Tim Bedore - "Vague but True": Tim's Truths - 2nd Interview -Show #286

Tim Bedore, celebrated as one of America's funniest comedians and a former radio DJ, brings a unique perspective to the world of stand-up comedy. Known for his "Vague but True" vignettes and appearances on the Bob and Tom radio show, Bedore emphasizes the irreplaceable connection he shares with his audience during live performances. He values the support and opportunities he has received within the comedy industry, often collaborating with fellow comedians like Rick Reynolds and exploring new creative outlets like podcasting. Despite the challenges he faces, such as securing a book deal, Bedore remains passionate about storytelling and comedy, as evidenced by his commitment to continually crafting new material and entertaining audiences across various platforms.

(00:01:27) Live Comedy's Unique Connection with Audience

(00:04:29) Dynamic Comedy Scene of the 80s

(00:10:50) The Importance of Human Connection in Comedy

(00:19:40) Audience Feedback Enhancing Standup Comedy Acts

(00:22:51) Nostalgic Vibes: Recapturing 1980s Comedy Energy

Transcript

R. Scott Edwards: 0:04

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 emcee, Scott Edwards. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the podcast, man. I have one of our best friends of the podcast on the show with us. This is a follow up interview with a guy that you've heard many times on this podcast. Why? Because he's one of the funniest men in America. He is a longtime radio DJ and celebrity, great stand up comic and not too shabby a golfer. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the show. He's going to argue with me. Tim Bedor.

Tim Bedore: 0:55

God bless you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah, that, that golfer thing, Let me tell you what happened today. I teed off, beautiful shot right down the middle. I would take this drive for the rest of my life. Right down the middle. Approach shot was beautiful. It was right where I aim. Just missed the birdie putt. And that was the best hole of the day.

R. Scott Edwards: 1:22

That was, that's the thing.

Tim Bedore: 1:25

That was it. Yeah.

R. Scott Edwards: 1:27

Jill and I have been playing a lot more golf and in fact, we were just up in Reno playing a couple rounds. And it's so funny because she heard this somewhere, one of the announcers on the Golf Channel, you know, golf is hard. You know, it's like an understatement. You know, what I usually say is the only reason they use the term golf is because the other four letter word was taken. But it is a interesting sport, but stand up comedy. So let me catch the audience up real quick. You were a tremendous radio DJ that forced his way into my club and started doing MC work and comedy work. And you became a radio, very successful radio dj and we'll talk a little bit about that. But also a terrific standup comic, ended up headlining all around the country. You're more famous for your short vignettes called Vague but True because you're a very talented comedy writer and performer. And you got famous because you were a regular staple on the Bob and Tom radio show, which is nationally syndicated show. And your short series Vague but True got a lot of attention and we've had the pleasure of sharing several of those on our podcast. But it goes beyond that because now that we're both a little older, you're still dabbling around with podcasting and we want to talk about that. But it was your standup comedy that kept going and kept kind of coming in and out of Your life, wouldn't you say?

Tim Bedore: 3:03

Oh, yeah, no. Once I started doing it at your club all those years ago, it was so fun. It was so different than radio in that the audience is right there. Radio is wonderful for what it is. It's theater of their mind. And it's very comforting to sit in the studio and know that if you made someone smile or chuckle, that's good enough. Or talked to them directly and said something about a piece of music that they love and now they know you love it too. Radio's wonderful. Stand up is a whole different deal, and that's wonderful too. But I think looking back, what I would say is how much I enjoyed stand up comedian and the club owners and people that love stand up comedy. And being around those people, it was just great fun. It's kind of like you hear people, baseball players talking about baseball and when they're not playing baseball, guess what they're talking about? They talk about baseball because there's so much to it. Or golfers or whatever it would be stand up endlessly. For decades later, we will still talk about stand up comedy and things that happen and just marvel at it and question it and whatever. So I think that was a lot of the appeal too.

R. Scott Edwards: 4:29

Yeah, and I totally agree. We have the same thinking. The reason I have this podcast, Stand Up Comedy, you're hosting emcee, is because I wanted to keep that connection with the people. And by having the podcast, I could share the comedy the 80s and 90s, but also interview and talk with old friends from the business. And there's a endless reserve of road stories in different situations that comics work through. And I was mentioning this in another podcast. It's also true that a lot of comics kind of had the same path into comedy. But what was interesting I found over my, you know, 500 different podcast episodes is that even though they had kind of a similar path into comedy, everybody went off a little bit different ways. You know, some went into television and some went into radio and some went into movies and some stayed, you know, just as comics and Mike Larson ended up in the government work. You know, you just never know where stand up comedy is going to lead you. But what's interesting about your radio success, and of course, as I mentioned, most famous for vague but true, a regular radio short program. But you performed as a DJ in Sacramento and then I think you went to San Francisco for a while. You were in LA for a while. I mean, you've played stations around the country. That had to be at least interesting, right?

