be better if you do this. No, we've learned that this is a.

Good moment to take a quick break and thank our sponsor, the McCallum Theater. Time to say hello to the McCallum. Drop by mccallumtheater.org for the latest tickets and latest shows and let's hear from them.

Local talented performers ages 10 through 79 compete for a number of awards and perform together in an exuberant grand finale in MacCallum Theater's open call. Friday, May 2nd at 7pm and Saturday, May 3rd at 2pm and 7pm Vote for your favorite act and help determine the outcome. A show like no other. Open Call is fun for all ages. Tickets are available at mccallumtheatre.org or by phone at 760-340-2787 or at the box office.

Thank you, McCallum Theater. We're here with John Taylor, the morning show host on KG Radio. But you also. We were just about to jump into this and whatever happened to the Cuban?

That's my question.

The Cuban, it was not a match made in heaven because it was two strong personalities and unfortunately. But we, the last time we saw each other was shortly before his passing and he passed of hiv and we saw each other in Hollywood at the Griddle great restaurant and he had come to town for some convention. So there was never. I'm the best ex boyfriend you could ever because I pick good people. Maybe not for me, but he ended up with this nice man, David. And unfortunately he passed at I think about 56.

Oh my gosh.

So that was. Yeah, way too young. Way too young. But anyway. But then I made my way to LA without an invitation to do voiceover.

And that's a. I think it's a tougher business now that it's gotten a lot. I mean, the AI thing is, is not great for voiceover business, but. But tell me about your experiences there and in particular, because I love when podcast guests have a connection to Star Trek and many of them have a 1 or 2 or 3 degree connection. He's a 0 degree connection to star Trek. You have voiced Star Trek characters on video games?

Yes.

His character wears the uniform.

Yeah, I'm Lieutenant Kyle. I can't remember his name. Damn it.

Damn it.

No, I'm Kyle. Oh, yeah, I know. I'm Lieutenant Commander Kyle DeSoto, Starbase 37. There really wasn't any specifications for the voice, but you're supposed to sound like you're good looking.

It's working. Yeah. I love it. So that's very cool.

And that's fun.

That's a super niche voice job. The video game stuff.

I've gotten to do video games. I've done five cartoon series. I've done looping and ADR on movies, which is hilarious and fun because you spend a whole day and you're the last thing in post production before they edit the movie. And what else have I done? I teach surgeons how to do transplants and stuff.

Wow, you've really branched out.

Well, you know, I. I cover the waterfront, Randy. I cover the waterfront and I've done, you know, radio, commercial. I was a national voice. Denny's. I did Denny's. I was Toyota, Nissan. But yeah, you, you give us some of the taglines. Do you remember? All right, here we go.

Moon over Miami.

The 2012 Toyota Camry. It's ready. Are you okay?

I gotta go get a camera.

I think I just bought one.

You need.

I can't stand up right now, Randy.

You need a time machine to go back to 2012. They're way more expensive now. But the. I'm trying to think. I did something. The Nissan Juke. I did that. Oh, there was a sub brand of Toyota that was performance cars for the younger generation. Forgot the name of it. But they gave me money. Denny's. I was Denny's voice for five years. Wow. And that was a good gig. When I first got to Palm Springs, that kept the lights on, but it was like, well, well, well. Grandma, doesn't the family usually come over on Sunday for pancakes? I wonder where they are now. Maybe they're at Denny's, where The pancakes are 50% fluffier and even more vanilla. Ear had to learn how to say vanilla ear.

Vanilla year is hard.

Wow.

They put that in copy.

Yes, but it sounded. Rolled off the tongue. Vanilla ear. But. But I played. I played characters. You know, I played people that weren't me. I. I saw the. The, you know, the picture of the character.

And so, I mean, and we talk about this in our business. Sorry, Randy.

That's all right. You know, banking.

You're an honorary member.

You are. You got a microphone, baby.

But, you know, and voice acting are really two different things.

Well, yeah, voice acting is. You got to have acting chops. You got to be able to.

But that's what you're doing. You're throwing yourself into a character, but.

You throw yourself totally into. But. But also for first off, I'm gay. In case you didn't realize this already.

What?

But the thing is, I have a.

Radio station for you.

