Standup Comedy "Your Host and MC"

"Radio Days" Starring Tom Nakashima & Tim Bedore-"Comedy Round Table" Show #131

October 23, 2022 Scott Edwards Season 3 Episode 131
Standup Comedy "Your Host and MC"
"Radio Days" Starring Tom Nakashima & Tim Bedore-"Comedy Round Table" Show #131
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Show Notes Transcript

A fun comedy round table where I get a chance to talk with two professional radio DJ's who helped put my clubs on the map. From the original K108, and now the "Eagle", top rock DJ Tom Nakashima. Joining him, originally on KZAP, earlier rock station, DJ and standup comic Tim Bedore. You have heard Tim on his own podcast "An Agnostics Guide to Heaven". This show shared history, and fun info about the radio business...enjoy!

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Scott Edwards:

Hi, and welcome to this week's show. Hey, before we jump into the podcast, I wanted to share some new news. I just finished writing a book and it's out on Amazon, be sure to look for it. It's 20 questions answered about being a stand up comic. Once again, it's available both for Kindle or for softcover on Amazon. So go check it out. It you can search for the name of the book 20 questions answered about being a stand up comic, or my name are Scott Edwards and get a copy. Okay, here's this week's podcast enjoy.

Announcer:

This is another episode of stand up comedy, your host and emcee celebrating 40 plus years on the fringe of show business stories, interviews and comedy sets from the famous and not so famous. Here's your host and MC, Scott and words.

Scott Edwards:

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Stand Up Comedy hosted MC and I am thrilled today because I have to count them to celebrity radio DJs joining us today and these guys were both instrumental in helping laughs unlimited get off the ground back in the 80s. There's this relationship between comedy and radio. It doesn't exist anymore, sadly, since radio went corporate, but back in the 80s and early 90s. There was just so much going on. So let me introduce them. First off coming to us over the phone back in Wisconsin, right? No, Minnesota, Minnesota, See, I knew I'd get it wrong. Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear from my good friend and professional DJ from the Bob and Tom radio show, Tim Bedore

Tim Bedore:

God bless guests, evolution honors, whatever your belief system. Thank you.

Scott Edwards:

Well, thanks for joining us, Tim. And right here in the studio, an old friend and we were just kind of doing a little catching up before I turned on the record button. But we go way back to the 80s. He was in radio, I was in comedy and the rest has been history. But please help me welcome not only a gentleman that's been in radio since the late 70s. And a number of stations which we'll touch on once we get into the conversation. But you also have a long history in Elk Grove in Sacramento, starting with your grandfather doing agriculture in Elk Grove. And that moved you here right? Yeah, born and raised in Elk Grove. That's That's incredible. And I was able to do a little research and learn quite a bit. You went to Elk Grove High School, which is where my kids went and and smallworld the my niece and nephew go there now you also went to Sac City, and Sac State. So you got a good college education right here in Northern California. And just lots and lots of history. So thanks for joining us, ladies and gentlemen. The one and only Tom Nakashima. Ah, wow, it's so exciting to have you in the studio. And I'm sorry, I kind of went off memory lane. But I didn't know you had such a great history. Elk Grove!

Tom Nakashima:

Yeah, born and raised there. So you know, most guys in in radio start somewhere else. And so I'm probably the luckiest guy, the luckiest career you've

Scott Edwards:

stayed in this area. So Tim, I know you got your start in radio in Sacramento, didn't you? Oh,

Tim Bedore:

no, no, no, I was in college in Stevens Point Wisconsin and then did a one summer at a commercial station in Stevens Point enough to know that I didn't like top 40 Or we're not good at it. That enthusiasm for everything by the Beegees in Greece and whatever it was that summer. And then I left went to Ventura, California and then to Sacramento.

Scott Edwards:

No idea that you bounced around doing that before you came to Sacramento because I met you you were a DJ at ks app. Right?

Tim Bedore:

Correct. Yes. But you know, that wouldn't have been the kind of market unless, you know like that you grew up there. You wouldn't have started probably there in radio, you know, you know somebody in your hometown or got an internship or whatever. So yeah, that's how it worked out and bounced around a little bit after that too, because radio is a bounced around kind of career unless you're very lucky.

Scott Edwards:

Like Tom and Tom, I know you kind of got exposed for the first time to a microphone is an announcer at the Sacramento raceway. Right right, man announced and doing commercials for the Sacramento raceway back in the 70s. How did that lead to radio?

Tom Nakashima:

My longtime friend and owner the track. Dave Smith didn't want to spend any money to have somebody cut a spot for it. Right? So I was

Tim Bedore:

going, isn't that how it always?

