WEBVTT - Mascots, The Phillie Phanatic + Irritable Bowel Guy 0:00:03.760 --> 0:00:11.000 No really, now, really, you see what's going on here. 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:13.840 If you're watching this on YouTube, you don't even know 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:15.960 what that and you just grew tissues. 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.240 Strut the shop. Laurie start to show. 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.520 Peter and I are going to interrupt this argument to 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:27.120 bring you another episode we really know, really, the podcast 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.240 where Peter Tilden and Jason Alexander talk about things that 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:33.680 make us go really no really? Oh good, thank you. 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:36.239 You came right in on here now this one. When 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:38.280 you mentioned this to me, I did a little research 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:40.159 because this was a really not really where I said, 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:44.280 you're punking me. So there are in our country, ladies 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.600 and gentlemen, there are many, many kinds of halls of 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:50.280 fame there for you know, the obvious ones, the baseball 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:52.319 Hall of Fame, rock and roll hall of fame, there 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:57.040 are these are all true. There is a towing and Recovery. 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:59.960 Hall of Fame. There is a. 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:05.240 Kites Hall of Fame, a pinball Hall of fame, derby 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:07.800 in there, there's lose suber. 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:09.160 I mean, what is that? 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:11.760 Yes, that's right. There's a croquet hall of fame, and 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:16.400 insurance hall of fame, a fresh water fish hall of fame, 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:19.360 and none of that stop me in my tracks. As 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:21.560 when Peter Tilden said, Hey, you know what I just 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:26.119 found out there's a mascot Hall of Fame. 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.760 Really no, really, so this is really exciting for me. 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:30.839 This is really exciting. 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:32.000 Yes, it is really exciting. 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:34.240 Really it is. It is. And I'll tell you why. 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:38.399 Growing up in Philadelphia and I wasn't the biggest sports 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:43.560 fan because I wasn't a good act. We are the 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.280 same heart as I'm the sweater, and my mother would say, 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:51.040 don't overheat. It was horrible and embarrassing that said. Anybody 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:55.720 who lived in Philadelphia doing a certain period knows the 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.160 iconic Philly fanatic. Because a matter of fact, when I 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:01.040 walked into the building today and you mentioned the people 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:02.960 go out of their mind. He's a rock star. He's 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:07.080 Forbes said he's the number one, number one mascot of 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:09.520 all time. Yeah, but Forbes isn't the number one magazine, 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:13.480 so their opinion. That's like when in Vegas they say, 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:17.200 voted best performance in Vegas by the hotel that the 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:18.400 guy's performing at. 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:20.519 That's who voted go ahead, finish it. 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:24.080 Stephen Hawking said that this through his voicebox said this 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:28.520 said this man, this is the guy. David Raymond pioneered 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:30.720 the field of sports mascots as the first person to 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:33.400 go out on the field as a Philly fanatic. He 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.160 did sixteen years. After sixteen years, he was there for 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.160 Tug McGraw in the World Series. I was the fanatic 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:43.280 changed what mascots were. We can talk later or with David. 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:45.840 Were they the history, Well, they were actually staggered. They 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.400 would just show up and kind of stands. It was 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:50.240 kind of creepy and just out to day first that 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:51.480 I want him to be putty. 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:55.640 Dave Raymond, ladies the original Philly fanatic. 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:57.320 Oh my gosh, and you're in the Hall. 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:03.079 Of Fame right, Oh, you created the Hall of Fame Jesus. 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.960 Just like you said about the hotel that voted, I 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:07.960 created the mask off and the fanatic. 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:11.400 I was gonna say, who was the. 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:13.960 First first and so way back and tell me go 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.600 through the history of theague. If I'm incorrect, It used 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:18.320 to be Jason that they would pick kids out of 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:20.320 the stand and then it went to kids who had 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:24.400 disabilities and they thought they were good luck. So players, 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:26.000 players rubbed their head. It was really cool. 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:27.679 Was the thing. I'm going to hit you? 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.120 So it grew from that. Then Max Packham was a 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:33.280 and I remember the Mexican pack Him was a player 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:36.760 who then became like the crown Prince of jokesters. He 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:39.040 had his hat on sideways. He would run bases and 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:39.600 do commune. 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:41.840 And then he was the Harlem glove traulers of Bingo. 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:44.400 And then I guess right before you, Dave was the 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:45.360 San Diego Chicken. 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:49.160 Yes, yes, he and he was sponsored by the radio station. 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:51.160 And he was a kid who raised his hand. He 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:53.320 was in the Columbia School of Broadcast. In their end 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:55.200 of the two weeks, they said, who wants to get 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:57.360 in this chicken costume? You get paid for another two weeks. 