"Best Of/ Fathers Day Special" Interview with Sprague Edwards, My Dad! Show #259

This is a repeat show from early in my podcast history where I sat and chatted with my Father, Sprague Edwards. He was where I always thought my sense of humor came from. We lost him in mid-2020 and I am thankful I was able to record this before he passed. It really isn't comedy based; but a good story about a good man, and it is topped off by a short set from my Dad's favorite comic....Pat Paulsen. Thanks for listening and allowing me this personal moment.

(00:03:04) Father's Comedic Influence on Son's Humor

(00:10:26) Luxury Ownership of Vintage Televisions

(00:18:19) T10 Parachute Test Jump Challenge

(00:21:23) Generational Bonding Through Comedy Legends

(00:29:22) Oscar Contract Negotiation Success in Trophies

(00:31:37) Political Satire in Pat Paulson's Comedy

Transcript

R. Scott Edwards: 0:01

Hi everyone. Welcome back to Stand Up Comedy, your host and emcee. For over five years, we've been diving deep into the world of stand up comedy, sharing stories, insights and laughs with some of the most talented comedians, club owners and industry insiders around. Now we're taking you on a trip down memory lane with a special best of series. We've handpicked some of the most unforgettable moments, greatest laughs and top insights from past episodes. So whether you're a longtime listener or just joining us, these episodes are packed with gems you won't want to miss. So sit back, relax and get ready to relive the laughs. This is Stand Up Comedy, your host and the Best of edition. This is another episode of Stand Up Comedy, your host and emcee celebrating 40 plus years on the fringe of show business stories, interviews and comedy sets from the famous and not so famous, here's your host and MC Scott Edwards. Hi and welcome to this week's show. Hey, I want to do something totally different and I need to beg your indulgence. My whole reason for being in the comedy business comes from my sense of humor and that came from my dad. And I just need to share with you a little bit about my dad and how his life went and how maybe it affected me and my sense of humor. Now, my dad sadly passed away last year, but not that sadly had a great life and he did a lot of interesting things. But before he passed, I had a chance to interview him. Now it was about a 90 minute interview and it was really mostly just to get on record his life story. But because my sense of humor came from him and our appreciation of comedy, I thought I'd share with you a few minutes of his life as he would tell it. This will be about 20 minutes and then like every other podcast, I'll end it with some great stand up comedy in this week featuring my dad's favorite stand up Pat Paulson. So I know you'll enjoy that. So sit back and listen to the funny ramblings of my dad as he talks about his life from early schoolhood in through the army and a job after that. I hope you find it interesting. It's certainly got some nice historical pieces and I think it's kind of funny. So ladies and gentlemen, sit back and enjoy this podcast as it starts right now. One of the reasons that I ended up going into Comedy and Laughs Unlimited was that I was raised by a very funny guy who had a great sense of humor. As a traveling salesman, he was always quick with a Joke. And always shared lots of funny moments with me in my life. Yes. My lifelong buddy, my father, Sprague Edward.

Sprague Edwards: 3:04

Yay.

R. Scott Edwards: 3:07

Well, the crowd goes nuts. Hey, welcome to the podcast, dad. How you doing?

Sprague Edwards: 3:12

Just fine, thank you.

R. Scott Edwards: 3:13

And it's good to be able to chit chat with you a little bit. We have known each other a long time.

Sprague Edwards: 3:20

Most of your life.

R. Scott Edwards: 3:21

Yeah. And I just wanted to get an opportunity to share with the podcast listeners about where I came from. And that means how I was raised in a somewhat funny environment, or at least appreciative of comedy and entertainment. Through you.

Sprague Edwards: 3:42

Junior high school was very interesting. We were always in trouble. Every morning we had to go to the DMN and get swatted with a fraternity paddle. But he let us put stuff in our back pocket, so it didn't really hurt much.

R. Scott Edwards: 4:00

That's kind of nice of him.

