
Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.
This is Night Light with Peach Waba.
Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.
And now a guy who considers a silver medal, a participation award, Peach
Waba.
can take a long walk off a short pier.
We're skipping Monday all together.
Although we had fun.
We had a nice episode last night with all the comedians.
Yes.
Yes.
That was good stuff.
But it is Tuesday night.
Hope you had a great weekend.
Great to have you here with me on nightlight tonight.
Conrad Krieger riding shotgun as usual.
Hope everybody had a great and safe holiday weekend and ate too much and laughed a lot and got outside a little bit as it was a little bit warmer yesterday was nice but a good weekend.
Overall, I had a we said goodbye to a family friend this weekend.
So it was filled with family and great memories and fun and Just a really under the circumstances a lovely lovely time And more not more importantly, but not to be outdone I've talked about my game soccer golf.
Yeah, right.
Yeah Got a whole new nine holes nice.
So we've got a full 18 now
We've got a water hole.
We've got a hole down by the bay, down by Green Bay, which is treacherous.
You've got to have a water hole, right?
No matter what kind of golf it is.
So we finally got that.
I don't know why we didn't do that earlier.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun.
The whole family was home and said goodbye to a friend, played some soccer golf, went outside and watched a very special movie.
I'm excited to talk about it in just a few minutes.
How was your weekend, buddy?
Yeah, it was good.
I tried this.
One of my buddies from my hometown came up and we went to cocoon brewery in Depeer.
Oh,
which was
pretty good.
It was cool.
They had low like huts outside that you can like rent and like you can put on whatever you want on the TV.
Oh, nice.
And they have pizza there, some pretty good beer.
And then after that, we yeah, we kind of just went around town.
But we went golfing then the next day.
And my buddy's not that good of a golfer.
So
fun
for
you.
Well, the last time we golf was like together was like three years ago when we're both on the same level I'm still bad, but just a little bit better than him.
There is nothing funnier than watching a comedian on stage chewing it or a golfer who sucks and having a terrible why I don't know what it is, but that just makes me laugh and I'm okay.
I'm like I laugh at my when I used to be on stage I used to laugh at myself too and I'm like you are really eating it up here but
golf for some reason, it's a frustrating sport to begin with.
But all the times I've golfed, it seemed like there's one if mostly it was me.
But it seems like oftentimes there were people that just really wrecking the course.
I don't know why that cracks me up.
Well, you know, it makes it worse when you get mad, because
then
you just totally lose at that point.
Absolutely.
Once you let your mind take over just then you don't even have a good time.
And it's just about being out there.
Right.
And enjoying the weather.
Ideally.
But it's the windmill hole always messes me
up.
Do you have one at the
soccer golf?
No, we should though.
Yeah, that'd be cool.
We should do that.
Yeah, great weekend.
It was a lot of fun, but it's great to be back here.
It's nice.
I like to have some structure to my day.
I don't do well with no structure.
I tend to do less than more when I don't have structure.
But
There was so much going on in our little community.
It was just fun to walk outside and see what was up and see what people were up to.
So I got a lot of steps in too, which is good.
So I hope all of you had a great day as well.
And if you want the rules to soccer golf, folks, don't hesitate to reach out.
It is a fine competitive leisurely game.
The phone lines are open.
Let us know how your weekend was.
855-752-4842.
855-755 Civic.
If you're listening on the radio, folks,
or the app or the stream.
Give us a like or a follow if you're so inclined.
Always nice to be liked or followed.
Actually, nobody likes to be followed by police officer, a stalker, whatever.
But on social media, it's just fine and it's encouraged.
So there you go.
Knock yourself out.
We have a see what should we do here?
Let's do the question of the night.
Conrad, let's bang this out so we can get this out there to the fine people who are listening to nightlight on a Tuesday.
Here's our question of the night.
Let's talk about the question.
Okay, question.
Question.
Question.
Question.
Question.
Okay, I have a question.
Questions.
This question.
Question.
Questions.
Oh, here we go.
What is your favorite movie, TV, or Broadway musical?
There might be some crossover there.
But let us know.
What is your favorite movie, TV, or Broadway musical?
That is tonight's question of the night here at Nightlight, 855-7524842, 855-75 Civic.
As I just mentioned, you can listen on the app, or you can watch the radio at X, YouTube, or Facebook.
We'd love to have you any way you can be here, just be here, and be part of the fun.
So that is our question of the night.
I'm going to go, have you had time to think about this?
Do you have one?
I mean, kind of.
I really like Shrek the Musical.
Is
that a thing?
It is.
You're not making that up.
I wouldn't say it's Broadway, but...
What does that mean?
There's like a couple show numbers in it or something?
I saw it at like a local theater when I was younger.