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:00.160 He raised his hand, said you'll fit the costume, and 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:01.920 he went out. And over the next three or four 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.880 weeks he was doing all these typical promotions for the radio, 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.680 as you might know, Peter. And then they said, hey, 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:11.640 go to San Diego Potter's game. It was an expansion franchise. 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.840 Nobody but the military were going. I remember the players 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:17.120 telling me that San Diego was a military base with 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:22.720 a beach, and so the chicken was no one was 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.719 watching the game. He'd come out, he was drinking, he 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:27.960 was chugging beers. He was Oh my god, and he 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:30.320 was getting away with it, and so all the players 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.400 were saying, this thing is amazing. And one of our 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:36.479 junior executives, Denny Lehman, came back from San Diego and 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.080 went to Bill Giles, who was my boss's boss, and said, hey, 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:41.719 we've got to do this. And he said do what 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:43.719 He said, Well, we've got to create some sort of 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.120 a mascot character. And it took him a little bit 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:48.560 of time to get to convinced, but that's how it 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:50.120 all started. And I was just an intern. 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:54.120 Natica has been ten percent of the revenue of retail 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:58.159 revenue ten percent of retail revenue in Philly at the ballpark. 0:04:58.200 --> 0:04:59.760 That's big, that's gigantic. 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:01.479 When you said that, what do you mean, how did 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:03.159 it generate revenue? 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:10.279 Well, you there's there's merchandise, there's merchandising. Yeah, yeah, there is. 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.080 There's a number of what you would call direct revenue. 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:18.520 So it's it's merch it's increased ticket sales. But how 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:21.520 do you value the community good and then the brand benefits. 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.440 I mean, truly, you could say it's been forty five years, 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:26.000 it's a billion dollar brand extension. 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:29.279 So if you don't know, the fanatic and Fanatic was 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.839 the icon of all the entire industry. But you were athletic. 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:36.039 I remember it used to go on the dugout roof 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:38.240 and dance and that stuff. But you also used to 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.880 tease people. And I always thought, weren't you getting hit 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:43.320 in the nuts? Aren't you getting grabbed? You must be 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.400 getting killed out there. Plus you're sweating that that fit 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.599 is thirty pounds? How did you not? And he would dance, 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:49.680 he would taunt people. 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:53.039 Yeah, I'm familiar with you know. 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:54.320 Do you know the tom know? 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:57.880 I actually I live in the real world. I'm not 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:01.359 just a celebrity. But I don't just appear on tears however, 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:03.440 I know, but I'm aware of the thing. 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:06.200 But did you ever see the Tommy Lasorta incident? I 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:06.840 didn't you do? 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:07.760 Know why I saw it? 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:08.640 Why you sent it to me? 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.800 Research? Very good. I'm proud of you talk about that well. 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.839 The Timylasorda story is a is a marvelous one. In 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:20.480 nineteen seventy nine, the Fanatic got to be the mascot 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.440 to represent Major League Baseball when we went to Japan 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:25.560 with a National League All Star team and American League 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.520 All Star Team, and it was six weeks of performing 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.200 in front of Japanese fans. Who and Tommy Lasorda was 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:35.000 our manager. Chuck Tanner was our bench coach from the Pirates, 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.040 and I got to go over there. I'm a young kid, 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.840 I'm twenty one years old, and I'm having a great 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:43.400 time there. And I decide I get to the clubhouse 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.080 early because I got to get ready. And I see 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.279 all these baseballs there, so I go, I'm signing the 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:50.760 Fanatics name on here. So I signed a Fanatics name 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.080 on a baseball. Well, I don't understand what I'm doing 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:55.240 is I'm signing in the sweet spot where the seams are. 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:58.040 That's where the manager signs. So Tommy has seen this, 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:02.000 and I don't know Tommy at all other than he's, 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:04.440 you know, the manager of the Dodgers. And so they 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.359 staged an intervention. They the next game. They got to 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:10.160 the clubhouse early. They hit in the manager's locker room 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.160 and their am signing baseballs and the door comes bursting over. 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:17.680 Hees you you got right screaming at me nose nose, 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:20.320 and I'm thinking, my god, Tommy Lasorda is going to 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:22.840 kill me and and and all of a sudden, Chuck 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.000 Tanner comes out of the room behind him and they're laughing, 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.080 and then Tommy puts his arm as look, kid, I 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:30.640 get it, but you can't sign where the manager signs. 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:33.200 That's where I signed. So that's how our relationship started. 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:35.360 And when he would go out on the field, I 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:39.280 used to he was anatomically a unicorn. 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:45.360 He had both legs. He was similar to Yeah, but 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.240 he was bow leged Jason and pigeontoed at the same time. 