Yes. K, G A Y. But the thing is, gay people, when we are of a certain age, we grew up being inauthentic. We grew up being something manufactured so that we could avoid bullying and persecution and disapproval. So we concocted an inauthentic self, didn't we? And we learned how to be a chameleon, to not get hurt. And so as we move into our older years. I don't have any time for that shit. This is it. If you don't love me, that's okay. But I'm not gonna pretend to be something that I'm not. But I enjoyed being the character. It's almost like Daniel Day Lewis. Give him some prosthetic makeup and give him some. Some costume, and he turns into like. I made more money off of the real authentic cowboy, which is a low budget Sam Elliott. Already today, we've played more country music than any station in Denver. So from here on out, we're just showing off. And people. People in Denver listening to the radio station don't realize it's a faggot from Boston who's afraid of horses. But I love putting on the mask. I love playing the part. I do the best. Paul Harvey. And people don't even know who he loves.

Paul Harvey. Paul Harvey.

Good day.

Hello, Americans. You know what the news is? Now you're going to know the rest of the story. This is Paul Harvey presented by bew. It.

Phenomenal.

And. But I loved, you know, But I was like. I was playing its costumes with your voice.

That's why if people actually, you know, in those little polls where we. We faux compete.

Yeah.

If people knew all the stuff that you did, all the. That You've done over these. There would, they'd never not vote for you. Like I wouldn't stand a chance.

But you know, they're all in little different silos. Like, I'm huge with preschoolers. I've done a series, the Chica show with NBC. I did the more, you know, I played an octopus in outer space on Astroblast. The best was Amazon prime did a series called Tumble Leaf. And Kelly Bixler who did TV Funhouse with Saturday Night Live. Oh yeah, Remember that?

Yeah.

Kelly is amazing. And she was the first like woman that ran an animation studio and she did a stop action animation series called Tumble Leaf and they shot it in Burbank stills, you know, because it's, it's stop action. And they did five seasons and I got to play Gourd the Turtle, but I also got to play Gord's grandmother. Gord's grandmother is Granny Coconut. And Granny Coconut is more of an homage to Mud Frickert. Remember Jonathan Winners?

Yes.

But to be able to be these things and to be in people's brains is such a.

Did, did the voice come to you as soon as you saw the face or as soon as you understood the character?

You know, I, there are, if you, if you look at animation, you look at like the old, you know, Boris and Natasha, there were like a lot of the memes were used were Hollywood stars. Like I did a series called Astroblast where I played a three eyed outer space octopus handyman. And so I zeroed in on like, who's the guy you need help from? He's gonna be a stand up guy and he's really going to help you. And his name was James Gleason. He was an actor back in the day and he was, you remember James Gleason? He was the guy who talked like this. He was always in your corner. He would be the fight promoter back in the 1940s movies. Remember the one with Robert Montgomery, what was it called? Heaven can wait or meet Mr. Whatever. But I would zero in on these character actors from the old days and realize that they had traction. They, because they played the character, they played the character, the same character in so many movies. And so James Gleason I could do in my, in my sleep. Remember he was in Night, Night of the Hunter?

Yes.

I can't help, no, I'm sorry, I can't help you. You know, you kids, I, I'm more of a rummy. I, I, I, I, you right.

You know, but more of a rummy.

But, but the thing is You. They were established, and so you could. You could kind of key into their voices. So I. I didn't invent everything from whole cloth. I. I stole. I steal. I steal, but I steal from the best.

Okay.

That's what you have to.

And sometimes give them credit sometimes.

But there's no. You're not playing a character on the morning show. Let's.

I. Me. Yeah.

Yeah. That's you.

That's weird.

Is it?

Well, because, I mean, you got to.

Feel comfortable now after, you know, almost seven full years.

Yeah. Yeah.

Living in your own skin and working with Brad.

Yeah. No, I mean, I look at it this. What are they gonna do to you? What are they gonna bring it? What are you gonna do that hasn't already been done? You know, Hollywood already chewed me up and spat me out. What are you gonna do? Palm Springs. But. Yeah, no, it's. But also, this has been the best because I have never felt so connected to an audience. Oh, my gosh. And I've worked in some big cities. I will walk down the street on a Friday night, happy hour in the gayborhood, and I'll lose count at 50 or 60. Hugs. You know, radio, as you know, is a very intimate thing. We're with people in intimate moments. They're showering, shitting, shaving, whatever they're doing or driving alone, you know, that's intimate. You're in their space, and I'm privileged to be in the space.

And they've chosen you to be in their space.

That's true.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's important.

And I can see through the radio what you're doing, and I promise I won't tell, but I feel trusted and loved in a way that I didn't think. You know, somebody said, you want to see what kind of impression you make in radio? Get a bucket of water, stick your fist in the bucket, pull it out, look for the impression.

It looks the same.

But here, the impression, because it's an older audience and we've all been through a lot of the same territory. It is so connected. And I know what they're thinking because I'm thinking it. Yeah. Before, I had to think of, like, what Does a woman 25 to 54 think about this? Because that's what we want as a demo.

