Speaker 1: You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2: Munster High Ultimate, Spider Man, Naruto, Barbie, Dreamhouse Adventures, Stretch,
Speaker 2: Armstrong and the Flex Fighters, Red Dead, Redemption two Game,
Speaker 2: and more under his belt. You may not know his name,
Speaker 2: but for the last twenty five years, I think even more,
Speaker 2: Oji Banks the third has been the voice behind some
Speaker 2: of the world's greatest characters in cartoons, animated films, and
Speaker 2: video games. I know that was a quick list, but
Speaker 2: what did I forget? What did I forget?
Speaker 3: That was good?
Speaker 4: Muppet Babies, Muppet Baby, Yeah, Mupping Babies is one. And
Speaker 4: Avengers Avenge Lego Avengers is my new one.
Speaker 3: That's the new one.
Speaker 2: But I mean, you did a lot of things for
Speaker 2: Disney as well along the years, along the way with
Speaker 2: Disney XD as well.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, yes, yes yes.
Speaker 2: How many characters do you think that if you've probably
Speaker 2: done over the past twenty five to thirty years.
Speaker 3: Wow, hundreds, hundreds.
Speaker 4: And here's here's the reason why too, Because when I'll
Speaker 4: get on a show and they'll hire me for one character,
Speaker 4: but when I'm on the show, I'm usually doing like
Speaker 4: four or five characters.
Speaker 3: On that one show. So it adds up pretty quickly.
Speaker 3: Give me an example.
Speaker 2: Are the wide and variation in the forest of four
Speaker 2: characters you may do on a given show.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like on the show Goes for us, I play
Speaker 4: I play the kid.
Speaker 3: You know, I played a kid, you know like this.
Speaker 4: You know, guys, guys, you know I'm very you know,
Speaker 4: inquisitive and everything. But then I also play the dad.
Speaker 4: I play the father as well, you know, so I
Speaker 4: also play my father. So I have a lot of
Speaker 4: scenes where I talk to myself back and forth like
Speaker 4: a crazy person.
Speaker 2: Do you channel real people in your life? If you're
Speaker 2: going to do the father character, do you channel Ojibanks Usenka.
Speaker 4: I do a little, yes, I do. I do a
Speaker 4: little Yes. My father does come out just naturally.
Speaker 2: For those who don't know, Ogibanks and I grew up
Speaker 2: next store to each other. And I say next door,
Speaker 2: I mean house house, literally next door to each other. Yes,
Speaker 2: And we both moved into Harbor City in nineteen seventy five,
Speaker 2: within maybe three to four months of each other, and
Speaker 2: both our families had moved in. I think I was
Speaker 2: five years old when you were two two and a
Speaker 2: half years old, and we became instant friends, and he
Speaker 2: would usually have these great birthday parties, Yes, where you
Speaker 2: invite the kids from school or in the neighborhood and
Speaker 2: we have dance contests.
Speaker 3: How many times did I win? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Yes, you would win and he would be No, he
Speaker 4: would always win the prize.
Speaker 3: I got moved. He would always win every year.
Speaker 2: Yes, So why did you stop having birthday parties at
Speaker 2: dance contests?
Speaker 4: Because it was the same thing every year. You just
Speaker 4: come in and take all the prizes dancing.
Speaker 3: It's so funny because.
Speaker 2: I don't think either of our parents or families would
Speaker 2: have any idea that you would end up doing what
Speaker 2: you are doing now and what I am doing now.
Speaker 3: I know your parents would listen.
Speaker 2: To KFI religiously, and I think one morning they heard
Speaker 2: me filling in for Bill Handle or something.
Speaker 3: He said, oh my mom my, mom my mom.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, And I think my parents like saw your
Speaker 2: name in the credits one time on one of the
Speaker 2: Disney XD series and they'd say, oh my gosh, oh Gi.
Speaker 3: What is it.
Speaker 2: And the reason I bring that up is what does
Speaker 2: it mean to have that type of affirmation from parents
Speaker 2: and family.
Speaker 4: Oh, it's the best, It's the best because you know,
Speaker 4: they you can tell them I'm going to do this, but.
Speaker 3: They're like, what are you really going to do? When
Speaker 3: are you gonna go out and get a job.
Speaker 4: Yes, either, when am I going to see these results?
Speaker 4: So when the project actually comes out and we're able
Speaker 4: to watch it together and they're actually able to see
Speaker 4: me and hear me and look at my name on
Speaker 4: the credits come in, it's very fulfilling. It's like, see,
Speaker 4: I told you, I told you I was doing this.
Speaker 2: I remember when I came out of college and I
Speaker 2: started working in the music business. My parents were not
Speaker 2: really happy with that. It's like, hey, we spent all
Speaker 2: this money, we sent you to Georgetown University. Now you
Speaker 2: want to work in the music industry. You didn't need
Speaker 2: to go to school for that, and now you're out
Speaker 2: here just trying to you know, play record executives and
Speaker 2: and and spend some money. It's like, that's not what
Speaker 2: we expected of you. Because our generation. I remember we
Speaker 2: would play in his room and I think you had
Speaker 2: like the Lord's Prayer on your you know, father navy man.
Speaker 3: Crat oh No.
Speaker 2: I remember because because he was very he was very
Speaker 2: upright and circumspect as far as what he expected of you,
Speaker 2: and if I were going to be playing with you,
Speaker 2: I was not going to be a bad influence on you.
Speaker 3: And so I needed to learn the Lord's prayer as well.
Speaker 3: You know, it's not a problem, but.
Speaker 2: It's it's it's interesting how we can have these birds,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't say birds, but expectations placed upon us, and
Speaker 2: they propel us, and they also compel us to meet
Speaker 2: their standards.