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.760 I would sneak behind him imitating him, and then the 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:54.880 fans would start to go oh, because the Japanese fan, 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:56.679 it was like I was making fun of the Lord. 0:07:57.360 --> 0:07:59.280 And then Tommy would whip around and then the fanatic 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:01.840 would just go like he was having everybody laugh. And 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:04.200 then when he laughed and the fans laughed, and so 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.440 I really believe what happened that during that tour was 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:11.280 Tommy realized he could entertain his ballplayers. He could have 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:13.760 a lot of fun. If he acted nasty to me, 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.960 especially in Philadelphia, then he could really connect with them. 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:19.840 And so every time he came to Philadelphia, I was 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.560 always doing that, and I kept ramping it up to 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:24.640 the point where I found I got a dummy and 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:26.560 I dressed it up as Tommy and I stuffed a 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:30.400 pillow underneath it. And then he would say, well, he's 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:34.640 defaming the Dodger uniform. And it all came to a 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:39.240 head because here he was, he and orl Herscheiser had 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:41.319 got into a weight loss competition. Just the two of 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:44.040 them said we're gonna lose some weight. Sure, slim Fast 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:47.880 comes in. They sponsor it. So he comes to town 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:51.080 this day two weeks he has a head pasta. He's 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:53.760 his team is in the cellar, and he had told 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:56.240 his clubhouse manner, do not bring an extra jersey mine. 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.760 I'm not gonna let that, sob get my jersey again. Well, 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:02.000 the first game I came out, found I didn't have it. 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:03.480 I went out to the store, I bought a last 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:05.520 I bought a jersey and had seemed to just put 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:07.280 lastre in the back and there I come out with 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:09.120 the Tommy doll and the first thing I see, he's 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.360 looking at the clubhouse manager and I go, oh my god, 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.920 he's gonna he's gonna kill him because I and then 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.000 he just stormed out. He and he beat the crap 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:22.840 out of a muppet. And so my favorite me personally, 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.800 my favorite part of this was, it's a big story 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:30.520 in the newspaper. It's a big story in the newspaper. 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:34.880 It's all over the newspaper, and uh Stan Hakman, a 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:38.319 Hall of Fame journalist, writes a story and he basically 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:40.840 in the story says both of us were acting like children. 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:43.440 So I called Stan up on the phone. I go, 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:45.920 wait a second, I want you to tell me who 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:51.199 was doing their job. I'm the mascot, he's the manager 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.360 of the Dodgers. He comes out and kicks the crap 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:55.440 out of a muppet. I got him to do it. 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.600 I'm doing my job, and Stan hangs up on me, 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:00.839 and I only think, here's the Hall of Same sports 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:04.160 writer going, I'm getting called on the carpet by a mask. 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:09.160 So it and to this day it's been memorialized in 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:09.720 that video. 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:13.280 What an amazing thing to make you feel better. We 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.959 were the Dodger station ober at KBC and Tommy would 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.880 get angry. And one of the times he got angry 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.840 at me and I was reading restaurant clothing and I 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:27.520 had mentioned that the swordas in the Marina was closed 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:31.520 for rodent infistate. My general manager calls me and is 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:33.960 screaming like I've never heard him scream, and I could 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.000 hear Tommy screaming at him, and he says, you have 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.920 to go in there and apologize tomorrow. So I go 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.360 in to hear the next day and Tommy's listening and 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:46.080 I say, you know what, I apologize. Yesterday was in 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:49.320 the thing. But they're fine now they're open. However, I 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:51.960 wouldn't have the pasta with Raisins. And I get a 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:56.000 call to his credit. When I went saw him at 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:58.760 the park the next time, he laughed his ass off. 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:01.920 It was but he had that kind of yeah. 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:05.400 And you know that it's awful for baseball that we 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:09.960 don't have Earl Weaver, Tommy Lasorda, Billy. 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:10.560 Martin, the character. 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:14.720 You know, they're all going to to you know, statistics college. 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:16.320 You know they're coming in there and they're just looking 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:18.120 at spreadsheets. No one is coming out in arguing with 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.240 the umpires anymore. They're gonna they can eventually get robo umps. 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:23.880 And you know we're some of that. That was entertaining. 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:25.920 All right, Dave, we gotta go. I gotta go back. 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:28.440 As you said, you're a young kid, They say to you, hey, 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:30.360 we're going to figure out how to do this. So 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:32.520 how did they What were you doing that they picked you? 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:36.079 And how did the character get created? The costume and 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:37.400 your your take on it. 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.120 Well, you know, I was growing up in Newark, Delaware. 