Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Mini #242: GGACP Memories with Frank Verderosa
Episode Date: November 14, 2019This week: Uncle Junior sings! The generosity of Matthew Broderick! Nutmeg Post trivia! Joey Pants feuds with his family! And the boys remember the irrepressible Bill Macy! Learn more about your ad ch...oices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Here we go, boys. One, two, three. to learn more. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and I'm here with Frank Santopadre,
and this is Gilbert and Frank's amazing, colossal obsessions.
And we're here with Ray Bone, who passed away 27 years ago.
Wow, he looks surprisingly spry.
And who is our special sit-in guest tonight, Gil?
Frank Ferdarosa, our engineer,
our magical engineer.
In the flesh. He's magical? He's magical.
I hit the red button.
Yeah, he's from the Disney
films. Like a leprechaun.
We're going to talk to Frank about all kinds
of fun stuff. He's got
some trivia for us. He's got some engineering
tales from his career.
Some animation stories. Some memories of this own show, this very show.
I wanted to say real quick, quick condolences to our friend Daniel Wheeler, who's one of our podcast loyalists.
He lost his dad, Wayne Wheeler, and they love this show.
So rest in peace, Wayne.
A listener named Steve Karras Gilbert did a DNA
test and he says you are
either his fifth or eighth cousin.
That's nothing to
brag about.
So I'm going to hook you guys up.
You get to the bottom of this. Those were two
of my housekeeping notes.
There was a woman who was following me
around for years by mail.
Her name is Dara.
Yeah, exactly.
Use her name.
When they still had letters,
and I would get these letters.
This woman,
she was like
almost as old as I am
with red hair,
and she was my daughter.
Yeah.
Okay.
According to this woman, she was my daughter.
So it's almost like the woman Letterman had following him around.
Yes, yes, yes.
And it ended up in his living room.
I think now we've got to get Jerry Springer as a guest.
Yeah.
So I would have had to have been six.
Oh, it's like Al Pacino on the Joe Franklin show.
Oh, my God, yeah.
And we'll bid a farewell, a sad farewell.
I don't know when we're going to run this, but to our friend.
We're recording this on October 21st, and our friend Bill Macy passed away.
And we do have to say a couple of words about Bill before we move into.
Yeah, he was hysterical.
Just thanks to Matt Beckoff for getting him for us.
He was a force of nature.
You guys got to know him pretty well
you and Dara socially
and I remember
one time when I did
the documentary Gilbert
he showed up for
and I wanted to introduce him at the end
they said no he was
having trouble breathing
he was gasping for his breath
he had to be taken out of the theater and the next
day we call up his house and and he's not there we go oh god he's either in the morgue or in the
intensive care and we get his wife on the phone she goes no he drove to the casino there you go
he just wanted to get the hell out of your screening. Yes, exactly. So he played the 94-year-old's card.
Bill lived to 97, which is really amazing.
His wife, Samantha, also a wonderful lady, and our hearts go out to her.
Gilbert likes to say there are certain guests that are the reason we do this show.
Yes.
He was one of them.
Frank, you recorded him twice.
Yeah, I'd like to say a word regarding Bill Macy.
Yeah.
Herring.
Yes, yes.
That's how I'll remember him.
They should carve a herring on his headstone.
There seemed to be more than one random occasion where Darragh is texting me saying,
how do I get a copy to Bill Macy?
He wants to play it for somebody right now.
Oh, when he was near the...
He's obsessed with the episode.
When he was near the end of his life, when he was in the hospital,
he called there and said,
can I get a copy? I want to play it for the people in the hospital.
Yeah, he was very proud of it.
He would drive around in the car listening to it.
In fact, I called him and he answered the phone in his car and he was listening to the show.
He described that as one of the highlights of his career.
He did. He said it was the best thing he had done.
Certainly his best interview.
Do you remember his second appearance on the show
when you brought up something about him being in the hospital
and the nurse and his gown opening?
There was some story, and he just, like, with his wife by his side,
was like, deny it, deny it, deny it.
Oh, yeah.
Shut that down.
I don't know what you're talking about.
He shut that shit down.
Even at 96
there's still something to hide
he was great
great in a small part in the original producers
my favorite year
absolutely wonderful
as Psy
what would you call him
the backstabbing
insecure egomaniac
in the producers
he's like the foreman of the jury.
Yeah.
And when they're trying Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, and he goes, we find the defendants extremely guilty.
