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Speaker 1: We're going to go right to one of the most

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Speaker 1: beloved weathermen in LA history who left the TV studio

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Speaker 1: and has hit the stage. Welcome to Fritz Coleman. Good morning, Fritz.

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Speaker 2: And good morning to you Amy. Glad to talk to

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Speaker 2: you again.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for getting up so early in the morning for us.

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Speaker 1: So you left TV? When did you retire from TV?

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Speaker 2: Five years ago?

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Speaker 1: And I think we talked one other Why I'm up?

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Speaker 2: That's why I'm up at this hour of the morning,

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Speaker 2: because I'm on retirement schedule. I go to bed at

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Speaker 2: eight o'clock and I get up at five.

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Speaker 1: Well that you're a better man than I, because if

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Speaker 1: I didn't have to get up this early, I certainly wouldn't.

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Speaker 1: But what made you decide to make the jump from

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Speaker 1: television to the stage.

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Speaker 2: Well, a lot of people don't know this, but I

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Speaker 2: actually got my job doing weather from doing comedy. I

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Speaker 2: was working at the Comedy Store in nineteen eighty two

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Speaker 2: and the news director from Channel four, Steve Antonette god Rest,

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Speaker 2: his soul and his wife were in the audience at

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Speaker 2: that show, and I had talked on stage issues a

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Speaker 2: Friday night. I'll never forget it. I had talked on

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Speaker 2: stage about having done the weather in the Navy. I

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Speaker 2: worked for Armed Forces Radio and Television in the Navy,

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Speaker 2: and I was forced to do the weather against my

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Speaker 2: will and I didn't know anything about it. But that

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Speaker 2: didn't seem to effective decision making in the Defense department.

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Speaker 2: I still had to do the weather. So anyway, I

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Speaker 2: had an anecdote or two about this, and after the

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Speaker 2: show was over, I went backstage to meet this man

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Speaker 2: and his wife, and he said, this is an odd question,

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Speaker 2: but do you have any desire to come to Channel four.

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Speaker 2: I need a weekend weather person and a fill in guy,

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Speaker 2: a utility player that can do some vacation relief for me.

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Speaker 2: And I was making twenty five dollars a night at

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Speaker 2: the comedy store. So after my heartbeat returned to normal,

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Speaker 2: I said, oh my god, when do you want me

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Speaker 2: to start? And he said, well, you have to audition.

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Speaker 2: So I auditioned the next week I got the job.

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Speaker 2: I did weekend fill in for two years, and then

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Speaker 2: the main weather guy left to go to CBS and

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Speaker 2: I was bumped up and I retired two weeks shy

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Speaker 2: on my fortieth anniversary. It was the greatest stroke of

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Speaker 2: luck and show business and said woman was discovering in

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Speaker 2: Shwarp's pharmacy in the forties.

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Speaker 1: Well, so, now that you're away from the world of weather,

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Speaker 1: do you miss it.

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Speaker 2: I'll tell you I don't miss the job, and I'll

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Speaker 2: tell you why, because now the climate change is here,

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Speaker 2: weather has gotten really serious. And you know, I was

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Speaker 2: hired because I was doing personality. You know, it was

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Speaker 2: like our evening newscast was kind of like the morning

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Speaker 2: newscasts are now, where it was familial and you say, hey,

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Speaker 2: what did you do over the weekend and everybody left

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Speaker 2: and oh, yes, and here's the news. It was much

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Speaker 2: less formal and strict and fast paced as it was.

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Speaker 2: So that doesn't exist anymore due to climate change. And

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Speaker 2: first of all, I wouldn't have a job because you

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Speaker 2: have to have a license. Now. These people who are

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Speaker 2: doing the weather now are meteorologists. They have to have

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Speaker 2: the seal from the American Meteorological Society. I never could

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Speaker 2: have gotten that because it's math and science heavy. I

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Speaker 2: honestly I never, I seriously, I never would have gotten

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Speaker 2: the job. And so I don't miss the job. What

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Speaker 2: I miss is the people. I made some beautiful friends,

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Speaker 2: and in forty years we you know, went through marriages

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Speaker 2: and divorces and the birth of children, and you know,

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Speaker 2: we were into trenches together and I do miss the

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Speaker 2: humanity of it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think it's it's interesting for it's because like,

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Speaker 1: even though you've not been NBC's weatherman for a few

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Speaker 1: years now, like you say that name, and everybody knows

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Speaker 1: who Fritz Goldman is, like.

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Speaker 2: So well, I beat them into submission over forty years.

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Speaker 2: You know, even if they don't like you, they know

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Speaker 2: who you are because you've been recurring on television at

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Speaker 2: five eighteen every night for forty years. And it's really interesting.