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:41.640 All I want to do is be my dad. My 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:43.320 dad was a head football coach there. He's in the 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.200 College Football of Fame. He knew the owners of the Phillies, 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:47.880 the Carpenter family, said let me help you get a 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:51.360 summer job. So seventy six I interned with Eddie Wade, 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:54.120 who became a general manager for the Philadelphia Phillies. So 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.559 I'm like, hey, this is a path for success. I 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.679 don't have to move my family around. So two summers 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:00.360 is over. I got to go back to school seventy 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:02.520 eight to finish my coursework, and I'm thinking the Phillies 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:04.960 are gonna figure get about me. Instead, they call me 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:07.600 up in that spring seven eight, said hey, do you 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:09.319 want your job here? And I go, yeah, what do 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:10.600 you want to do is we need you to go 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.640 to New York and get fitted for the costume. I went, wait, 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:15.679 what do you mean this? And my dad said, you 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:17.160 do whatever. They asked you to do. 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:19.240 So, they don't know you as any kind of an enter. 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:23.440 Well, Bill Giles says in some of the interviews about this, said, well, 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:25.240 Dave was kind of a smart ass, and I'm like, 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:28.160 I was Tubby Raymond's son, friend of the owners. I'm 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.200 not going into that office and act like a smart ass. 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:34.600 Apparently I must have done something that. I think. He's 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.320 the one that's dumb enough to say yes to creating 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:41.479 a muppet for the Phillies, same fans that through snowballs 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.280 at Tanta Claus. Santa didn't have a very good day. 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:47.960 But that's another story. So I go yes, and I 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:51.480 walk into Geppetto's puppet studio in the Garment Distick in 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.320 New York West thirty ninth Street. Bonnie Erickson is there. 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:56.319 I find out she's one of the one of Jim 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.880 Henson's original designers. Because Bill Giles called Jim Henson said, 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:00.920 how do we do this? 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:01.240 Right? 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:05.000 Got to go to Bonnie's studio. I said, you know 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:07.560 she she created statlerind Waldorf, the two old men that 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:11.360 are you miss Piggy, and many others. And they measured 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.480 me and I and I said, I go, what do 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:14.880 I do this, said, we'll just go home, and they 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.480 handed me the drawing that her and Bill Giles had 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.600 worked together, and I went bade to be a Muppet. 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.000 I couldn't believe it. This is going to be easy. 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:27.680 And then the costume was delayed and I the first 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:30.120 time I tried it on was that night. So you 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.400 guys can all appreciate this. You're going out and opening night, 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.600 the curtain opens up. You have no idea who you're playing. 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:38.240 So I go to Bill Jihous and he said, look, 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.000 you need to just go out and have fun. I'm 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:43.880 like brilliant, a college student. All the fear had gone 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:45.200 off me. I could run out of his office and 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:49.160 Etaels g rated fun, g rated fun. So I had 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:51.800 this box and that's what I did. I went out 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.520 and I had, you know, Daffy Duck in my head 0:13:54.559 --> 0:14:00.040 and bog Horn Leghorn, silent comedians, Charlie Chaplin, and I 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.760 love slapstick humor. I was a big fan of The 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:06.160 Gong Show, which was just starting its first big run, 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:09.120 and I just went out and the first twenty minutes like, yeah, 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:11.840 this is great, and then I thought I was an athlete. 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:13.840 It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:16.360 worked my way all the way down to the It 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.800 was a picnic area back then, peter were the most 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:22.480 expensive seats in the land. Was a series of picnic tables, 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:24.600 so Fantasy could go eat there. And I'm jumping back 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:26.680 and forth and the picnic tables. People are laughing. I 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:29.960 tripped and fell. They thought it was great, and then 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.400 I realized, oh my gosh, I have to walk all 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:34.240 the way back up the stands to get to my 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:36.880 lock and go down the elevator. So when the last 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:38.920 that was made, I jumped over the railing into the 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.240 field to run to get out behind home plate, and 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:46.280 people went, oh. The one of the umpires waved at me. 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:48.600 I waved back at him, and people are I go, 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:51.920 these people are not entertained. They've never They're like, they're 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:55.880 loving every single thing that this giant, green, furry bird 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:58.360 is doing. And I realized if I could break that 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:00.680 wall and I could be with the player one minute 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:03.400 and then be next to you and your kids the next, 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.160 that really worked. Plus I got to get to know 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:10.880 the players, and it went on like that in two weeks. 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.160 It was a huge deal, and in six months I 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:17.120 finally had figured out that. You know, I could watch 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:19.200 old video and see, well that's Dave Raymond. Oh there's 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:21.480 a little bit of the fanatic there, and then I 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:23.160 had a personality that really took over. 