Speaker 3: Because even to this day.
Speaker 2: When I open up the mic, I always want to
Speaker 2: be careful and conscious of that. I don't say anything
Speaker 2: that my mother, who's probably listening, would disapprove of. Yes,
Speaker 2: And I'm always conscious of that. It's like, would my
Speaker 2: mother be okay with that?
Speaker 3: Now? If you met my mother, you would know that
Speaker 3: she is as profane as anyone.
Speaker 2: So I have a lot of room to work with.
Speaker 2: But their approval has always meant something to me. How
Speaker 2: did you navigate that?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 4: It was hard. My dad, like you said, he was
Speaker 4: the strict one. My mom was the one that was more.
Speaker 3: Like, go baby, you can do it, you can.
Speaker 4: Do it, and she drove me to my auditions and everything, and.
Speaker 3: It was a real struggle.
Speaker 4: But my dad is the one that taught me, you know, well,
Speaker 4: if you're gonna do this, you.
Speaker 3: Gotta do it. You got to take it seriously.
Speaker 4: This isn't something that you can just will and nelly
Speaker 4: and just you know, do whatever you have to like
Speaker 4: really be strong and take it serious. And so and
Speaker 4: that balance of the tough with the soft really helped
Speaker 4: because whenever I was down, my mom was there to
Speaker 4: bring me up, and if I was too up, my
Speaker 4: dad was there to be like, you know, don't get
Speaker 4: too a you know, there's more to come, There's there's tomorrow.
Speaker 4: So with that balance it really helped me. And that
Speaker 4: propelled me to, like, you know, when I did actually
Speaker 4: book something and had a project and was able to
Speaker 4: share it with them, that's why, you know, it brought
Speaker 4: me so much joy because of all that hard work
Speaker 4: of not only going to the auditions and going to
Speaker 4: the rehearsals and all that, but the family aspect of
Speaker 4: you know, some believing in you, some not. There's times
Speaker 4: when they both do and that you know, it's just
Speaker 4: that whole dynamic.
Speaker 3: How many times did you hear no before you finally
Speaker 3: had a yes? Oh hundreds and thousands before you had
Speaker 3: a yes? Oh yeah, thousands of times. Yeah before yes, yeah,
Speaker 3: how does that not break you in your spirit? Oh?
Speaker 3: It does, it does? Yeah, yeah, I've Yeah.
Speaker 4: At the beginning, I stopped several times, you know, I
Speaker 4: was like, this isn't gonna work. Oh, But then you
Speaker 4: try to find your way.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: It's like, okay, if you know, if I'm not doing
Speaker 4: well in this, let me try to tweak this here,
Speaker 4: or take more classes here to learn something, or maybe
Speaker 4: try something else, but still within the field. So I'm
Speaker 4: still learning. But the nose, you know, and you know
Speaker 4: you're taught that that's part of the game. That's part
Speaker 4: of it. It's a numbers game. But the numbers were
Speaker 4: so high on the nose. I was like, what kind
Speaker 4: of game is this? You know, this is not a
Speaker 4: game I like, you know. But once I got that
Speaker 4: first yes, the magic and the confidence and the Hollywood
Speaker 4: magic like kind of just came through me and it
Speaker 4: started coming together a little bit more.
Speaker 2: It's almost this is a crude analogy, but this is
Speaker 2: the only way I can explain it. No one thinks
Speaker 2: you're sexy until someone finds you sexy, and when someone
Speaker 2: tells you yes, and all of a sudden, people start
Speaker 2: looking at you was like, Ooh, what have I been
Speaker 2: missing out on? Or what is it that person has
Speaker 2: that I have not realized yet. It's very true as
Speaker 2: far as radio, it's like once you get on the year,
Speaker 2: then people want to hear more of you. Usually beginning
Speaker 2: on the air is a very difficult process.
Speaker 3: That first. Yes, do you remember what it was? Yes? Yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 3: great question. Yes.
Speaker 4: It was for a frozen pizza and it's.
Speaker 3: Not out today.
Speaker 4: It was a kid's frozen pizza and I played the
Speaker 4: puppy dog.
Speaker 3: Oh you weren't even a person.
Speaker 4: No, I was not even a person. I didn't I had.
Speaker 4: I said something like come and get that, get your pizza,
Speaker 4: and I said the name of the pizza. But that
Speaker 4: was about it. And uh yeah, and I was the
Speaker 4: puppy dog.
Speaker 3: For the commercial. Was commercial? I believe?
Speaker 5: So?
Speaker 3: Yes, okay, so Payday? Yes it was, Yes, it was.
Speaker 3: It was. What was your first TV show that you booked?
Speaker 3: The first TV show? Wow? Good question. Oh it was
Speaker 3: pretty good at what I do? Whole Street High, Whole
Speaker 3: Street High?
Speaker 4: That remember that one that was back when Parker Can't
Speaker 4: Lose That TV show? I remember that that was our rival.
Speaker 4: It was Parker can't lose. In Whole Street High, we
Speaker 4: were up against Parker can't lose, and you remember Parker
Speaker 4: can't lose because they won.
Speaker 2: But also I remember my mom was so proud of
Speaker 2: you when you booked Newsies.
Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, yeah, that changed my life.
Speaker 3: What did you do with Newsies Newsy's I played Boots.
Speaker 3: I was.
Speaker 4: An actor dancer. I was an actor who danced. Well,
Speaker 4: that movie took to that took two years to make
Speaker 4: because we did a whole year of rehearsal and then
Speaker 4: a whole year of you know, actually you know, filming.
