The Voices Inside the Phil Hendrie Universe

Silver Strand's Phil Hendrie hosts a unique radio show on which fake guests tangle with real callers

By Emily Vizzo - Ventura County Star
It was not quite 10 p.m. on Monday, and radio talk show host Phil Hendrie still had a long night ahead. The satirist signs off at 1 a.m., but post-show adrenaline can keep him going until nearly dawn.

“Caffeine just levels him out,” whispered publicist Maria Sanchez as Hendrie sipped from two triple-shot coffee drinks and a caffeinated soda, tracking news flickering from an array of monitors lining a long metal desk.

“Through the looking glass we go every night,” Hendrie said, tipping back in a swivel chair, wearing headphones and a black leather jacket.

Each week, “The Phil Hendrie Show” attracts perhaps 2 million listeners to 110 radio stations across the country, according to distributor Talk Radio Network Syndications. Hendrie, a resident of Silver Strand Beach near Oxnard, has relied on a formula involving fictional guests to the show for 20 years.

Hendrie creates the voices of his fictional characters, who spout preposterous opinions that elicit indignant phone calls from real, often-unsuspecting listeners.

His shtick predates false naiveté acts like British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and his Ali G. character, Hendrie said. His influences include Monty Python, 1960s satirical group The Credibility Gap, and Lenny Bruce, the stage name for 1950s satirist Leonard Alfred Schneider.

Paid subscribers to Hendrie’s recently relaunched website can watch live video-casts of show preparations, listening to mumbled, frequently profane ad-lib commentaries as Hendrie hunts the news for satirical hooks.

“I just don’t think that sustains very well,” Hendrie said, scratching a joke about children with autism. Barking into phone props, Hendrie tweaked his voice to impersonate a lackadaisical hippie kid and a defensive high school administrator. A world map, bongo drum, amber bottle of Don Julio Anejo tequila and Franklin D. Roosevelt biography adorned the studio.

Read full Article here at Ventura County Star.

More News