Yes.
The inventor of the opti-grab and the jerk.
Oh, yes, yes.
He's in Billy Persky's movie, Serial.
He did a lot of wonderful stuff, Maude, of course,
which is what people knew him for.
He was the perfect guest on this show
and a lot of people's favorite episode.
But he turned down, I don't know,
I really wish you would have done it.
He turned down like a small guest appearance
in that movie that William H. Macy does.
Oh, on Shameless.
Yeah, which would have been great. Yeah, it would have been fun. He became William H. Macy does. Oh, on Shameless. Yeah, which would have been great.
It would have been fun.
He became William H. Macy
because...
Because of Bill Macy.
Yeah.
There you go.
A great guy, a character,
and like I said,
a lot of people's favorite episodes.
I just want to point out
that Gilbert was looking directly
at Paul explaining the Bill Macy.
As if this was some kind of special...
Let me break it down is it the famous department
store i was explaining to paul what a television is you officially become old groucho yes
let me do some research on that and i'll get back to you. Alright, so we're winding down our last few minis for the year. Not ever,
but they will be changing.
And Frank wanted
to go down
memory lane, tell some stories about Nutmeg,
talk about some guests who recorded at Nutmeg.
He's got some clips,
some snippets, some trivia.
He's prepared.
All this time we've been doing this,
I think I post things, especially in the Listener Society,
even just recently about a new Nick cartoon that I got to work on.
But the overlap with the people that are fans of the show
that are also people I'm indirectly working with is pretty intense.
Like those Cartoon Network dudes.
Yeah, and it's like I've been working with Adult Swim all week,
and I know a lot of those folks are fans.
So I just, I don't know if people listening know that I'm not just some podcast mixer.
So I figured we could talk a little bit, play some, maybe some old stuff.
And what exactly I do when I'm not doing this, besides sleeping.
We're giving listeners a peek behind the curtain.
The man behind the curtain.
But speaking of nutmeg.
Yes.
Do you guys remember the story of how this all came to be?
How I got involved?
I think it had to do with an ex-girlfriend of mine.
An ex-girlfriend of yours.
And actually, it was a friend of mine from college.
Elena.
Sue Taub, who got me into the show.
So I became a fan.
And then I cranked it one day, thinking my headphones were plugged in to my phone.
On a train?
On a train, in a quiet car.
So I just tweeted, you know, that awkward moment when you're blasting Gilbert in the quiet car.
Your ex-girlfriend said, oh, I used to date the co-hosts.
I said, well, look, tell them I'm big fans of the show, but it sounds awful, and I would love to help.
And I swear to God, I gave her my info, and then by the time I got to Nutmeg, Dara was already calling.
It was like 10 30 in the
morning it was kismet yeah and then i went back and looked at all the old episodes i was trying
to figure well when did i start and it's weird because back then you guys were coming in nutmeg
but you were still doing friars club i know your first episode yeah it was tom leopold that was my
first trivia question so i had a bunch of little questions like that i know gilbert wouldn't
remember but i figured and by the way when you said it sounded horrible, you meant the content.
No, the content's always been good. The quality.
Something about Gilbert's kitchen table.
Yeah, people used to send me emails saying
was that recorded in the Lincoln Tunnel?
There was an episode we did with Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski,
who are coming back, by the way.
Maybe by the time you're hearing this, they've already been on.
We recorded it in their hotel room.
And that was the low point.
Yes.
Because it really sounded like we were in an airport.
Yeah.
And the guests were at two different terminals.
Wow. I mean, it just, we didn't, look, you know, we were young, we were carefree, we didn't
know what podcasting was.
And we were talking about this.
Gilbert wanted to do the show in his robe.
And we were talking about this yesterday.
Well, I wanted to be like you, Hefner.
Yeah, he did the show in his pajamas.
I wanted a little bottle of Pepsi in the bathroom.
We were talking about this yesterday when I sang a duet with the guy from the Turtles.
Yeah, Howard Kalin.
We did that at Nutmeg.
And because we didn't know how to record both people, it's like you heard me and you didn't hear him at all.
Well, the Turtles thing is a clusterfuck because he was using his headset mic,
but actually the mic on his laptop was mostly recording him,
and then he would lean back, and then suddenly it sounded like he was down the hall.
To say we didn't know what we were doing is an understatement.
It's a learning experience.
So who was the last guest ever recorded at Nutmeg?
