Phil Hendrie

[SredniVashtar]

Sure, I can understand that argument. But he could've handled it much better. Jumping to lawyers as first option in most circumstances is just poor taste- and usually more expensive. Especially because it wasn't people CHARGING for the content- if anything these fans were spending their own money recording, editing, posting, hosting the website, etc. And doing it before he did it and did, until very recently, a much better job hosting a site. He could've even used that talent to help him get a web presence or at least say "thanks" but now I have my site please take yours down. Hell, maybe even requested, or bought, some of the archival material since he didn't save all his old stuff I think.

Re: the other argument I can certainly understand. I think it depends on the "work" done in this case. He was paid to put out a broadcast which was sent over the public airwaves for anybody to hear. If I record it is that illegal? If I play it back for myself? Give a tape to a friend? Give a way the tape to a stranger? Post it on the internet for free? I don't know where the line is crossed. I know MLB, NFL etc claims in their disclaimers that I can't even discuss ("descriptions" and "accounts") it without their written consent- but that seems patently absurd to me. If so TIVO games would be illegal. Or talking about the game at work the next day. Now if you are selling it? Or replaying it at a bar? Then I could see it being illegal and hurting the league. But does MLB or NFL really not want anybody to  talk about games? I call BS on that holding up in court. Also recording a game and replaying for yourself later would be ok in court I would think.

There must be a technical name for the psychological need that some people have to engage lawyers at every opportunity. As you say, it is all such a grey area when you are talking about broadcast material, and a more emollient approach would have been better. I have never used Facebook, so I haven't had any experience of how he treats his fans on there, but he seems to overreact in an almost Art Bell-ish way, from what I have read. Taking - often ill-considered - action and then thinking about it afterwards. Fortunately, most of us don't have to deal with his personality, and we just have to decide whether he is funny any more. I still like his shows, although you can't compare them in quality to the classic days. I wonder if it is possible to do a show like his and not have at least several screws loose, and his weird behaviour is just the other side of the coin. Take away one and the other goes along with it.

[SredniVashtar]

Phil Hendrie is probably the only person on Earth who can make me laugh out loud.  He's a comedy genius.  Other than that, I find him unpleasant.  I made the mistake of following him on Facebook for a few months.  There were several occasions where he made snarky comments about some of the followers clicking like too soon after he had posted something.  I'm not talking about people posting stupid replies to his comments - he got pissed because some people were liking his comments too soon after he posted them.  Apparently he believes in some sort of cooling off period where the reader should consider his comment, roll it around in his mind,  savor it for awhile and then click like.

I wish him all the luck in the world but I wouldn't pay five cents to listen to him.  I think he's a thoroughly unpleasant individual.

He will probably end up alienating almost everyone in the end. Getting upset because someone 'likes' something you have done is pretty pathological. I wish I could remember the name of the film where a ventriloquist gets taken over by the dummy, because I think there would be an ideal part for Phil in any re-make (the vent, not the dummy). I can imagine him sitting at home on his own and having 6/7-way conversations between his characters and melting down completely.

[albrecht]

He will probably end up alienating almost everyone in the end. Getting upset because someone 'likes' something you have done is pretty pathological. I wish I could remember the name of the film where a ventriloquist gets taken over by the dummy, because I think there would be an ideal part for Phil in any re-make (the vent, not the dummy). I can imagine him sitting at home on his own and having 6/7-way conversations between his characters and melting down completely.

I think there have been a few movies with that theme but this is the one that came to my mind because of the great actors and actress: Anthony Hopkins, Burgess Meredith, Ann-Margaret. Called "Magic" circa 1978.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077889/

[SredniVashtar]

I think there have been a few movies with that theme but this is the one that came to my mind because of the great actors and actress: Anthony Hopkins, Burgess Meredith, Ann-Margaret. Called "Magic" circa 1978.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077889/

Thank you, that's the one I had in mind. I had trouble recalling any of the actors involved, but now you mention Hopkins that set the bells ringing. Oddly, Hendrie does a Hopkins impression, as Captain Bligh, and he used it to create Father James McQuarters, with that odd deep voice he kept dropping into.

[albrecht]

The "youths" rioting in Bmore reminded of some great Phil Hendrie (as Bob Burbank) back in the day of the Cincinnati Riots in 2001 after the shooting death of the black kid. (In which character Bob McGraw, from McGraw Industries, who is selling a commemorative plate- showing a black youth throwing a trash-can through a shop window with "get your act together Cinnci" bordering it-) to help bring the community together (and raise funds for charities that he "can't remember, but has a list at home)! And earlier Jeff, I think, having some fake group of white trying to understand about being black and since Phil had a black girlfriend understood stuff but he can't. Classic stuff.