Tim Bedore: 5:59

Oh, yeah. No, I mean the big benefit. In fact, it worked. It's magic with Bob and Tom. They immediately understood because they knew my radio background that I got radio better than most comedians. So they trusted me right away. So they would give me more space and, or let me contribute more or just trust me with things when I would go there to Indianapolis every year. But, you know, I also got to do a vague but true on public radio program called Marketplace, which was Peabody Award winning show, terrific public radio program, and that was great fun. One is journalism. You had to kind of approach things journalistically. Even though I was doing opinion stuff, it was still through the lens of good journalism and working with an editor. So that was cool. You know, it's just been radio. I've never gotten it out of my system. One of the reasons I do my podcast is I still like writing for just audio only medium, so.

R. Scott Edwards: 7:07

Well, it's so funny you say that because I was going to wait till you were done and then say, well, you know, what makes you so good at radio and what made you so good as a standup comic is you have a real gift for writing. And when you're in the audio performance format, whether it's on stage as a comic or on the radio behind a microphone, you have to have good writing skills. Now you also can perform and you have great ways of using inflections in your voice and different things to add a little color to your words. But it's the writing that really brings you through and your short series. And everybody should go out and either find him on earlier podcasts of mine or go out and find him in the world. But the vague but true short stories, usually about three minutes, right? Two, three minutes. And they were just so funny and the writing was so crisp and you have a little bit of a sarcastic attitude to you and it really had a great effect on your listening audience. In fact, one of your famous ones is, is Animal Uprising where you talk about squirrels and other creatures of the world getting revenge on human beings. I mean, but you have.

Tim Bedore: 8:24

Well, they hate us. They simply hate us, so. Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

R. Scott Edwards: 8:28

But your ability to write that in a way that makes it kind of real and funny to the public is a real gift, Tim. And I know you realize that, but as your friend and on this podcast, I wanted to say it out loud. Very talented writer.

Tim Bedore: 8:46

Thank you so much. That's very wonderful to hear, especially from you. You've seen it all. So you know, you know people that can write as well as anybody. So thank you. When I first started in radio, one of the first things that you learn other than how to turn the microphone on, is if you can't say it in 13 seconds, don't say it at all. Okay, makes sense, you know, especially for radio. But just to keep it to the basics was just constantly drummed into you and, and people would occasionally take you aside and say, you said this. You could have said, you know, eight words less. And then you just take it on as your, your, your own thing. You just try to write as pithily and as succinctly as you can. Just yesterday I was watching a video because, as I said before, we're still obsessed with comedy and can never hear too much about it. Maybe we're narcissists, but it's this fascinating thing that you never know as much as you should about. Leno was being interviewed. Interviewer asked him he had heard a story that Johnny Carson gave Jason advice after seeing him at the improv. This would be way early on in Jay's career. And he recognized the story. He said, yeah. And so what did Carson tell you? What advice did he give you? And Johnny said to Jay, you're a funny guy, but your jokes are weak. You're overselling them. Here's what you do. Write down your jokes on an index card. So it has to fit on an index card, which automatically makes it short.

R. Scott Edwards: 10:31

Makes you edit. Yeah, Makes you get to the point.

Tim Bedore: 10:35

And then read it flat with no inflection when reading it flat makes somebody laugh. Now you've got a joke.

R. Scott Edwards: 10:50

Oh, that's interesting. And that's actually in depth advice.

Tim Bedore: 10:53

It is. And then he said, now, performance. So the writing is first, the funny is first. Don't try to sell or get over with the crowd based on just the performance and the charm and the anger or the hysteria and not have funny jokes. And let me tell you something. And if you've listened to my podcast, you know that I fear that AI is the devil and it's going to ruin us and whatever, but long story, as short as I can make it. So I fooled around a couple of times with songs that lyrics I've written and AI has done the music for my podcast for a couple of songs. So I was goofing around with my friend Pete, who's actually his. It was his AI subscription that I used to get these, these two songs done. And we were going to a gig in Wisconsin last month and I said, I've heard that AI does not do well with comedy. The music that it produced for My song, pretty damn good. I was surprised how real it sounded. But Pete said, okay, let's try AI with some standup. So he just said, I want a stand up comedy routine about a guy who thinks he's going to make as a 30 year old the US Olympic ping pong team, but a 12 year old in his neighborhood keeps beating. So that's the premise fairly quickly. And that's not a bad premise. That's an interesting enough premise, right? AI sends back and then you hear this voice and it's very much like a comedy routine. It sounds like a comedian, but no jokes. It's all attitude. It's, you know, it's all, what am I? Yeah, this kid, what's with this kid? You know? And I just, it was just so, you know, it's so frustrating. There were no jokes, so AI can do a lot of stuff, but hopefully we're safe. Never stand up. It sounded like an open micr who had not taken the time to actually write the joke.