Tom Nakashima:

So he, he, he had me cut a I had never cut a spot in my life. So we had a drag race coming up. He said, Can you cut a spot for the, you know, this Sunday? You know,

Scott Edwards:

were you one of those Sunday. So I remember, as a kid,

Tom Nakashima:

I went down to the radio station, which was KXOA, which was a station I would eventually, you know, be hired by I went down there to Qatar spot. And I know that the guys down there because who is this guy? Right? Who is this kid? And but I was so that was my first time going into a radio station. And I'm sure they thought I thought oh my god, we got to you know, bring in a client in here. So but yeah, the my first job on the mike was tracking answer out of Sacramento raceway.

Scott Edwards:

And the first radio exposure was cutting commercials and cut

Tom Nakashima:

one spot for the for the track and I got to, you know, my first part time job was at KXOA away. That's where I stay.

Scott Edwards:

Wow, that's that's incredible. Tim, were you doing spots originally? How did you become? Because it takes some talent too. From the engineering side to be a DJ, did you? Were you interning or did you do it? And you said

Tim Bedore:

no, no, the great thing. And I went to the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point specifically because it had and has, to this day, although waning interest in radio on the younger demographics, but had a very high flying. low wattage, 300 watts of rock and mono, we call this

Scott Edwards:

300 watts of rock. And that's funny.

Tim Bedore:

But yeah, at one point, we had half the student body regularly listening and had no factual ratings in the town. And you just learned by doing you get in there and, you know, four years of college and hanging out at the radio station every moment that you weren't in a class or when you're supposed to be in class, and learned by doing. And by the time that I got out of college, I was able to get work.

Scott Edwards:

Well. That's cool that the college gave you that opportunity. You went to Sac State, were you doing communications? Or was it just degree stuff?

Tom Nakashima:

In my day, Scotty? If you told somebody you wanted to be in radio, they would just lie. Oh, that's not a career. What are you talking about? And so when I was I remember, when I was a sec city, I was afraid to tell anyone I didn't you know, I like radio? Because they would look at you. No, no, no. A real career. That's not a career, you idiot. And

Tim Bedore:

kind of in the same way that a carnival. Your parents wouldn't say yeah, join the colonel. Yeah,

Tom Nakashima:

you want to go to the circus. That's not a career, you idiot. So, you know, really, there wasn't. I don't recall a curriculum, you know, for people who want to be in broadcasting. And, and I remember a counselor says, I don't know what to tell you just take some speech classes are you know, so that was kind of a, a secret. You know, my contemporaries. You're gonna be engineers, pharmacists, you know, I wasn't good at any of those things. I am still not, I don't know how to do anything.

Scott Edwards:

radios, the last bastion first.

Tom Nakashima:

You know, so you you're in radio, you're always waiting for the other shoe to drop way till they find out. I shouldn't be doing this. And so and so that was, you know, when I'm, what, 2020 21 years old. I didn't want to tell anyone. You know, what I really like to do is be in radio. I have no role models. I didn't know anybody who was, you know, who's doing it. Right. And so, when I, you know, in those days, there's no voice tracking you. You went on in the middle of the night. And I discovered this is way harder than I thought. And I wasn't the worst disc jockey in California. I was the worst disc jockey in America. Oh, yeah. You're so They'll put the headphones on. Oh, this is a big mistake. This is harder than I thought.

Scott Edwards:

Doing it over 40 years. Go ahead, Tim,

Tim Bedore:

it's absolutely true that most everybody will tell you this, especially when you're starting out that on radio that the minute the second that you turn the microphone on half of what you knew, leaves your brain. So you prepared. Thought about what you were going to say. And then literally for years, half of what you had already prepared or thought about would just go. For whatever reason, it is not easy.

Scott Edwards:

Yeah. It's interesting. I had an interview with Paul Robins and Phil Cowan, who were real, also crucial to the start of laughs unlimited and did a lot of comedy. They were actual comics that ended up in radio and then eventually TV. But they were saying how fickle the business was and how they would be top of the world one day and out the door the next. And they did actually travel and did something I think also in Texas or Arizona somewhere else. But Tim, you were finding that this job You mentioned having to move around before and after you were in Sacramento. What how would you describe the business from a I mean, Tom, I think is got to be the only guy No in show business at all. That's been able to work in one town and one company for 40 years.

Tim Bedore:

Ya know, it's hugely rare that that happens, even if that's what you want. I know a handful of people that have guys from Wisconsin that I was in college radio with and they've made a wonderful career in central Wisconsin because that's what they wanted. It is just so hard. Because radio management, it ended up kind of being radio ended up being the bastard stepchild of all the all the quality people went to TV and radio was left with, you know, people who you know, should have been at the carnival but didn't want to travel.

Scott Edwards:

Well, we've all worked with Bob Keller and he's one of those guys that's had a long career in one town. He's kind of famous him and Tom are both longtime, famous DJs in the Northern California Sacramento area. But it's interesting that there's even any I thought Tom might be the only the Mr. Keller but there is the fact that you know of a few others. So it's rare, but it has happened. Tom, what would you say? It led you to staying and the capability to stay with one area?

