Raw, brutal, emotional honesty. That’s what listeners are looking for. Here’s a recent break by Foley and Thunder, KILT, Houston that lives up to every expectation of exceptionally honest, real content. The break might be a tad long (it doesn’t feel it), but imagine how listeners are reacting as Corey tells her story.
You want to endear yourself to women? Do a unique on-air marriage proposal. Jim and Kim on Fresh 102.7, New York City recently had listeners in to hear a private performance by Train. They had a question-and-answer session and knew their last question would come from a guy who proposed marriage to his girlfriend. Listen as the room melts with all female listeners falling in love with what just happened on their favorite morning show.
Sometimes very unpredictable moments happen when you least expect them with listeners. John and Tammy at KSON, San Diego put together a fun game with Jersey Shore’s Snooki being pregnant and Girl Scout cookies going on sale. What happens close to the end was completely unexpected, but caused a moment that so took them off guard the show devolved into great laughter and created talk for the program.
You know, you’d be surprised how little people know. Which is why we created a feature with Karlson and McKenzie on WZLX, Boston, called (oddly enough) “You’d Be Surprised How Little People Know”. They grab questions culled from today’s news headlines and ask two people, each in separate professions, to see which person knows the least. Here’s the first one we did, a true home run in the fun department.
I’ve always said there’s nothing funnier than real life. With realty shows all around us (despite being semi-scripted and heavily edited for a storyline), listeners want to laugh about things that happen in the real world. John and Tammy, KSON, San Diego, got into a conversation with listeners about all those buttons you find in a car. During the course of the chat, Tammy admitted she never knew the AC button was the one with the snowflake on it and that the gas gauge told you what side the gas tank was on. Really fun.
One of the things listeners love is when Kevin Karlson puts his mother-in-law, Patsy, on the show. He has a very unique relationship with her. In a terrific example of character development, Karlson & McKenzie on WZLX, Boston, decided to do the “Inappropriate Question of the Day.” Kevin followed Patsy around at home while visiting her with a recorder and kept asking highly inappropriate questions just to see how she’d respond.
Here’s a new feature we’ve recently added to Mojo in the Morning on Channel 95.5, Detroit. It’s called “Five Lies to Tell Your Mom”. We concoct a story with five lies in it, then have the listener call their mother to offer up the story as true. It’s rife with conflict, especially when the mom reacts to some of the crazier elements of the story we make up. This bit is like an updated version of the typical prank call. It’s lots of work (reach out and I will tell you how it’s done), but well worth it.
With last week’s President’s Day holiday, Eddie and JoBo, KHITS, Chicago, decided to see how many presidents an average kid could name. You always need a conflicting category to make something like this funny to express your point. That’s where beer comes in! See how many presidents this kid can name, and then how many beer brands come to mind!
One very efficient way to do character development is to put a relative on your show. Recently, Jobo, from Eddie & Jobo, KHITS, Chicago, gave his mom a car for Christmas. He was beside himself when one of his brothers drove the car (against orders!) and smoked in it. Jobo wasn’t too pleased. Being too emotional about it, Jobo asked his partner, Eddie (who knows his mom very well), to call her to get things right. What you have here is a break, grounded in real life, that’s quite fun to listen in on.
Nothing humanizes a radio talent more than when you put a fun relative on the show. It’s terrific character development as the talent shifts from being an entertainer to someone’s kid, spouse, or parent. In these segments from WBMX, Boston’s Karson and Kennedy, Karson’s 93-year old grandmother calls the show to see if Karson knows that that town’s famed Fenway Park is turning 100 years old. Real life is funny…and these two segments with his grandma are.