I think I know this.
Gilbert?
It's a woman.
I know.
I'll give you that.
I know it.
Oh, a woman.
Not what's her name with the tigers and lions.
No, that was a while ago.
Tippi?
No, that was on Skype.
She was not with us.
You're saying this guest was in person?
In person, the very last one we did it.
Pretty much the last episode we did it.
I must be a freak because if you name any of our 280 guests,
I can tell you exactly where we recorded them.
Yeah, probably because you're paying attention.
Whose house?
Right.
Some of them were at Gilbert's kitchen table.
Some of them we used to do in office spaces.
Right, for the Friars Club.
The Friars Club, we did a bunch.
We did a bunch at Nutmeg, a bunch here at Earwolf.
Gil, do you know?
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
Frank, you have an answer.
Rosanna Arquette was the last guest.
Wow.
We almost did that episode at the old Earwolf Studios, which was a dive.
We never saw that place.
I had to go visit one day.
It's basically this minus everything that's nice about it.
Oh, I was there.
Yeah, I was there.
But we got a stay of execution,
and we got to do one more at Nutmeg,
and then that was it.
Doors closed.
Some of my favorite episodes were done at Nutmeg.
I mean, the Tony Orlando episode.
Yes, a lot of fun.
I mean, Peter Riegert, Jessica.
Yeah.
You were kind enough to help us out with Jessica. Yeah.
Walter and Ron Liebman.
You get all my questions here.
Who was the first musician guest on the podcast?
This is a bit of a trick question.
Not recorded necessarily, nutmeg.
The first one we ever had?
First musician.
Paul Williams?
No, it wasn't Paul.
Paul was...
We recorded Paul at the Friars Club.
Yeah.
With Tracy.
I'll give you a hint.
It's a Paul.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
He was in the first ten.
McCartney!
I knew it!
He was in the first ten episodes.
Yeah, we did that at the Friars.
That was Paul Schaefer.
But who was the first guest to actually play an instrument in the session in a recording
i think i know that too it's one of two people gil do you have a guess oh first person to play
an instrument in the booth well one was a guitar and one was a keyboard but i think the guitarist
came before the keyboard yeah and you, if I have this person right.
Wait a minute.
He sang mostly by himself.
Oh, you mean the actor who sang?
Well, the first person in the booth?
The first person who.
Wait, it wasn't Barney Miller.
No, he was on Skype.
It wasn't Dominic.
It was Dominic Chianese.
Dominic!
Oh, my God, yes! He brought his guitar. No, he didn't. He actually, he picked, this is what's so funny. no he was on skype it wasn't Dominic it was Dominic Dominic oh my god
he brought his guitar
no he didn't
he actually
he picked
this is what's so funny
he's playing these
beautiful songs
on my Angus Young style
oh you gave him
the guitar
electric guitar
very good
and right before we started
someone bumped it
and the g-string went flat
so forevermore
there's that moment
oh that's a lovely moment
he sang the
Yip Harburg song Brother Can You Spare a lovely moment he sang the uh yep harburg song uh
brother can you spare it did it beautifully yeah yeah who was the first musical guest to sing with
gilbert what foolish musical guest well this has to be pre-nutmeg well there are i think there i
think there is a pre-nutmeg or it wasn't't Jake Van Dyke. No, that was later.
The first musical guest to sing with Gilbert.
Yeah.
Well, it's got to be Tony Orlando.
That's my thinking.
Unless he sang with Josh Groban and it was recorded before.
No, I'll tell you what we did with Josh Groban.
Those were the days when we would record at people's homes.
We went to Josh Groban's apartment down in Tribeca.
The nicest experience, we went to Barbara Felden's house,
and she put out nuts and berries for us.
Yeah, she put food out for us.
And lemonade.
We were vagabonds in those days.
There was another woman who went over to the house. We went to Lee Grant's house. Lee Grant. We were vagabonds in those days. There was another woman who had you over to the house.
We went to Lee Grant's house.
Lee Grant.
Yeah, we did Lee Grant's house.
She let us hold her Oscar.
Yes.
I think Tony Orlando,
who came in
and did a great episode
at Nutmeg.
One of the first three
or four episodes
at Nutmeg.
It was further in than that.
It was?
It was one of the best.
And he was just on fire.
Yeah.