Sprague Edwards: 4:01

Yeah. But our gym teachers, there was a guy named Mr. Patrick, and he hit you with a fraternity pad right as you get out of the shower. And that really hurt.

R. Scott Edwards: 4:11

Wow. Corporal punishment in school. Those were the days, I should point out to everybody. My father turned 89 a few months ago, so these memories go back to a time when they didn't have the rules and concerns they have in the public today. But corporal punishment lasted well into my school years. Going to Catholic schools, you could get swatted by a ruler here and there, but never a big paddle. So I guess it got lightener. Lightener and lighter. Now I think they just put kids in corner, which is really no punishment at all because they take their phone and they're entertained and they have to.

Sprague Edwards: 4:49

Wear a little dunce hat.

R. Scott Edwards: 4:50

Yeah.

Sprague Edwards: 4:52

One thing was sort of fun. He got a job. His mother was a nurse in this doctor's building. It's 10 stories high. She got him a job as the elevator operator. So we used to go down the basement and play cards and horse around until the bell rang. And then Dick would jump into the elevator and take it up. And there's a bar across the bottom of the elevator. And one of us would grab bar and go up to wherever went up. And then the only problem he had was be sure to jump off before the elevator pushed you into the ground.

R. Scott Edwards: 5:25

Oh, wow.

Sprague Edwards: 5:26

But it was kind of fun.

R. Scott Edwards: 5:27

And scary, but fun.

Sprague Edwards: 5:29

Oh, yeah.

R. Scott Edwards: 5:30

Crazy high school kids.

Sprague Edwards: 5:31

Oh, well. Yeah. And. But seller's mother worked for the state of California employment office. And she said one day this wizard little old man came in and said, do you know any young men would like to go to sea? And she said, I know one her son. And he said, well, I need three. So I was only 17, so I had to give my parents permission. And one thing I give my parents a lot of credit for is they gave me an awful lot of freedom. And in other words, they figured out that I could take care of myself and I wouldn't embarrass the family or anything, whatever I did.

R. Scott Edwards: 6:07

And they supported you, which is nice.

Sprague Edwards: 6:10

Yeah, well, they didn't. Yeah, till I was 17. Then they got the hell out of there. But anyhow, we got, we got a ship. Now there's a trick there. You have to, have to get a ship. You have to have Siemens papers. To get seamen's papers. She had to have a ship.

R. Scott Edwards: 6:27

That's kind of a catch 22.

Sprague Edwards: 6:28

Right. So we had a ship. So we ran over to the Coast Guard and got our seamen's papers as ordinary seamen and went on board and spent about a month cleaning the ship up. And then we decided that it was time to go to sea. So we went over to get some scientists and students of oceanography and stuff like that on board. It was a survey ship for the Fish and Wildlife Service in the Department of Interior. It had been a three massive schooner. So it had this huge hull on it, made ours. What do they call the thing on the bottom?

R. Scott Edwards: 7:08

It's the hole.

Sprague Edwards: 7:09

No, that's the, the rudder.

R. Scott Edwards: 7:11

The. I'm not a boat guy. Sorry.

Sprague Edwards: 7:14

But it was steel and it was still on the boat. And of course, originally it was a beautiful three masted schooner and the Navy took it over during World War II. Chopped the forward mast and the aft mast off, cut the mizzen mass in half, put a house on it, two diesel engines in it. We still the keel. We still had the.

R. Scott Edwards: 7:38

Ah, there you go. You had the steel keel and the military converted it from a sailboat to a powerboat.

Sprague Edwards: 7:44

Right. And so anywhere a wave came within 30 miles or so, the boat would just rock like crazy.

R. Scott Edwards: 7:51

And of course, without that keel, lots.

