Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Gordon's Charlie Sheen Impression Is Excellent

And today's material was good, too.

27 comments:

  1. I heard him testing it out this morning, and it sounded good, but I missed the bit. The whole work thing, you know.

    Winning,
    -Anon B

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  2. It was spot-on. The voice, the inflection, the wording, the mannerisms, all of it. I was lol'ing.

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  3. I laughed so hard, I cried! I really wish he'd stick to doing impressions and wacky characters, rather than engaging in sophomoric philosophical/psychological analysis and the likes. Alas, it will never happen. He fancies himself an intemallexual.

    I am really liking the Corby-less, Danny co-hosted, T.C., and Jake supported Hardline today. Like my Gordo wish, I know it won't happen, but it sure would be nice if today is a glimpse of the not so far away future of the Hardline.

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  4. @Anonymous - did you get a chance to hear Jake-Z do E-news with Sirois and Rhads over drydock?

    Not. Half. Bad.....

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  5. ap,

    No I didn't. But I did like Jake today. I think because he was to some extent reigned in by the format of the show, he had to be more cogent in both his delivery and his brand of humor. I also enjoyed Wilonsky's Community Quick Hits. Excellent show today, all around.

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  6. While I have expressed the view here that several showgrams could flourish elsewhere other than Dallas, I've also written that the two most likely breakout national talents in the meantime are Rich and Gordon.

    Gordon's brilliant bit today deserves virality on the Internets. And I don't just mean The Ticket's international following via the online signal and downloads, I mean FARK and other collectors of showbiz brilliance. The impression was uncanny and the material strong.

    I think Charlie himself might appreciate the segment.

    Also agree with what's been written here about today's Hardline.

    AMENDED TEASING TEASE: Some comments to recent articles plus communications received from Confessors have inspired an additional STD, so there will be TWO in the near future. I'm about done with the first, but the second is so hot that I fear for the stability of the required pixels.

    But you'll just have to wait a few more days. First STD will be up tomorrow or Thursday.

    Thanks to all Confessors for their patience and continued patronage, especially in the face of recent shots at Your (fortunately nimble) Plainsman.

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  7. I'm in the crowd for liking the Corby-less show. I'm all for him being toned down to yuckmonkey status again, but once you've paid him as a host, it'll never happen.

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  8. I liked the Snake-free Hardline. I think we would miss him after a week, though.

    The funniest thing to me was how Danny switched into "RADIO VOICE" once he got into the Host chair. I'm not saying it was wrong - he should care about that. It's just funny to watch a guy who made a name being a dark cloud and sniper turn a bit toward the traditional side of broadcasting. Good job by Danny, though.

    But the comment I really want to make is.... Wilonsky sucks on the radio. He's a smart guy with good things to say, but his radio presence is like Ambien in thick, gooey molasses form. Would it kill him to modulate his voice once in a while, or just change the pace slightly?

    Also, can the Ticket crew knock off the Wilonsky hanges? For cripes sake; he's a local blogger/movie reviewer, not Morley Shafer.

    -Anon B

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  9. Anon B,

    Couldn't agree with you more about Danny's good work yesterday. Furthermore, I couldn't agree with you more regarding Wilonsky. I say this with "insider" certainty... the NPR tone, cadence, and overall manner of speech that he puts forth on-air is not how he normally speaks. Or rather I should say not the way he used to speak; that is, until he began to see a voice-coach about 8 years ago. And I agree, it's an annoying and affected voice that Wilonsky has cultivated. Both in tone and in content. As to why the Hardline treats him as if he was Morely Safer: Simple, he's has been and still is their ticket (no pun intended) to hipness. Wilonsky was the one who brought the Hardline and thus the Ticket into the good graces of the Observer (meaning lots of free and widely read publicity). He's the one who keeps the articles, the best-ofs, etc., coming (which, for the most part, are all favorable). As Wilonsky goes, so does the Dallas Observer. Why do you think that even with Whitt as their supposed sports blogger who works for The Fan, the Observer ignores the Fan and exults the Ticket? Wilonsky. And the relationship is symbiotic: Wilonsky gets to do his radio program from time to time and gets to pop on during the most listened to showgram in the southwest while being treated like a dignitary. I agree that Wilonsky is a smart guy with (some) good things to say. Especially about Dallas history. However, his opinions come from a deeply hued ideological point of view. Too boot, his local music scene credibility is, well, let's just say that many of the classic Dallas punk rock and undergrounds shows (and the scenes they came out of) that he's claimed to have been at or been a part of over the years... he wasn't. He was hanging out on Dyer Street. And I say this with "insider" certainty, as well.