Okay.
Does that count?
Dude, I know you've seen an actual musical, not just
like...
Well,
come back to me.
You could think about it.
I was thinking about Shrek the whole day, so...
I don't even know what to go with because my favorite Broadway musical, actual in a theater musical, is Les Mis.
Hands down, far and away.
Love every second of the show.
I've seen it four times live.
Just absolutely a beautiful piece of art.
Les Mis.
Live.
Didn't care for the movie as much, obviously, with Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway, I think, was in it.
She was good, but just the...
They can't hold a candle to the actual live stage show.
It's an absolute spectacle.
So that's my Broadway musical.
I would have to say movies might be Greece or Little Shop of Horrors, maybe fame.
I'm struggling here because I think I have too many.
I also like a recent musical that came out in the theaters called Sing Street.
That is a great show, contemporary music, fun group of
Peep Kids in Ireland that formed this band.
Great song called Drive It Like You Stole It.
Highly recommend Sing Street.
I've also talked about Once on this show.
Another great movie musical.
They might have turned that into a live show too.
And then of course, I even have a TV musical.
I have been into the show Glee lately.
Have we talked about this?
You ever seen Glee?
I actually have never seen an episode.
It like the music is good They do anywhere from show tunes to pop tunes and the everybody on the show is really Talented when it comes to singing But I have to say the TV show and I've only seen one season and I've seen a couple episodes of other seasons is really funny Jane Lynch Is the cheerleading coach who bullies the glee club and bullies the football coach
and the principal.
I mean, she's just so funny.
I highly recommend Glee.
I know it's old.
Most of you have probably seen it.
If it's something we're going to watch, I'm behind.
But I watched Season 1 a couple of years ago.
And I've kind of been slowly looking at other episodes now that my daughter's home for the summer.
We've been watching that.
Really funny show.
So there you go.
I'm going to say Les Mis, Grease, and Glee are my Broadway, movie, and TV.
But you don't have to give.
You just give one, folks.
If you've got something to share, go ahead and do it.
We'll read your text on the radio.
Always more fun when you guys participate.
Um, that is our nightlight question of the night.
All right.
So I have to get this out of the way.
I've been talking a lot about this movie for the last few weeks and I was very excited that Mission Impossible finally opened and it did not disappoint.
It was really good.
It was long.
It was about two hours and 50 minutes, but the first, I would say the first half hour almost was a recap of what had happened.
with the rabbit's foot and stuff from Ghost Protocol and the first one.
Really good.
Some people might not like that.
I didn't mind it.
I was anxious to get to the new material.
And it wasn't like it was highlights, but they did work it in kind of cleverly, I thought.
But I really liked it.
And then the show took off, the movie took off after about 30 minutes into it.
They ran the opening credits were like 30 minutes into the movie.
But it was a fun sequence.
They played the fun music It was like just and then it took off and the it just did not there was a great scene Tom Cruise of course is gonna do his stunts.
He had a great underwater scene if those of you who saw Mission Impossible 7 remember the sub going down that was sunk by the entity or the AI and He went down there because he had to get a hard drive to stop the entity from taking over the world.
It's just great and then it was a scene where he was on a plane
a little prop plane, flipping around, flying around, punching out the pilot while he's chasing Gabriel, the guy who is trying to get control of the entity.
So, lots of fun.
It just, it was great.
And there was one, there was a death, I'm not gonna say who it was, I'm not gonna spoil it, but one of the cast members, if you go on social media, you probably already know, but it was just a lot of fun.
Start to finish, great film.
I'm not convinced it's the last one based on what I'm hearing, but it is crushing at the box office.
But it's not crushing nearly as much as Lilo in Stitch.
183 million bucks in the four-day weekend.
And Mission Impossible took in 77.5.
Huge, I mean, for an action film like that, that's a huge haul, too.
The two of them crushed Barbenheimer.
the two films together, and that's kind of a new strategy by Hollywood, putting out two films.
You're not really getting the same audience, so it's probably not hurting anybody, but it's... I mean, they're saying the box office could make $4.2 billion this summer.
A total rebound from where it was at for COVID.
I would love to know what those numbers are.
But it appears to be back, so that's exciting.
You told me...
something about Lilo and Stitch or some backlash without getting too spoilery.
Yeah.
Well,
what's the deal?
They just made some differences from, you know, from the live action.
This is the live action from the animated.
Okay.
Yeah.
And I was kind of confused on why they ended it like that because the main thing at the end is like it's a big decision.
Okay.
And then
And in the live action, she does the opposite of that.
This isn't that she did in the animation.
Oh, really?
So I was like, I don't get why they would change that.
Yeah.
I will see it.
I wasn't going to rush out.