Speaker 4: But there was that was on the Universal lot. I remember,
Speaker 4: and I remember that the tram would come through, we
Speaker 4: would make we made special dances for the tram. We
Speaker 4: would make them special Newsies dances. We would We knew
Speaker 4: when the trams were coming and we were like, we
Speaker 4: were so enthrowed, like.
Speaker 3: We have to do something for them.
Speaker 4: So we all came up with, like Kenny Ortega, the
Speaker 4: directors like, why don't we come up with like a
Speaker 4: cool little dance room. So when they came through sometimes,
Speaker 4: you know, if we were on break, they'd be like, five,
Speaker 4: why didn't we do this dance?
Speaker 3: And everybody. It was so much fun. It was so
Speaker 3: much fun.
Speaker 4: And to be at the Universal back lot just to
Speaker 4: work work there and to be there every day, Uh,
Speaker 4: that was magical.
Speaker 3: That was just magical.
Speaker 4: And because you're working on a film there, but there's
Speaker 4: another film going on right next door over here, there's
Speaker 4: a TV show going on right over here. I snuck
Speaker 4: over to the set over here and met Bruce Willis.
Speaker 4: You know, I wasn't supposed to, but I just ran
Speaker 4: br Yes, I did.
Speaker 2: It's weird because as much as we enjoy working in this,
Speaker 2: we're fans, well, we enjoy being part of it, not
Speaker 2: necessarily the center of it.
Speaker 3: So OCHI, what was your before we go to break?
Speaker 2: What was Have you had that one role where you
Speaker 2: said yes, thank you I finally met because let me
Speaker 2: for example, for me just being in news and radio
Speaker 2: and talk. The first time I appeared on CNN for
Speaker 2: the National Feet and my friend saw me from coast
Speaker 2: to coast.
Speaker 3: And I wanted so long to just have that one moment.
Speaker 3: Didn't get paid for.
Speaker 2: It, but it was one of those things. It was
Speaker 2: the affirmation I need. It's like I might be able
Speaker 2: to do this. I'm long here and I'm gonna stay here.
Speaker 2: Did you have a similar.
Speaker 3: Moment, Yes, yes, I did.
Speaker 4: My My moment with that was, you know, it was
Speaker 4: really the my first Marvel gig, the first Marvel gig
Speaker 4: I did when I was a power man.
Speaker 3: You know how many Marvel gigs have.
Speaker 4: You had several several that that was pretty much the
Speaker 4: jump start.
Speaker 3: Okay, so that was that moment, were like, I'm here.
Speaker 4: That was, you know, because that was like my first
Speaker 4: like real superhero and it was like a series. I
Speaker 4: was on that and I'm on every like every episode.
Speaker 3: I was on every episode.
Speaker 4: I'm going there every week, and there were celebrities on
Speaker 4: the show, and I'm just like, and I'm part of
Speaker 4: the show.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: They would read and my part would come and I
Speaker 4: would forget to read because I'm like, oh.
Speaker 3: I, oh, that's right, I'm part of the show too.
Speaker 4: Oh I need to wrangle myself in and be a
Speaker 4: part of the show.
Speaker 3: But that was the moment, because.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that I mean, and plus getting the athletes from
Speaker 4: the people that I work with too, you know, yes,
Speaker 4: from the family, but the people I work with too,
Speaker 4: knowing that I'm you're doing a good job.
Speaker 3: But that was that was the one that was the one.
Speaker 2: When we come back, let's get into Lego Marvel Avengers,
Speaker 2: the animated show in which you are starring as Captain
Speaker 2: America Sam Wilson himself. And that's against the backdrop of
Speaker 2: the Captain America four movie, which is coming out in February,
Speaker 2: which is not gonna.
Speaker 3: Hurt what you're doing. Yes, no, you got that right.
Speaker 3: So O.
Speaker 2: G Banks is joining us in studio right now as
Speaker 2: part of Later with Mo Kelly's Halloween Swell Ray. And
Speaker 2: also we want to say a special thanks to BJ's
Speaker 2: Restaurants for setting up our party with pizza, wings and
Speaker 2: salad for this party.
Speaker 3: Put your hands together for.
Speaker 2: BJSDJ More with Ogbanks, just a moment. Canf I Am
Speaker 2: six forty Live everywhere the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2: We're not done yet, caf I Am six forty Live
Speaker 2: everywhere the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3: It's Halloween Later with Mo Kelly.
Speaker 2: My guest right now is og Banks the third and
Speaker 2: his latest project is Lego Marvel Avengers Mission Demolition, where
Speaker 2: he co stars as Captain America Sam Wilson himself. Before
Speaker 2: the break, we were talking about how you got started
Speaker 2: working with Marvel.
Speaker 3: What is it like working with Marvel? For Marvel?
Speaker 2: Because I look at it as from an outsider, from
Speaker 2: a fan. I enjoy their animated properties, I enjoy their
Speaker 2: live action properties. I'm a Marvel fan through and through.
Speaker 2: But we're looking for a company like that. Maybe difficult
Speaker 2: in the sense of usually sworn to secrecy. Their NBA's everywhere.
Speaker 2: You can't tell anything about anything. How is it navigating
Speaker 2: that space?
Speaker 3: Good question, it's a.
Speaker 4: It's it is a little difficult, but but it's fun difficult, Okay,
Speaker 4: if I can say, you're right, there is secrecy.
Speaker 3: You can't say anything.
Speaker 4: You can't say a word, and you you have all
Speaker 4: this going on. You're so excited, but there's nothing you
Speaker 4: can say. And working for them, it's like with Sam Wilson.
Speaker 4: I I got every piece of footage they send me
Speaker 4: all the all the footage everything Sam Wilson like and
Speaker 4: and mister Mackie, did you know, like you have to
Speaker 4: prepare you know.