R. Scott Edwards: 13:04

Well, it's interesting because you have put together the concept that AI can be damaging and you and your friend proved that it's not going to be a threat to stand up comedy because the mechanical world, which is what AI is based on, just pure information, is not capable of that human humor connection. And the fact that you tried it, I think is fascinating. I will tell you that I recently interviewed a standup comic named Mike Lucas and he has a website, funnymuscle.com and he has created a comedy AI I think he calls it Carl. And he says that if you have to teach it, if you teach it your style of writing and speaking and performance, it will help you write bits. But it's brand new. I don't know if it's working and you have to invest time and energy to train it, but people are trying to take something with AI and do something with it. I agree with you that I think that the arts, all the arts, even though you can duplicate music and do different things, when it comes to ventriloquism and juggling and even magic and standup comedy, it's so much better to have that human delivery and that human connection to, to make it work. And of course, as a producer of comedy shows and television, I think you need that human connection to really reach the audience. Now I'm going to reach back a little bit earlier in the show I mentioned vague but true. I don't know if you've ever told the story. How did that series get started?

Tim Bedore: 14:55

Oh, I was working in San Francisco at A radio station called the Quake. And I had a bunch of very specific bits that were. One was the Dear Abby aptitude test, where I would read the letter written there, Dear Abby, asking for advice. And then two bits of advice. One that I wrote, one that she wrote, and if you could tell which one is which, perhaps you could be the next Dear Abby. And that just gave me a chance to give bad advice on the radio and, you know, a false purpose for doing it. I also did a thing called the Bible according to Timothy, where I would take a Bible verse, I take a line out of the Bible and I'd say, and it came to pass on third and long yardage. And then I had Jesus, Jesus in a football game. He was quarterback, of course, and he was very good. And you know, because he can run left, right, and up the middle at the same time. And, you know, he can be everywhere, once and nowhere at the same time. Impossible to defend.

R. Scott Edwards: 16:01

That's your brain, Tim, taking something religious or normal and totally twisting it. Well, that explains the beginning of vague but true. But it also explains your podcast, Agnostics Guide to Heaven, where you've taken your writing skills. And it's basically meant to be an advice podcast, but the advice is totally sarcastic and out of left field and fairly non religious. But An Agnostic's Guide to Heaven is so funny because you've taken the writing skills that you honed by being a stand up comic and by doing so many years of radio, and now it's coming out flushed in your podcast. And I know it's been very successful. It's one of the podcasts on my stand up comedy podcast network and it does very well. You're still having fun with that, right?

Tim Bedore: 16:56

Yeah. You know, and thank you. That's very nice to hear. Some people do wordle, some people want to do the New York Times crossword puzzle, some people knit. I write. To me, it's always a puzzle. If you start with a sentence, then what's the next sentence? And then if the third sentence is a punchline, I've figured it out again. So it really just is like wordle. I mean, I just.

R. Scott Edwards: 17:26

Well, it's relaxed. What you're saying is it's challenging and yet relaxing to you.

Tim Bedore: 17:31

It's golf that I can control.

R. Scott Edwards: 17:36

Well, as a golfer, fellow golfer, I can relate to that because it's a game none of us will ever fully manage, but I think it's fascinating. You know, you also mentioned that you're always kind of tinkering with the podcast and you used AI to create a couple songs. I did hear them. I thought it was very funny and worked for you. But it is something that your writing skills really come through. And the podcast Agnostics Guide to Heaven is really connects on a humorous level. And I think it starts with the vague but true concept of being an advice giver.

Tim Bedore: 18:12

It really is. I mean, and that's kind of back to. In fact, it started in Sacramento where one of the bits that I did on the radio there was called Mother's Little Helper.

R. Scott Edwards: 18:25

Oh, yeah, that was. God, that was famous in Sacramento. Hilarious. And you were on like the number one station.

Tim Bedore: 18:33

Yeah, oh, yeah. Number one by a big shot. But I was playing a pediatrician and I gave bad advice on how to raise kids. There's just something about this earnest, sincere bad advice about. I remember one of them was how to get the kids to be quiet for just a little bit. And we play camping out. Camping. And mommy or daddy is a grizzly bear that has crawled into the campsite and the kids have to play dead or they'll be eaten.

