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How do those radio comedians do it? Learn how the writing starts 2 weeks before the program. Shows often have a staff of 2 writers or more. Join a fictional pair of joke writers as they brainstorm gags with the show’s comedian. A few days go by, and a sketch is built that works the jokes into it. The comedian has a final chance to tweak the jokes, and sometimes perform before a test audience and tweak it all over again.
Sound Effect of the Week. What makes the sound of a tobogan sled going downhill?
Look behind the scenes of how a show is promoted by a radio network executive. Start with 3 gorgeous models, who can also sing. The newly formed trio is given numbers written just for them, and coached in voice lessons. Booking in out of town theaters is set up, and double as models in local fashion shows for department stores. Publicity grows as they travel, and today we hear the hopeful group sing, As the Music Plays.
Oddities in Radio. BA Rolfe of the Lucky Strike program in the 1920’s, tells a story about a rehearsal, and how loudly his band played.
Salute to Whitall’s Anglo Persians. It was a mystical, dramatic program with a flavor of the Arabian Nights. Complete with plenty of middle eastern flavored orchestral music.
Tom Power was a radio host who told true stories about real people. Today he shares one about an admitted jewel thief, and his cellmate’s dramatized day on trial. His conviction isn’t the end of Bill’s story. Time passes, and the illiterate Bill believes it was his prison sentense that led to his mother’s death. He turns his attention to learning to read, and his new found skills have reformed his attitude. Will there be hope of a parole for Bill? Who knows.
