Omar Khalid

Generally thought of as nothing more than a mixture of arrogance and airwaves, talk radio personalities are, for the most part, just that: over-opinionated windbags with an outlet for expression. By it's inherently unpredictable nature, talk or "call in" radio is an exercise in improvisation, and with any creativity, could have endless possibilities. But rarely do broadcasters take advantage of that open playing field that radio can be. Drama groups such as The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company and Chicago's "Unshackled!" Radio Players fulfill the medium's void on the creative side, but only one "call in" show can really claim to use creativity and improvisation together successfully: and that is The Phil Hendrie Show. Although Hendrie can most assuredly be an arrogant bastard, the uniqueness of his show is like that of no other. Hendrie's program, technically a "call in" show, can also be considered an improvisational sketch or even a mock call in show - the only such to trust it's callers to be in on the live show. Actually, the screening is quite strict, only allowing callers who aren't in on the fact the guest is a fake. With a rotating line up of about 40 or so guests, the show has featured everything from a man who wants to sue the BIC corporation because he accidentally tried to anally take his temperature with a pen to a woman who thinks scientists should only clone movie stars like David Hasselhoff. Hendrie's show is about as politically incorrect as it gets and as the show progresses, it usually gets more and more offensive; but then again, that's when the fun begins. Citizen's Auxiliary Policeman Jay Santos (an unlicensed volunteer policeman) is pretty good at riling listeners up. On previous shows, he has insisted that he has the right to perform cavity searches on kids on the mall "because of that Columbine deal," and that a Taco Bell promotion of giving away free tacos could result in WW2 style "taco camps." When a caller is particularly good, the character will change his or her story midway through the segment. For example, Jay and CAP officers were outside a pharmacy conducting Anthrax tests, and when a caller questions Jay's knowledge of the disease, it surfaces that a CAP member's son, who has won a science fair is actually trying to stick a microscope up shoppers' noses.

Although gauging callers, almost like a DJ surveys the crowd on the dance floor, is certainly a credit to Hendrie's improvising skills, the real talent comes from the fact that Hendrie is not only playing himself, the middleman host, but is also playing all of the characters, cutting himself off at just the right moment in a completely different voice. As simple as it might seem, schizophrenic acting is very difficult to pull of successfully; but Hendrie has the wit and the timing to not only pull it successfully, but to pull it off daily with only a couple of hours of subject preparation (frequently stemming from some sort of recent newsworthy event). Especially difficult must be when Hendrie decides to air several different characters during one bit, with him playing the moderator, guest, then another caller who might be trying to pick up on the real caller. During a particular show, Hendrie did a "Weakest Link" bit changing between five different characters during the segment. Dang! Now that's improvtainment!

The Phil Hendrie Show is syndicated from Los Angeles and airs at 10pm on WGST 640 AM, Atlanta.