Sprague Edwards: 7:54

Of ways, lots of waves in the ocean. Anyway, we headed for the Chevron docks to fill up with fuel and Sellers was at the wheel and the captain was standing next to him. And as we're probably about five or six miles an hour knots per hour, we're heading for the Chevron dock and I can see Dick arguing with the captain about don't we think we should put it in reverse? And I guess he said no. So I saw we're going to hit the dock. So I laid down on the deck so I wouldn't fall and get Knocked down and we hit that sucker and asphalt and timbers and everything was flying. Everybody on the dock went running for the land. And it was a real fiasco on it for our very beginning trip.

R. Scott Edwards: 8:46

Well, that's interesting, because I knew you were in the Merchant Marine, but I guess not hearing the stories in chronological, I thought it was after your time in Korea during the Korean War as a paratrooper. So you were actually a teenager. Seamen in the Merchant Marine. And then. Okay, so you did that for how long?

Sprague Edwards: 9:07

One year.

R. Scott Edwards: 9:07

One year.

Sprague Edwards: 9:08

And one of the most exciting things was I'm 17 years old now and I'm at the wheel and we hit a hurricane.

R. Scott Edwards: 9:17

And I gotta ask, why would they let 17 year olds drive the boat?

Sprague Edwards: 9:23

Because at my job.

R. Scott Edwards: 9:25

Oh, really? A regular Seaman first Class could still steer the boat. There must be a captain on deck.

Sprague Edwards: 9:32

There's an officer and two seamen on each watch. And we switch off on who was steering.

R. Scott Edwards: 9:41

I was staring and it's a lot of responsibility.

Sprague Edwards: 9:44

Well, he comes up with this hurricane and the captain comes there and says, for God's sake, Edwards, don't get in a trough or we'll be swamped. Okay.

R. Scott Edwards: 9:56

Wow, that's a lot of pressure.

Sprague Edwards: 9:57

Well, 30 foot waves. And I look out the window, all I saw was water. And then we get up to the top of the waves and I saw the sky. And we had this big picture window. It was a little unnerving, but eventually it died down and we just followed it rather than trying to battle with it. And when it calmed down enough, we turned around and went back to where we're supposed to be. 1950.

R. Scott Edwards: 10:26

Okay. So television had started, but was not a household thing yet.

Sprague Edwards: 10:31

Oh, heck no.

R. Scott Edwards: 10:32

And still black and white and small, and only rich people had them.

Sprague Edwards: 10:35

I think that's one of the reasons I married Marilyn because she had a television.

R. Scott Edwards: 10:41

So you married my mom because she had a tv?

Sprague Edwards: 10:44

Yeah, we got.

R. Scott Edwards: 10:44

Ouch.

Sprague Edwards: 10:45

Oh, we got to watch. Real funny Jewish guy, Milton Berle. Milton Berle, Yeah. They were close. Merle and Mill.

R. Scott Edwards: 10:53

No, that's good. Milton Berle, yeah. Was huge in radio. And then he can. He was one of the successful people. Him and Red Skelton and a few others that were able Bob Hope to convert over to tv.

Sprague Edwards: 11:04

Right. That was the reason I married her, but it was a pull.

R. Scott Edwards: 11:09

So now you're in junior college. What. Where'd you go after that?

Sprague Edwards: 11:14

Well, that's when the army wanted me.

R. Scott Edwards: 11:16

Oh, were you drafted?

Sprague Edwards: 11:18

No, they wanted to draft us. Well, I said, well, we got to go somewhere and I said, let's go to the Navy. I mean, I really love the ocean. Chuck said, oh, no, I'll get seasick. So we had a lot of friends that were in the 82nd between wars. They had to train in gliders, which wasn't much fun, plus jumping. And they said, you know, the food was pretty good. And being the, you know, the nation's top branch of the service, it was fun. You know, you get to march in a lot of parades. So we went down and joined the army, specifying we wanted to go on the airborne. And then that Monday, we were in Fort Ord getting processed. The draft board called and wanted to know where the hell I. Where the hell we were. And the school one. We also enrolled in West Contra Costa, so we'd be in school, right. To make the transfer. They wondered where we were. My mother said, well, he's in the Army. He can't be in the army yet. I've already been in for two days.