And then he sang
with Tommy James. Tommy James was killer. Oh, Tommy James best and he uh he was just on fire yeah yeah and then and then he sang with tommy james
tommy james was killer oh tommy james yeah it was great that was great yeah and and tony orlando
said his father is the only non-jew buried in a jewish cemetery and i love that when we had
jimmy webb playing he had there was a keyboard in the booth, but we were really actually just sending data from the keyboard.
So I was recording using a piano sound, but when I went and mixed it, I added in strings.
How nice.
And his brief performances of some of his hits I like better than the originals.
You know, he was reluctant.
Wichita Lineman was like, I like what he did in the booth better than the original. I forgot. He was reluctant to do it. Remember that? He was reluctant. Wichita Lineman was like, I like what he did in the booth better than the original.
I forgot.
He was reluctant to do it.
Remember that?
He was.
When we first proposed it, and he was like, I don't know.
And he softened up, and then it was great.
He had been doing interviews all day for his book, and he was exhausted.
And he showed up with his wife, and they walked in, and we were so looking forward to him.
And they walked in, and she said, he's got about 20 minutes in him.
And we were trying to find a way to say we don't do a 20-minute show.
And we somehow brought him alive.
Yeah.
It looked like he was ready for more.
Yeah.
And I like your version of MacArthur Park better than Jimmy's.
My favorite quote from that is, I knew it was going to be good.
I didn't think it was going to be that good.
Oh, yeah.
He's a sport.
He's a sport.
You always gird your loins a little bit with these musicians because you don't know.
We had Kenny Loggins in here a couple of weeks ago and Gilbert sang Footloose with him.
So good.
It was good.
You don't know what to expect and you don't want to offend them.
I try to, when Gilbert says, oh, I print these lyrics.
This is the one I want to sing.
We try not to pick the song that's most personal to them.
Something about a love or their wife.
A song about my wife dying of cancer.
Can Gilbert sing along?
Yeah.
So it's always a dicey proposition.
But, you know, we've been lucky.
Because Tommy James, Tony Orlando, Jimmy Webb, Ron Dante, so many of these people have been
game for it.
Neil Sedaka.
I promise you, if we ever get
Eric Clapton, we won't
sing If I See You in Heaven
together. I don't believe you.
There's our first edit of the night.
There you go.
Moving on.
More trivia.
One thing I loved about the Jimmy Webb episode,
the lesson was sometimes a cake is just a cake.
It's just a cake.
That was the most, that angered me so much.
For years.
Because for years I thought, that's such deep symbolism.
A cake in the rain.
And then it turns out he saw a cake, and it was raining out.
And that was it.
That's it.
That's it?
Paul was very excited about Jimmy Webb because we had done many episodes before then,
and Paul would always point out Jimmy Webb's song.
Yeah.
That's a Jimmy Webb song.
And then he walked in the room.
Yeah.
Freaky, huh?
He was one of my childhood heroes.
I used to play all those songs on the piano at Wichita Alignment by the time I get to Phoenix.
Yeah.
Man.
One of my heroes, too.
Yeah.
We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing Colossal Podcast after this.
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All right, here's a different direction.
What was the first episode to ever have a clip?
You mean like a promo?
Like a breakaway to a scene from a movie.
You've beaten me, Vernerosa.
No idea.
Wow, okay.
Well, it's got to be a nutmeg episode.
It was a nutmeg one because we didn't even
attempt and it was actually a guest i brought in there's another clue for you larry kenny no no
well i remember the guests that you helped with one was larry kenny one was david mccallum
which was certainly which was certainly a score recently who would this who would this person be
somebody that you were recording with at Nutmeg?
Somebody I was recording and I mentioned the show
and they were like, sure.
And it wasn't Jessica?
No, it was before.
I think it might be before Jessica.
Jessica and Ron.
You got me beat.
All right.
Joey Pants.
Joey Pants.
Yeah, he told that wonderful story about his mother.
First time I ever put a clip in.
What was the clip?
It was from the remake of, what was the Sinatra movie?
He played the part Sinatra played.
Oh, it was from Here to Eternity.
Yes.
There was a scene you guys were talking about.
Yeah.
Slowly worked it in.
A lot of people liked the clips.
We started using the clips.
Yes, they're fun.
They gave the show some extra production.
Some depth.
What was the story about his mother?
It was him bringing a girl home.
Oh, God, it was so great.
It's one of the funniest stories on this podcast.
Yes, yes, yes.