But you, you know, I have insider information. I mean, the streaming numbers on KG are pretty big. It's not just here.

Right.

Like, you guys do big streaming numbers elsewhere. So you're connecting not just with this Palm Springs audience, because you're here and you're Kind of, you know, one of us. But you're connecting with a much broader audience that feels that vibe.

Yeah. And all around the world. I mean, when I see Moscow listening, I'm like, hey, listen on earbuds. Don't. Don't put it on the speaker.

Don't play it out loud.

Yeah. Or if they're, you know, we don't want the secret police to hear you.

Who's listening? There's no gays in Russia.

There are.

Oh, there are everywhere.

You know, as much as my straight parents tried to. To groom me to be straight, it didn't work. And, and it doesn't. And no one can.

Are you saying there's a straight agenda? That's what you're saying?

I hear that. I'm, I'm for the human agenda, but the thing is, nobody can groom anybody. No one turned anybody gay. No one turned anybody straight.

Terry Ray turned Brandy.

He's working on it. 60.

Well, Terry Ray is. Yeah. He is like the gay gene and he's spreading it. I love Terry. Terry is the gayest person I ever. I mean, really. He's like my loafers lighten just being around him.

He was one of our first guests. First few guests.

Yeah.

And. But Randy was doing his acting class.

Oh, yeah.

And Terry confined him. He said, you know, I think, I think one more session. And we got him.

Yeah. I came in wearing all pale blue and he goes, 60 days.

60 days.

And we got you.

But, you know, and he is, he's been through the meat grinder and come out happy, well adjusted. Creating the bent dot org. Go find it. Support them and, and thriving in Palm Springs. So, you know, I feel like that's my sister.

So you said something a moment ago. Your parents were trying to groom you straight.

Not really. I mean, how did, how did that.

All work with your parents?

I think that we were all free range kids. It was like, yeah, go out and play. Come back when the street lights are on. And you know, they didn't. They were oblivious to everything. They didn't know. They didn't know that there were predators out there. You know the ice cream truck guy. No, they didn't know. I think they were just busy in their own little world. We didn't have helicopter parenting like you do. Now you helicopter. Come on.

I don't helicopter.

You don't?

My wife does.

She does. But somebody has to. Somebody has to.

You know, I do. I think that's true. No, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm not a helicopter parent, but And I didn't have helicopter parents.

Right.

I grew up in this. A very similar time frame to you.

Yeah.

And, you know, my. We're the same way. Like, go out there and, you know, come back for dinner and we don't want to hear from you.

Yeah. Between now children should be seen and not heard.

I've never been home since that first time she told me to leave. Does your wife tell my mom? Oh, although Kay might be looking for that.

No one. No one groomed their kids to be anything. They just. Just wanted to keep them alive until they could be prosecuted as adults. That was basically, you know, my mother's mantra, you know, and, well, you're on your own.

So what do you love most about the Giga kg? And I asked this from the standpoint. I did morning radio for a long time in addition to the TV stuff that I do. And I find it to be like that moment where you walk in, you have your most creative ideas in that space.

I feel like it's the longest continuing education course that a human being could ever have, and I've been on for 44 years. And so, because like you, I have insatiable curiosity about everything. And you, Randy, I mean, you're a very curious guy. And to be able to satiate that curiosity, to satisfy it, and to want to know more and to want to know more about other people in our community and, you know, the people that are performers, the people that are politicians, the people that. To be able to be able to ask questions and get answers and connect, that's the best thing about it. Does that sound phony? Baloney?

No, it doesn't sound phony. I think that's the joy of the podcast actually, versus the radio format is there's an opportunity to get to know people a little bit better.

Some people are jerks, though.

Yeah.

Like you deal with celebrities. Who was the meanest? Pick somebody dead.

No, I can tell you, I. I will say Kiernan Culkin.

Really?

Yeah.

Well, but that was your fault.

It was. No, I was a contributing factor, but it was not my fault. Yeah, well, we. He.

Kieran. Kieran, not Kiernan.

Well, that was.

That might have been. Yeah.

Kieran McCulkin. But he was already out there. He was already mad. We told him it was live, and we were already live.

Yeah.

And we were on television. He goes, well, then I better get all my shits and out right now. He said it online. So he did, which kind of threw me off. And that's when I said, hey, this is Kieran McCulkin. And then he was like, for five minutes, I was almost right. You're sort of right. You were close.

Did you mispronounce it on purpose?

No, no, I was just.

I see. I had one where I mispronounced it on purpose. Who? Well, I had the guy. Do you ever wonder why? Andy. Rudy. Yes.

Yeah.

Andy Rooney was on my show. And predictably, he was a prick. That was his brand. That was his brand.

