Tony Perkins on Comedy, Craft & the Carson Standard

He grabbed a hairbrush as a kid and pretended it was a microphone. Decades later, Tony Perkins has anchored major newscasts, co-hosted Good Morning America alongside Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts, and made audiences laugh from comedy club stages to the NBC4 anchor desk. In Part 1, Tony talks with Rob and Jess about what stand-up comedy taught him about reading a room, the phone call that changed everything, and why it took him two full months at a network show to remember: they hired me because of me. Plus — the moment he stood in a corner trying to collect himself after hugging a Beatle.

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Welcome to the Progress Report, where we sit down with people whose stories, experiences, and perspectives help shape the conversations happening across America. I'm joined by my co-host, Rob Somerano, and today's guest is someone who spent decades informing, entertaining, and connecting with audiences in Washington, D.C. and across the country. Tony Perkins is currently a co-anchor on NBC Four's News for Today, but his career spans stand-up comedy stages, radio studios, major network television, and some of the most recognizable news desks in America. Many know Tony from his years at Fox Five in Washington, D.C., or from his time on Good Morning America, alongside broadcast legends, Dinosaur, and Robin Roberts. Others know him for his humor, authenticity, and ability to make people feel like they're simply having a conversation with a friend. But what makes Tony's story so compelling is not just his career itself. It's the reinvention, resilience, and humanity behind it all. Tony Perkins, thank you so much for being with us today. Super excited to have you here. Really wanting to dive right into it. Um you've had one of the most unique careers in media: stand-up comedy, radio, weather, entertainment reporting, anchoring major newscasts. Looking back, did you ever envision your path unfolding the way that it has? Well, uh, first of all, let me say I'm very happy to be here. I'm I'm happy that we finally made it happen uh between all of our schedules. Uh you know, I know that can be tough. But um uh that's a good question. So that's a great question. Um, when I was young, I knew I knew that I wanted to work in broadcasting. I um my my father had worked in radio and some TV. Uh he was a disc jockey on the air, uh uh in radio. Um he had uh guested on some TV shows uh many years ago when he wrote a book. Um I had an uncle who worked in broadcasting. He was also in radio. And when I was really, really little, um, my mom used to tell the story of how I was just I watched TV like a lot of kids, but I kind of studied it too. I was very, very into it, drawn to it. I used to uh grab a hairbrush and pretend it was a microphone and pretend to be interviewing people, um, or we would get uh, you know, the board games that you used to be able to get, like uh concentration that was a game show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's make a deal, all that kind of stuff. We would get those games and I would uh we would play them at home and I would always want to be the host. So it would always be my mom versus my brother, and I would be the host because I wanted to, and contestant, uh our next contestant is blah, blah, blah, all that kind of stuff. So I always was drawn to it. Um it's interesting when I was in college, my my original major was broadcast journalism. Then I switched it to cinema studies because I was interested in filmmaking and writing and directing and all that kind of thing, but I still held on to a lot of the broadcast journalism classes. So even before I planned anything, um, the fact that I was interested in both information and uh and entertainment, it was always there. And so I've always had a foot in both of those wells, as it were, and it's just kind of worked out. I there's no way I could have predicted the different things that I've done, but it has kind of played out in a way that makes sense for me, given what my interests were and the things that I was curious about. Did you have a uh favorite TV personality as a kid that was someone that really inspired you? And if so, who was it? Uh absolutely, uh, that is an easy answer. At the top of the list, uh Johnny Carson, uh who hosted the Tonight Show uh for 30 years, just shy of 30 years. Um I grew up watching Johnny Carson. He was, you know, and and a lot of young people uh don't know him now. I mean, obviously you can go to YouTube and look up all the videos, and there are plenty and they are hysterical. Um, but you know, it's funny because to me he was the gold standard when it comes to hosting an entertainment talk show. And and you know, Johnny was a smart guy, so it wasn't a it wasn't a dumb show, but it was very funny, very entertaining. Um, you know, he would have book authors on and and all kinds of stuff. And I just thought he was he was amazingly funny, quick witted. Um, so yeah, uh Johnny Carson was a big uh was my big influence. Now, oddly enough, growing up when I did, uh