R. Scott Edwards: 12:35

And you beat them to the punch.

Sprague Edwards: 12:37

Yeah, which is really smart. We got processed in Fort Ordon. What was sort of interesting there, we had about 100 guys take this your different tests to see if you could read and write and stuff. And there was a hundred guys there, and then they wound up with eight, and then they round up with two, and I was one of them.

R. Scott Edwards: 12:59

And so you were the smartest of the bunch.

Sprague Edwards: 13:02

Well, no, there's another guy just pretty much smart. But I wasn't really very smart, I didn't think. But there's a lot of people that are really dumb.

R. Scott Edwards: 13:14

Process of elimination, dad. So what did those last two, meaning you and one other guy end up doing?

Sprague Edwards: 13:20

Well, they asked us if we want to go to ocs. You know, no.

R. Scott Edwards: 13:23

Offroad training school.

Sprague Edwards: 13:24

Yeah.

R. Scott Edwards: 13:25

Wow.

Sprague Edwards: 13:25

Cannon school. And all I could think of was John Wayne in the jungle with a bar on the front of his helmet. Looked just like a good target, saying, follow me. And I said, no, thanks, I'll stay enlisted. And plus you had to stay another six months in the Army. And when you're 18.

R. Scott Edwards: 13:47

That sounds like forever.

Sprague Edwards: 13:48

Seems like forever. Yeah. But I probably should, because in real life, you do a lot more things that you do in the army as an officer than you do as an enlisted man.

R. Scott Edwards: 13:59

More opportunities.

Sprague Edwards: 14:00

Well, there's more things, you know, you have more responsibility and more things to do. You don't have to just dig holes. And I've got a picture somewhere in a foxhole. I look like about 12 years old with this steel pilot rattling around on top of My head. And I was thinking, boy, if I was that an enemy head for me, I didn't look very threatening.

R. Scott Edwards: 14:24

You weren't too intimidating.

Sprague Edwards: 14:25

Not intimidating at all.

R. Scott Edwards: 14:27

But you had signed up in the airborne as a paratrooper, and that training must have been interesting.

Sprague Edwards: 14:33

That was really. But we had to spend 16 weeks taking basic training. When we first got there, they were so short of supplies and stuff, I had to wear my civilian shoes for about a month before they got in. A size 12 shoes.

R. Scott Edwards: 14:47

Wow. Now, where was this?

Sprague Edwards: 14:50

Roberts.

R. Scott Edwards: 14:51

Fort Roberts.

Sprague Edwards: 14:52

Roberts.

R. Scott Edwards: 14:52

Where is that located?

Sprague Edwards: 14:54

San Luis Obispo.

R. Scott Edwards: 14:55

Yeah. Okay, I've seen it.

Sprague Edwards: 14:57

Is Paso Robles.

R. Scott Edwards: 14:58

Actually, I've been by there. Yeah.

Sprague Edwards: 15:00

All summer. It never went below 100.

R. Scott Edwards: 15:04

Wow. It's interesting. I've driven by there several times. And in fact, Jill, my wife, by the way, who's in the government service, had a meeting there. And so we were actually on the base and I didn't know your connection with it.

Sprague Edwards: 15:20

I lived there for almost four months.

R. Scott Edwards: 15:23

Wow.

Sprague Edwards: 15:24

Well, four months, 16 weeks. And I thought these were kind of interesting. The first day we were there, they asked who had a B uniform, which is like. They had an A uniform, which was the best. And the B was pretty close. And then the rest were fatigues. And I said, that can't be a bad job, Chuck. Let's volunteer for it and we'll get extra points. So we did, and they took us a little PX, gave us an unloaded M1s and said, no more than 10 people can come into the PX at a time. Well, just about ready quitting time. Here comes a company of guys who've been out in the field for, I don't know, a week or so. And this corporal who was in charge came up and said, of course, we didn't even know how important a corporal was. He said, my men are hungry. I says, well, they have to come in ten at a time. That did not go over too well. And next thing you know, we were sort of overwhelmed. We broke a ping pong table.