Predictably.

Yeah.

But he was on the. But he was so grumpy and mean and, you know, is this over yet? On the air?

So that wasn't just shtick.

No, he was really amazing. And his daughter, Emily Rooney was WCVB's news director and eventually the news director of ABC News Nationally tv. But anyway, he came in to speak at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon, and I had him on my show at wxlo. And he was so mean and so crotchety and so nasty, and I just couldn't stop.

So what did you call him?

Well, when I. I was the MC of the Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Patrick. And as we know, revenge is a dish best served code. So when it was time to introduce Andy Rooney, I said, ladies and gentlemen, the Worcester Chamber of Commerce is so pleased to welcome somebody who has been so welcome in our living rooms on television for so many generations. Please welcome Andy Griffith.

Outstanding.

And everybody. And it was like you could hear like that stage gasp. And then they said, rooney. Rooney. People were screaming, rooney. Rooney. Correcting me. And I said, oh, I'm so sorry, I got it wrong. Let me. Ladies and gentlemen, Mickey Rooney.

Oh, you did it. Oh.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I made sure that my passive aggressive.

That was more aggressive than passive. I love it. I love it. It.

Yeah. So, I mean, aside from that, you know, people who have been in the business a long time, you know, famous people are usually nice because people want to work with them. Yeah. That they're actually delightful.

Yeah.

I mean, there are some people that I've been afraid to talk to because they have been edgy, like Sandra Bernhardt. Sweetheart.

She's delightful.

Yeah, yeah.

I've interviewed. She's terrific.

You know, if you come across a little scary. Yeah. Because, you know, she's a little edgy and caustic, but she's. Good heart. Good heart. Nice people. And I just want to be with nice people. And we're lucky to have a preponderance of nice people in this town and more creative people per capita than I think we have in anywhere in the world.

It seems like that Anywhere.

Well, I hate to cut this short, but I must. Jonathan, thank you so much.

I didn't get the Jay Leno story in.

Well, what's the JLO time for that?

Okay, so I got really sick in 1995. People thought I had AIDS. I didn't, but I was losing weight, and a friend of mine had moved to la and he became a producer to a company that fixed up famous people with college speaking engagements. I didn't know that my friend Steve, because I was so ill, had called famous people at home to then call me and cheer me up. So I answered the phone one time and I'm like, hello? He goes, hey, John Taylor, it's Jay Leno. Your friend Steve said you weren't feeling so well, so I figured I'd call you and cheer you up. And I was like, you don't sound anything like Jay Leno. Steve, work on your stupid Jay Leno impression. When I'm not feeling so bad, call me. He goes, why? Well, why don't you call me back? You got a pen? Yes, Jay. And I wrote down the number. 818 in a Burbank. So I hang up. I call back. Woman answers tonight's show with Jay Leno. I'm like, well, anyone can have their friends sitting on the couch answering tonight's show with Jay Leno. And then she puts me on hold and I hear, boom, boom, boom. NBC music. Oh, my God, it's Jay. I can't believe it. It's Jay Leno. Oh, my God. And he's like, hello? I'm like, it's really you, Jay Leno calling me a nobody. He goes, who is this? It's John Taylor. He said, you don't sound anything like John Taylor. He hangs up. Then Jay Leno calls me right back and talks to me for an hour.

Wow.

From Andover, Boston guy went to Emerson. Car guy haven't been in the same room. Haven't talked to him since that day.

No.

If anybody ever runs into Jay, he comes here.

He does. He comes to me. I've interviewed him, and he's one of those guys who is exactly what you see.

He is.

He's just.

He didn't have to talk to this goofy radio guy for an hour. And, and, and from that moment on, when the phone rang, I was like, hello?

Thanks to J J Taylor, our guest, you can catch him every morning on KG Radio. Please tune in and enjoy his wonderful brand of broadcasting. Thank you so much. We're gonna have you back.

This has been a blast.

We have lots more stories. I know that you, John McMullen, thank you for being a great producer. Randy Florence, the best sidekick since Uncle Fester.

I got more hair.

You do. And that's.

And you got to see me with a light bulb in my mouth. That's a different story.

Whole different story. I want to you could subscribe and make sure that you never miss an episode of Big Conversations Little Bar, available at all of your favorite podcast distribution points. So thank you very much for listening. We'll be back next week.

Thanks for joining us on this episode of Big Conversations Little Bar, recorded on location at Skip Paige's Little Bar in Palm Desert, California, and presented by the McCallum Theater online at mccallumtheater.org this program is a production of the Mutual Broadcasting System. All episodes are available from BigConversationsLittleBar.com and most major podcast portals.

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