Since I do radio shows for different stations in different cities on different days, when I find a good guest, I’ll often book them for interviews on multiple outlets. Tony Hendra is one such money-in-the-bank guest. He’s the co-author of his longtime friend George Carlin’s autobiography, “Last Words,” and I had him back again today for an all-new conversation on KTRS/St. Louis.
Among the subjects we discussed that we hadn’t gotten to before: Carlin’s desire to be a movie star, what made him change his act from the straight standup of the 1960s to the counter-culture appeal of his 1970s routines, whether that change affected his bookings for jobs, the impact of his cocaine addiction on his material in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and why he and HBO were such good partners.
I also asked Hendra, who was editor of National Lampoon, director of its stage show “Lemmings,” and producer of its radio show, what he thought as he watched Carlin host the first “Saturday Night Live” in October, 1975, with many of the Lampoon stars who had jumped into TV with Lorne Michaels.
Listen to this conversation here. You can also listen to my other conversations with Hendra about Carlin: here’s the first, here’s the second.