It was the family fighting and the,
Ma, you shut the fuck up.
Yeah, they were threatening each other.
Then they're on the stoop in the front
and his mother yells out the door,
Joey, you want some cake?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So accurate.
Yeah, that's a great one. Yeah, find the Joey P? Yeah. So accurate. Yeah.
That's a great one. Find the Joey Pants episode. It's worth it. And he said
he got into playing tough
guys because he was bullied
as a kid. He was a great guest.
He was an early Nutmeg guest
as memory serves. I guess.
I mean, it must have been, we'd been doing it
long enough where I felt comfortable enough to mention it to
him and get his info.
He was great.
I didn't expect that.
Good call.
One of my other favorite, favorite episodes was episode 100 at Nutmeg.
Yeah.
Now, let's see if Gilbert can remember who was there.
Not a chance.
No.
No.
Try to name, there were four.
Okay.
There were four people.
Biarico.
Right.
Paul Schaefer.
Yes.
Drew Friedman.
Yes.
You're too short.
Well, that's personal.
Two, yeah.
You're too shy.
Oh.
His name was mentioned.
We mentioned one before. Yeah. Tom name was mentioned.
We mentioned one before.
Yeah.
Tom Leopold.
Oh, okay.
One more.
And the fifth one.
I need a clue.
That girl is the clue.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, yes, yes.
Oh, God.
You've already forgotten Billy Persky's name?
Billy Persky.
Billy Persky's name? Billy Persky. Billy Persky, I remember we interviewed him at the Museum of... Museum of Illustrators.
Yes.
The Society of Illustrators.
Very good.
Yeah, we did shows there, too.
We did Robert Osborne there.
Yes, yes.
And I remember when Robert Osborne came in, he was just wearing a shirt and pants.
And I thought, wait a minute.
He walks around something other than a suit?
Yep, yep.
He was nice.
He came down there on his own power.
He paid for his own cab.
A real gentleman, real sweetheart.
And he was one of those people that you just make sure the mic is pointed at him.
In those days, Dara had the portable microphone, the rig, and we
were America's guests. We would basically
go anywhere people would take us.
We were at Larry Storch's apartment.
We were at Barbara Felden's apartment.
Josh Groban's apartment. We recorded Adam
West in an office
building that was a friend, it was
Dara's friend's office.
I'm forgetting her name.
She was a lovely woman. And we were all over the place until we found Nutmeg,
and we decided to make the show professional sounding.
Yeah.
I remember somebody in one of the groups.
What was it?
Somebody was, I think it was when we were trying to silence people
that were posting the episodes on YouTube for free.
Somebody made the comment like,
something about for all the money you spend at Nutmeg for all.
And it was like,
if they only knew,
Nutmeg gave us the room.
But I think the fans assumed
that we had millions of dollars
to just play this expensive studio.
Who knows what they assumed.
But it was real.
I remember like there was some argument
like, you can throw all that money
at Nutmeg.
I'm like, no, we're just.
Listen, Rayburn doesn't come cheaply.
This show has a budget.
I appreciate that.
Anytime, pal.
Treatment for Munkhausen's is goddamn expensive.
In the interest of time, you want to keep throwing
trivia questions at us, or do you want to tell us...
That's all I could come up with. We kind of hit on some
of the big... Do you guys have any favorite
moments from the Nutmeg years?
God. Well, Jimmy Webb,
certainly. I mean, some of the mini-episodes. Well, Jimmy Webb, certainly.
I mean, some of the mini episodes we did where it was just the three of us
sitting there doing James Bond movies
and the one-hit wonders
and all of that stuff.
We had a lot of fun.
What's fun with the minis
is sometimes you're just sitting there
and you feel like,
well, this isn't a job now.
We're just sitting around talking.
We had a lot of fun.
There were a lot of fun guests at Nutmeg.
Like Peter Riegert came in.
John Amos was a great episode at Nutmeg.
Joey Pants was a great episode at Nutmeg.
And the first time, I didn't do it, but when he came back, I got him to say, damn, damn, damn.
You know, Stephen Wright was a funny episode at Nutmeg.
That was painful.
Locked in there with the two of you.
But he wouldn't laugh.
No, no, but he was slapping his legs, laughing hysterically, but making zero sound.
That was a great night.
When you listen to it, you go, oh, he's really, he has no sense of humor, first of all.
And he's really offended by the stuff that's being said to him.
