From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... It was time for the State of the Union address and I decided to go back to that well and see if I could get another skit approved. Reading it down, man, was the GOP already headed down the wrong road. The didn't want to govern, they just wanted to boss people around. The didn't want freedom, they wanted to tell people want they could and couldn't do. Yes, Bush was a buffoon, but the people around him were scary and powerful.
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From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Again, when all else fails, go with a song parody. Staten Island has a very strong ground hog culture, with our own Staten Island Chuck, who famously bite one mayor and was killed when another mayor killed him by dropping him...allegedly. So, as the month came to a close and Ground Hog Day was within sight, I took the old Elvis song and made it about ground hogs that kinda scans. Anyway, I predicted it wouldn't get picked and it wasn't! Ground HogFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Again, quick bit, pop culture, TV parody. Three strikes. I thought maybe the PHC crowd would enjoy mocking the FOX crowd. This was when FOX was deep in it's "When Bad Things Happen to People" phase, with horrible videos of terrible things. It was all based on the idea that you can't stop watching a train wreck, so why not televise train wrecks. I thought by adding some SFX, it might get considered, but no, it was not. Fox SweepsFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... When all else fails, song parody! The show only did song parodies occassionally. I remember one about the Y2K computer bug, to the tune of "Y-M-C-A." They did my version of "12 Days of Christmas" previously. But sometimes a tune gets in my head with an alternate title and a line or two and I follow it up. And if there's a writer's block to deal with, that's enough to carry me through sometimes. They didn't go for it, however... WintertimeFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... I had some succession with a SOTU address back in 2004, so I figured I'd attack it again, with a preview in 2005. Didn't get picked. It's an okay bit. The negative campaign ad? I'd actually turn that into a running bit over at ACN radio for elections involving the Pope, the American Idol, and a Iraqi president, so something came of it. Anyway, here's W's speech preview: BUSH SPEECHFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Okay, I've been off the grid for a couple of weeks and have fallen behind. If I thought anyone was reading the blog, I might be upset about that. But for now, let's try to catch up. It's no mid-January and I want to post the January 2005 skits I submitted to PHC as we enter the second half of the 04-05 season. Reading this bit I have to admit I don't know what I was thinking. Finding Neverland was in the air, with a movie and play kicking around. They were about the author of Peter Pan. Then there was the whole Michael Jackson legal action going on about what allegedly happened on his Neverland ranch. Sure, there was the possibility of a sketch here. But for PHC? No way! Anyway, I wrote it up and submitted it. They passed on it, which really isn't a surprise. It was short. It was topical. It never stood a chance. Escaping NeverlandFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... One of those sketches I have no recollection of. What inspired it? Beats me. Not a wrestling fan. PHC had turned Jesse Venture into a reoccurring character on the show. Wrestling was big again, bouncing between cable and broadcast TV. The various smackdown shows were big POV. Obviously, I wrote it but why did I ever think PHC would use it? I can't say. Anyway, there didn't, so here it is... Christmas SmackdownFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... I kinda covered this sketch back in 2018 here. It started with the age-old question: What is the deal with that Dolly? It's a couple of quick jokes about defective toys meeting up with the Misfit toys, so get it, make some gags and get out. Was doing a parody of a 40-year old TV special too pop-culture for PHC? Who knows. I thought it was a solid little sketch. The fact that I was able to dust it off and expand upon it years later means it was a good premise that got better with each execution. PHC passed, so as part of our look at Christmas past, here is... The Island of Recalled ToysFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... I feel like I wrote and sent this to PHC on a dare. There was no way in Noel that Keillor would allow a parody of Ted and Ted's Excellent Adventure on air. Talk about out of his wheelhouse. But I had the title kicking around for quite some time (I even used it here). But now a sketch was written and had to be sent somewhere... Ted & Bill's Excellent AdventFrom 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Before Trump got "elected," it was pretty much agreed that Bush 2 was the worse president (the fact that Trump hates George W. makes us pretty sure Trump knows this, too). George was an easy target and PHC had "him" on multiple times over the years. In fact, my last produced sketch was a Bush bit earlier in 2004). So, with Christmas coming and the Great Recession in full swing, it was time to combine the two for this sketch. Didn't make it, even though it would have killed in NYC. George Xmas |
Dan FiorellaFreelance writer, still hacking away. Archives
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