10 Questions with ... Jessie Jessup

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Guam, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Dallas, Iraq, Afghanistan. I got really lucky and had a great career. I know it won't last forever so am grateful for the time I've had (cue the finale song from Dirty Dancing) I've had the time of my life.

1. You've been doing afternoons at The Edge for over 10 years. What do you like best about working at the station?

The meatballs who call me. I have been a magnet for them since day one. My favorite meatball is the guy who actually calls me as Meatwad from Aqua Teen hunger Force.

2. How did you first become interested in radio?

I had a crush on a guy who had a very pronounced Bon Jovi fixation. It was all he talked about. Just liking them too was not going to be enough to get and keep his attention so my methodology was "well I will just be a DJ. If I am the one playing the Bon Jovi then he will HAVE to pay attention to me." My coy ploy worked beautifully AND I got a hell of a career out of it to boot.

3. What has been the biggest change in your show since first joining The Edge?

PPM. Who needs a dungeon when you have such a seemingly banal yet highly effective torture device. Perfect for both sadists and masochists. Yes of course numbers are an important thing. But more and more I am noticing they are becoming the only thing. And it is usually and sadly at the expense of the ART of radio.

4. What makes your afternoon show unique?

Right now I am exploring a raging Crayon fetish!

Radio has the one thing no other medium of entertainment can ever compete with --Theater Of The Mind. I am really, REALLY good at that. I can go on the air and in less than 30 seconds relate a whale of tale of a drawing I have posted on the blog that was inspired by a guy who cut off his thumb and glued it to a baby's head because he thought it would look better as a unicorn. The mental image a listener creates for himself is then amplified when they log in and see the colorful picture I created and posted on the blog. The most popular crayon drawing I have done so far was for the Kitty Litter Piñata. Google it. It's the first thing that comes up. It seems absurd but it is the best way to avoid The Rehash Trap and to instead create totally unique content both on-air and the website. You ain't gonna get thumb baby unicorns or kitty litter piñatas anywhere but here folks. The crayons are not the only thing I do but it is my current favorite. And it's not just me...

I just did a "Color Your Favorite Blue October Song" contest and received so many entries that my e-mail crashed. The entries were EXTRAORDINARY and the ultimate way to make the show all inclusive for fans and art lovers alike. This single contest quadrupled the number of hits to my blog for over a week. Crayons are a tangible source of absolute rapture and joy for the kid in all of us. The art of radio is alive and flourishing in Dallas.

5. What is the most challenging part of the job?

Being creative and compelling in 30 seconds or less

6. How are you using social networking?

Twitter is a fiendish and fantastic lover. I am constantly struggling to find ways to be compelling yet concise. With the 140 character allotment we get on Twitter, it is great practice and an invaluable resource for editing what I am doing on the air. I am always whittling down to only the most creative nuts and bolts.

PS: Facebook is ok. Though I am developing an intense aversion to their utterly demoralizing "Thumbs Of Validation." I know a much better use for thumbs...do you have a hatchet and some glue I can borrow?

7. What do you like best about living in Dallas?

The bizarre dichotomy. Dallas is a titillating teeter totter of vice and virtue. There's a big bucket of boobies on one side and Jesus straddling the other. Up, down, up, down. It is fascinating spectacle to behold and participate in.

8. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ___________?

My dog's feet. They have an aroma on par with Frito's corn chips and I become Dennis Hopper maniacally huffing nitrous oxide in Blue Velvet whenever her feet are around...which is always. "Mommy!"

9. What are you most passionate about?

Creativity.

10. What would surprise people most about you?

That I actually listen better than I talk.

What are your hobbies?

Burlesque. I regularly emcee shows here in DFW including the annual Dallas Burlesque Festival. My favorite show so far was Hotter Than Hell with Satan's Angel. She is a 66 year old legendary stripper whose signature is twirling fire with her nipples. I introduced her performance with a boxing Satan puppet and at one point she thrust her chest out at him and shouted "Box my boobies Satan, BOX MY BOOBIES."

Last non-industry job?

When I lived in Vegas I made ends meet by wearing a barrel and big shoes and slathering multi colored grease paint on my face. I was a professional house clown tasked with DANCING on street corners in new housing developments. Nothing sells an invisible house faster than a clown on the corner. You're going places kid.

First record ever purchased?

Lisette - Tu Eres Esa Chica Enamorada

First concert?

THE TUBES. Top 3 on my list of great live shows. Fee Waybill, what a showman!

Favorite band of all-time?

Drowning Pool. We went to the Middle East together on a USO tour. We often reminisce and marvel at the astonishing memory of thousands of soldiers pulling out their service blades to cut their patches and insignia off their uniforms which they gave to the band with trembling hands and a steady stream of tears. This event represents the absolute zenith of my career in radio and my life in general. As compassionate human experiences go nothing will ever be able to top it.