being a man of a certain age, um like many people I watched, uh CBS News was the uh gold standard at that time. Of course, Walter Cronkite was uh the anchor of CBS Evening News. I remember watching him when I was a kid, uh, you know, and certainly when there were big events that would happen, um uh, you know, the moon landings and all that kind of stuff, like like millions of other people, I was tuned into uh Walter Cronkite. Uh the other person, and as you mentioned, I was a stand-up comedian for a long time. Uh the other person whose albums I had and who I uh would watch on variety shows and then the different TV shows he had, Bill Cosby. Now, you always have to say now, this was before everything else that happened at the time. Cosby was uh, you know, one of the top comics on the planet. He was uh, you know, very inventive in terms of his storytelling, his albums were classic. So I would say those were the big influences on me when I was young. Yeah. What what did what did comedy teach you about reading people and connecting with an audience? Because that to me is something that really kind of um what would the right word be? It it it's it's uh I mean it's something that we we as humans deal with day to day, but especially in the profession that you're in. So what what did you learn from from being on the comedy circuit? Uh well, first of all, I loved the comedy circuit. It was uh, you know, and when I was doing comedy was the mid-80s to the early 90s. So this was a period of time when comedy really exploded, and there were comedy clubs everywhere, um, and a lot of working comedians. And so you had the ability, you know. I uh I'm based here in the Washington, D.C. area. This is where I started, and there was Garvin's Comedy Club, there was the Comedy Cafe, there was Charm City in Baltimore, a lot of places where you could play um and do your act. One of the things that I loved about comedy, I love laughing, first of all. I love making people laugh. Um, but what you are asking about is very interesting. Connecting with an audience and all of that. When I first I I kind of went up on the stage, I went up on open mic night one night, kind of as a dare from some friends who said, you know, you're really funny, you should try stand up, blah, blah, blah. So I did it. And the first time I did it, I wrote seven minutes of material. I went on stage, I killed. I was great. Now, not until, you know, maybe a year or two later did I realize I had written the most generic jokes, uh, you know, that every comedian has probably written. Um, you know, they were nothing special, but uh they made people laugh, and I guess my delivery was enough. So that it was great. I went back two weeks later, wrote another seven minutes, and bombed. And, you know, couldn't buy a laugh. And that was, oddly enough, kind of what hooked me because I kind of thought, well, this is interesting. How could I be, you know, the next Cosby two weeks ago and and and this week I can't I can't buy a laugh? And it was kind of the the science of it, the um, you know, the writing of a joke, or the writing of a material, working it all down to something that that uh uh that uh getting down to the germ of the joke, connecting with people in the audience, because when you're doing stand-up comedy, um there is no, you know, there's no auto-tune, there's no, you're on a movie screen and you know the audience is there and you don't know what they're doing. You're it's you, a microphone, and the audience. So you can't hide, you know, and you know if you're doing well or you're not doing well, and you have to think fast on your feet, and you have to figure out, okay, how do I, if it's not working, how do I get this crowd back? You know, what do I do? Um, and all of that was fascinating to me. Um because I'm sure timing is a big part of it too. You know, you you got people laughing there, and you don't want to just roll into your next joke as they're still in the middle of laughing, and you know you got to know how to time that so that it sounds, you know, very conversational still, which I've always been impressed by that. You know, it's all very, you know, there is uh there are people that I uh have admired over the years, uh uh uh uh going way back, uh Richard Pryor, George Carlin. Um the two of them in particular were uh wordsmiths, and uh every word of their act was important. Uh and it had to be just the right way. Um and all of that is about timing and and finessing the joke. And uh Carlin in particular um you know would work that material until it was exactly what he wanted. Jerry Seinfeld, same thing. He talks about um, you know, if you watch comedians in cars getting coffee, which was a great show, you know, all those conversations about comedy, so much of it was about the art of comedy and and the skill and the science of it. And uh, you know, it's it's it's a lot of fun, it's a great way to make a living, but it's it's also very fascinating. Yeah, yeah. And some of it's also innate, too. I heard a story once with uh Dean Martin, him and Frank Sinatra were good buddies with each other. Yes, and Frank was always you know