Tom Nakashima:

I'm a homebody I am just a homebody. I can imagine. You know, the first thing everybody tells you that what you you have to work out of your market. You know, you have to get a job somewhere else. Most of my friends in radio did that. You know, they grew up maybe in the Midwest, or they grew up in, in the east, they had to start somewhere else. Once I started here, I thought God, I can't imagine myself being somewhere else. My family's here my friends were here.

Scott Edwards:

Or you have a long heritage as I alluded to earlier. Oh,

Tom Nakashima:

you know, I I got lucky.

Scott Edwards:

So for you the list of stations you worked at our Go ahead share.

Tom Nakashima:

When I started it was called K 108. K SOA. And then I moved to the eagle in I guess it was 98 Same company the intercom bought our company and I went down the hallway and 96.9

Scott Edwards:

Yeah, a lot of people don't know and radio, it's similar to TV you will have several stations or several channels, really sharing the building in you could go down the hall and you're in a whole different station. So that's fascinating. So Tim is a comparison Can you name some of the stations you work for?

Tim Bedore:

WW SP 90 FM 300 What's the rock and mono then ws PC which was in fact the summer that I was there was a really good, really good station to learn radio very demanding and they won billboards, small market station of the Year that year and a lot of people went through there actually and became and went to major market. So it was a good, good station, then Ventura, kasap, Sacramento, then k lol and Houston for a year, and then ended up after that in San Francisco at a station called the quake. Ah, I

Scott Edwards:

remember that.

Tim Bedore:

Yeah. And that that station was really one of the reasons that I ended up full time and stand up is that one radio is what it is. And people that don't Comedy Club, far, far more integrity than radio station management. But but the morning show, a guy named Alex Bennett did the morning show. At the quake, I did the afternoon show, and his morning show was all comedians. So all the local comic would go on with Alec. And we would promote comedy shows. And that's one of the reasons they were interested in me was I was starting to stand up. And I just wanted to have that comedy connection. And did. And I just started out San Francisco in the 80s. Santa boy was so dynamic and so much fun. So it was just a perfect match. And I transitioned out of radio full time.

Scott Edwards:

And when we should say went into comedy very successfully, your top headline new viewer clubs coast to coast and around the world and very, very funny guy. So that's a great transition for where I wanted to take this conversation with you and Tom and Alex Bennett would be a great center starting place for somehow there was this great connection that I'm hoping you guys can explain between comedy and radio, especially back in the 80s when before radio got so corporate and we could actually, I mean, I used to drop in on caves app, weekly. And sometimes we'd be on for a couple hours. It was crazy. And you can never get away with two minutes, let alone two hours in today's market. So, Tom, how do you you know you did a lot with the club. We had lots Lizanne Hunt was representing the station. We did a lot of special events, birthday parties, fundraisers, the beaver came out and and kicked off some shows that was the mascot for the station. How would you explain the relationship with stand up comedy and radio?

Tom Nakashima:

Well, first of all, you know, for Tim, to master to completely different disciplines, radio and stand up comedy. They're similar, but the the kind of discipline you have to have. The fact that he was successful in both is really remarkable. Because I'm sure he knows people that, you know, if you're if you're in radio, somebody will say, Well, you got to do stand up. It's not the same. Or you see somebody who does stand Hey, you'd be great on radio. It's you can't even say that with television. You'd be great. That's why Paul Robbins is remarkable. He's been successful in radio, and in television and in stand up. Nobody does that.

Tim Bedore:

No new different things and different things. How you'll see, and it takes some time. But they often thought well, let's get a comedian to do the morning show. And more often than not, it would not work and it would not work dramatically. Because well as the thing of being on the radio, especially if you're going to have guests. I mean, it was I think anybody that was successful in broadcasting of a certain age, either was a huge fan of Johnny Carson, or a huge fan of David Letterman. And if you watched those two people and absorbed the lesson of what broadcasting is, then you pretty much knew everything you needed to know about how to do it. Or if you listened to, in my case, WL s out of Chicago. It was as good as radio in America, in my mind. Never got. So if you were obsessive about listening and absorbing why they did this and why they do that, you could do it. You could if you were talented, most comics are thinking about themselves. Thinking about it's true, you know, so it's not meant to be a good host. I'm the center of attention. So that can work for you. But, you know, that'll burn you out if you're on for.

Scott Edwards:

No, definitely. And I would have thought that the biggest difference is that in radio, the audience is in your head because you're just talking to a microphone and there's no immediate response. And in stand up comedy, you have all these people sitting right in front of you with expectations, and you get to interact, and you hear a response from them. But we've sidetracked a little because I wanted to point out that Tom had given Tim a very big compliment. So ladies and gentlemen, Tom complimenting Tim, let's hear it. But the crowd

Tim Bedore:

got smaller.

Scott Edwards:

They heard my voice. No. Tom, going back to your experience, though, in radio, and back in those early days of K went away. We were able to do a lot of comedy, not as much on air. We did more outside the station kind of events, Mardi Gras days and different things. But you were a big part of it. How did comedy fit into what you were doing on radio?