Another great Nutmeg episode was Matthew Broderick.
That was great.
Was Gilbert insulting him.
He was so kind to us, he came up in between performances.
He was doing a matinee.
At Irish Rep near you. Yeah. He was doing a matinee, and it finished.
He did the Wednesday performance, finished, rushed uptown, did our podcast,
and then had to rush back for the evening.
He was great.
And all to be insulted by you.
Yes.
I told him all I said was that
I felt that Ferris Bueller's
Day Off was, I fucking
hate it. I remember what he said. He said,
look, don't get me wrong. I hate young people too.
Here's another, here's a
trivia for you. This one's a tough
one because I don't really know the answer. Fans
might. But you guys have been doing phone
recordings at the apartment, at the wherever else. But you guys have been doing phone recordings at the apartment
and wherever else. Yeah, we've been doing phone recordings.
So we graduated you up to Skype.
Some of the early ones were touch and go.
The ones we did with the studio were always fine.
Who was the first Skype guest?
I don't know the answer.
I'm sure a fan will figure it out.
Was it at Nutmeg?
It had to have been at Nutmeg.
Not Henry Winkler. No, he was a phone. I remember listening to that one. Henry Winkler was a phon will figure it out. I couldn't tell you. Was it at Nutmeg or are we doing that? It had to have been at Nutmeg. Not Henry Winkler.
No, he was a phone.
I remember listening to that one.
Henry Winkler was a phoner in your apartment.
Yes, yes.
I couldn't tell you.
I mean, I'd have to really sit and think about it,
and we don't have that kind of time.
Fans can figure it out.
Fans can figure it out.
It was soon after Leopold.
Who can remember?
We had a couple of Skype clusterfucks, too.
Who was the guest that had his printer making noise next to his computer?
That was Dick Miller.
That was so hard.
That may have been the first Skype from Nutmeg.
And he was using just the built-in laptops.
Yeah, and Kalen was probably one of the first Skypes from Nutmeg, from the Turtles.
Let's talk about some of the other things you do when you're not here and when you're not doing this crazy shit.
You have this thriving career.
I have a career by day.
Yeah, sometimes you even record Gilbert.
Sometimes I do.
Yes, yes, yes.
Gilbert comes in for Disney.
In fact, long before the podcast, I had met Gilbert at Nutmeg.
He came in to record something for Disney, and Gilbert said, do you have any good snacks?
And Gilbert said, do you have any good snacks?
I turned around in my chair and put my hands on my stomach and said, Gilbert, does it look like I need snacks in this room?
And he laughed so hard.
Is it fair to say that Gilbert almost single-handedly changed Nutmeg's policy about putting out free snacks in the kitchen? The irony is that it was at a time where Nutmeg was starting to cut back.
They were starting to pull.
Because we used to have jars of everything in every room.
Then they pulled it out to the kitchen
and then slowly it went away.
And that probably should have been an indication
for me to look for a new job.
But they were generous with the Perrier.
They used to give us wine for the podcast.
They were generous.
And then one time I remember
I was swiping some stuff and putting it in my bag, candies and soda cans.
And I thought, oh, you caught me.
And the guy said, oh, well, you've got nothing on Richard Kind.
As we later found out. I got to tell you, one of my favorite Richard Kind stories, besides the one where he becomes the international snack thief, right?
You found that in Toronto.
Yes.
Somebody brought up Richard Kind.
Two different people told me that.
I told you that, and then he came back into me and said one day, it's like, are you the one who told Gilbert?
But at that point,
he didn't know.
I was recording him
for Tangled,
the animated series
for Disney.
And Richard Kind
sitting on the couch
in the back of the room
and the folks
from Disney dial in.
They were just by satellite,
you know,
by ISDN line.
And they said,
who is our engineer
in New York?
And I said,
oh,
it's Frank Verterosa.
And from the back of the room,
wait a minute.
You're Verterosa?
Oh my, I listen to every episode of the room, wait a minute, you're Verterosa? Oh my,
I listen to every episode
of the podcast.
Oh my God,
I didn't realize
it was the sweetest moment.
Except the mini is
that he won't pay for.
Because he said to me,
and I quote,
fuck you,
I won't pay
because Gilbert wouldn't pay.
But I think,
I've been very bad about it.
That's a direct quote.
I used to send him
batches of Dropbox files
so he could listen to it.
That's fine.
So is there a Dr. Phil story?
There is a Dr. Phil story.
