Radio Personality Gets Cancer, Makes us Laugh

Back in the late '90s, when I lived in Seattle and worked regularly in theater, I would often find myself driving from places like Olympia, Washington to Seattle at 11 o'clock at night.  Generally, I was exhausted, sweaty, and hungry, and the only thing that made the drive even remotely bearable was listening to Loveline, which at the time aired from 10 PM-1 AM every night. 

I never watched the MTV show, but basically the format was the same on the radio:  addiction-medicine specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky (aka "Dr. Drew") and comedian Adam Carolla would field questions from a vast assortment of humanity about addiction, sex, abuse, and relationships. 

Improbably, the show was hilarious, mostly because of Carolla's frequent off-topic rants (his spitting-mad tirade about the government's failure to force a guy to repay him for a car he totalled--underscored by "America The Beautiful"--  remains one of the funniest things I've ever heard); his mad alter egos "Ace Rockolla, Morning Radio Host" who 'checked the time,' traffic, and weather, every 30 seconds, and "Strip Club DJ," with his lascivious laughter and incomprehensible ramblings; the odd, sometimes tense chemistry between the straight-laced Pinsky and the madcap Carolla ("Shut Drew's mic off!"); and their always dead-on diganoses of hapless callers (one man claimed to be having 'consensual' sex with his dog.  They kept him on the line all night). 

One unique aspect of the show was the split-second-timing use of "drops"--pieces of sampled audio that technician Bryan "Bald Bryan" Bishop would slip into the broadcast almost subliminally.  A caller would say "I'm a dancer," and instantaneously Motley Crue's strip-club anthem "Girls, Girls, Girls" would play.  A man would insist that a "friend" had a drinking problem and for a moment you'd swear Will Ferrell was on the show saying "I wish you weren't a liar!"  It was hard not to marvel at Bishop's cleverness and finesse.  Without saying a word, he became an integral part of the show.

After we moved to LA, I was delighted to see that Carolla had been tapped to do a local morning show, and that he had brought Bishop along with him.  Together with the funny, neurotic Teresa Strosser, they became my morning company.    

Sadly, a few weeks ago, Carolla's show, along with 97.1's entire talk-radio roster, was given the axe.  I fully expected not to hear him again for a good, long time, but like a phoenix he showed up again on an absurdly popular, and still consistently funny, podcast. 

Yesterday, however, things took an unexpectedly sober turn:  Bishop, again a guest on the show along with Strosser, announced that he had been diagnosed with an "inoperable" brain tumor and had been told--initially at least--that he had six months to a year to live. He is 30 years old.

Fortunately, upon consulting numerous experts, his prognosis improved.  He has begun an aggressive treatment of chemotherapy and radiation, and appears to be in great spirits.  I'm always amazed at people, Alwyn Cosgrove among them, who manage to look such things in the face and stare them down with good humor, grace, and a fighting spirit. 

Here's a link to the podcast where Bishop talks about the cancer with Carolla and Strosser.

(Strosser shows off her own "growth" to an optimistic Bishop and a seemingly hung-over Carolla)