enamored by the fact that Dean would get all these laughs when he was out there, and he said to him, Dee, can you give me some jokes to go tell myself? And he goes, I can give them to you. He goes, you know, see how it goes. And he goes out there and he tells the jokes and nobody laughs. And uh and he goes, How come you you tell the joke and people laugh at it? I tell the same joke, and he goes, because you're not funny. He goes, You're just not funny. You know, right and basically it's kind of like uh, you know, as a baseball player, you know, I can show you the proper biomechanics and everything, but if you don't have the right fast switch and the right timing, and uh you're not gonna throw the ball 90 miles an hour. And some people got it, some people don't, and that's just the way it is for certain things, and and and comedy seems to be one of those. And I I think for many things, you know, there has to be some innate talent there uh uh um in order to really make it work. You know, you can be taught, you know, how to write a joke, uh, but that does not mean you'll be able to deliver the joke. Yeah, but there are people who are like in in Hollywood, there are people who are funny but are not funny on stage, and they're comedy writers. They write for other comedians, they write for sitcoms or what have you. So um you're you're you're right. There has to be some innate talent there. Yeah. So so comedy led you to radio, which led you to TV, which then eventually led you to Good Morning America. When when did you realize things were really starting to change for you professionally and that like just momentum was building? When when did that hit you? Um, you know, I think probably similar similarly to the two of you and many uh of your listeners. Um, you know, you're so busy, like Rob, I'm very fascinated by your whole baseball journey and the story and all that kind of stuff. You're so busy doing what you're doing. And for for most of us, these things happen in increments. You know, there's not one big thing that happens all of a sudden, although Good Morning America certainly was big, but um, it happens in increments. So it's not so much that you're aware, like, oh, okay, now it's happening. You know, it's just it just starts going in a in a in a different direction. Um probably the biggest um moment for me was getting the Good Morning America phone call because I'd been working in local television here in Washington. I worked for uh Fox Five for many, many, many years. Uh started out as a weathercaster, made my way up to the anchor desk, um, and did a lot of feature stuff and all that kind of thing. Um but literally one day I was in the uh newsroom and got a phone call, and it was uh an executive with ABC in New York who did talent recruitment, and they had seen my tape, which is another story which I should probably share. Um they saw my tape and they liked it, and uh they knew about me in Washington and what I did. Our show was number one, and uh they offered me the job. Um, and so that was big because if you work in local television, most of us aspire to national TV. And um so that you know it happened, and uh it was it was nerve-wracking, it was very exciting. I was super nervous uh to go up to New York and do this job. Um I think that um the most unsure of myself that I've ever been in my career was my first month or two at Good Morning America because it's such a big stage. And unlike local TV, network TV, there's so many people weighing in. Executives, consultants, uh, you know, you should dress this way. We want you to wear uh a suit with sneakers, we want that to be your trademark. We you gotta do this, you gotta do that. And so it really kind of threw me until um you know, uh probably talking to someone, uh uh friends or uh uh you know maybe my agent at the time, but you know, at some point I realized, well, wait a minute, they hired me because of me, so I should be me. Yeah. Um and you know, it it really took a couple of months to to come to that conclusion. But you know, fortunately I did finally. Now, to that point, you said you know, to be me, part of who you are is a funny comedian. And I always think back to the uh Seinfeld episode where basically they were saying that Jerry can't not be funny, and he's going, you know, is this funny? Am I being funny? And George gets angry and goes, Right, yeah, it's still a little funny. Did you ever did you ever find yourself where your comedic um attributes were coming out in situations where you're like, I should probably be a little more serious here during this news report and you know had to adjust, or did you kind of just let it let it come out? So um so currently, since I so my current main job is I'm a uh uh the morning co-anchor on uh NBC 4 in Washington of uh uh News for today, which is the early morning show comes on before the today show. And um, and they they let us, you know, they let us show our personalities, which is great. And you know, what people comment on more than anything else, you know, they don't they don't come up and say, I love the way you read that story. Uh they talk about the chemistry between