Tom Nakashima:

You were at the forefront? You and a few other people in the what it would have been the early 80s It was no YouTube, there was no you know, internet. This is live comedy. I didn't know what the hell that was. And you have this idea in your head, you're going to have a place for you know, live comics. So I remember you hadn't even built your club. You were using the banquet room of a restaurant in Sacramento, right? Oh, yeah. Was it the Delta? Okay, so it's down the hallway. And I thought, well, this will be fun. We go to see the first show I ever saw. Garry Shandling was well known among comics, but he wasn't he was not the mainstream star yet.

Scott Edwards:

Right? No, he was he came out as an opening act in 1980. So

Tom Nakashima:

we're going to see Garry Shandling? I don't know who this is. I've heard of him. I don't know who this is. There's two couples here. And one more maybe six people in the audience. Right? I was killing right. So this is midweek. And you had a there was really no backstage you had a curtain that was just a creamy areas behind there. I don't I realize he's behind there because you're going to bring him out. You're going to bring him out. And you introduce Gary, and he doesn't come out. This was an I don't know if you remember this. This was the week of Pearl Harbor. It was it was either Pearl Harbor Day or right around there. So you introduce Gary, ladies and gentlemen. And there's only like six of us. Ladies and gentlemen. Let's bring him out of gear and he doesn't come out Garry Shandling. And you know what he says from behind the curtain. I'm not going out there till the Japanese guy gets back. I thought that's the funniest thing I've ever heard. You know, and he's doing this to an audience of about six people. He then came out did his whole show. And I'm trying to laugh for 300 people, but I can't, it can't be done. So I admired the fact that he and he had a you know how Gary would have binder paper was Oh no. He was always he says Do you mind if I work on these? Yeah. And it was incredible. That's the first show I ever saw. I thought oh my God. God is onto something. And his opener, by the way was Paula Poundstone. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And I think he was kind of her mentors. And he ended up

Scott Edwards:

doing a lot of work with her tip when when they were good friends. Yeah. When did you come into laughs And do you remember who you saw?

Tim Bedore:

Um, it could have been so would have been 81 You were you were still at the Delta queen.

Scott Edwards:

Rocking It was six customers. Yes.

Tim Bedore:

By now, I might in my memory by then it was doing good business. And you know, comedy was just so hot. And I think I definitely became friends with and Bruce Bohm was there he had his song Marty Feldman is that we played briefly and that actually sure we filled the story before Scott, but trying to support you and Bruce is what got me fired from. But that's another story.

Scott Edwards:

Tom's getting a kick out of it. He hasn't heard it.

Tim Bedore:

Yes. And Jimmy Alec, who was a great guy, great comic, your friend, and Bob Saget, who I met first in Sacramento, and we've remained friends all through the years. shanling Certainly, I remember seeing Gary and I think, probably Seinfeld. I remember all those guys coming through. And having them either on the air or, you know, you'd let me host not, you know, do not do 15 minutes of comedy because I didn't have it but

Scott Edwards:

you at MC some of the shows, and I was my way of getting that radio connection because like I said, with you and Bob Keller on ks app, I would literally show up once or twice a week with comics that ended up being famous entertainers, but at the time, they were unknown. And we used to have so much fun Bruce, baby man bomb was always a kick on the radio. Now, Tom, when you came went away. We did some radio stuff. Do you remember having a guest on the air with you? Or was it do mostly off air stuff?

Tom Nakashima:

I remember doing an interview. We were still in old Sacramento. When Yakov Smirnoff came. Oh, yeah. And that had to have been, you know, pretty early on. But he was he was pretty popular. And I remember the show that he did at the community center because you had grown that show to a community center show on the bill was Jerry Seinfeld. Yeah, yes, the opening yet. Right. Jerry and Dana Carvey, were the openers, y'all cough was the headline. Oh, okay. You remember that? Well, I hope he was the headliner. And and so they were all buddies. You know, you know how popular Comedians in Cars is? Right? That basically is an offshoot of what these guys were doing backstage, right. Yeah, that's exactly what they were doing. So I remember was Dana Carvey, Jerry only did 30 minutes because he's the middle act. He was doing a favor for Yakov Smirnoff. That week, I had a lot of other stuff going on. I was also the ringside announcer for the amateur boxing. Soviet Union match. Wow, it was at the Memorial Auditorium. They had only come once. And this was back during the Cold War. Right. Right. You talk about a bunch of certainly. And so I'm trying to learn their names. And when Yakov Smirnoff came in for the interview, I you know, I told them this he's obviously fluent. And he's helping me Oh, that's fun. He's helping me with the these names. So when it gets to the show night at the community center, before he goes on, you know what he does? He comes over and he he, he says, How you doing on those names? And he tested me. Oh, really? That's why even now I look at names like tree chef and Eagle water off. I got it from him. Oh, that's

Scott Edwards:

so sad story. Oh, he

Tom Nakashima:

was so gracious. And, and he you know, he was a big hit that night. But the thing to remember is Jerry was in the middle. And Dana Carvey was the opener actually, you had those two other guys.