R. Scott Edwards: 16:31

Oh, you tried to physically stop him. Yeah, that was your job with a.

Sprague Edwards: 16:36

With a blanket and empty M1 because shot in the air scared him. But anyway, they beat us. They got in. So that was rule number one. Don't volunteer.

R. Scott Edwards: 16:50

So you thought it'd be a cool job. You ended up getting run over by a company of soldiers.

Sprague Edwards: 16:56

Wait for the best. At the end of basic training, the last thing they do is something called close combat drill. And you march along in a single file with loaded rifles and Targets would come up on either side of you and you're supposed to shoot at them if they're bad guys. Well, it was

Sprague Edwards: about 6:00 or 6: 17:17

30 in the morning

Sprague Edwards: 17:20

and. Cool. I says checkless, volunteer go first. So we did and we came back, guys. Well, you did such a nice job. You can take the rest of the team through, the rest of the company through. We had each of us go through there five times. Kind of shoot, shooting at each other. I mean, they're really half wits. And he said, no, no, do not point the gun at the guy in front of you. It's on the sides. Promise.

R. Scott Edwards: 17:49

And you were somehow in charge of this motley crew for five times. Different times again because you volunteered.

Sprague Edwards: 17:57

Yes, don't do it. But it was, I thought it was a chance to go through before it got real hot. And we wander through going through five times.

R. Scott Edwards: 18:07

Oh geez. I know you learned how to jump out of a plane and you learned how to fall, which you taught me and I know saved you several times. How many jumps as a paratrooper did you make?

Sprague Edwards: 18:19

11. Five in jump school and then six in my regular outfit. But one was really exciting. Yeah, they wanted me to go to school in Fort Harrison. They like send me to school because if I got good grades and stuff that reflected well on the company. And so they always were trying to send me to schools. Well, they sent me this one in Indiana at Fort Harrison. My boss said, well, we have to go jump before you go. And I said, no, I'll jump back when I get, I mean when I get back from class. No, no, you got to jump before. There's only one plane going up and it's a test jump on the new parachute called the T10. Well, they have to test the shoot at 150 knots. Normally we jump at 100 knots.

R. Scott Edwards: 19:08

Wow. So this was a high speed jump.

Sprague Edwards: 19:11

Well, 145 was the next, the last one. And so we all get in this plane and put the chutes on, hook up. And we're sitting there and they take two dummies, 150 pound steel dummies, and both of them malfunctioned. That's a little, not a good sign.

R. Scott Edwards: 19:34

That's intimidating.

Sprague Edwards: 19:35

I was, I think I was a second guy out on my side. The guy in front of me was a smaller man and he blew right back into the plane. I'm looking at him and he kind of finally rolled out and boy, I really jumped hard so I could get.

R. Scott Edwards: 19:52

Actually get out of the plane.

Sprague Edwards: 19:53

I didn't want to go back in now.

R. Scott Edwards: 19:55

You weren't very old at this point, were you?

Sprague Edwards: 19:58

No, but I was. You know, I've been in two years.

R. Scott Edwards: 20:01

So how old were you? We. Last we checked, you were 17 playing football. You now about 19? 20.

Sprague Edwards: 20:08

19, 20, 20, 21 and 22 in the army.

R. Scott Edwards: 20:11

Okay. So pretty young, though. But that's. That's when a lot of people joined the service. Wow.

Sprague Edwards: 20:18

When I first, six times ever in an airplane, I jumped out.

R. Scott Edwards: 20:23

That makes no sense.

Sprague Edwards: 20:25

Well, flying was a big deal then, you know.

R. Scott Edwards: 20:27

Right, right. So you made it through. You survived through the service.

Sprague Edwards: 20:31

Oh, yeah.

