w w w . b o b a n d t o m . c o m
June 21 - 25 2004
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 They
Call Him
Tater Salad
Comedian Ron
White has a comedy style that is as subtle as a nine-car pileup
on the freeway. His stories, which usually involve his love of adult
beverages, being kicked out of somewhere or both, laugh in the face of
conventional comedy. To describe him as a testosterone-laden, good ol'
boy with a Texan point of view would be an understatement, but it would
explain how he was able to team up with Foxworthy, Engvall and Larry
the Cable Guy to form the Blue Collar Comedy Tour.
White’s not one to shy away from stating his point of view. He's
blunt, and may be bit obnoxious, but somehow he makes this work for him
on stage. His comedy album Drunk
in Public (inspired by true stories) has risen all the way
to #2 on the Billboard comedy charts, and his standup special, They
Call Me Tater Salad, airs Sunday, June 27th on Comedy Central.
FACTOID -
Despite the rumors you may have heard, Ron White is not dead.
He is still very much alive, at least he was at the time this
factoid was written.
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 Who's
the Vos?
Those of you who watched the first season of NBC’s reality show Last
Comic Standing know that along with his unparalleled ironing
skills, Rich Vos is
a great comedian. Though he's often described as a ‘comic’s
comic” (which normally translates into “not really funny”),
Rich possesses the ability to connect with all audiences and keep them
laughing with his tales of life after marriage and living as a divorced,
former alcoholic, single dad. Vos is a regular on Tough
Crowd with Colin Quinn, has starred in his own Comedy Central
Half-Hour Special, appeared on Chappelle’s
Show, and was the first white comedian to perform on HBO’s Def
Comedy Jam.
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 Like
A Story Out of a Movie
Comedian Michael
Jr. (not to be confused with Michael Junior, the prepubescent German
singer) has a broken film projector and a loudmouth friend to thank for
getting him started in comedy. One night while watching a film with about
400 other people in a packed theater, the projector broke down shutting
off the movie. That's when Michael’s friend dared him to get up
in front of the crowd and perform some comedy, only to be amazed that
he would do it, and do it well. Since then, Michael's gone on to perfect
his standup comedy on both coasts and throughout the mid-west. He’s
also a Tonight Show veteran and has the
distinction of being the only comedian ever to perform “live” on
Jay’s show.
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 June
24, 2004
Vaguely
Familiar
Over the past 20 years Tim
Bedore has spent thousands of hours entertaining
audiences. He began his career on the radio but found
he enjoyed the feedback only a live audience could
provide, so he went into standup comedy. Since then,
Tim's headlined comedy clubs across the country and
is one of the few comics with the ability take his
act to the airwaves when need be. For those of you
who regularly tune into National Public Radio (we're
sorry), you may have heard Tim's reoccurring radio
commentary, Vague
But True (now a regular
feature on the BOB&TOM show). Bedore has written
and recorded over 250 entertaining installments of
this popular editorial segment since
its debut back in 1997. The feature runs regularly
on NPR's prestigious program, Marketplace.
Currently, Bedore is performing as part of the Four
Stand-up Dads comedy tour (featuring good
friend of the show Dan St. Paul).
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 June
24, 2004
That
Joke Got a Hemi?
If you don’t recognize comedian John
Reep from his appearance on Star Search or
his Super Bowl Sierra Mist spot, then you’re probably going to
sit and wonder where you’ve seen his face before. It shouldn’t
take long for you to realize that he was the redneck in the beat-up car
that asked the now famous question, “That
thing got a Hemi?” in the extremely popular Dodge Ram commercial
series. But even before all this Hemi fame came about, Reep was selling
out standup comedy shows all across the country. People everywhere flocked
to see Reep for a few simple reasons; he’s funny, he’s hip
and he’s the best southern redneck dancer since “The King.” Oh,
and he might be able to get you a good deal on a truck.
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 June
23, 2004
When
You Wish Upon a Star Search
Last year, Chicago comedian John
Roy won the Star
Search comedy competition, back when they still had one.
For his winning effort, Roy pocketed a cool $100,000, earned
a CBS development deal, got a guest-starring role on a CBS
program and was asked back to compete in the champions edition
of the show. He didn't win. But, that put Roy in an exclusive
club with other successful Star
Search losers, such as Dennis Miller,
Brad Garrett and Drew Carey. Now that all the glitz and glamour
of Star Search has
faded, Roy's been able to get back to doing what he loves,
performing standup comedy in dirty night clubs all over the
country (for more than three minutes at a time). Roy's comedy
is a collection of observations on contemporary culture, childhood
memories and the ever present media. And while that may not
be funny on its own, he takes it up a notch by delivering his
jokes with energetic character voices, clever dialogue, and
will even break into song, if need be.
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 June
23, 2004
Comedy
on a Topical Island
Because Keith
Stubbs uses current events and topical material as fodder
for his comedy act, you can see him as often as you’d
like because you’re never going to get the same show
twice. For years, people recognized that Keith Stubbs had a
natural ability to make people laugh, but nobody knew he’d
become a successful standup comedian, especially back when
he was chained to his desk, working as a stock broker. But
it only took two years after his debut on stage for Stubbs
to break into the business in a big way with two appearances
on A&E's An Evening at the
Improv and specials on Comedy Central.
Comedy isn't Keith's only performance strength, aside from
stock broking, he’s also an accomplished musician and
actor.