Scott Edwards:

That was the there's a picture actually, the comedy boy, something like that. But what's interesting is that it wasn't until you mentioned it that I remembered I have photos of you because I think we had came went away it was a sponsor of one of my concerts. And you kind of open the show

Tom Nakashima:

and you let me you let me open the show and and those days will never be replicated

Scott Edwards:

now sadly, but we had so much fun. Yes. Now Tim, you ended up doing a lot of my special events. Didn't you do? laughs in the park or the TV show?

Tim Bedore:

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. No, it was, you know, it was a rich intersection. Back when radio was typically live. They didn't fear having live people on. I don't know exactly when the fear of having a comic on became greater than the desire to have somebody on

Scott Edwards:

decades right guys? Yeah,

Tim Bedore:

no, it's definitely, you know, because I, when I was on the Bob and Tom show I did a big syndicated show called The Bob and Tom show and I had a regular feature on Wednesday mornings. And so in all of these markets, they were hearing me regularly, because I was live on Bob and Tom every week. And that didn't necessarily mean that when I went to Cedar Rapids, or Madison, Wisconsin, or Fresno, California, even if the radio station was the local radio station was promoting the show. They didn't necessarily know how to have you on live.

Scott Edwards:

Oh, so a lot of you were doing material on the Bob and Tom show the syndicated channels wouldn't let you go on.

Tim Bedore:

It's not even a matter of what they let you go on. They might do a PHONER but that would be off the air. It would be off the air and edited. Tom is out you're well somebody was playing records. And it's just because they just got out of the habit of being live. Or because you could put it onto a computer the phone later, why not? Let's be safe.

Tom Nakashima:

Oh yeah. God forbid we want anybody live. We wouldn't. You know, we do a PHONER maybe to make some agent happy. I'm never using this. Because you're an idiot. Right? Oh, that's so fun. So yeah, we're gonna do a fonder within it. Just tell him we're we'll do a PHONER it will never air. You know that that happens sometimes. Oh, wow. And then And then sometimes you get lucky. And hey, I got I have a, you know, a great couple of minutes with a guy we just put put that on, but you can cut it up and you can make it tighter.

Scott Edwards:

Right or just soundbite that's the

Tom Nakashima:

main reason is you can tighten it up. And it makes a lot more sense. It's better for the audience is better for everybody.

Tim Bedore:

And I think it's also, you know, comedy, kind of moved on in the 70s and 80s. We were all mostly trying to get on Johnny Carson get on TV. That was the whole goal. That

Scott Edwards:

was the Holy Grail at the time. Yeah. I mean, Gary,

Tim Bedore:

are you here, right here yourself that way. And you thought in terms of what, what flies in broadcasting and what you need to do if you're going to be on a local radio show promoting it, you know, we had a responsibility, not only to our own show, and the club, but all of comedy, that you didn't want to blow it for anybody else, by saying the wrong thing on a show. Bit by bit by bit. As that start to go away, comics just weren't thinking about what I'm going to be on the air, what I'm going to be like on the air, and so they weren't as good at it. I think

Scott Edwards:

they weren't thinking about Yeah, that's interesting that radio was a way to kind of practice live exposure to an audience, like television and using it as a precursor to maybe getting The Mike Douglas Show, or The Merv Griffin Show back in the days, we're doing a lot of stand up. And this was that was even a precursor to Carson and Letterman. So the it's kind of a training path. I never thought of it that way. But I think what's interesting for me as a club owner and as a producer, I cherished and really tried to nurture the relationships with the stations and people like Bob Keller and Tom and you because quite selfishly, it was getting exposure for this club that was really a new form of entertainment at the time. And I was I was taking advantage of the medium which again back it people have to remember in the 80s and 90s radio rocked I mean that's how everybody got their music. There weren't iPods in Yeah, even cassettes early on right

Tim Bedore:

now the Oh no, no, the whole no listen to the radio.

Tom Nakashima:

And so you know the best radio people are storytellers. And you've got to be able to share with people how cool it is. Hey there we got it. We're in Sacramento just a block from here is is a great new comedy club. This Just what it's like. And I remember once you had built laughs One day, I stopped in on the way to work. Our offices, just a half a block. I stopped and Gary Shandling was there. And you basically told Gary, you said, this is Tom, he cuts a spot. He cut the spot for your appearance. And I told him, yeah, I stole one of your bids from Johnny Carson. And you know, and as you know, Gary's demeanor is exactly the same off air as it is on air. Right? He looks he goes, which one was it? I said, and I told him, I told him which joke it was. And in those days, there's no YouTube, I had to record his bid on Carson and put it on a cassette and bring it to the studio and steal it. I remember that joke he had about people have compasses on their cars. Right, right. Where are they going Ecuador. And I go and he goes, Okay, I won't do it. And he didn't. I thought it was a great.