R. Scott Edwards: 20:32

And then once you graduated, did you jump into sales?

Sprague Edwards: 20:36

Yeah. Well, what happened was there was a company called IBM. It was just getting started. They had card things and stuff, and I thought they'd probably go someplace, so I really was interested in interviewing with them. And I did. And the guy said, are you in the top 10% of your class? And like a fool, I said, I don't think so. I work full time. I'm married and have a child. But I should have said yes. I probably never would have checked. So I found out that the oil companies paid 395amonth, and regular businesses, Ford and regular other kind of business, paid 350. Well, with a child and another one on the way, I figured 395 was better than 350.

R. Scott Edwards: 21:23

Well. And I think that what was fun for me was introducing you to the various comics you mentioned. We went to lunch once with Garry Shandling, and you got to meet Seinfeld before he had a show. And the list goes on and on. But what's interesting is because I have a respect for the history of comedy, and I think that comes from you. And I don't know if you remember, but. But it was because of you. I booked Pat Paulson and I brought Soupy Sales in and some of the classics of comedy that weren't really. I mean, they were standups, but not really. Soupy Sales wasn't really a standup, but, you know, had an act. And of course, Pat Paulson, the perennial presidential candidate. And we ended up being really good friends. But that was kind of my homage to you. These were people that you respected and liked in comedy.

Sprague Edwards: 22:19

Thank you very much. But they were funny.

R. Scott Edwards: 22:23

Yeah, no, they were definitely funny. And then I know that I had a chance to invite you to Tahoe once, and we hung out for a whole day and a night with Harry Anderson.

Sprague Edwards: 22:34

That was one of the best nights of my life, really. He was just a Delightful man. And even his opening act. What was his name? Sinatra.

R. Scott Edwards: 22:49

Sinatra, yeah.

Sprague Edwards: 22:52

The opening act for the show in Reno. The guy's name was Sinatra. Not Frank?

R. Scott Edwards: 23:00

Not Frank.

Sprague Edwards: 23:01

No. Not even Frank Jr.

R. Scott Edwards: 23:03

It was just some guy named Sinatra was opening up for Harry Anderson. Oh, that's funny. I don't remember that.

Sprague Edwards: 23:10

There you go.

R. Scott Edwards: 23:11

Yeah.

Sprague Edwards: 23:12

Helps the mind.

R. Scott Edwards: 23:13

Yeah. Well, he introduced me to Turk Pipkin and Jay Johnson. And Jay Johnson, the ventriloquist from soap and other TV shows, was a regular co act with Harry Anderson on the road, along with Turk Pipkin, who was a juggler and comedian. But we had a chance to run into him and spend an evening with him. But I think it was really fun for me. And maybe just out of trying to, you know, make your dad proud of you or make your. Your parents happy, it was always great to have you visit the club and be able to see not only me on stage, but the talents that we did. So thanks for being around for that.

Sprague Edwards: 23:53

I knew he was always faking it.

R. Scott Edwards: 23:55

Who?

Sprague Edwards: 23:56

You.

R. Scott Edwards: 23:57

What do you mean I was faking it, though?

Sprague Edwards: 24:02

Just absolutely amazed. He and Bob Stobner and a guy married to a girl named Fawn Mack and Fawn.

R. Scott Edwards: 24:12

Rich Gennakini.

Sprague Edwards: 24:14

Yeah. They started with absolutely nothing. They went in the basement of the Firehouse, which is a fancy restaurant in Old Town, and they made a club out of a basement full of pipes holding up the upstairs.

R. Scott Edwards: 24:31

Yeah. It was an interesting time and it led to something, but it really came from being able to share what was I thought important to me in my thrill of entertainment and comedy with what you raised me with, which was a good sense of humor. I'll give you a quick analogy. Mom was always into painting and gardening, and for whatever reason, as an adult, I have a real. I have no talent at all, but I have a real appreciation of art, which led me to own several art galleries. And I still have kind of a green thumb when it comes to gardening. So, I mean, I picked up things as a child that stayed with me through my adult years. So thank you for that.