Speaker 2: So it's like, so you are working in concert with
Speaker 2: the live action portion in large parts, so there's uniformity.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, they totally want that they totally want, they
Speaker 4: totally want that. It's still that essence of the character,
Speaker 4: because you know, the essence of the character, the coolness
Speaker 4: of the character, all that. So I had to study
Speaker 4: basically all his stuff, like the Falcon stuff, all the
Speaker 4: way till he did like you know, the Captain America thing,
Speaker 4: you know, so just and so that and and working
Speaker 4: for Marvel. You know, it's like, Okay, that's the that's
Speaker 4: the one. So you know, you prepare you you know,
Speaker 4: you're you're doing your homework.
Speaker 3: You're doing your homework.
Speaker 4: You're watching for hours and hours, practicing my voice, practicing
Speaker 4: my cool, doing my thing, and you're doing it to
Speaker 4: the point where you know there's nobody there to help you.
Speaker 4: The director's not there when you're practicing, you know. So
Speaker 4: you're doing that all all on your own. And it's
Speaker 4: not like I have the script yet, So I'm still
Speaker 4: just getting the essence of the character, just getting in
Speaker 4: the mood, just really feeling them out, so that by
Speaker 4: the time that it comes to where the script is
Speaker 4: presented to me and I am in front of everybody,
Speaker 4: I am prepared in the mood the you know how
Speaker 4: he's going to be. So whatever they bring to me
Speaker 4: or whatever they have for me. I'm able to just
Speaker 4: slip right in and be that character.
Speaker 2: Marvel is an iconic brand, Lego is an iconic brand,
Speaker 2: and since the original Lego movie, high expectations are placed
Speaker 2: on their properties as well. Are you ever concerned about
Speaker 2: trying to meet those expectations?
Speaker 3: Yes, I am, Yes, I am. And that's why.
Speaker 4: It's that's why when I when I'm working, I'm in
Speaker 4: the booth, I will sweat so much because I am
Speaker 4: so worried and I'm like, did.
Speaker 3: I say the correctly? Did I say it correctly? Did
Speaker 3: that type of minutiation?
Speaker 4: Yeah, Because I'm an actor, so I get crazy in
Speaker 4: my head, you know, especially when you're in the booth,
Speaker 4: because you can say a line, you can say, hey,
Speaker 4: are we gonna go there? And then you don't hear
Speaker 4: anything because they're in another room, you know, with the engineer.
Speaker 3: Do you you don't have a scene partner or anything?
Speaker 4: Sometimes you do, sometimes you do, but sometimes you don't.
Speaker 4: And when you don't, you're there on your own and
Speaker 4: you and even if you do have a partner, both
Speaker 4: of you are there on your own, and you're too neurotic.
Speaker 3: Actors and you're like, did we do a good job
Speaker 3: or not because we.
Speaker 4: Didn't hear anything back. And then finally they'll say great
Speaker 4: job after five vents. But within that five ins we're.
Speaker 2: Like, ah, how many takes might you do on a
Speaker 2: given seed that's not not going perfectly?
Speaker 4: Oh, that's not going Oh I can say a line
Speaker 4: twenty times sometimes just one line. I can say one
Speaker 4: line twenty times sometimes if if that's how they are,
Speaker 4: if you are not getting it, if you're not in
Speaker 4: the right part of the scene, if you the tone
Speaker 4: of your voice or anything, if they're not feeling it,
Speaker 4: they're not getting it. And I'm like, wow, this is
Speaker 4: one line, and I'm saying it again and again and again,
Speaker 4: and even I have to like, who were you taking?
Speaker 4: Take the notes? Take the notes? You know they might
Speaker 4: change a little bit here and there. But yeah, I
Speaker 4: can sometimes it'll be twenty times.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: We started with the secrecy my word of Marvel. The
Speaker 2: reason I asked that is you may not have a
Speaker 2: scene partner. Are you getting your sides in other words,
Speaker 2: your lines for the complete episode.
Speaker 3: Or only what you're slither of what you need? Oh
Speaker 3: sliver what you need?
Speaker 4: Yeah, good question, and I'm lucky that I get the
Speaker 4: whole episode, they get the context. Yes, yes, yes, I
Speaker 4: understand everything that's going on. And and also the director
Speaker 4: they're there, so like, even if I didn't quite understand anything,
Speaker 4: they fill me in with all the juices and berries
Speaker 4: and all the good stuff.
Speaker 2: All right, well, take us to this orchard. Tell us
Speaker 2: about Lego Marble Avengers mission demolition.
Speaker 4: Oh, well it is, Well, it's it's a you know,
Speaker 4: it's a continuation of the Lego Avengers.
Speaker 3: They they've been doing it for a while.
Speaker 4: And of course you have all your famous the thor
Speaker 4: the Iron Man, all these people. And in this particular
Speaker 4: episode there's.
Speaker 3: A new bad guy in here. And with the new
Speaker 3: bad guy.
Speaker 4: Comes the Avengers coming in again, and I am included.
Speaker 4: Sam Wilson is included this time with the Avengers. In
Speaker 4: the past they didn't have Sam Wilson, but on this
Speaker 4: one they do have Sam Wilson, and going forward they
Speaker 4: should have Sam Wilson hopefully.
Speaker 3: But with Sam Wilson, Sam Wilson and the Avengers.
Speaker 4: It's about really, the episode is about being yourself.
Speaker 3: That's what the whole episode is. It's about being yourself
Speaker 3: through all this chaos.
Speaker 4: And everything that's going on with the Avengers and the
Speaker 4: bad guy and everything. The moral of the story throughout,
Speaker 4: it's not just at the end you figure it out,
Speaker 4: but throughout it's about just being yourself, taking the time
Speaker 4: to know yourself and be yourself.