Scott Edwards:

Right, so he figured it was out on the airway. Yes, it was burned

Tom Nakashima:

because Okay, I'm gonna do it. And he didn't. Oh, that's fascinating. And And now, it's so hard now because a comic goes up to his his whole 12 minutes is on YouTube the next day. In those days, you could you could do bits in San Francisco, and then you can do bits in Sacramento, it's, you know, there's a different audience, but now Jesus, you know, somebody calls you on Oh, I heard that joke yesterday. Oh, gee, you know,

Scott Edwards:

that's so funny that you bring that up, Tom, I did not really realize but because, of course, I saw the acts, you know, Shandling Dana? Carvey Seinfeld, they did the same material, every show. Yes. And what made them good actors is that they that all comics that are good, Tim, you can relate to this, make it sound like you just thought of it, or it's a recent thought you might have been doing it for five years on stage. So Tim, how does this what Tom brought up? How does that relate to as a comic? Do you feel that what level is material burned?

Tim Bedore:

You know, thankfully, people don't have good memories, otherwise, everybody would be a winner on Jeopardy. So, you know, it's crucially important that they forget your material. And that typically, I mean, one of the reasons I think comedy club would bring you back in 12 months, typically, because it kind of took that long for material to be erased out of people's brains. But I'm telling you, this is one of the artists things when you would see this on Bob and Tom, just because they, they repeat this, like saw, there are some bits that are Stairway to Heaven, that are just overplayed for decades, right? It's amazing. But people still want to hear it live. And I never would have thought that in comedy, because there's no surprise, they know all the work. So it is, I thought for years, you know, you would either not do a bid if it was on the air, or if it was in an ad for your show, then you wouldn't want to give them your best bid, you'd want to just have something there a minor bit and then not do it that night or whatever. But I learned from the Bob and Tom thing that people, at least that audience, that audience would laugh at something they've already heard before. Never would have thought that well. I'm gonna

Scott Edwards:

interrupt and say that, as a producer, I did it differently than maybe other clubs. I like bringing comics in every three to six months, because I want them to build an audience in the same getting the radio want him to get on the radio a lot because it built an audience. And I actually had people come in or call up and say, Hey, Tim is going to be there. Is he going to do this bit because I've told my whole family about him. I want him to come in and hear the bit live. So sometimes it was beneficial like you're saying, to stick with your material. But as an artist, I totally comprehend why you would not want to repeat a bit. You know where the punch lines already unknown factor.

Tim Bedore:

It's curious how that I think has changed because that was It was always the case and people like Bruce, Bob and whomever would teach you that, when you go on the radio, be careful not to do your best material, because it may burn it. And alando for example, always preached, never do an HBO special, because all the material will be lost to you. 10 years building this, this routine, and now you can't use it anywhere, because they're going to replay it. Right? I don't know that it works that way. Or maybe it did work that way, and then stop, because America started to have even shorter attention. Or there's too much fluoride in the water in the brain is somehow affected. But yeah, that was definitely a thing that you worried about was burning material. The thing that was key for me, between radio and doing stand up, was in I was trying to do a lot of funny things on the air. And I had all these little bits and features and they were very popular on ks app. And

Scott Edwards:

we were trying right we were talking about it when a DJ creates, like Bob Keller's lunch program. Tom, I don't remember any specific programs you did. But Tim you used to do Well we all know veg but true.

Tim Bedore:

Maybe true when it pays up. I did mother's little helper. Oh, was that bad advice. I played a pediatrician. advice on how to raise kids. And it was based on doctor I think it was Lyndon Smith, who was on TV at the time. And I just went the opposite way. Getting bad advice. And it was very popular. And I did it one night at the club literally in a doctor

Scott Edwards:

smock things funny.

Tim Bedore:

And it died the worst death possible.

Scott Edwards:

So lesson learned.

Tim Bedore:

And I literally, I would my hands were shaking, I had the script in my hand and I looked up at the audience at one point I said, You do like this on the radio? Don't you? Kind of look at each other? What we thought so

Scott Edwards:

that's what comedy clubs are a great proving ground for sure.

Tim Bedore:

Well, but you know, there's a difference between and I think, you know, some of the stuff that what's a humorous, right? Or Woody Allen wrote in essays may be more creative. Even. I enjoy it on a comedy level more than his stand up or movies. I think it's his best writing, perhaps, but he couldn't get out loud laughs so there is a difference between getting an out loud laugh and maybe know something from the radio

Scott Edwards:

or still entertaining people or? Yeah, it might

Tim Bedore:

be might be better, but it's not out loud.