R. Scott Edwards: 19:12

Well, Mother's Little Helper, it was funny. Until you mentioned it, I had forgotten it, but I remember it like it was yesterday hearing it when you were on the radio here in Sacramento. And now it makes perfect sense that that led to vague but true. And. And it all comes together with your podcast. Well, Tim, it's your writing, but also you're quite the performer. And I know that your work in stand up comedy really helped you hone that skill. Wouldn't you agree?

Tim Bedore: 19:40

Oh, yeah. No, the thing that you do, obviously when you go into stand up and you're at open mics and then working, you watch other people and you just, you watch the patterns and you see what works and. And what doesn't and what works for you. The. The feedback loop. Unlike radio, stand up feedback loop is immediate and painful or joyful, depending upon how it goes. And so you just kind of learn what works and then it just gets into your head and then it becomes the thing. And when I write now, I always can hear myself saying it immediately or not. And if it doesn't sound like something I'd say, then I probably. My fingers won't just go there on the keyboard. So, yes, it's very practiced at this point. But yeah, getting up on stage and seeing how it works, that was. It was painful at first.

R. Scott Edwards: 20:41

Well, but you bring up the point. Yeah, but you bring up the point that when you have a room full of strangers, whether it's 10 or 100 or 500, you're getting immediate response to how you write, perform and engage with the audience. And you know what's working, what's not working. And I think what's interesting is you took all those years as a radio DJ where you didn't have immediate response. You took your years as a stand up comic where you had immediate response. And somehow with Vague but True and with your podcast, you've really found the perfect foil for your humor. It's really exciting to hear. Now, one of the other things, that's a new change. Well, not a new change, but I remember you took kind of a hiatus, but you're back performing on stage as a standup comic. Right.

Tim Bedore: 21:31

And I thought you, you'd find this interesting. So I was out in California in October and our mutual friend Dan St. Paul set up a couple of gigs and Larry Brown, I'm sure you remember Larry, got me into the Throckmorton in Mill Valley, which is a long running Tuesday night. One of the oddest nights to have a comedy show, but it works very well for them. That's been going on for 25 years at this little theater in Mill Valley. And I did a few sets. In fact, I did a set in Santa Cruz at a place called the Crow's Nest. Eagle's Nest, what was that?

R. Scott Edwards: 22:13

Something Crow's Nest.

Tim Bedore: 22:14

I think Crow's Nest, that I literally did as a one night Sunday show in the 80s. It's still going on. It's still going on, which is like, wow. But so Tuesday night at the Throckmorton was this. I could just tell from the audience walking in. I just had this sense that this crowd, this is like going back to the, to the 80s and how stand up was and crowds were and how free and loose you felt.

R. Scott Edwards: 22:51

Crowds were enthusiastic about stand up comedy at that time. At this day and age, you feel like it's been like a beaten dead horse. But in the 80s and 90s, especially the 80s, it was really fresh. It was. And the audiences came in hungry for entertainment and comedy. It really was a different feeling. But I have been to the Throckmorton. I just did a Show with Dan St. Paul and of course I've known Larry Brown for years, Larry Bubbles Brown. So that must have been like a time chamber, right? Going back in time and reliving it.

Tim Bedore: 23:24

That'S exactly what it was. Now I was following four younger comic who did well and, you know, friends were there and people hadn't seen me in years. And so I was feeling the pressure. But I also Just had this sense that it was kind of back to how things used to be. And so I took the chance to try a joke about something that had just happened in the news that day. And I. I haven't done that in forever because you just don't know that the crowd is going to be that, you know.

R. Scott Edwards: 24:00

Right, right. You haven't had a chance to work the, you know, the words and the material and the idea out like you would normally with a joke. You're doing spontaneity, just that, you know.

Tim Bedore: 24:11

Something that happened just that day. And I just had this sense that I could. I could do it, I could get away with it. And it. And it worked. And people. People always will give you expertise, credit as an audience that will give you extra credit if it's something from the news that day. And so I did it. It worked great. And it just felt like 1984. It just felt like I can play. And it was just, you know, it was such a great feeling. Yeah, it was. It was really nice. I'm so grateful that Dan worked that out and Larry. Yeah, it was nice. And be back in the Bay Area and that whole thing. But, yeah, I'm doing.

R. Scott Edwards: 25:02

Let's get a little acknowledgment, ladies and gentlemen. Timidore appears at the Throckmorton. He goes after the younger Hipparch, tries some new material. And the audience went nuts. That's amazing.