[JC Collins]

Is he taking callers yet?  Haven't listened to the new podcast in ages.

[paladin1991]

Is he taking callers yet?  Haven't listened to the new podcast in ages.

Hello JC, you any relation to RC Collins of Chatsworth?

[albrecht]

Hello JC, you any relation to RC Collins of Chatsworth?

Has he had to kiss the gunner's daughter?

[SredniVashtar]

I don't know at what point Phil decided that he wasn't going to give a fuck any more, but his podcast has got so damn lazy, he is often recycling bits from when he was great and just shoehorning them in - the last one was Paul 'Tubby' Lane, who loses control of his bladder when he races cars over 40mph but is a badass at arcade games - all it does it make you realise how far down he has fallen since the glory days. I think he must keep it going so as to get people to sign up to listen to the the classic shows because I can't think many people are going to want to hear Margaret singing, or hearing her hit Bud (for the 500th bloody time). It's just sad because he was one of the most amazing talents I have ever heard, and he was such a perfectionist about his material, and now he couldn't care less.

[General Johnson Jameson]

I don't know at what point Phil decided that he wasn't going to give a fuck any more, but his podcast has got so damn lazy, he is often recycling bits from when he was great and just shoehorning them in - the last one was Paul 'Tubby' Lane, who loses control of his bladder when he races cars over 40mph but is a badass at arcade games - all it does it make you realise how far down he has fallen since the glory days. I think he must keep it going so as to get people to sign up to listen to the the classic shows because I can't think many people are going to want to hear Margaret singing, or hearing her hit Bud (for the 500th bloody time). It's just sad because he was one of the most amazing talents I have ever heard, and he was such a perfectionist about his material, and now he couldn't care less.

I feel it may have something to do with his Father's mental illness that he obviously inherited. Recently, I subbed back up just to rip shows and check some of the newer stuff, though I haven't cared for hardly any of it since he broke up the in-studio team. I got to looking...where TF is the new stuff?? The place looked ghost.

Phil has no idea how much of an impact he had and still has on my life and the way he treats his fans is utter shit. He never should have went to t.v. and we told him that yet I guess it's our fault now. I truly feel though once he broke the staff up into seperate locations/states and did show prep, etc via the web that the show lost it's glue and wasn't the same. Also to mention, Phil had some damn fine talent in his staff that he let walk out the door. I love the man, but something is not right with him. It's a real shame too, because other than Art I strongly feel Hendrie was the number 2 most talented man in radio. Sad.

[SredniVashtar]

I feel it may have something to do with his Father's mental illness that he obviously inherited. Recently, I subbed back up just to rip shows and check some of the newer stuff, though I haven't cared for hardly any of it since he broke up the in-studio team. I got to looking...where TF is the new stuff?? The place looked ghost.

Phil has no idea how much of an impact he had and still has on my life and the way he treats his fans is utter shit. He never should have went to t.v. and we told him that yet I guess it's our fault now. I truly feel though once he broke the staff up into seperate locations/states and did show prep, etc via the web that the show lost it's glue and wasn't the same. Also to mention, Phil had some damn fine talent in his staff that he let walk out the door. I love the man, but something is not right with him. It's a real shame too, because other than Art I strongly feel Hendrie was the number 2 most talented man in radio. Sad.

You probably can't do what he does without being a little close to the edge in some ways. I don't think you can compare Art and Phil because they exist in two completely separate spheres. They are/were just fantastic at what they do/did. And perhaps the style of comedy Phil did was just too strong to last for long at that level, when you think of a stand-up comedian, say, who hones an act and then tours it around for a year or two with perhaps an HBO special at the end, while Phil would burn through material day after day.


I was listening to something the other day that he did back in the early 2000s that was just a throwaway ten minute bit but it was absolutely brilliant, where David Hall comes on and berates Phil for thinking of himself as some kind of big shot with all his TV pilots, and gets him to hand out coupons on the street for a Nat's Chicken Shack, dressed as a chicken and dancing, while Bud plays the accordion. Naturally, in the end he gets his ass beat by a couple of black guys.


Phil sounds like a massive dick in real life, but it would be amazing if he wasn't, considering the kind of stuff he could produce.

[General Johnson Jameson]

Phil sounds like a massive dick in real life, but it would be amazing if he wasn't, considering the kind of stuff he could produce.