Scott Edwards:

Right? You're still you're still entertaining him. But it's not the same as in a comedy club. Now, I didn't really ask but Tom and you've been in radio 40 plus years or so. Have you created bits or anything that you've ran with? You? You just did straight music intros pretty much in commercials and promos. Yeah, I know that we have some of the promos that you did. I've used on with this podcast. As my listeners know, we're big fans of timber door in the vague but true series and we've used those. But I have shared some of the promos that you did. We still have. We have an archive of radio promos. My partner Bob Stoneburner. Said to say hi. Right remembers you fondly and in saved a lot of the stuff you did and Bob Keller did in Tim has worked on and others back in the day. But one of the things I want to do pivot to was the promotions were so important to getting the club known and aware. we've alluded to a couple Tim did laps in the park and my TV series. You mentioned hosting and being with the concerts. Do you remember any of the promotions that stood out for you or was was the concert the biggie I guess?

Tom Nakashima:

I remember. You had like an amateur night.

Scott Edwards:

The Great Northern California comedy competition.

Tom Nakashima:

There were, you know, four or five of us were judging is here and I? And I remember four or five comics up there. And one of them was a school teacher. Dell fan die. Oh, I thought it was good. He is right. I think he had a long career as a teacher. But I, it it hit me that it might not be word for word. But there's something about somebody who who has that it factor. Right when you see it go by, right. You know, I don't even care what that joke was the way you told it. That's wow, I want to see more of that. That was a kind of person. He wasn't a professional. I think he did. He did dates at your

Scott Edwards:

Oh, yeah. No Club. Well, he did go pro. He did it being a road car, and now produces shows he's moved up to Idaho or something. That's

Tom Nakashima:

great to hear. Yeah. But I remembered. I you know, I spent what, 10 minutes with this guy, you know, I still remember I do delve into it. That's amazing.

Scott Edwards:

And I think it's a great to mention to the audience that one of your experiences was for the Great Northern California comedy competition being a judge, because that's exactly what we would do. We would try to bring in local celebrities, like radio DJs to be the judges, and even people from the newspaper, which newspapers is big thing that has writing on it. And back then, the Sacramento union, which is no longer with us, would send in that one of their writers and be a judge. Tim, were there promotions that you remember working on or with?

Tim Bedore:

Well, I remember doing, hosting, in fact, pay gap. It was interesting. They liked my involvement with you initially, then they wanted money. As always, just not enough to you know, we brought in a comedian Tuesday, and it was great for the audience. And everybody loves it. Oh, no, that's not enough. They need to spend money, otherwise, we're not going to have money. But before that, I got to host an open by the Delta queen with you. And it was going okay, we had judges on the stage which looking back, I would think that that's not the best way to do the funniest person thing to have the judges right there on the stage. Maybe in the back. So they're not seeing eye rolling or whatever. But there was a guy who got up. And, you know, we didn't give mental health tests before, to the contestant probably should have, right? Literally, this guy was probably out of his mind. didn't present that way until he got up there. And then couldn't get him off the stage. And it was getting weird. The audience, half the audience was, you know, booing and or get out of here. dismissive and the other half was afraid that he might go off. Don't hope that there. And so we're kind of stuck in this strange space of what to do. And I tried to get up and tried to talk him. You know, your time's up, and we've got to move on. And we have other contestants. And he's, he's still got it could have been the Unabomber. He and he had a manifesto we wanted to give. Oh, yeah. Got you. You got a fire extinguisher

Tom Nakashima:

off the stage. Wow.

Tim Bedore:

Yeah. You blasted them off the state. And that's the only thing that got them off. And by the way he took second.

Scott Edwards:

That's a great story. Sadly, I don't remember that. But the fire extinguisher we eventually at the new room had an actual hook that we could hook people and pull them off. But the fire extinguisher that's funny. Thanks for sharing that memory. Tim. That's hilarious. Well, let me wind things up by saying that I had I was blessed with a lot of success at laughs unlimited. I had so much fun working with the creative entertainers but also the creative people that we interacted with on radio and TV. And, as Jill my wife would say, we don't miss is owning a chain of bars and nightclubs at all. But we miss the people. And we were so lucky to get a chance to work with people like you to, and several others, not only on the fringe of entertainment, whether it's radio, newspaper, television, but all the entertainers that came through the club. And so for your part, Tom and your part, Tim, thank you so much for the success of the club, but also the fun that we were able to share through those that, you know, first decade, especially the 80s, was my Pinnacle when it came to radio and TV and stuff and just enjoyed it. Tim, I did want to ask before we end up Bob and Tom's a syndicated show. So it's, it's aired all over the country. You were live? Would you go into a studio with Bob and Tom to record those?

Tim Bedore:

Oh, no, no, no, no, I do it from First, we were in Los Angeles. And then here in Minneapolis, I had a special box that they bought for me, called the technology was ISDN. And it uses bone line and gives you broadcast quality over the phone. So it digitizes and then sends them a digital stream and it's reconstituted on their end and they send them back and literally almost in real time. Wow. The broadcast quality from my house. Oh, incredible. It was incredible. It really was so cool.