Sprague Edwards: 25:18

I've always had a black thumb.

R. Scott Edwards: 25:20

You couldn't keep anything alive.

Sprague Edwards: 25:22

No.

R. Scott Edwards: 25:23

One of the trophy companies you worked for did the Oscars, right?

Sprague Edwards: 25:27

I got the Oscar contract.

R. Scott Edwards: 25:29

You did?

Sprague Edwards: 25:30

That's my claim to fame. Yeah.

R. Scott Edwards: 25:32

Wow. Why don't we tell the audience about that? Who are you working for?

Sprague Edwards: 25:35

R.S. owens. The guy's name was Owen R. Siegel, but he didn't want a Jewish guy to be running a company, so he named it R.C.

R. Scott Edwards: 25:43

Owens.

Sprague Edwards: 25:44

Yeah.

R. Scott Edwards: 25:45

And it was A trophy company, Right.

Sprague Edwards: 25:47

It's been there forever. They were the second guys to start making little golden idols and, you know, baseball players. And the first guy was a guy named Ray Dodge. And I worked for them first, and I thought this was sort of interesting. They had kind of crappy stuff because it was all from, you know, like the 30s. You know, there was the catcher, and the model for the catcher was a real heavyset guy. Anyhow, I answered an ad to sell sporting goods, and it was run by these couple of guys from Harvard who set up a shell company and decided to get into sports. And so they were looking for salesmen for sports. And I thought, you know, it'd be like, Wilson or something like that. Wrong trophies. I didn't even know they sold trophies. And. But they had bought Dodge Trophies, which was the original trophy company, you know, had that all sort of set up, but they didn't know how to sell the stuff. And so I got a job with them and I worked for them for, I guess it was two years or so. And one of my competitors worked for Owens, and he was a nice guy, and he was married to a beautiful girl, and they live in Dana Point in Southern California, and she sold real estate. So when he was home on the weekends, she was selling real estate. When he was on the road, she was sitting around the house. She met some guy who was an airline pilot and thought he was kind of attractive. So my friend got really nervous, and he told the owners of Owens that he was quitting. And they said, is there anybody out there you could recommend? He says, well, I don't know, but there's a guy named Sprague Edwards. Either he had just been there, or he was coming right after me everywhere I went.

R. Scott Edwards: 28:07

Oh, so you guys had the same territory, running into each other all the time?

Sprague Edwards: 28:12

Not very often, but I always sent cards out saying I was coming and stuff. So they called me up and I was with Dodge. I was getting 250 a week draw and always made much more than my draw. And then they called me up and said, would you consider coming to work for us? I said, I don't know. I don't know anything about you except that you make trophies. And they said, well, we'll fly you back here where we'd like to show you around. So I flew back there and they showed me around the plant and everything. We went in the office and he says, what do you think? Would you like to come to work for us? And I said, 500 a week. He says, we don't pay anybody 500 a week. I says, okay. And I started to walk. I said, would you take 450? I said, in a heartbeat.

R. Scott Edwards: 29:08

Wow, that's a huge increase. Reminding from the beginning of this when you were making $3.95 a month. Now you're making$4.50 a week.

Sprague Edwards: 29:18

That's just a draw.

R. Scott Edwards: 29:19

Yeah. And you were making more.

Sprague Edwards: 29:20

You still made more.

R. Scott Edwards: 29:22

So how did you get the Oscar contract?

Sprague Edwards: 29:25

Well, it came open or something and Owen called me and he says, would you make a presentation to the Academy of Motion Pictures and Science? I said I'd be glad to. He said, if you get the contract, I'll give you a thousand bucks. What I finish on. So if I get the contract, give me 2% of sales.

R. Scott Edwards: 29:46

Right? Right.

Sprague Edwards: 29:47

But I didn't even think of it. Thousand bucks seemed like fun. So that made the presentation, got the contract.

