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10 Questions with ... David Brody
February 19, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. I think it's the Seinfeld, Letterman affect. New York City is a national thing. People either relate to it, are fascinated by it, are related to someone from here or hate it. Thankfully, our listeners around the country relate, are amused by us or can't believe people like us exist but as long as they keep tuning in and laughing, we are good with them!
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I had real jobs managing restaurants and retail stores. I started writing comedy in 1993 for any magazine, newspaper or TV show that would use my material. I wrote jokes for Conan O’Brien, Bill Maher’s "Politically Incorrect" and "Just A Minute with Bill Maher," and Jay Leno’s "Tonight Show" while performing in a touring sketch comedy and improv troupe. Kevin James opened for us! A Boston comedy prep company paid me to write song parodies and spoof commercials, as did Premiere Comedy.
In 1998, I submitted a cassette demo of song parodies and spoof commercials to the "Elvis, Elliot and The Z Morning Zoo" show. They loved it and asked me to freelance and fax in scripts.
I started writing jokes for the team live in studio after a few months, and although there was no paying job there, the show and Tom Poleman helped get me a job writing radio comedy for United Stations Radio Networks from 1998 to 2013.
I worked there concurrently with "Elvis Duran and The Morning Show" as a paid writer, and eventually, as well, with "Elliot in The Morning" at DC101 from 1999 to 2002, splitting my monthly time between my radio parents.
Promoted to Executive Producer /Writer in 2002, I worked full time only for "Elvis Duran and The Morning Show" and United Stations until 2013, when Premiere radio hired my USRN comedy department (me included) to do the same jobs we were doing but for Premiere’s new Comedy Prep division.
1. The standard question: How and why did you get into radio? What was it about radio that attracted you to it as a career?
I was writing comedy and grew up on Allan Sherman, Weird Al, Dr Demento, and Howard Stern, and saw radio as a venue for my humor and skills.
2. You were already doing "Walkers and Talkers" and the "15 Minute Morning Show" when you joined Skeery on what became "The Brooklyn Boys." What's your story of how you ended up stepping in to do the podcast? How do you fit all of the podcast work in with all of your other work on Elvis' show?
When Skeery’s previous podcast faded away, a podcast I was disappointed to not be asked to be a part of, he asked me to replace the former members. I was not interested and suggested a new show with no history. I suggested a podcast name, logom and a basic framework as prerequisites for me to agree. We hammered out a loose structure, and have been winging it ever since.
The 3 podcasts take up about 5 hours per week, and the personal enjoyment and reward are well worth finding time for them.
3. The podcast is, shall we say, very New York, yet it seems that you have plenty of listeners outside the market, either people who listen to Elvis in other markets or people who found you on their own. How are you finding the New York sensibility -- yeah, there is one, and you guys have it -- plays outside the area? What about the New York state of mind do you think appeals to people in the rest of the country?
I think it’s the Seinfeld, Letterman affect. New York City is a national thing. People either relate to it, are fascinated by it, are related to someone from here or hate it. Thankfully, our listeners around the country relate, are amused by us or can’t believe people like us exist but as long as they keep tuning in and laughing, we are good with them!
4. You are a Mets fan. Are you optimistic about the team's immediate future with your almost-namesake Brodie van Wagenen in command? How patient are you and other Mets fans going to be for a winner after adding Cano, Diaz, Ramos, Lowrie (I ask that as a Phillies fan, so....)?
I am more optimistic this year because of Brodie’s (spelled wrong!) aggressiveness and 2019 sensibilities. His social media game is on point. He is cocky lock a New Yorker and looks the part. I think the Cano trade was more for appearances, like the Pedro signing in 2004, but I think it will be positive for 2-3 of the 5 years. As a Mets fan, you HAVE to be patient. #1986
5. What makes a good song parody? What's your favorite of all the parodies you've written for Elvis' show?
A good parody sounds like the original if that is what the intention is, is funny and well written. The joke chorus should be very similar to the original. I hate syllable parodies. That’s when you take a 5 syllable main chorus line and use any 5 syllables in that spot simply because you needed to say those 5 syllables; TV commercials do this a lot. An example of this would be “What I Like About You” becoming “I Need To Buy A Car” -- No thought, no creativity. “What I Like About Jews” -- now, THAT is a good parody! (I’m Jewish, so I can say that.)
My favorite parodies have been my Mets songs (some played at Shea Stadium), my fart songs, and Chanukah parodies over the years. Way too many to list. "Make My Boobies One More Size" ("Hit Me Baby One More Time") in 1999, about a rumored Britney Spears boob job, was a monster Internet hit. My first real hit.
6. The podcast has several running bits, one of which is "Free Dessert," essentially what you can get from a business when you complain. What's the best Free Dessert you've ever gotten, and what's the best among the ones you've heard others get?
That’s hard to say. I have gotten free $1,500 rims for my new car, free hotel rooms, loan refunds or hundreds of dollars, a free $2,000 spoiler for my car… I have a real gift !
7. Who have been your influences and inspirations in the business?
David Letterman, Allan Sherman, Weird Al, Dr Demento. Howard Stern, Elvis Duran and Elliot Segal
8. Of what are you most proud?
That I found a way to make people laugh for a living, doing the things I got in trouble for in school.
9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ___________.
...making someone laugh.
10. What's the most important lesson you've learned in the business?
Every job in the industry is precious and you have to come in every day, twenty plus years later, with the energy and joy that you had when you started . Also, I learned that if listeners make the choice to tune in to your show or podcast or tell you on social media that they like and appreciate your work and your talent, it’s the greatest compliment you can get in the industry.
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