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:25.760 But Dave, that's the amazing part to me, especially given 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:28.280 now that I know you really had no prep. You 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.280 had no time to discover the character, as we would 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.400 say in my business. But what was what's astonishing to 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:37.560 me about watching you and now, of course the videos 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.240 I'm seeing is the fanatic over the years, so you 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:44.800 gained experience and knowledge, but you as someone who was 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:49.200 not born to performing in that way. Your knowledge of 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:53.800 physical comedy, the way you are taking a character whose 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:57.000 face is not animated in a way that is moving 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:02.440 and giving the impression of expressions, and the way you 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:05.440 would manipulate the costume to poof out the stomach or 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:11.520 to pull you the physical work is so clean and 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.320 so precise that if you're in the last row of 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:17.840 the stadium, you know exactly the game that's at foot. 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:20.720 It reads to the person three feet away and three 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:23.880 hundred feet away. I don't know how you had an 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:26.320 innate sense of that. 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:30.000 That's so what a first of all, thank you very much. 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:34.320 That's that's kind. But until only just a few years 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.680 ago I did. I wasn't giving myself credit. Then when 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:39.520 they were saying, hey, do you want to break I 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:41.520 went no, no, because I didn't want anybody else get 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.240 in costume, because I figured, you know, hey, we're paying 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:45.600 this kid a lot of money to be stupid. We 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:48.200 can get somebody stupid for last time. I'm just I'm 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.640 not thinking. I just don't have any idea of what's 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:55.080 going on. And then so my mother, when she was 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:57.320 twenty nine, I was three years old, she went deaf. 0:16:57.520 --> 0:16:59.200 She had manar syndrome, and she went from a hearing 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:02.120 woman to a death one. And I had a reporter 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:06.359 well into the eighties, so two thirds of my career 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:09.680 asked that question, Hey do you think maybe you're good 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:12.400 at this because your mom is deaf? And I got 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:14.720 frustrated because I thought, well, that's kind of taken advantage 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:17.120 of my mom in some way like and I went, 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:18.800 well now, and then I went home and talked to 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:20.439 my mom. She goes, ouh, my gosh, of course, and 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:23.480 that's you were three. Were not only were you communicating 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:25.680 with me, but you realized I'd laugh and giggle when 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:27.720 you did something, and you were doing it your whole life. 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:30.040 So I was in the right place at the right time. 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.080 And then of course I had ten thousand hours of 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.840 practice when no one was looking at it, like you 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:37.040 would go and do Broadway and they're immediately going to 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:38.959 be critiquing what you're doing to No one knew what 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.800 the hell I was doing. They thought some idiot had 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:43.960 put this together in his garage and just showed up 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.440 one night. Because the Phillies never promoted it, because they 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.160 recognized that was the best way to do it. Let 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:50.000 it go out there and see if it were and 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:52.560 if it's bad, so sorry, we didn't mean that. And 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:54.840 so I think that I can look back and give 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.960 myself credit and to have somebody like you and Peter 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.159 who are in this industry, that's all I thought, like, oh, maybe, 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:03.080 like I would go work with the Philly Pops and 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:05.480 I would work with the Pennsylvania Ballet, like, oh, I'm 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:10.040 with real, real performers, talented people, you know, And meanwhile, 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.200 I'm just I'm sticking my tongue out. 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:16.480 Than give you the compliment, and not so much Peter. 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:17.520 Peter isn't really that. 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:17.760 But. 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.679 You know, some part of your brain is able to 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:36.480 see the potential for a comedic possibility instantaneously and spin 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.280 on it. That's a very unique gift. I know gifted 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.800 comedians who who can't do that, they don't see the 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.840 potential of a moment, and they take advantage. 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:50.280 I appreciate that I was doing whatever I felt made 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.440 me happy, and I think as a result, you know, 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:55.800 the Fanatic does some amazing things in the community that 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:59.000 are that are making people happy when when there's no 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:02.080 good reason for them to feel good. So and you 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:05.879 can and he's doing that. That his ability to seamlessly 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:08.800 connect on an emotional level with people is an amazing 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:12.480 valuable thing for marketing, branding, but it's also a wonderful 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.880 way to distract people when when they're having a difficult time. 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:18.080 And the Fanatic, you know, for the sixteen years I 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.720