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Speaker 2: And you know this being in the me when you

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Speaker 2: when you come into people's lives at the same time

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Speaker 2: every day for an extended period of time, they you

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Speaker 2: really have this sort of this false intimacy with them.

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Speaker 2: You're you're part of their lives and they're part of yours,

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Speaker 2: and it's uh they they hold onto that feeling. I mean,

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Speaker 2: there are people who have named sheets who puppies after

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Speaker 2: Fritz and parakeets after Fritz, and it's just ridiculous.

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Speaker 1: I love that I had a lady named a chicken

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Speaker 1: after me.

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Speaker 2: There you go, I I.

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Speaker 1: Have arrived Yeah, it's an adorable little chicken too. So

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Speaker 1: so you're you're not just retiring, though you're taking You're

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Speaker 1: going back to the stage. And you've been doing sellout

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Speaker 1: shows of your unassisted residency. Uh, two years of sellout shows,

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Speaker 1: So what the heck, let's keep it going. Tell us

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Speaker 1: what's funny about getting older? Fritz?

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Speaker 2: Well, well, you have to laugh to keep from crying. Uh.

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Speaker 2: Actually starting our third year, I just got extended for

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Speaker 2: another year through all of twenty twenty six at the

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Speaker 2: Alportal once a month. I'm ecstatic because it's become my home.

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Speaker 2: But I do these things called single topic monologues. I

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Speaker 2: did one about being a divorced parent. I did one

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Speaker 2: about doing the evening news called to nine at eleven.

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Speaker 2: Then I did my first one about getting old, called

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Speaker 2: Defying Gravity. And this is one about being fully ensconced

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Speaker 2: in old age and trying to deal with it. And

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Speaker 2: it's called unassisted living, and at the Alportal they're called

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Speaker 2: unassisted residency. It's just I'll tell you, I think that

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Speaker 2: the job of the comedian has never been more important

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Speaker 2: than it is right now with the discord we have

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Speaker 2: in the world, with a separation between opinions. If you

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Speaker 2: can just gather people together and talk about what we

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Speaker 2: have in common, which is the aging experience, You're drawing

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Speaker 2: people together into a common experience as opposed to deciding

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Speaker 2: what's what's separating us. I don't do any politics. I

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Speaker 2: just talk about what makes us, what brings us together,

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Speaker 2: what's our common humanity. I talk about being a grandchild.

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Speaker 2: I talk about their changes in your body physically. I

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Speaker 2: talk about taking taking seven pills before you go to

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Speaker 2: bed at night. I talk about going to my fifty

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Speaker 2: fifth high school reunion. I just all of these things

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Speaker 2: that other people have experienced. And somebody called it the

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Speaker 2: perfect baby boomers support group. So I'm having a great time.

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Speaker 2: I'm really having a wonderful time.

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Speaker 1: With Okay, So Fritz, how can people come and have

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Speaker 1: a great time with you? You know, we have some

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Speaker 1: This would be a great Christmas present. You know, the

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Speaker 1: person who has everything. You're like, we don't need stuff

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Speaker 1: because I'm really into experiences. So maybe tickets to Fritz's

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Speaker 1: unassisted residency might be a great Christmas present.

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Speaker 2: Which you perfectly described it. We're usually at the latter

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Speaker 2: we're off for December because in this particular Theater. They're

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Speaker 2: doing a Christmas show, but we're back January. Every month

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Speaker 2: through twenty twenty sixth We're usually on the last Sunday

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Speaker 2: of each month and the show starts at three o'clock

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Speaker 2: in the afternoon on Sunday because people in my demographics

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Speaker 2: like to be home by dark.

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Speaker 1: I love it. Okay, where can we get more information

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Speaker 1: about it?

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Speaker 2: Brand? Okay, you can go to the el Portale Theater.

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Speaker 2: It's spelled like Portal, but it's pronounced el Portal prt

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Speaker 2: al el Portaltheater dot com. They have the most the

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Speaker 2: soonest several months. Book there, have a ticket and come

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Speaker 2: and see us. Our next is going to be at

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Speaker 2: the end of January, and I would love to see you.

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Speaker 2: And you described the perfect holiday present. Bring your family.

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Speaker 2: If you have older people in your family, if you

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Speaker 2: have a child who's younger than you, but you'd like

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Speaker 2: to see Fritz's show as a cautionary tale about what

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Speaker 2: it'll be when you get older, come and see it.

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Speaker 1: All right, the one and only Fritz Coleman, Thank you

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Speaker 1: so much, Good luck to you, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year,

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Speaker 1: and again, if you want to get tickets, El Portaltheater

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Speaker 1: dot com slash Fritz Coleman.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, Fritz, you are the best. Thank you so much, Amie.

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Speaker 2: I appreciate it all right, take care,