Speaker 3: That's what I could say. The episode is about that.
Speaker 3: That's what I got from it.
Speaker 2: Well, Ogbanks, I appreciate the friend that you've been. I
Speaker 2: think if he's your brother, because we literally grew up
Speaker 2: together our bedrooms from maybe i'll say fifty feet away
Speaker 2: from each other. How can people follow you on social media?
Speaker 2: You're very big on social media? How can people join?
Speaker 3: Answer? Yes, it's my name. It's so easy.
Speaker 4: It's just my name, Og Banks, og I e b
Speaker 4: a n ks.
Speaker 3: You can commercial Facebook all that like and subscribe Ogi
Speaker 3: e beks. Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2: Well when I say my brother and my friend, I
Speaker 2: mean absolutely that. Obviously I've said it because of about
Speaker 2: other people that I said in regard to you. Your
Speaker 2: success is our success. I love you, I appreciate you,
Speaker 2: and I salute you. And let's be sure to do
Speaker 2: this again in the future.
Speaker 4: Yes, thank you so much for having me on your show.
Speaker 4: My man, I so appreciate you, O G.
Speaker 3: Banks. It's Later with Moe Kelly.
Speaker 2: We would have their original cast back up here in
Speaker 2: just a moment, can if I am six forty. We
Speaker 2: are live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. In fact, Stephan,
Speaker 2: you need to bring your ass up here. You've been
Speaker 2: hiding in the back too long. Let the people see you.
Speaker 2: We're gonna hear from Stephan when we come back.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2: And as we continue on with this great, great, great
Speaker 2: gathering what I would call or friends, I feel like
Speaker 2: you're friends.
Speaker 3: I've known you for ever. And that's the beauty of radio.
Speaker 2: There's this level of what we call intimacy where you
Speaker 2: get to know someone a little bit more than just
Speaker 2: reading a teleprompter on a screen. I think you know
Speaker 2: more about me than I share with just any random person.
Speaker 2: It's a strange relationship because I'll tell you about growing up,
Speaker 2: my next door neighbors, or the things that I would
Speaker 2: do as a child, or when I was trick or treating,
Speaker 2: and those are conversations you just don't have with anyone,
Speaker 2: and you find, especially in radio, you will get to know,
Speaker 2: and it's a relationship that goes back and forth.
Speaker 3: I learn more about you and you learn more about
Speaker 3: me as well.
Speaker 2: And with that in mind, Stephen who not only is
Speaker 2: the technical director for the Tim Conway Junior Show, but
Speaker 2: is also our technical director.
Speaker 3: He wears the literal.
Speaker 2: Definition of many hats, and he is not someone that
Speaker 2: you're often going to see in public on a microphone.
Speaker 3: So, like Mark Runner, this is a special occasion.
Speaker 2: You may not ever see this again, right, Yeah, exactly, so, Stephan,
Speaker 2: I don't even know your full radio story. Like I've
Speaker 2: talked to Mark Runner who's back with us, and he's
Speaker 2: told us some of his story, but your story as
Speaker 2: far as how you found your way into radio.
Speaker 6: I essentially just started listening to podcasts for from about
Speaker 6: two thousand and five two thousand and six, fell in
Speaker 6: love with it, started applying to different local podcast companies.
Speaker 6: I got hireds a intern, then quickly a producer, then
Speaker 6: quickly a program director. Then it all fell apart and
Speaker 6: then had to start all over again, and then got
Speaker 6: into almost actually a competitor series XM, but it didn't
Speaker 6: work out because the pandemic happened, So then I had
Speaker 6: to wait around. I kept applying, like they were saying before,
Speaker 6: get used to knows, get used to failures and.
Speaker 3: All that, because it took a lot.
Speaker 6: And one day I get an email that I legitimately
Speaker 6: thought was bam asking me to come on as a
Speaker 6: technical director board op for KFI. Replied, because you never know,
Speaker 6: and that ended up being the beginning of my journey
Speaker 6: here at KFI.
Speaker 2: I gotta ask, Yeah, you can go ahead, applaud that absolutely.
Speaker 2: I gotta ask because some of us are in radio
Speaker 2: intentionally and some of us are biding our time in
Speaker 2: radio because they want to do other things. I get
Speaker 2: the sense, now that I've worked with you a couple
Speaker 2: of years, that you love radio.
Speaker 3: I really do. Yeah.
Speaker 6: I mean that's kind of what because from well my generation,
Speaker 6: it started with podcasting, but I listened to talk radio
Speaker 6: even before that, and I always loved it, and I
Speaker 6: always loved the like I said, theater of radio just
Speaker 6: how we have to listen to it, but you have
Speaker 6: to have descriptions of it. And you know, working with
Speaker 6: people like Mo and Tim, it's been great because they
Speaker 6: put on such a fantastic show and they give you
Speaker 6: the it's like you're in the room so that's what
Speaker 6: I really appreciate about it, what.
Speaker 2: I appreciate most about Step And I know Toiwala knows
Speaker 2: this to be true because we've talked about it in
Speaker 2: a number of times. When we first started working together,
Speaker 2: it took us a minute to get a rhythm, so
Speaker 2: we can get a feel for each other. And I
Speaker 2: was telling you as far as if I make a
Speaker 2: music reference, don't wait for me, just go ahead and
Speaker 2: play it. Because if I say, you know, any song,
Speaker 2: like a disco song or something, and the audience doesn't
Speaker 2: readily recognize it, they want to know exactly what song
Speaker 2: I'm talking about, So just.
Speaker 3: Go ahead and play it.