So part of my day job, well, all of my day job, I produce radio commercials.
I mix theatrical TV spots.
I sound design.
My clients are ad agencies and a lot of animation studios, a little bit of everything.
And I'm going to play a clip.
I may cut this whole thing out.
We'll see.
But I was doing a project for, let's just say, a dating website.
And they were doing this big thing with Dr. Phil.
And we were told before the session, we're going to dial Dr. Phil on the ISDN lines, but nobody's allowed to talk to him except for the ad agency.
So I'm like, well, how am i supposed to verify that
he's there so of course we were calling and their box wasn't even turned on it was a whole
clusterfuck but whatever had transpired between him and the agency was already off to a rough start
he was being really less than pleasant to them so when it was all done i took his outtakes
and i cut together a phony phone call between me and Dr. Phil.
I'm going to play it now.
I'll play a little bit because it's a little too long.
I mean,
this was really for me
and the ad agency,
but enough years have gone by.
Give us the highlights.
I'll play like the first,
not even a minute.
Okay.
We are currently experiencing
technical problems.
Please sit by.
So this was literally... That's what we were dealing with for the whole session.
Now, I don't know the other side of the story.
Maybe there was a reason for him to be in a bad mood.
I give people the benefit of the doubt, but I love that. But yeah, I get to work the other side of the story. Maybe there was a reason for him to be in a bad mood. I give people the benefit of the doubt, but I love that.
But yeah, I get to work with a lot of interesting people.
I think one of my favorite stories, too, was Harvey Keitel coming in to record for Sprint.
Because he was in there.
This is going back a while.
Sounds like an SNL skit.
Harvey Keitel.
He showed up in this really incredible white suit.
It's totally dressed to the nines, but it's just him going out over satellite for this radio version of a TV spot.
And I guess they sent him the script ahead of time.
So he's reading.
He's got it.
And they said, oh, Harvey, we sent an updated script.
And imagine being powerful enough to just be able to say to the ad people on the other side of the coast, well, this is the one I practiced.
And I mean, I saw the new one, but I don't think it's as good.
I mean, it was like a couple of legal changes that they made in it.
He's like, so what I'm going to do, I'm going to give you the one I worked on, give you
a couple of those, and then I'll give you one read of your new one.
And of course, they had to go with the one read of the new one.
Wow.
Just so many moments.
A little diva.
Yeah.
No, he wasn't at all.
I think he really was like into the, you know, he'd. Wow. Just so many moments. A little diva. No, he wasn't at all. I think he really was like
into the, you know,
he really worked on...
Oh, okay.
He was trying to be helpful.
Trying to like, you know,
he really had this thing down,
but in advertising,
they throw a curveball
last minute.
The script's changed
and he didn't quite...
Did you ever work with him?
Can I tell?
No, I would have liked to.
He sounds like a character.
I just said I would have liked to
like he died years ago.
I remember when we inadvertently announced the death of Julie Andrews.
No, you did.
You announced the death.
And she's got a new book out, by the way.
This show is dedicated to the memory of Julie Andrews.
She just popped up in something.
She played like an evil voice in a movie that's current.
I don't know.
She's got a book out. Yeah, but what was the movie? I voice in a movie that's current. I don't know. She's got a book out.
Yeah, but what was the movie?
I don't know.
Come to me.
I don't know.
We mourn the passing of Julie Andrews and Harvey Keitel.
So what do you want to plug as we wrap this sucker up?
Well, as people will probably know by the time this airs,
I'm not going to be the engineer for this podcast moving forward,
which is bittersweet because it's been a really good
time, as you can tell from all the fun memories. But in early 2020, listen for Unsung, The People
You Don't Know You Know, which is my new podcast. You're starting a podcast. Wow. Started. Good for
you. A podcast. But I think by the time I get production together on it and get it all ironed
out, it's going to be early 2020. I know a researcher.
Yeah.
Actually,
what?
He works for Nilla Wafers.
We don't do research,
but you're the kind of guest that would be good on the show
so we can talk about it.
It's going to be the people,
you know,
we talk on this show about
there's the celebrities,
there's the actors
that make it good,
but then the supporting actors
that you don't necessarily
know their name,
but they're the people
that really add to it.
So guys like that.
So guest number one for me
is a guy named Frank Sims.
Anyone ever heard of Frank Sims?
I have not.
Right.
So here's a few things
that Frank has done.
I don't want to give away
too much from the first show,
but toured with Bowie
in the 80s.
When you listen to the song
Let's Dance
that starts with the
ah,
that's all Frank.
Wow.
Frank is also on Madonna. He does all Madonna's backups, but he's also the, ah, that's all Frank. Wow. Frank is also on Madonna.
He does all Madonna's backups, but he's also the guy going, living in a material world.
And that he's also Saturday TV, Funhouse on Saturday Night Live.
Sure.
What a good idea for a show.
He goes all the way back to Cats in the Cradle.
I mean, and beyond.
This dude has been everywhere.
And not to mention, he was a kool-aid
guy for 20 years and a good title yeah unsung the people you don't know you know very smart yeah
very smart it's going to be talent agents video editors musicians all kinds of people behind the
scenes with their own fun stories just like the stories i've got as an audio guy working in new
york and you and you've got them yeah and it's either going to be people enjoy it or are entertained,
or we do 10 episodes and kill it, but we'll see how it goes.
Well, welcome to podcasting.
Now more of your hair gets to fall out like mine.
There's tens of dollars to be made.
At least.
At least.
You're underestimating it.
And tell us about your new website, too.
Well, it's the website I've had forever.
It's frankfurtarossa.com. And I've just decided I'm tired of going on Facebook and doing
the same thing that we all do every day politically and just sharing the same stuff. I said, you know
what? Let me start engaging more through my website with helpful stuff. It's podcasting tips,
it's recording tips, it's voice acting, you know, blog pieces about whatever, you know, things that
are related to what I do
in my career rather than just
bitching all the time on Facebook. And then I'm just sharing
it to Facebook and trying to get people
to engage more through the site. And it's working.
It's just, it makes a lot
more sense than screaming into the void
all the time. Absolutely. It's a little more
rewarding. And then when the website,
when the podcast is done, the website
that'll go up as well. Unsung.
Unsung the podcast.
Is the podcast.
I don't know you know.
From engineer Frank Verderosa.
You're going to miss Raybone?
I'm going to have to have him on every time.
One of the features of the show is going to be my neighbor Tom.
Hey, you can have him any time you want.
You guys are too kind.
I'm sorry.
I'm under contract.
I think you should have him.
We wish you luck, man.
In the middle of us recording one of these shows, if you want to take him somewhere.
Right in the middle?
Like a rapture?
In mid-sentence, if you want to take Paul out.
I do hope once you guys are settled into the new situation, which I...
I feel so safe and loved with you guys.
I can't explain it.
I'm hoping I'll get to come and visit and say hi and check out the fancy new operation.
Come visit.
You know.
Gil?
Yes.
You want to say goodbye?
Wow.
Okay.
This has been Gilbert and Frank's Amazing Colossal Obsessions with the recently deceased Ray Bone, who lies there in the same cemetery with Julie Andrews and Harvey Keitel.
Now he's just riffing.
We've become very close.
Any origami projects you want to plug, Paul?
And, of course, Frank Ferdarosa.
Who lost three of our best shots.
Now, cut that out.
It's now a bad time to say that I really did scheme to lose those episodes.
You can't say that on a tribute episode.
Frank, thanks for everything.
This has been really fun.
Yeah, this has been great.
Thanks. Yeah, it's been great working with you. No, I didn't say you, his tribute episode. Frank, thanks for everything. This has been really fun. Yeah, this has been great. Thanks.
Yeah, it's been great working with you.
No, I didn't say you, Paul.
I mean these guys.
Don't talk, Paul.
Please.
I try.
Good morning yesterday
You wake up
And time has slipped away
And suddenly it's hard to find
The memories you left behind
Remember, do you remember
The laughter and the tears
The shadows of misty yesteryears
The good times and the bad you've seen
And all the others in between
Do you remember?
Do you remember the times of your life?
Do you remember?
Reach back for the joy and the sorrow
Put them away in your mind
For memories are time
that you borrow
To spend when you get
to tomorrow
Here comes
the setting sun
The seasons are passing one by one
So gather moments while you may
Collect the dreams you dream today
Remember, will you remember
The times of your life?
Gather moments while you may
Collect the dreams you dream today
Remember, will you remember
The times of your life
Of your life Of your life
Do you remember, baby?
Do you remember the times of your life?
Do you remember, baby? Do you remember the times of your life? Do you remember, baby?
Do you remember the times of your life?