Tim Bedore: 25:16

Yes, it was a good feeling. Yay.

R. Scott Edwards: 25:21

Yay. Well, that's great. I'm just so happy you're back on stage and doing comedy and getting some gigs here and there. You mentioned the Throckmorton. You did a gig with your friend. Is this something you're getting out a couple times a month or you're really pushing it?

Tim Bedore: 25:36

No, I take what comes my way mostly, you know, to chase down gigs getting harder and harder, want to try. But yes, I, you know, in fact, I'm doing a couple of nights. There's a comedy festival actually in a little town north of Minneapolis. Friday, Saturday, I will be the featured act. Jimmy JJ Walker is going to be performing, and then Greg Hahn, who is just very, very funny. On Saturday, they're doing a comedy festival. There's a competition and then there's some shows, and they have three or four stages. And so, you know, I'm writing some new material, hoping to do some new stuff up there. And it's a jazz club that generally has singers. Jazz singers and some comics, you know, maybe doing 20 minutes to open up. And hopefully that will be part of the future. But you know, you take what you can get and take what you can find and what seems to fit and keep plugging.

R. Scott Edwards: 26:47

Well, everybody listening this podcast will probably launch after that show, but if you get a chance, go see it. Tim, I can tell you right now, you'll be the funniest guy on stage. Jimmie Walker for his celebrity is not that funny in my mind. But you are very funny and creative and I'm just so glad that you're still getting out and performing. So we talked about your podcast. You're still getting on stage once in a while, you're still getting out doing what we do and sweating through rounds of golf. But as far as entertainment or projects, is there anything coming up in late 25 or 26 that we should keep an eye out for?

Tim Bedore: 27:25

Not really. I mean, I'm always thinking of. I was just talking with a friend, Rick Reynolds, who had success with one man shows and we talk about a one man show idea that I had that he still really likes. And I think about that and think about a screenplay, that kind of thing.

R. Scott Edwards: 27:48

Yeah, Rick Reynolds was a classic and very funny by the way, if anybody wants to search him out. Have you thought of writing a book? I mean, you're a writer and you're funny. I mean, I think vague but true. I mean I read the transcripts of my shows and your vague but trues and your podcast. I mean, I think the humor comes across in the writing. You haven't thought of doing a book series or a culmination of the best of kind of thing?

Tim Bedore: 28:17

There was two or three times, especially when I was on Bob and Tom, but once before when I was on Marketplace that somebody wanted to do a book of my commentary and they approached me and you know, they ran it up their, their flag pole and eventually decided because he's not famous that you know, we're not going to do it. So yeah, I have thought of a couple of things that I really stories that I would like to pursue. The problem is I keep doing the podcast because I just do like recording for voice and recording and editing and sound effects. I just am kind of a bit addicted to sound effects.

R. Scott Edwards: 28:59

No, no, no, it's fun and your shows always have a lot of variety to them and engagement when it comes to audio tricks. But I do think that it's something you might want to consider and you don't have to be famous to self publish and you're never going to make any money on it, but it's getting it out there for posterity. It will outlive us. And it's something that you might want to consider and you want to do it while you have the podcast because the podcast ends up being a tool. The two tie together, the book and the podcast and they kind of promote and support each other. Just something I thought I'd mention, maybe talk to Rick Reynolds or some of the other comics about that. But we need to let you go. Hey, Tim, it's so great to catch up. I'm so glad that you're back out on stage. I knew and I'm happy about your success with the podcast. And thank you for, over the last five or six years sharing so much material content in Vegva True Stories with my audience. It's really been an honor working with you all this time.

Tim Bedore: 30:05

Well, it's been an honor to be on the show and as I told you, I'm always more than happy to do it. You know, we go back a long, long way and yeah, it's just always fun. Good for both of us.

R. Scott Edwards: 30:18

Yes. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's Tim Bedor. Keep an eye out for him, especially if you're in the Minnesota area. He's doing some shows and if you get a chance, look up the vague but trues on my podcast or his podcast or out there in the heerdom. And if you catch old Bob and Tom shows, you'll hear them there. I mean, there's really a lot of places to explore and be entertained by Tim's amazing performance and writing skills. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be back next week with some great stand up comedy. But for today, I just want to sincerely thank Tim Bedor for all he's done for my comedy clubs and for this podcast. Thank you, Tim.

Tim Bedore: 30:59

Thank you. My pleasure.

R. Scott Edwards: 31:01

As always, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be back next week. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Tim. Bye. 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.standupyourhost and mc.com. look for more episodes soon and enjoy the world of stand up comedy. Visit a comedy showroom near you.