Speaker 2: And he was so good at that, finding the music
Speaker 2: and immediately playing it. He was one of the few
Speaker 2: people who understood me just immediately, and that helped the
Speaker 2: show grow. If I make some obscure reference to something,
Speaker 2: I don't need to even tell him. If I make
Speaker 2: reference to an old commercial pepto bismol or something, he
Speaker 2: will go find it. And it made the show all
Speaker 2: that much better. And then when you had someone like
Speaker 2: Mark Ronner who had his own library of obscure references,
Speaker 2: he knew to do that as well, and so it
Speaker 2: made the whole show so much better. And he's another individual.
Speaker 2: If you like anything about this show, it has a
Speaker 2: lot to do with this guy right here, and.
Speaker 3: He deserves his flowers. He absolutely deserves his flowers. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Now we have to work out something that's gonna get uncomfortable.
Speaker 2: If you listen to the show, you know that Mark
Speaker 2: and I are going back and forth. We're battling for
Speaker 2: rim shots to see who is funnier. He is the
Speaker 2: keeper of the rim shot. He gets to decide whether
Speaker 2: something is funny or not. Now we both try to
Speaker 2: work the ref and try to cajole him and coerce
Speaker 2: him into giving us a rib shot, but he's the
Speaker 2: only one who gets to decide if he laughs, and
Speaker 2: we can see each other by video monitor. If he laughs,
Speaker 2: that means we're supposed to get a rim shot. Now
Speaker 2: you get to say who is funnier between Mark and me,
Speaker 2: and if you get it wrong.
Speaker 3: There's gonna be a misunderstanding.
Speaker 5: I want a forensic audit of his bank account because
Speaker 5: I think he's in your pocket.
Speaker 3: As long as he comes up with the right answer,
Speaker 3: I don't care where he is. Yeah, No, Mo is
Speaker 3: always the funniest much. Good night, can if I am
Speaker 3: nice knowing everybody?
Speaker 2: Now, when did you feel comfortable enough Stefan? Because I said,
Speaker 2: don't wait for me, just go ahead and trust your gut.
Speaker 3: How long did that take you?
Speaker 6: I can still actually recall the night that I that
Speaker 6: I felt like we connected was when we talked about
Speaker 6: something had to do with ice Cube and Tucker Carlson,
Speaker 6: and we were talking about how, uh you know, ice
Speaker 6: Cube can't pretend that he's this and they also be
Speaker 6: tending in this side. And as you finished your sentence,
Speaker 6: I don't know if you remember it, I started just
Speaker 6: bringing up uh nwa ice Cube's lyric and you guys
Speaker 6: lost your mind when we went to the break, And
Speaker 6: after that, I was like, I know.
Speaker 2: What to do, yeah, because I don't have time to
Speaker 2: talk about it on air, then find it on the computer,
Speaker 2: then play it, and also stay in the thought of
Speaker 2: the moment. So he has to be my third arm,
Speaker 2: if you will, and keep the show moving. And I
Speaker 2: know it's even more difficult because, as I said, Mark
Speaker 2: will have his own references, and you know, with your
Speaker 2: skill you manage to be able to pull up any
Speaker 2: of our references within a reasonable amount of time. Like
Speaker 2: I may say, you know the Gloria Gainer song I
Speaker 2: Will Survive or what have you, and I will start
Speaker 2: just spitballing and sort of just just sort of vamping
Speaker 2: until you find the song. But we have these recurring jokes,
Speaker 2: and it's a lot of times because he is so
Speaker 2: good at being able to find material in a short
Speaker 2: amount of time. You may not know that, but that's
Speaker 2: part of the behind the scenes in terms of the magic.
Speaker 2: And there are times that I'll go back and listen
Speaker 2: to the podcast and I will laugh out loud because
Speaker 2: he will have done something that I didn't hear in
Speaker 2: the course of doing the show live. It's a very
Speaker 2: different show when you're listening to it as opposed to
Speaker 2: actually doing it. And when he makes me laugh out loud,
Speaker 2: I know that he's adding something to the show. This
Speaker 2: guy never makes me laugh, but this guy always makes
Speaker 2: me laugh because when he laughs, it's.
Speaker 3: Genuine there we go ripshot and everything.
Speaker 2: When Stephen actually laughs, you know, okay, he's not laughing
Speaker 2: for effect, he's not laughing to please anyone. He's laughing
Speaker 2: because it's genuinely funny and the hardest part of radio.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if if anyone really understands, it's
Speaker 2: the hardest part of radios. You're in this box, and
Speaker 2: you get to see the box when we do the
Speaker 2: tour of the studios after the show. You're talking pretty
Speaker 2: much to a wall, and the wall doesn't talk back
Speaker 2: to you.
Speaker 3: The wall doesn't give you any feedback.
Speaker 2: The wall doesn't laugh, the wall doesn't say and that
Speaker 2: was kind of funny on the wall doesn't say that
Speaker 2: really sucked. You just have to look for any type
Speaker 2: of feedback which is available, and he'll give it to us.
Speaker 2: He's not funny, he's just not paying attention. He's just
Speaker 2: off in his own world. You realize, Okay, that's not working,
Speaker 2: let's move on. But he is someone that helps the
Speaker 2: show grow from night tonight tonight.
Speaker 5: I feel like earlier you were building up to sing
Speaker 5: in the diarrhea song, and I kind of want to
Speaker 5: hear that diarrhea.
Speaker 3: Okay, thank you, you're welcome. Now.
Speaker 5: Fush is fast on the YouTube trigger, and you can
Speaker 5: tell how fast he is by the way we screw
Speaker 5: it up when we try it. Like I tried to
Speaker 5: hit a needle scratching across a record effect last week,
Speaker 5: and of course it went Haywire, and we made a
Speaker 5: joke about that because we're so inept with the technical stuff.