R. Scott Edwards: 29:53

Wow.

Sprague Edwards: 29:54

76, I think it was.

R. Scott Edwards: 29:56

Wow. 1976. You took over the Oscars and brought the trophy manufacturing to R.C. owens. That's a great success story, dad.

Sprague Edwards: 30:06

That's my claim to fame.

R. Scott Edwards: 30:09

You say, well, I think you've had several, including having me, but I think selling the Oscar to the Academy Awards. Does R.C. owen still make it or do you.

Sprague Edwards: 30:21

Know if they lost it this year?

R. Scott Edwards: 30:23

This year they did. So because of your sales pitch from 70.

Sprague Edwards: 30:27

I think it was 76.

R. Scott Edwards: 30:29

76 to now is all RC owns you doing the Oscars. So congratulations. Oh, we should. That's incredible. The Oscars. Yay. Well, that was an interview with my father and I hope you got something out of that and enjoyed it a little bit. I certainly am appreciative of the fact that had the opportunity to share that time with him. As I mentioned, it was about a 90 minute interview I did with him and I kind of chopped it up and tried to just present what I thought was interesting or funny. And thank you for indulging me and listening to that. But hey, as I promised, we always have stand up comedy on this show. So coming up right now is a short set from one of my father's favorite comics. He ended up being a good friend. I spent time and worked with his daughter a lot and it was a real joy to be a part of his life. Ladies and gentlemen, sit back and enjoy the amazing comedy of Pat Paulson.

Announcer: 31:37

I'm very excited to be here. I'd like to talk about the challenges we face in this election year As I travel this great land. I hear complaints about auto workers being laid off, cheap imports, steel mills closing the garment Industry dead, foreclosures of farms, the homeless, pollution problems of the age of the threat of aids, child abuse, Middle East, Nicaragua, et cetera, et cetera. I hear these rumblings of discontent everywhere I go. And you know what I think? I think America ought to just shut up. I'm sick of this bitching and moaning. So shut up.

Sprague Edwards: 32:28

America.

Announcer: 32:30

If you don't like what's going on, get off of your butts and find somebody take care of these problems. Look at the men you have running now. Men who say they have a new vision, a new idea. On the Republican side, George Bush. Now here's a man who was envoy to China, chairman of the Republican Party and ambassador, a congressman, head of the CIA, vice president. Man cannot hold a job. George Bush is kind of like Jerry Ford without the pizzazz and dole. Do you want a pineapple? For President Pat Robertson. God told him to run, which proves one thing. God's got a great sense of humor. Pat doesn't have a prayer. On the Democratic side, we have Gary Hart back in the race. Now, Gary Hart gave new meaning to the old expression, walk softly and carry a big stick. Tell you one thing, you'll never catch me fooling around. Jesse Jackson. Handsome, well dressed man magnetic speaker. Dukakis. Where'd he get that name? Off the bottom of an eye chart. Dukakis. What a name for president may wear the Washington and the Jeffersons and the Johnsons. Well, they're playing basketball, most of them. I think it's time we started looking for someone else to lead us. A man who will conduct his campaign in a decent, honorable way with little hoopla. Where we gotta find him? How will we know this man? Where he find him? Where is he and what is he doing? He may be a friend of yours, an acquaintance. He might be right here in Hollywood this very moment. He could be in this audience standing on this very stage.

R. Scott Edwards: 34:55

I don't know where he is. Sure, you need to find that man.

Sprague Edwards: 35:00

To make him run for president.

Announcer: 35:02

Come on, America, get off your butts and salute this common, ordinary, civil leader of America's destiny.

R. Scott Edwards: 35:22

We hope you enjoyed this episode of stand up Comedy. Your host and mc. For information on the show, merchandise and our sponsors or to send comments to Scott, visit our website at www.stand up. Your host NMC.com look for more episodes soon and enjoy the world of stand up comedy. Visit a comedy showroom near.