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 June
22, 2004
Could
You Live With Ten Comedians?
Stand up comedian and former SNL cast member Jay
Mohr is back for a second season of the hit reality show, Last
Comic Standing. The show, which is part Big
Brother, part ‘Open Mic Night’ finds
out what happens when 10 comedians are forced to live together while at
the same time battling it out to see which one will win a talent contract
with NBC. Since Mohr’s already got one of those, he has the luxury
of sitting back and laughing at all the wacky antics only a group of quarantined
comedians can provide. Last week, 10 lucky comics received golden keys
which gave them entrance into the Hollywood House. From this point on,
they will be taking part in immunity challenges, with the losers of said
challenges facing elimination from the house and the show. Their only hope
of survival is to take part in a joke-off to see who gets to stay and who
gets the hook. This season, a handful of the comics that made it to the
house are good friends of the show, including Tammy Pescatelli, Todd Glass,
Kathleen Madigan, and Alonzo Bodden. Find out how they fare once they're
forced to live together when Last Comic Standing airs
this Tuesday on NBC.
Side Note:
Jay Mohr recently wrote a book, Gasping
for Airtime, which chronicles his life during his years on SNL
.
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 June
22, 2004
The
Iseman Cometh
He’s a doctor, an actor, a comedian and now Matt
Iseman can include ‘reality TV show host’ to his already
impressive resume. Though he left school as a licensed physician, somehow
Matt Iseman got lost along the career path and ended up a standup comedian.
His work in the medical field was far from over however, as he used his ‘laughter
is best medicine’ philosophy to help entertain doctors with his
talk entitled, Your Prescription For Laughs. From his standup roots,
Iseman began landing acting jobs (including General
Hospital of all shows), which in turn helped him get his new gig.
Iseman now hosts Scream
Play on E!, a show that takes ordinary people and makes them recreate
popular scenes from classic movies. In the first episode, the players
are sent to the old west, and are asked to participate in horse tricks
and a good old-fashioned shootout, Gunsmoke style
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 June
22, 2004
The
Ghetto Dr. Phil
Having grown up on the mean streets of Chicago, many are surprised to
find out that Corey
Holcomb has become a successful standup comedian, Tonight
Show veteran and one of the ten finalists on the second installment
of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. While
on stage, Holcomb does much more than dispense wisecracks, he uses this
opportunity in front of a captive audience to dish out advice to the
lovelorn with his “take-no-prisoners” attitude. This has
earned him the nickname the “Ghetto Dr. Phil.” His streetwise
perspectives on life make his advice easier to swallow than Dr. Phil's
brand of feel-good philosophies. For those of you who prefer to see standup
comedy on television (and out of harms way) rather than in the clubs,
Corey has a brand new DVD called The
Problem is You. View
the video trailer!
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 June
22, 2004
It's
the Zany
Report, Baby
The Zany Report is back and only the release
of Bill Clinton's new book could possibly compare to the excitement it
brings. Bob Zany,
legendary comedian and all around great guy (now with a full head of
hair), has confirmed that this might possibility be his greatest edition
of the Zany Report ever! Though we're not
as sure about that as we were that the Piston's would win the NBA Championship,
we know that as long as it's better than last week's Report, everyone
will be happy. Even if it's not, there's always America's favorite game
show, "Fix the Joke Baby, Live!" It's the only game in which
one lucky player will win Zany's popular comedy album, I
Just Can't Win Baby, as well as a one year BOB&TOM VIP membership.
See, it does pay to listen.
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 June
21, 2004
Sex
Appeal
The smash hit, Emmy award-winning series, Sex
and the City may have ended its run on HBO this past season, but
that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for Carrie Bradshaw
and the gang. The New York based, foxy foursome lives on now that the
entire series will be rebroadcast from beginning to end on TBS starting
June 22nd. It’s true the show had to be sanitized for it’s
run on basic cable, but all the stories and characters you’ve grown
to love are back, including the sultry (and somewhat slutty) Samantha
Jones, as portrayed by Golden Globe award-winning actress Kim
Cattrall. Though Cattrall’s celebrity status grew thanks to
the popularity of Sex and the City, she
had quite a few credits to her name before the show began in 1998. Maybe
you remember her from her other sexy roles in movies like Porky’s,
Police Academy, Bonfire of the Vanities and Mannequin.
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 June
21, 2004
Sax
Appeal
We know you’ve heard the song Yakety
Sax before, seeing as how Chick plays it about 10 times a show,
but did you know the man who created that timeless, happy-go-lucky tune
is considered to be one of the greatest sax players around? Boots
Randolph, born Homer Louis Randolph, has over 40 albums to his credit
including recordings with music legends like Elvis, Johnny Cash, Chet
Atkins, Alabama, REO Speedwagon and Buddy Holly. From his humble beginnings
in a small town in Kentucky, Randolph worked his way to Nashville, thanks
to the multi-million copy selling Yakety Sax.
Once there, Boots became the most sought after sax man in the industry
and was a major player in creating what is now known as the “Nashville
Sound.”
FACTOID – Boots
Randolph was the first saxophone player ever to be featured on
an Elvis album and the only one to ever play solo with him. In
addition, he also provided the sax work for eight of his movie
soundtracks.
FACTOID -
Boots' dad was also named Homer. It was his brother that gave
him the nickname "Boots" to help avoid confusion around
the house.
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