Just over a month ago, on October 18, I got to the entire free world how I draw dead people. Ok, it wasn’t the entire free world, but everyone who was listening to 93.3 WMMR-FM in the Philadelphia area, or who was live-streaming it across the globe, or who will listen to the podcast. I was the ‘Not Your Average Listener’ for the month: a WMMR listener who had something unusual about them or who worked in an unusual job, that people may find interesting.
To say I was a little nervous was correct. I wasn’t extremely nervous; after all, I knew what I was talking about, and I loved sharing forensic art with people. But what if I got a sudden attack of over-speak, or giggles, or what if I let a non-radio-friendly word slip?
I sat in the room outside the air studio, where the Preston and Steve Morning Show was currently broadcasting. I had brought homemade scones in, knowing the show’s love for all things foody. Marisa Magnatta greeted me, her diminutive stature topped by her bright, outgoing smile. She snapped pictures of me with the resin skull I had brought, for the article on WMMR’s site. And then there was the commercial break.
Kathy Romano, queen of traffic and all things Target, brought me into the studio, where Steve Morrison, half of the show’s namesake, introduced himself. Nick McIlwain and Casey ‘Caseyboy’ Foster made me feel at home, and after Preston finished perusing some show notes on his laptop, he greeted me too. One window showed a panoramic view of Bala Cynwyd, just outside Philadelphia proper, on City Line Avenue. Steve’s Batman figures stood in various menacing poses around his mic area. Later he would take me back to their office to show me 50+ Batmen of varying sizes and iterations: Golden Age, Silver Age, etc. When I asked if he was hesitant about leaving them out in general population where someone could touch them, he assured me he would give someone a holy smack down, Batman.
“Just keep your mouth close to the mic, here are your headphones and—,“ Kathy showed me something else, but now I was a little more nervous, so I didn’t hear what it was. What if I forgot how to explain facial reconstruction? What if I talked over someone? What if I said one of the things the Medical Examiner said not to say on-air? But after one of the interns got me a water and Kathy reassured me I would do fine, the intro music came on (sang and recorded by Casey, to the theme of M*A*S*H) and Preston read my introduction.
From there, I learned, it wasn’t about me educating the audience about forensic art. It was about good radio. Good entertainment. And Preston, Steve, Kathy, Nick and Casey knew exactly how to make that happen. It didn’t hurt that I liked making people laugh, either. They asked questions about forensic art, my education, how I got my first cases, and from that somewhat mundane information came comedy. I have to say, I was impressed by the seamless way that each show member kept the questions coming, and how they let the comedy flow. I still don’t know how they do that five mornings a week, 4+ hours a day.
During one of the breaks, Marisa came in to tell me to inform Preston that I had a gift for the show, as it was winding down and she didn’t want me to miss the opportunity to show them what I had done. The gift: an illustration of what I called ‘The WMMR Crimefighting Unit’, with each show member dressed as a superhero or other crime fighter.
Preston and Kathy asked if I would age Kathy 20 years with an age-progression sketch, which I did over the next interview of comedian Don Jamieson, who spoke in much better sound bites than I did. At the end of that break, Preston was going to reveal whether I had won this month’s ‘Not Your Average Listener’; a more ceremonial reveal—after all, I had already won, but the listeners had to vote.
And they did. He said that not only had I won, but I had the highest percentage of ‘yes’ votes in the history of the segment on the show: 99%. Out of 850+ people, only 5 had voted ‘no’. Steve and Don both joked that they were most likely the five felons who listened to the show. After the applause and laughs, I told Preston I had a gift for the show.
“Are you done Kathy’s age progression?” he asked.
“No, but Marisa has something she’s going to put up on the screen.” I said.
When Marisa put up my illustration, the show members exploded with ‘wow’s’, laughs and claps when they saw the art (shown). I would say it was a pretty good wind-down to 2017, $250 prize money and all.
For 2018: onto putting more identities to unknown decedents, and, on my off time, more portraiture! Do you have something in your life that’s a passion? Are you doing it? Why or why not?
(l-r: Nick McIlwain, Marisa Magnatta, Preston Elliot, me, Steve Morrison, Kathy Romano, Caseyboy Foster)