everybody, right? And we genuinely like each other and we have some funny moments. But there are times where you know there'll be a we're reading a story or we're having a conversation and something will enter my mind, and I have, you know, a split second to figure out, can I do that? Should I do it? And you know, I would say 50% of the time I do it, 50% of the time I don't, because it's like uh not really appropriate on a on a news show. The funny thing is, for uh my first few years, first couple of years at NBC, I was doing I was anchoring the morning show and uh co-hosting an afternoon radio show with Donnie Simpson, who is one of the most popular uh uh radio and TV guys uh in history. Uh uh he's in the Radio Hall of Fame. Uh we worked together back in the 80s and 90s and then reunited, um, I don't know, maybe 10 years ago. And uh so for a while I was doing the morning news, and in the afternoon I was Donnie's uh partner, and that was you know, laughter, jokes, and and music. Um, so it was a real uh weird dichotomy, but you know, I've always had a a good so what's interesting was so in the morning I can be funny, um, but I'm not gonna be outrageous, you know. On the radio show, we could have fun. Yeah, I can say stuff on the radio that I wouldn't say on TV, but then on the radio show, on days where something heavy had happened, there was some big news event, I could transition into that mode, which was very helpful to the radio show. So I'm I'm very my career has been unique. It's been, you know, in both of these worlds and it's it's worked. I've made it work and it's worked for me. So very fortunate. Yeah. You mentioned Johnny Carson earlier. That was one of the things I was always impressed by with him, is you know, he had such a soothing voice that he he was a voice that you could fall asleep to. Yes. But at the same time, it was still a very entertaining show, and there were a lot of laughs. And and it's to your point earlier, too, you said you know, he could have somebody on there that is a comedian and have everybody roaring, right? And he could have somebody on there that's telling a serious story that he listened to and and and knew the right tone to bring to it. I remember the time uh Jimmy Stewart was on there and he read a poem about his dog, and and everybody, you know, everybody's in tears by the end of it. That's right. And and you know, at the beginning of it, they're kind of thinking it was going to be a joke, and then it became to be a very serious uh story. And I think it takes uh it takes a talented person to be able to do something like that and switch gears like that, and and Johnny could certainly do it, and I think that's with what you're doing, that's probably the perfect guy for you to try to you know emulate to a certain degree. So, Johnny, the other great thing about Johnny, and this this pertains to comedy. You talk uh uh uh uh uh uh Jessica, you talk about connecting with the audience. You know, you got to listen to the audience. So you know, you know, you're not just gonna plow through and say, I'm gonna force this, you know, uh material. If they're not responding, they're not responding. But also in news, um, you when you're interviewing people, you've got to listen to them. I can't tell you how often I'll watch somebody and they're interviewing someone and they ask a question, the person says something and may even say something that's um startling or or newsworthy, demands a follow-up, and the person just sticks with their questions that they've got written down. It's like they're not even listening, they're just looking at that next question. Johnny listened to his guest, and unlike what you see frequently now, listen, Johnny was one of the funniest people on the planet, but he knew how to let his guest shine. If you know, one of my favorite things, I don't know how old your listeners are. Hopefully, this isn't uh these aren't old references. Rodney Dangerfield. Yeah. You you pull up any appearance of Rodney Dangerfield on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Johnny would introduce him, Rodney would come out, do seven minutes of stand-up, at the end of a set, come over to the desk, sit down. Johnny would say, So, Rodney, how you been? And Rodney would go, Oh, I'll tell you, Johnny, it's been rough. It's been rough. I'll tell you, last night I were and he just would get another seven minutes. And Johnny would just say, Is that so? Really? You know, just let him go. Yeah, you know, yeah. If your guest is shining, then you're shining, you know. Right. You said it. That's what my dad, you know, he was a big Johnny Carson fan. I I watched the reruns. I was a little young for when he was actually on TV, but um, he said that's what he liked compared to some of the guys that followed him and some of the guys today. Right. Because he felt feels like sometimes these guys are almost competing with their comedic guests with, you know, you know, uh a jousting of of comedic uh talents as opposed to Johnny, where he he he just kind of laid the ground out for you, let you be funny, and then when he needed to kind of come in with his own