Speaker 5: But Fush is an expert at that. He's a savant
Speaker 5: at that.
Speaker 2: So when we say he's the technical director, we mean
Speaker 2: that when we're trying to get in and out of breaks,
Speaker 2: when we're coming back from break, he's the one who's
Speaker 2: playing the bumper. He's the one who is playing any
Speaker 2: type of the media that you hear during the show.
Speaker 2: There are the times that I'll play audio and you'll
Speaker 2: hear me mess it up, like, oh, and I blame
Speaker 2: it on the computer. No, it's actually me because I'm
Speaker 2: I'm an idiot when it comes to that stuff. True,
Speaker 2: I'll mess it up. All I'm hidden is the space bar.
Speaker 2: There's really nothing to mess up. So if it doesn't play,
Speaker 2: it is my fault. That's our secret. Don't tell anyone else.
Speaker 2: But the show when it's at its best is because
Speaker 2: Stephan is dialed in and and true story, I refuse
Speaker 2: to call you Stuffush because that's what Tim Conway Junior
Speaker 2: calls you.
Speaker 3: That's your love story between you and him.
Speaker 2: Okay, you're Stephan to me because what you do for
Speaker 2: me is different from what you do for Tim Conway Jr.
Speaker 3: No disrespect, but I always try to keep that separate.
Speaker 2: But what Stephan does is he I think what works
Speaker 2: best is to Wallace sense of humor is very similar
Speaker 2: to my sense of humor, which is very similar to
Speaker 2: his sense of humor, and very similar to Mark sense
Speaker 2: of humor. So we kind of know where a joke
Speaker 2: or a bit is going to go and something else.
Speaker 2: When we're doing humor, there is a science to it.
Speaker 2: We can't all try to be funny at the same time.
Speaker 2: So if there's a time where Mark, I know, is
Speaker 2: really hitting it and he has a lot of joke
Speaker 2: coming one after the other, day after the other, I
Speaker 2: know I have to play the straight man because when
Speaker 2: everyone's trying to be funny, that means nobody's gonna be funny.
Speaker 2: So there are times where I'm running the jokes and
Speaker 2: then Mark will be the straight man and vice versa.
Speaker 2: And that's how the magic works behind the scenes. And
Speaker 2: if I can get someone like you to laugh, and
Speaker 2: I'll hear from you through an Instagram message or a
Speaker 2: Facebook message, or if we should be talking on the phone,
Speaker 2: or name that movie called classic, like we'll do at
Speaker 2: the end of the week. That means everything to me
Speaker 2: because to believe, to know that you've brought some sort
Speaker 2: of affirmative joy in someone's life to make them laugh
Speaker 2: out loud, not only is that almost impossible to do
Speaker 2: in today's world, it is a wonderful feeling to know.
Speaker 2: So when I know that he is laughing, or you're laughing,
Speaker 2: or if I'm laughing, even on listening to the podcast,
Speaker 2: I know that we're doing something just a little right
Speaker 2: and seeing you all here tonight is the feedback that
Speaker 2: we all want and love. So once again, thank you
Speaker 2: for coming out tonight. We have one more segment here
Speaker 2: on Later with mo Kelly for this Halloween swore a
Speaker 2: special caf I AM six forty Live everywhere on the
Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 3: I AM six forty is Later with mo Kelly Halloween Special.
Speaker 2: We're live everywhere the iHeartRadio app and joining me right now,
Speaker 2: and it's.
Speaker 3: Only appropriate that we're joined by the.
Speaker 2: One, the only, George Norrie of Coast to Coast. Am George,
Speaker 2: how you doing, sir.
Speaker 3: Georgia? There?
Speaker 2: Yeah, technical difficulties that's what happens with live radio. I
Speaker 2: cannot hear George George going once yes, someone might have
Speaker 2: abducted George.
Speaker 3: Well we tried, we tried.
Speaker 2: Before we get out of here, I do want to
Speaker 2: say once again, we want to spend a Senday special.
Speaker 2: Thanks to Bjay's Restaurants for setting our party up with pizza,
Speaker 2: wings and salad for the Halloween soare hope you enjoyed.
Speaker 3: That, And of course.
Speaker 2: Ron Ross with Wendy's for the great food and the
Speaker 2: spread this evening. And also to Walla Sharp, where did
Speaker 2: you go? Did he leave already? Okay, he's around here somewhere.
Speaker 2: We'll get tawallap here to give his final thoughts. Mark
Speaker 2: your final thoughts on this evening in this.
Speaker 5: Show too, I think George bailed on us because he
Speaker 5: heard the show.
Speaker 2: Probably probably see see how he treats me. It's okay,
Speaker 2: it's okay.
Speaker 5: We didn't want tonight to be any different than a
Speaker 5: normal night.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: This is this is how we rib each other every
Speaker 2: single day on the air.
Speaker 3: Off the air, we.
Speaker 5: Actually have conversations about, Oh Jesus, what's Georgia gonna think
Speaker 5: of the craft we've been talking about, right, now he
Speaker 5: wants no part of this, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if the show gets a little too risky, then
Speaker 2: we know to leave George out of it, because.
Speaker 5: George scold's callers when they say something innocuous like crap
Speaker 5: on there, he'll just stop the car.
Speaker 3: He will, he will.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I've heard him say, hey, watch that language, yes,
Speaker 7: like crap you know.
Speaker 2: And and we eat a little blue with our language.
Speaker 2: Every now and then we like to push the envelope.
Speaker 2: We try to get right up to the line.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: I'll let a mother father know, you know, every once
Speaker 2: in a while sometimes we go almost read almost almost
Speaker 2: And I know my program director Robin Berta Lucci want
Speaker 2: to thank her.