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  10. I have always liked Robert on The Hardline. Neither his pipes nor intonation bother me, and I've never heard content that wasn't interesting. (And I don't myself recall any claims of being at particular historically-significant Dallas-area concerts.)

    This site is always pleased to get insider information, but I'm conflicted on leaving up ths just-prior post. Not because it is scurrilous or vulgar, or even particularly critical -- it's neither. It does contain some claims of personal information about Robert of limited relevance to on-air matters that I have no way of verifying (and no time to do so if I could).

    On reflection, I think it passes my (just-invented) filter for this kind of thing, but just barely. But I'm going to think on it a little more.

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  11. PS: I'm not referring to the entire Anonymous comment, which is well-written and perceptive -- just the parts containing personal information about Robert, which are only a small portion of the comment.

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  12. Honestly, Plainsman, I think if you attempt to filter/moderate/police the comments at that level, you'll drive yourself insane. Keep it to offensive and inflammatory and leave it at that. We're grown folk; we can decide for ourselves which parts of comments to discard for factual reasons.

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  13. Related to the original tangent, I have to agree with everyone that the Corbyless Hardline was very good. Not necessarily because of the lack of Corby, but because of what happened in his place. I thought that what little I heard of Jake and TC was entertaining, and even though I didn't get to hear Wilonsky, I always enjoy his work. Mike and Danny seemed to work well together and weren't anywhere near the high wire act that they were trying to make themselves sound like they'd be. If anything, Mike seemed more engaged because of the change. I don't know that it would work on a daily basis, but it was a good change of pace.

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  14. Man, that Danica Patrick interview just now was awesome. Dan is my interview hero.

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  15. C-Monk: Agree.

    However, the issue here isn't personal v. non-personal -- it's true v. not true. I am not hip to the legal interaction of comment boards, their host site, and the privacy rights of persons who are being described. I do know I don't want the site to be accused of disseminating untrue personal information. Anonymous put up a darned nice post and it had the ring of truth from beginning to end, but he offered some pretty specific reports that have not appeared on the face of any Ticket broadcast, and I don't know if he's right or not. And since the Internet permits anonymity, including mine, a concern for accuracy on stuff that isn't clearly just opinion is, to my mind, more than academic.

    You're also right that stuff like this does drive me crazy. But better that I consider this stuff carefully and try to maintain a reputation for fairness and courtesy to the people who are written about here than that the site becomes a home for fun-to-read but uncomfirmed anonymous personal charges.

    As you can see, I decided that Anonymous probably hadn't crossed any line there, but I do want Confessors to know that when they purport to state personal facts about Ticket-related guys (or anyone, for that matter), I'm going to weigh relevance, likelihood, nature of the information, and credibility -- to the extent I can know any of those things -- in deciding whether to cut or edit the comment.

    Thanks to everyone for comments and advice on the site itself. It is always helpful.

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  16. Please let me add that with respect to voice-lessons it is the norm to do as such in the entertainment industry. So I was in no way meaning that it is somehow cheap or silly for Wilonsky to see a voice-coach. Not at all. Moreover, you cannot coach the deepness or richness of a voice (and W. has both in spades). I only mentioned it because the original post I was echoing explicitly spoke of the quality of W.'s voice.

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  17. Plainsman, Douglas Sutherland, and Cancer Monkey:

    The three personal items I mentioned are indeed true. I say them with certainty because I grew up with Wilonsky. I haven't had any contact with him in many years; and furthermore, I have no axe to grind against him. Indeed I have nothing against him. He is a smart and informative guy. It's just that I do find his cadencing to be artificial (which by now has most likely become his everyday) and a bit ridiculous. And if one does not believe that his points of view are rather ideologically skewed, then one is either not reading his work/hearing his words with a careful eye/ear or one sees the world just as he does. Which is just fine. As far as the early Dallas punk and underground music scenes are concerned: That was a small and tight knit community. Everyone knew each other; Wilonsky was not a part of it. He came onto the local music scene at a later date ('89-'90); and he did it by way of the SMU/frat/Dyer St. scene. He was there when bands like, say, Tripping Daisy began. (Said band originated from the SMU scene, not Deep Ellum; that part for them came a bit later.) It seems that some of you, and I know this is a fact where Plainsman is concerned, haven't lived here your entire life. For better or worse, I have. And I have been reading Wilonsky's columns and music reviews (he began as the head music critic) since he signed on with the Observer. From time to time he make claims about being at certain shows, venues, etc., when he wasn't.