There's been some talk on the boards recently on whether Phil was J.C Webster. Perhaps you were part of the discussion? I wanted to throw this in real quick as I can prove Phil was not J.C.W.

One night Phil told the audience about a dream he had where he got drunk and sat around all night calling up talkshows in Bud Dickman and Chris Norton characters. He mentioned that if it ever came to that point, someone please pistolwhip him..or something along those lines.
Do you remember caller Ruth from Anaheim?

[starrmtn001]

I think there have been a few movies with that theme but this is the one that came to my mind because of the great actors and actress: Anthony Hopkins, Burgess Meredith, Ann-Margaret. Called "Magic" circa 1978.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077889/

. . . and then there's this one.
The Beaver The Beaver is a 2011 drama film directed by and starring Jodie Foster, written by Kyle Killen, and starring Mel Gibson, Anton Yelchin, andJennifer Lawrence.
Walter Black Mel Gibson is a depressed CEO of Jerry Co., a toy company nearing bankruptcy. He is kicked out by his wifeJodie Foster, to the relief of their elder son PorterAnton Yelchin. Walter moves into a hotel. After unsuccessful suicide attempts, he develops an alternate personality represented by a beaver hand puppet found in the trash. He wears the puppet constantly, communicating solely by speaking as the beaver, helping him to recover. He reestablishes a bond with his younger son Henry and then with his wife, although not with his elder son, Porter. He also becomes successful again at work by creating a line of Mr. Beaver Building Kits for kids.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beaver_(film)

THE BEAVER - Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOSOWNS3jts

[kyleblack]

Phil Hendrie actually runs a blog on "Internet Trolls":  http://trollresourcenter.com

Oh and here's a twitter account he uses to troll conservatives: https://twitter.com/BobShooton

:

[WOTR]

. . . and then there's this one.
The Beaver The Beaver is a 2011

I laughed myself silly... Of course, our CEO took stuffed animals on vacation, took pictures and was VERY mentally unbalanced.  Made the show all the better...  I can look off to my right and see the DVD sitting beside arrested development to be re-watched soon.

[SredniVashtar]

There's been some talk on the boards recently on whether Phil was J.C Webster. Perhaps you were part of the discussion? I wanted to throw this in real quick as I can prove Phil was not J.C.W.

One night Phil told the audience about a dream he had where he got drunk and sat around all night calling up talkshows in Bud Dickman and Chris Norton characters. He mentioned that if it ever came to that point, someone please pistolwhip him..or something along those lines.
Do you remember caller Ruth from Anaheim?

Well, that's not exactly proof, but I am sure it wasn't him anyway. JC just didn't have the right timbre to be Phil. I am sure it was a put-on, but whether it was anyone famous I am not sure. Still, I can' t believe that Phil hasn't ever pranked someone, halfway down a bottle of tequila one night with nothing better to do.

I can't remember if I have posted this before, but there used to be a London radio station (this is going back decades now) who had a regular called called Sven from Swiss Cottage, a lovelorn Norwegian fisherman in pursuit of his wife Jutta, who had gone missing. It turned out that the caller was actually Peter Cook, who was a famous British comedian (don't know if you have really heard of him over there). He used to get drunk off his ass and phone this show at 3am just for shits and giggles, so it does happen.

[albrecht]

Well, that's not exactly proof, but I am sure it wasn't him anyway. JC just didn't have the right timbre to be Phil. I am sure it was a put-on, but whether it was anyone famous I am not sure. Still, I can' t believe that Phil hasn't ever pranked someone, halfway down a bottle of tequila one night with nothing better to do.

I can't remember if I have posted this before, but there used to be a London radio station (this is going back decades now) who had a regular called called Sven from Swiss Cottage, a lovelorn Norwegian fisherman in pursuit of his wife Jutta, who had gone missing. It turned out that the caller was actually Peter Cook, who was a famous British comedian (don't know if you have really heard of him over there). He used to get drunk off his ass and phone this show at 3am just for shits and giggles, so it does happen.

"vee have a 'phone in' in Norway mostly about fish." Reminds of the classic Phil Hendrie show about Norwegians not being able to have a sense of humor. Classic, callers who called of Norwegian extraction outraged....and had no good jokes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPJK2zKtAxQ

[SredniVashtar]

"vee have a 'phone in' in Norway mostly about fish." Reminds of the classic Phil Hendrie show about Norwegians not being able to have a sense of humor. Classic, callers who called of Norwegian extraction outraged....and had no good jokes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPJK2zKtAxQ

I'm told you really had to have been listening to the radio to understand what he was going on about a lot of the time, otherwise it can all sound a bit random. Plus the fact that Cooky is hammered. He was a bit like Orson Welles in some ways, brilliantly successful as a young man, who had to take crappy roles in films to make ends meet as he got older. Plus, he was great on chat shows, where he could outshine everyone. Check him out on the Clive Anderson show where he does a bunch of characters, and also his radio interviews with Chris Morris called Why Bother, which was really something. They were improvising and basically trying to fuck with each other to see how they could handle whatever shit each could throw at the other. The one about cloning a fossilised Christ and turning him into a miniaturised consumer item was one particular highlight.

[albrecht]

 

I'm told you really had to have been listening to the radio to understand what he was going on about a lot of the time, otherwise it can all sound a bit random. Plus the fact that Cooky is hammered. He was a bit like Orson Welles in some ways, brilliantly successful as a young man, who had to take crappy roles in films to make ends meet as he got older. Plus, he was great on chat shows, where he could outshine everyone. Check him out on the Clive Anderson show where he does a bunch of characters, and also his radio interviews with Chris Morris called Why Bother, which was really something. They were improvising and basically trying to fuck with each other to see how they could handle whatever shit each could throw at the other. The one about cloning a fossilised Christ and turning him into a miniaturised consumer item was one particular highlight.

He is brilliant. "Sven" is just so good, how it all goes back to fish for him. Jutta's father is "big in pilchards and controls the market."

If you can find it the Hendrie bit with him being the German doctor who has written a study how Norwegians have no sense of humor and their children fear clowns. It was, I think, when he first was syndicated to the Minneapolis market. Hilarious stuff.

[SredniVashtar]

The man he is talking to, Clive Bull, is still in the same gig on LBC. He often pops up on documentaries about Cook. I'm glad you enjoyed it, I wasn't sure how it would travel.  He was always a bit jealous of his comedy partner Dudley Moore, who had more Hollywood success and was the better actor, but Cook was the true genius. Check out the sketch 'one leg too few', which features a one-legged man auditioning for the role of Tarzan.

In a way, it's a bit sad listening to that. I can almost see him, drunk as a skunk, in the early hours of the morning, throwing away this material on a few thousand night workers who happened to be listening at that time.

[General Johnson Jameson]

Just got done listening to "Ruth from Anaheim" busting Norton's balls for claiming he's had sex with over 8,000 "womens".
"Yeah, this is Chris Norton, what do you want to learn"....to an old woman LOL.

[SredniVashtar]

Just got done listening to "Ruth from Anaheim" busting Norton's balls for claiming he's had sex with over 8,000 "womens".
"Yeah, this is Chris Norton, what do you want to learn"....to an old woman LOL.

Do you remember "I'm not a whore"?

[General Johnson Jameson]

I truly don't. Did Ruth say that or Norton?

You know...it's a shame Phil is such a dick about people posting his stuff on youtube. (Although at one time he told us we could do whatever we wanted if we paid for them as subs) People that have no idea of Phil's work must have a major WTF when they open this thread up.

"What he is saying Chris is don't refer to Purple Vein Productions, just Throb City" - Harvey Wireman

[SredniVashtar]

I truly don't. Did Ruth say that or Norton?

You know...it's a shame Phil is such a dick about people posting his stuff on youtube. (Although at one time he told us we could do whatever we wanted if we paid for them as subs) People that have no idea of Phil's work must have a major WTF when they open this thread up.

"What he is saying Chris is don't refer to Purple Vein Productions, just Throb City" - Harvey Wireman

Norton was a trip.  How Phil got away with 'Columbone - let the healing begin' a porno set in the school, I will never know. 'I'm not a whore' wasn't Ruth, it was a drop Phil used to use quite often, and I only mentioned it because you got me thinking about bits he used to do. I think her name was Meredith. She said it in a very memorable way. I always thought the callers to Phil were mostly classic Noory listeners, while Art's audience were the ones in on the joke.

[SredniVashtar]

People that have no idea of Phil's work must have a major WTF when they open this thread up.

Oh god, I totally agree. He should be one of the legends of entertainment rather than a cult figure. I only came across him by accident because a radio host mentioned him and Neil Rogers (who I never understood the fuss about) and I happened to look him up.