Speaker 3: She will sit me down and saying, no, you can't.
Speaker 3: You can't use that language. So why I'm not saying
Speaker 3: the words that you have? But other people know what
Speaker 3: you mean, and you know, if they're not only really
Speaker 3: paying attention, they think you actually said the word.
Speaker 2: And then I get the email and I get the complaints,
Speaker 2: and then I got to come back to you, and
Speaker 2: I just want to.
Speaker 3: Avoid all that. Okay, Well, let that mother father know
Speaker 3: that is I'm not going to change. Get over them.
Speaker 3: Da the kissed my ass. I'm sorry, as we were.
Speaker 2: Saying, and I wanted to make sure that you, Tula,
Speaker 2: got your flowers as well, because we talked about.
Speaker 3: This many many, many many years ago when.
Speaker 2: Twala Sharp first came to KFI, I had been here
Speaker 2: not much longer before him, and I said, Tula, I'm
Speaker 2: trying to do this new thing, talk radio. Make it
Speaker 2: sound a little bit different. It's going to be different
Speaker 2: because we came from a music environment. I was working
Speaker 2: with the great music labels and he was working in
Speaker 2: commercial radio and where I came from. They said, you
Speaker 2: can't have music on talk radio, true story, right. They
Speaker 2: did not want to have music outside of bumpers. You
Speaker 2: wouldn't have music conversations, You wouldn't feature music as part
Speaker 2: of the show, either in topic of discussion or in
Speaker 2: the background. And I said, no, that doesn't have to
Speaker 2: be like that. There's a space in place for that.
Speaker 2: There's a way that you can have different conversations where
Speaker 2: we're not just mad about everything all day long, every
Speaker 2: single day.
Speaker 3: That doesn't have to be talk radio.
Speaker 2: And I was talking about that what Twala said, there's
Speaker 2: an opportunity for us to change the way talk radio sounds.
Speaker 2: This right, now this today is the embodiment of that,
Speaker 2: where there's something just a little bit more joyful, a
Speaker 2: little bit less angry, a little bit more inclusive, and
Speaker 2: where you get to hear different voices and I mean
Speaker 2: different voices, color, texture, huge viewpoints, all of those things,
Speaker 2: because I think everyone has something worthy to add to
Speaker 2: the conversation. And it's not like we're gonna leave here
Speaker 2: and we're gonna agree on everything. Okay, I oftentimes don't
Speaker 2: agree with myself the things that I believe. Last week
Speaker 2: new information, I may feel differently about it, and it's
Speaker 2: okay because that's how we all grow together. And Tuala
Speaker 2: has been very much a part of this every step
Speaker 2: of the way, and there have been obstacles every step
Speaker 2: of the way. People say, you know my glory, but
Speaker 2: you don't know the story. You know, this has been
Speaker 2: a long time coming to get to this point, and
Speaker 2: you need to have someone who's with you in your corner,
Speaker 2: who beyond you, will fight with you, not just fight
Speaker 2: for you, but fight with you. So brother, I wanted
Speaker 2: to thank you for fighting with me each step of
Speaker 2: the way.
Speaker 3: No, I appreciate that.
Speaker 7: I wholeheartedly appreciate that, and that right there is what
Speaker 7: had me come over because my background was in urban
Speaker 7: music radio. And when he asked me to come over
Speaker 7: to KFI, I was like, no, like I cannot come
Speaker 7: to CAFI. And I remember he got the same comments
Speaker 7: that this is a career in her you go to
Speaker 7: talk radio, this, that and the other.
Speaker 3: You'll never come back to music. You're ending your career.
Speaker 3: What are you doing?
Speaker 7: That's that's where people go to dying radio. And mostly
Speaker 7: she said, no, Tea, if we do this right, we
Speaker 7: can do something special. We can change the landscape, we
Speaker 7: can change the nature of the conversation and feature and
Speaker 7: do things on radio that have never been done before.
Speaker 7: And when he said it, he was so sincere, so
Speaker 7: passionate about it. I said, man, let's go. And this
Speaker 7: by far has been the greatest journey in my now
Speaker 7: going on close to thirty year radio career, where I'm
Speaker 7: just like, every single day this is a joy. We
Speaker 7: have fought long and hard to get to the point
Speaker 7: where we can have a Monday through Friday show and
Speaker 7: every Saturday we would come on when we just had Saturdays,
Speaker 7: we would treat Saturdays like it was Monday through Friday.
Speaker 7: We would prepare all week for one night of a
Speaker 7: week just to say we have to show and prove.
Speaker 7: That was our demo, that was our chance. And when
Speaker 7: they gave us this, we were all ready to go
Speaker 7: late night television.
Speaker 3: On the radio. YEP.
Speaker 7: That's what we envision and that's what we try to
Speaker 7: bring to the airwaves every day.
Speaker 3: So really it's always.
Speaker 7: My pleasure to have been invited on this journey and
Speaker 7: to be able to share these moments with you all.
Speaker 7: Thank you all for coming out tonight. This is literally
Speaker 7: a dream come true.
Speaker 2: So we're gonna keep the dream alive the first annual
Speaker 2: Later with Moe Kelly Halloween sore. So I guess that
Speaker 2: means we're gonna see you next year, right around this time.
Speaker 3: Right again.
Speaker 2: Before we get out of here, we gotta say thank
Speaker 2: you to BJ's Restaurants for setting our party up with pizza,
Speaker 2: wings and salad for this Sarra, thank you to Wendy's
Speaker 2: and more, and thank you to you. Now let's go
Speaker 2: to the after party, not the p Diddy party. After party.
Speaker 2: AM okay, you're leaving now, KM I am six forty.
Speaker 3: We are alive everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty