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The Morning Brew with Chris Bennett
Ever wonder what really goes on at a small-town morning radio show?
The Morning Brew with Chris Bennett and Best Friends is your daily dose of real callers, big laughs, and unforgettable characters straight from QCountry 925 in Show Low, Arizona.
The Morning Brew with Chris Bennett
Prison Comedy Chronicles
Chris shares his unexpected adventure performing stand-up comedy at Arizona State Prison Complex near Yuma with three of his comedian friends, discovering a surprisingly appreciative audience despite initial nerves. He contrasts this experience with his upcoming role officiating his daughter's wedding in Salt Lake City, highlighting the dramatic difference between these two events happening within the same week.
• First-ever comedy show in the prison's 13-year history
• Two shows performed: first with 80-100 inmates, second with 40-60 inmates
• Minimal prison guard presence during performances
• Ryan McKee joins to share his perspective on their prison comedy experience
• Discussion about gaining "street cred" from making inmates with face tattoos laugh
• "Real News or Fake News" game featuring bizarre prison headlines
• Update on the Greer fire situation (20,833 acres, 0% containment)
• Monday motivational quotes including Pablo Picasso's "Action is the foundational key to all success"
• Table Topics segment with Brian from Pinedale
From the Horn Auto Center Studios Chris Bennett and the Morning Brew, Janine, are you?
Speaker 2:over there. Yes, I am Good Monday morning Good morning.
Speaker 1:Good Monday morning to you and welcome back to the studio. It's good to see you back in. How's the knee?
Speaker 2:Feeling good. You know, and that always that, always everybody around me that scares them. They're like Janine, don't take off on that. You know because yeah, I'm supposed to go slow. It's very hard for me to go slow. Yeah, very hard.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm still in the studio. I'm leaving right after the show, heading to Salt Lake City for my daughter's wedding on Friday that I'm officiating, and do you have any updates for us on the Greer fire?
Speaker 2:Well, the good news is the firefighters are doing such a wonderful, wonderful job. They are holding the lines. That's the big thing because, you know, it's been big wind the last couple of days and so they've held the lines and it is at 20,833 acres. So that's the bad news 20,833, 0% containment. They're still saying I would think there'd be some containment, but they definitely have held the important lines to keep it from going more toward Greer and Springerville. So that's the good news. And also the good news is that, you know, ex-diamond Ranch reported hey, we're fine. They loaded some good pictures. You know the fire came very close to them but they were saved and they're doing good. They wanted to let everybody know they're good. They did a post yesterday. They still don't have electricity or phone service there yet, but they were doing good yesterday, so that's awesome.
Speaker 2:That's some positive news, yeah yeah, so they're holding the lines and hey bless those firefighters, they're doing a wonderful, wonderful job. And all the volunteers, with the animals all being out there in St John's. Everybody's kicking in and helping. It's really been awesome heck.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you so much to all the firefighters out there. All right, janine, I know you're curious about my trip to prison. This Friday I went to the prison the Arizona State Prison Complex near Yuma for a comedy show with me and three of my best friends, and you told me the one thing that I had to look forward to were the nightmares.
Speaker 2:You might have a couple nightmares after, did you? No, no, I haven't had any nightmares.
Speaker 1:No, it was a great experience. It was really. It was a lot easier to get in than I thought it would be. It was a lot easier to get in than I thought it would be. You go through the front gate and then we had an escort join us and, yeah, right off the bat, the escort was like yeah, I'm a little nervous for you guys Because they had never, ever, done a stand-up comedy at any of the prisons she's worked at, or this prison in the 13 years she worked there. Wow, yeah, so that wasn't a good way to start, because she's letting you know, we've never tried this before.
Speaker 1:Good luck, buddy yeah, and then, yeah, you, you go in and then there's a metal detector and I was bringing in a lot of stuff to prison because, like all my uh, you know pa system and everything, you know our stage for the show, and so they mark everything down that, uh, you're bringing in. And then, when you know our stage for the show, and so they mark everything down that you're bringing in, and then when you leave, they mark everything down. Make sure you're taking everything you brought in with you.
Speaker 2:Didn't leave any hacksaws.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, no. And yeah, it was the first time I've ever done stand-up in front of an audience wearing matching outfits.
Speaker 2:Ooh.
Speaker 1:Okay and we did two shows. The first show I was surprised at you know how responsive they were and they really enjoyed the show and were super appreciative of it and the second show there was a guy in the front row that wanted my friend Ryan to like kind of roast him, heckle him. I was like, no, that sounds like a trap. Yeah, exactly Go him, heckle him.
Speaker 2:I was like, no, that sounds like a trap. Yeah, exactly Go ahead, heckle me, try it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but both shows were. It was a really good experience. How many were in there watching you? Probably the first show, I'd say we had 80 to 100. Nice, and then the second show, probably 40 to 60. Ooh, and yeah, they were super nice and thankful that we came out. It was definitely a great experience.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's awesome. That's really cool.
Speaker 1:And I did not get a prison tattoo.
Speaker 2:There you go.
Speaker 1:No tattoos you aren't scarred.
Speaker 2:No bad dreams, very nice.
Speaker 1:No bad dreams yet All right, Janine, you ready to get motivated?
Speaker 2:Yes, please Always need that on Monday.
Speaker 1:All right, here we go. Here are today's motivational quotes. First one happy Monday. Whatever you do today, do it to the best of your abilities. You can do this.
Speaker 4:I don't know who said that.
Speaker 1:Carol Burnett said when you have a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go. Next one focus, more smile, more grind, more show Monday who's the boss? Pablo Picasso said action is the foundational key to all success. I love that. Without action, you got nothing. Ray Kroc said luck is a dividend of sweat the more you sweat, the luckier you get. And Sarah Brown said the only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen. That was good. What are today's?
Speaker 2:motivational. Oh, I love the chicken one, but I like the action one.
Speaker 1:The chicken.
Speaker 2:That's her action.
Speaker 1:You know, there you go Exactly Pablo Picasso one yeah, the chicken, that's her action. You know, there you go Exactly Pablo Picasso Action is the foundational key to all success is today's motivational quote of the day, Janine we love you and we'll talk to you later.
Speaker 2:Okay, action man, All right.
Speaker 1:On the phone we have my best friend producer, ryan McKee. He and I performed at a prison in Yuma doing some stand-up comedy on Friday. How are you doing this Monday after our wild weekend?
Speaker 3:It's a wild weekend. I'm a little tired, but boy did we have some fun. I thought I was so nervous about performing at a prison, not because I was worried for my safety, but because I just thought we would bomb in front of a bunch of really scary men. Right, and it was the opposite they loved it. We did so well, at least the first show. We did two shows.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the second show wasn't as good, but they were still appreciative.
Speaker 3:They were really appreciative. They didn't laugh as much, but they seemed to. They were engaged, they were a captive audience. Duh, duh, duh and they were really nice about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was great. What surprised you most about our performance in the prison?
Speaker 3:How few prison guards that were in there.
Speaker 1:I know there was like one or maybe two.
Speaker 3:Yeah, maybe there might have been zero half the time.
Speaker 1:What was your favorite part of the prison show? What was the most entertaining part of performing at the prison?
Speaker 3:It was watching you on the second show. Just go for it, because you are flamboyant and super high energy and the second audience was not really that boisterous. But by the time you got on stage you got them really going, I feel like yeah, yeah, the second show, I think.
Speaker 1:When I saw everyone I felt like there was no pressure because no one was doing as well as the last show. So I was like I'm just going to go and just have fun, and it was also. I was like I'm not going to talk about prison at all, I'm just going to go up and be silly and goofy and just see what they do. And it was cool to see these guys with prison tats on their face just start cracking a smile at me, just being a goofball and shaking my hips.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, and you were talking about how you couldn't protect your wife. Yeah, and you were talking about how you couldn't protect your wife. I love that. Just owning the fact in front of inmates that you can't fight or you can't protect your wife, it's very funny.
Speaker 1:Man, it was so much fun. Make sure you follow Ryan McKee's social media and my social media, as we'll be posting more videos and recaps of our trip, and you even got some footage of our stand-up, so we'll be posting some of those clips as well. Yeah, it's going to be fun, heck. Yeah, how about we play a game before you leave? Sounds good. We just performed at the prison in Yuma this weekend and we got some major street cred. Now, right?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Guys with face tattoos laughed at us. That is total street cred.
Speaker 1:Total street cred. Well before you leave, I thought we'd play a game called Real News or Fake News, with some prison headlines. I'll read you a headline. You tell me if it really happened at a prison or not. Ready.
Speaker 3:Ready.
Speaker 1:Or these are also like prison inmate quotes too. All right, Okay. This guy tried to escape by disguising himself as a giant flamingo.
Speaker 3:I'm going to say that's fake.
Speaker 1:Oh, very good. Oh, he's sharp. This morning he faked a heart attack to get out of dish duty.
Speaker 3:I'm going to say real.
Speaker 1:That is real. That is real, all right. Inmate caught with contraband cell phone hidden in his prosthetic leg. Caught with contraband cell phone hidden in his prosthetic leg.
Speaker 3:I'm going to say real.
Speaker 1:That is real. Inmate tried to dig a tunnel with a spoon but got caught because it was a plastic spoon.
Speaker 3:I'm going to say fake.
Speaker 1:That is fake. Prisoner sues jail for serving crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy. Oh Real that.
Speaker 3:Real.
Speaker 1:That is my gosh, you are on fire. Escape attempt ended when inmate tried to ride out of a stolen Roomba.
Speaker 3:That would be fake that would be awesome, though.
Speaker 1:Did you hear about those prisoners that escaped in Louisiana? No, yeah, they just like moved this thing and there was like an opening for them, and they even wrote a note like too easy, it was like 10 prisoners got out.
Speaker 3:Oh no, I thought you were trying to sell me on the. Did you hear about the escape in Louisiana? They all rode out on Roombas Last one. They thought they were just cats riding Roombas Last one.
Speaker 1:Florida man escapes prison, breaks into home only to take a shower and make a sandwich.
Speaker 3:I'm going to say that's Anything's real if it's coming from Florida. Yep Holy moly, let's go with real shower and make a sandwich.
Speaker 1:Good morning, it's the Morning Brew with Chris. Who's this?
Speaker 3:Hey, good morning, my friend.
Speaker 1:Heck. Yeah, it's Virgil the Cowboy out of Eager Arizona. How are you doing, buddy? Oh, we're doing all right. Yeah, did you guys have to get evacuated?
Speaker 3:No, it's a long ways from us.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh, oh. You're like way, way far away from it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but we still got a fire line around our ranch.
Speaker 1:Oh really, who put the fire line around there? The crew, oh that's cool. The girls, oh, your crew did. And then explain to me what is a fire line. It just basically stops the fire. Fire line, is you?
Speaker 3:take all the weeds and everything away out of your way, and that way, if it burns, that way it won't go into your place.
Speaker 1:Oh, perfect. Okay, and then do you have any smoke on your ranch? Do you have any of that smoke heading your way? No, it's way out that way. Oh perfect. So were you guys just working all weekend or did you get to have any fun?
Speaker 3:Well, I went to church yesterday.
Speaker 1:Oh nice, do you go to cowboy church? Yeah?
Speaker 3:I went to church yesterday. Yeah, I go to church up here. But, anyway, my crew. I want to hear a song for them called Tough People. Yeah, they went out and helped yesterday over there at the fire. Oh, that's awesome. I didn't know that until they told me.
Speaker 1:That's cool. You didn't go out with them. No, like I said, I was at church. Oh, nice, nice. Well, that's sweet, buddy. Did you hear I went to prison this weekend? Yeah, how'd you get out?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I thought you were going to be in for five years or something.
Speaker 1:Oh really no, I just went for a comedy show. Good morning, it's the Morning Brew with Chris. Who's this? Good morning, jailbird.
Speaker 4:Chris.
Speaker 1:Heck yeah, it's Brian from Pinedale. How you doing on this Monday morning.
Speaker 4:I'm doing really good, so now we have another nickname for you besides Champion Chris. What's that Jailbird? Jailbird Chris.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you what. My mom was so nervous for the show, but it turned out great. It was a lot of fun and I don't know if I would do it again, but it was a lot of fun indeed. Why. What was the bad side of it. There's no bad side.
Speaker 4:Oh, okay, Okay, it's just a ways out there. Yeah, I know it's a good. What? Five or six hours from here?
Speaker 1:Yes, six hours from here yeah. And then this Friday, talk about two different worlds. I'm going to be officiating my daughter's wedding in Salt Lake City. Yeah, I hear I'm going to miss you all week. Yep, yep. The rest of the week will be pre-recorded shows. It'll be a lot of fun because I have my daughter and her fiancé. I'm doing segments with them, so you'll get to meet my daughter and her future husband.
Speaker 4:Oh, cool, cool yeah. So would you like to play a game today?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. It's now time for Table Topics With Brian from Pinedale. Okay, Brian, let's do it.
Speaker 4:All right, you ready, ready? Which food item is guaranteed to be stocked in your house?
Speaker 1:Which food item is guaranteed to be stocked? Probably bread or oh you know what. Actually, my wife stocks the pantry like she lives with a little kid. I get a bunch of gummy bears, oh yeah. So I have a lot of gummy snacks, a lot of fruit snacks and a lot of granola bars.
Speaker 4:I thought your mother-in-law snagged all those.
Speaker 1:Well, she does sometimes, but I hide them from her.
Speaker 4:Oh, you hide them, okay, yeah, next question Next one what's the most surprising thing that ever happened to you?
Speaker 1:Probably performing a stand-up comedy in a prison would probably be the most surprising thing. Also, being able to perform with some of my comedy idols, like David Spade and Norm MacDonald and Chris Kattan those things are definitely surprising to me.
Speaker 4:Oh, I thought you would say your wife said yes to the second marriage. Oh well, yeah.
Speaker 1:That was very surprising. I'm so thankful for that.
Speaker 4:All right, and last one, last question what's your favorite excuse for procrastinating?
Speaker 1:Oh, you know what? Tomorrow's just a much better day to get things done. Okay, that was tabletopping With Brian from Pinedale. Thanks, brian, we love you, best friend.
Speaker 4:Okay, I hope you have a great wedding and hope everything goes good with that.
Speaker 1:All right, absolutely buddy. Talk to you later. We'll be back, I'll be back.
Speaker 4:A week from today.
Speaker 1:A week from today. Yep, that's right, all right, all right. See you, buddy, bye, bye.