humor to spice it up a little more, he would. Absolutely right. And that takes that takes a lot of talent to be able to do that. Talent takes uh, you know, uh uh some a bit of a lack of ego, you know. Yes. Um now, you know, I mean he had an ego. Anyone who's the king of late night is gonna is gonna have an ego, but you know, he could he could uh have that subside. Uh I don't know what the word is I'm looking for, but you know, in order to make for a better show. You know, if Ed got a laugh, Ed McMahon, that was fine. If his guests got a laugh, all the better. It's great. Yeah. And what better laugh to have on the stage with you than Ed McMahon's laugh? That's right. You're making me want to go, and I'm gonna go and I haven't watched uh Johnny Carson in a long time, but you're making me want to go back now, and I've gotta go see if I can find it on the on the table box there. Not a week goes by that I don't. watch some Johnny Carson on YouTube. That's classic. Classic. So I who who would be I who would be the the to you the the coolest person that you've interviewed and or story that you've covered in your in your career. Wow. Okay uh coolest person that I've interviewed. Um I have been extremely well you know I was gonna say extremely fortunate. So I've been doing this a long time uh radio local TV national TV and because of my interest in entertainment when I was at Good Morning America uh I I have a particularly strong interest in popular music um so they would let me do a lot of those interviews I interviewed uh Stevie Wonder uh uh uh uh uh BB King um Crosby still's Nash and Young I mean all kinds of people and um Ringo Starr uh uh the drummer for the Beatles and um I'm a huge huge Beatles fan uh so I mean I have a you know I have a Beatles room in my house that has memorabilia um so to be able to sit down on numerous occasions and talk to Ringo laugh with him um have him know who I am which is crazy um that's really that yeah it doesn't it doesn't get better than that it really doesn't uh that's fantastic yeah it was that was a dream come true I remember when when it happened my producer uh Gary Stein who I do a podcast with now um he called me well he I remember he came to my office and he said hey uh Ringo is going on tour uh and he's gonna be rehearsing in Atlantic City uh are you interested in going down and interviewing him I was like yeah yes I of course I'm interested you know and I just figured there's no way this is gonna happen and then you know hey it's gonna happen we're gonna do it Gary had to go down ahead of me to get everything set up and all that kind of thing I remember uh after the show one morning getting in a car a town car uh uh uh uh being driven down to Atlantic City I remember the whole time thinking at any moment my cell phone is gonna ring or my pager whatever we had at the time and I'm gonna be told turn around Ringo's not going to do it I got all the way there got to the rehearsal space and uh lo and behold is uh I'm standing outside of where his band is rehearsing uh talking to his PR person the band stops playing the door opens Ringo Starr walks out and uh and his uh publicist says Ringo this is Tony I was telling you about Tony this is Ringo Starr and I I I don't I used to remember this I don't really remember it at the moment but my obviously my name's Tony Perkins that was an actor who was in the movie Psycho Ringo made some kind of joke something like uh you know something like uh uh well you know I'll be sure never to stay in a hotel with you or something and it you know made us all laugh and it it put me at ease right away so um but after the interview at the end of the interview because we spent 25 minutes together uh Ringo it was obvious that I knew my stuff um I I wasn't just you know asking the same questions that he's always asked I talked about him not just the Beatles um and and so at the end of the interview when we were done uh I thanked him uh profusely uh shook his hand and he said oh come on give us one of those hugs and we stood up and we hugged and after he left the room I had to go stand in the corner uh for a few moments and uh get myself together because I was pretty emotional. Um that's amazing I just couldn't believe it. I just spent time with one of the Beatles. Yeah not many people get to meet you know the group or the team or the player or the actor that's their idol. And to be able to do that and actually interview and let your talent be used to get to know the person that's that's amazing. Yeah that's amazing. Tony this has been such a fantastic conversation and honestly I feel like we've only just begun to to touch the tip of the iceberg there's so much more we want to dive into so we're actually going to continue this conversation in another episode where we'll talk more about your personal journey and your battle with prostate cancer, your passion for storytelling and comedy and what continues to drive you after all these years in the business. So for everyone listening this is part one of our conversation with Tony Perkins make sure you come back for part two of the progress report with our guest Tony Perkins