Rudy Panucci On Pop Culture

RFC Audio Flashback: Short Bursts Of Absurdity With Bridget

A few weeks ago I wrote about the stunning revelation that Bridget Lancaster (then Sapp, seen right, on the set of her new cooking show), the second jingle singer for Radio Free Charleston, and one of my running buddies back in the day, had gone on to become a major television celebrity on “America’s Test Kitchen” on PBS.  Well, it just so happens that the same week that Brian Young and Kris Cormandy called in from Key West was the first week that I used jingles and comedy bits that Bridget and I had recorded for the show.

We called these “liners” but they were essentially just short bursts of absurdity designed to amuse and confuse the casual listener who may have tuned into RFC in the middle of the night in some sort of inebriated state. The more twisted, the better.  As you’ll hear, I also had a habit of using these liners to return fire to a few rival DJ’s in town who made the mistake of bad-mouthing me. I got away with murder on that show.

On the night that Bridget came in to record the new jingles for the show, we took the opportunity to clown around in the studio a bit, and came up with about an hour’s worth of material that I later whittled down into bit-sized pieces, much the way they take a majestic Redwood tree and turn it into toothpicks.  You’ll hear Bridget and me doing our old Jewish couple routine and a bit of our “Hey Doll” shtick that we used to do to annoy people at the Charleston Playhouse.  You’ll also get to hear Bridget speak the words that she always wanted to while working in retail.

Bridget isn’t just content co-hosting America’s Test Kitchen, editing several related magazines, and being the best cooking writer in the world, no, let’s go to the press release to see what’s next from my old compatriot:

America’s Test Kitchen is the most-watched cooking show on public television, attracting 3 million viewers per week. The 8th season of America’s Test Kitchen starts in January 2008. The same folks behind America’s Test Kitchen are also cooking up a brand-new show, America’s Test Kitchen: Cook’s Country, which is filmed in a Vermont farmhouse and relies on the practical, no-nonsense food that has made Cook’s Country magazine so successful. The show features 13 episodes that were taped in Vermont from September 21 to October 5, 2007. It will air on public television stations beginning in July 2008. America’s Test Kitchen: Cook’s Country is hosted by Christopher Kimball, Bridget Lancaster, and Julia Collin-Davison. There are new testing segments with Adam Ried and a live audience tasting in each tasting segment led by Jack Bishop. Each episode gets the test kitchen detail — taking recipes from disaster to foolproof — that viewers rely on and expect from America’s Test Kitchen.”

Wow, and I knew her back when she was happy just to say “hell” on the air. We had a lot of fun on the old show.

You’ll hear much more on that on Thursday, when I bring you big chunks of our visit with some of The Swivels.  Tomorrow you’ll get to hear the gloriously inept drumming of your humble blogger, as the tapes were rolling the very first time I ever sat behind a drum kit.

All of this contrived nostalgia is somehow supposed to convince you all to come out and go nuts over the big Radio Free Charleston retrospective this Saturday at the La Belle Theater.  Look, there’s even a photo up there of me on the night of the first radio broadcast of RFC, back when I had hair. Scroll around this blog for details on our big night.

5 Comments

  1. Mountain Woman Phd.

    These are adorable. Maybe you can get Bridget to come on the new show and do a cooking segment?

  2. Bella Donna

    “We can’t do that here sir….” Who hasn’t ever found themselves wanting to say that at some point in their work day? Priceless!

  3. Mexican Romeo

    You ought to use some of this stuff on the video version of the show.

  4. jessie

    This is some great material. You ought to post more. I cannot wait until next summer so we can see more Bridget.

  5. Van Martin

    Made me laugh out loud

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