Scott Edwards:

I think that's neat. And you've had a great career on the Bob and Tom show and a great career as a DJ and stations everywhere as you got fired. And but stand up comedy. You're still going strong. And you've had such a great career. And that, Tom Thank amazingly, you've stayed pretty much. Well, not pretty much you stayed in one town, one station, you've had a lifelong career. Huge success. Congratulations. How would you wrap this up? How would you feel that comedy benefited you or had an effect on your career,

Tom Nakashima:

I look back at that period. It was like the golden era. And that's no exaggeration of live comedy in this town in northern California, and you were a huge part of it. And for those of us who were I witness? It, it made us realize how hard stand up comedy is. And so that respect that grew out of that has stayed with me my whole life. And even now, I can see how hard it is to be a stand up comic because you're called on the carpet for every damn thing you say, you know, it's true. It was a joke, right? These are jokes. These are comics. Oh, what is he or she supposed to do? And then someone will there's a platform for somebody to complain about it. I mean, you know, because he said, he said this, or he said that, you know, in another generation. That's a laugh. That was funny. I thought that was funny. You can't you know, it's hard to do that. So I think in many ways, it's more difficult. But looking back, we are talking about things that happened 40 years ago, and I remember them like it was this morning. The time, you know, after one of those shows, you and Bob and me and Gary Shandling went across the street and got a beer at that one of those little bars across the street. And I remember I remember thinking, you know, I'll never have a chance to buy Gary Shandling appear, but I'm going to do it. And you know what he ordered something really fascinating a light beer. He said, I'll have a light beer and I bought Gary a beer and I thought I thought you know, I'll never have the chance to do that. I never did. Oh, that's so I had so much respect for the the men and women who came through your shop. And and I realized the art form that it was and I would have never gotten a chance to see it up close. If it weren't for you.

Scott Edwards:

Oh, well. Thank you. And that's a great way to cap a conversation about how radio and comedy have worked together. Tim, what would you like to share?

Tim Bedore:

I would echo that sentiment. I mean, I got to dive in headfirst because you pulled me in. And then when I moved to Houston If I was not afraid to, I mean, literally, I would not have done stand up. Had I not been invited? I wouldn't do so. And you invited. And then after that, then when I went to Houston, I kind of knew there was a path. And it would work if I were to host shows and have comedians on, but I don't know that I would have thought of it on my own. So yeah, it was instrumental. I mean, KS app was hugely popular, and comedy was just this rocket ship that was taking off, and you were putting heart and soul into your club and the comics. And, you know, just it was just fun. It was just fun. But it did open a door for me. There's no two ways about it.

Scott Edwards:

Well, thanks so much. And I think you're both ending this short interview. And thank you so much for joining me with an important note realization that the 80s were special for so many reasons. It was a great time for many people financially, it was the huge wave of Stand Up Comedy becoming a recognized and appreciated art form. But also back then radio was live. And you could do fun and crazy things. And sadly, even though they're still standing up comedy, it's not the same. And they're still radio, it is totally not the same. And the fact that we've had a chance to share a little bit of our history with my listeners is is so so special. Thank you, Tim, for joining us today. Oh, my pleasure. Thank you. And Tom, it's been way too long. But thank you so much for coming out to the studio and in sharing your memories and your time. It's a real honor. Thank you, sir. Great to see you, man. All right, ladies and gentlemen, that's been my two friends timber door and Tom Nakashima. We want to thank them for joining us on the show today, our little comedy roundtable on stand up comedy and radio and how the two really worked together to build this new fund industry from nothing into something and we all three had a small part in that and it's just been so much fun. Hey, thanks for listening. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to interrupt the end of this show with a special treat. As Tom mentioned, he did a lot of promos for us and those one in particular with Garry Shandling. Well, guess what? I still have that and as a surprise to Tom. And for all my listeners. Here it is. Tom Nakashima on K 108

Unknown:

Hey, for a good time. Come on over to laughs unlimited. A fella who just appeared on The Tonight Show is headlining Thursday through Sunday. Garry Shandling and who are these guys with compasses on the dashboards are there? Where the hell are they going Ecuador. Also this week Paula Poundstone from San Francisco doors open at seven Tuesday through Sunday. Showtime is eight Tuesday through Thursday, eight and 1030 Friday and Saturday night's call for reservations now. laughs will rest Christmas week but then look out you're invited for a fabulous new year's eve two shows one at 7pm for the midnight in New York party or come for the 10pm show and share the fun when it's midnight here. The man who has no friends Bob Saget brings in the new year. Also Jeremy Kramer from San Francisco and Chris McDermott from LA's Comedy Store. New Year's Eve tickets must be picked up by December 19. So call now for laughs unlimited reservations 4465905. And don't miss Garry Shandling this week.

Scott Edwards:

Wow, that was fun to hear again. It's been so long that was done in about 1983. And Tom was real supportive of the club then. And it was great to have him come in and support the podcast now. And then my good buddy timber door. I thought that was a fun interview. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week. Bye.

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