    I completely understand why Plainsman or any of you would be skeptical of anyone who claims to know specifics - as you should be - but I do know what I speak of.

    Thank you, Plainsman, for not deleting my comment.

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  18. Appreciate the additional context.

    There was so much good stuff in the comment that if I had done anything at all, I probably would have edited it and reposted it with an explanation.

    On reflection, I decided it was unnecessary.

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  19. You are most welcome.

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  20. @Douglas
    Man I want to hear the Danicka interview now. Dan is by far the best interviewer (at least in a supporting role) on the ticket IMO. He just cuts through all the BS questions and asks what he thinks is interesting.

    Hopefully AP will post it! ;-)

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  21. Douglas, can you tell us what you liked about the Danica interview? I heard some of the Top Ten but that was not one of the items I heard.

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  22. To me the entire interview sounded like it was on the verge of e-brake. Grubes snuck a "can I stick my tongue down your throat drop"

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  23. @ dude In my opinion that's what makes an on location guest appearance so awesome, and Dan skates that line perfectly. So much so that in this case he got Bob to partake in his bit. I loved how the interview opened and they were already in the middle of talking to Danica when they came back. It seemed like Dan mainly was able to get her to let her guard down a little bit as he's making Danica feel comfortable and at the same time chop blocking Bob at every opportunity so much so that Grubes teamed with him and fired some drops much to Bob's dismay. It's a frequently traveled tight rope that BaD navigate with great expertise

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  24. [off-topic]
    @Doug and one of the Anon's...

    BaD Radio with Danica Patrick has been reposted @ theunticket as requested. Enjoy!

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  25. Wow, the comments kept coming for this post. I need to start checking on past posts.

    To the original post (for once): TheUnTicket posted a skit from Jimmy Fallon where he does his own Charlie Sheen impression. Jimmy definitely can be made up to look like Charlie, but Gordo does a far better Charlie Sheen voice. I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Plainsman that Gordo’s impression should go viral and garner him national attention. The Jimmy Fallon bit makes me sad though because Gordo’s chances of making it big outside of The Ticket are slim. You can't fill a void that's not there, right?

    The Danica Patrick interview: I said during Super Bowl Week I thought BaD Radio’s interview with Colt McCoy flowed better than The Hardline’s interview with Sam Bradford. I was reminded of that opinion after The Hardline interviewed Matthew Perry, but I think Matthew Perry didn’t want to talk to local radio and they didn’t have anything to ask him. They did much better with Owen Wilson although it still seemed too buttoned-up. But man, BaD Radio do awesome interviews. Bob and Dan’s dynamic is just amazing, and yeah, Dan asks the fun questions – questions I think Corby used to ask but for some reason no longer does.

    I’m seriously getting worried about The Snake. Where is he?! If The Snake can become just Corby, will Dan ever get so comfy with his gig and follow suit in a few years and stop being this much fun?

    Speaking of fun interviews, you guys HAVE to check out the Mrs. Price interview when they had her on during a roundtable at TicketStock. It is absolutely stupendous. I can’t oversell it. George, that’s how you handle Gordo!

    Weighing in on the Robert Wilonsky discussion, I agree with those who wonder why The Hardline thinks he has the most amazing mind on the planet (and I agree with those who think he has a pretentious voice). Their fawning over him is turning me off (just like I think our negative comments for Corby and positive comments for Dan makes Mr. Plainsman dig in harder on his stances on the two). But what Anon had to say about The Ticket’s relationship with The Observer makes sense. I mean, Robert Wilonsky is the guy who (helped) caused the Rocco Pendola firing. I’d wonder more why Danny (who leads this charge) and company salivate over Robert so much even now when they’re clearly the best-est sports radio in town, but I think their extreme admiration for Robert is genuine.

    And finally, Mr. Plainsman, TheUnTicket has a head on picture of Corby that you could use to post on that Ruth Buzzi post you did awhile back.

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  26. Christy,

    Why does Danny, et alia still fawn over Wilonsky? Because Danny and Mike are a part of the local music scene, and Corby likes to be affiliated with it as well. Danny's first priority is his music career, make no mistake about it. He earns more money through it than he does producing the Hardline. Some of the most amusing comments that I've seen on this site pertain to Danny's salary. You'd be shocked to know what a producer at Cumulus makes. Shocked.

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  27. @Christy
    Completely agree with you and Plainsman on the Sheen impression. I was so underwhelmed by it after hearing Gordo's that I wondered why they were even playing it (I came in part way through it). Gordo's impression was near perfection... that's right up his alley.

    Gagree on the BaD radio interviews too!

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