[General Johnson Jameson]

Norton was a trip.  How Phil got away with 'Columbone - let the healing begin' a porno set in the school, I will never know. 'I'm not a whore' wasn't Ruth, it was a drop Phil used to use quite often, and I only mentioned it because you got me thinking about bits he used to do. I think her name was Meredith. She said it in a very memorable way. I always thought the callers to Phil were mostly classic Noory listeners, while Art's audience were the ones in on the joke.

Sounds really Margaret Gray to me on the "I'm not a whore". Did he say that in her or Bobbie Dooly voice?

Noori probably was one of Phil's callers imo. I have Columbone memorized ver batum. That was some serious shit right there, you got that right. Busting in to the school by blasting loads on doors to open them up. Having "sess" and "love sess" in the very spots where the children died. Whoa..

[SredniVashtar]

Sounds really Margaret Gray to me on the "I'm not a whore". Did he say that in her or Bobbie Dooly voice?

Noori probably was one of Phil's callers imo. I have Columbone memorized ver batum. That was some serious shit right there, you got that right. Busting in to the school by blasting loads on doors to open them up. Having "sess" and "love sess" in the very spots where the children died. Whoa..

No, it was a caller, because she phoned back in one night and Phil recognised her voice as the one he had been playing over and over again. She had no idea she had become a minor celebrity in the Hendrie universe. As we are swapping Hendrie stories, remember Mongo Chow? Oh my Christ, that was funny, and then he actually got a young man on the phone who was a bit retarded. It was pretty edgy stuff because it was borderline cruel but hilarious at the same time. He  was Professor Bob Greene, I think.

"Tell the lesbians that Bob Greene  is coming and hell follows".

[General Johnson Jameson]

No, it was a caller, because she phoned back in one night and Phil recognised her voice as the one he had been playing over and over again. She had no idea she had become a minor celebrity in the Hendrie universe. As we are swapping Hendrie stories, remember Mongo Chow? Oh my Christ, that was funny, and then he actually got a young man on the phone who was a bit retarded. It was pretty edgy stuff because it was borderline cruel but hilarious at the same time. He  was Professor Bob Greene, I think.

"Tell the lesbians that Bob Greene  is coming and hell follows".

It was that drop he used all the time wasn't it. I sort of remember it now.
I've seen the Mongo Chow bit but never listened to it. I'm still a sub over there and can pull it up. Might do that later on when I get back inside. Bob Greene was a very flexible character imo. I recall one bit where BG was Phil's boss in Miami to a caller that called in to bitch about Phil promoting civil disorder by saying a competing station was going all Spanish. I tried to imagine how pissed off he got that whole town and never was able to comprehend it

[SredniVashtar]

It was that drop he used all the time wasn't it. I sort of remember it now.
I've seen the Mongo Chow bit but never listened to it. I'm still a sub over there and can pull it up. Might do that later on when I get back inside. Bob Greene was a very flexible character imo. I recall one bit where BG was Phil's boss in Miami to a caller that called in to bitch about Phil promoting civil disorder by saying a competing station was going all Spanish. I tried to imagine how pissed off he got that whole town and never was able to comprehend it

Yes, he kind of mutated into CEO of Frasier Foods over time. I remember when he helped one of his staff to move, and thought the least he could have expected in return was an 'open-mouth tongue kiss'. Also the one where he faked a heart attack and then fired anyone who didn't come to visit him in hospital. Mongo Chow is where he is a doctor who claims that retarded people have the same DNA as chimps so they can be kept in cages and fed a dry kibble like food he is marketing as Mongo Chow. Well worth hearing, especially towards the end. He really makes the callers mad.

[General Johnson Jameson]

Yes, he kind of mutated into CEO of Frasier Foods over time. I remember when he helped one of his staff to move, and thought the least he could have expected in return was an 'open-mouth tongue kiss'. Also the one where he faked a heart attack and then fired anyone who didn't come to visit him in hospital. Mongo Chow is where he is a doctor who claims that retarded people have the same DNA as chimps so they can be kept in cages and fed a dry kibble like food he is marketing as Mongo Chow. Well worth hearing, especially towards the end. He really makes the callers mad.

Damn, that's pretty screwed. I bet those callers were pissed for sure. Sitting here thinking how much stuff he got away with via the Bob Greene character. BG perhaps the biggest pervert out of all of Phil's guests? Maybe with the exception of Herb Sewell.
I remember this bit with Herb where he discussed how Walter Bellhaven stood underneath the opening of an outhouse hole taking pictures of women defecating for a magazine he was producing.

I have to go mow, my head is hurting.