It was it was finally a nice weekend.
I had.
I was sort of conflicted, even going to see a three hour movie on a gorgeous day, but I just had to.
I had to check it out.
We have a text from when was that bud text?
Here we go.
Was it from today?
So he's listening to the Comedian show.
Okay, so 30.
Yeah, right.
So last night We put a best of episode together because I took the day off and I had all my interviews with friends of mine bill left We put is Steve Cochran.
All right.
Anyway, we had bill left Mike Mercury.
Who else did we have in that show?
Jim Pardo Jimmy Pardo
who ripped on my shirt hilariously.
It's worth a listen.
But Bud listened to that show, and Bud is in the 608, and he drives around between 4 and 6 a.m.
and listens to Nightlight, which I think as well.
He says, hey, Pete and Conrad, another outstanding show so far, not showing up is the key, I believe.
Oh, that's a dig.
I'll take it, Bud.
Anyway, I'm loving the interview with Bill Leff.
I love his show, NWGN with Wendy.
Is Steve Cochran going to be next?
Love your show, Bud from Jamesville.
Steve Cochran and I are going back and forth, so he will be on soon, Bud.
Bud also says, I'm not talented enough to listen to two programs simultaneously.
What does that mean?
I think that was one of the discussions you guys had with one
of the
comedians.
Yeah, don't beat yourself up, Bud.
You're a fine human being.
And a wonderful listener.
Thank you for the text.
We will read your texts in regard to our question of the night when we come back.
And I will tell you about our awesome guest tonight.
We've got two robbs on the show.
How do you like that, folks?
It's Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
on this Tuesday which is really like a Monday but feels more like a Wednesday because we have a short week and I hope you guys had a great weekend lots of summer fun coming up every weekend moving forward should feel like a long weekend because it's summer so we've got a really fun show tonight ladies and gentlemen we do have some I understand we have a volume issue we are working on that Conrad has his tools out he is diligently working to try to restore
whatever it is we're dealing with right now.
So we will get that handled as soon as possible.
Thank you for your patience.
And we will read your texts when people can actually hear them.
So great show tonight, ladies and gentlemen.
We have two Rob's on the same show.
That's probably happened in radio history because Rob is a fairly popular name.
But we've got two great guys on tonight, both named Rob.
And neither one of them is Rob Thomas.
How do you like that?
So my first guest tonight at 635 will be Rob Paravonian.
Rob is a comedian and musical artist.
He is just hilarious.
He's got a lot to report on.
We'll play some of a couple of Rob's hilarious tunes.
We've played Rob's song about, he wrote a Friends song parody years ago.
And we played that last time he was on and we replayed that a few weeks ago when we were doing a question of the night that involved everybody's favorite TV theme show song.
So we played Rob's friends song, very funny.
Rob's hilarious.
He'll be here at 635 to make us laugh and maybe make us sing along.
We'll see how it goes.
And then at 720, driving all the way up from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
I know you've heard of it, folks.
Very exciting to welcome my friend Rob Martin, who will be here at 720.
Rob was an actor in the film The Godfather of Green Bay.
He has never been on this show.
We found him in Milwaukee, and we cast him as the heavy in The Godfather of Green Bay, and he crushed it.
And if you've seen the film and see how good Rob is, you'll probably go, why haven't I seen that guy in anything else?
Well, he had a lot of other things going on.
He teaches martial arts.
I think he was a DJ for a while.
And he's a very busy guy.
And he also has a phenomenal singing voice.
And he founded the band, the Dock Siders.
Yacht Rock Band.
But he also had an injury that took him out of that life for a while.
He's fully healed now, as I understand it.
And he will come on tonight to talk about movie gangsters.
We'll talk about that with Rob Martin at 720.
He will be in studio.
He made the journey from Milwaukee just to see his old pal, PD here in the studio.
So I can't wait to see Rob.
That'll be fun.
We have gotten some time.
How we doing on the on the sound issue Conrad?
Are we still some sound issues?
Yeah,
just okay.
Did you bump something?
Yeah, I think that's it.
Um, should we play a clip and hold off on the text?
I mean, if people, I don't want to make people sit through low volume, that would be really annoying.
Yeah, sure.
Uh, we got, we got a couple clips.
What do we have?
We got Foxy or talking about movie gangsters tonight.
Let's talk, let's play one of my favorite movie gangsters is Foxy Brown played by Pam Grier.
She is fantastic.
And this is a film from, I want to say 1974 where she goes in and she's asking for a neighborhood council's help.
or approval and getting even with people who brought harm to her brother, Pam Greer.
All right, we've talked about your request and we're not sure whether we want to help you or not.
We're a neighborhood committee and this is sort of out of our neighborhood, you know what I mean?
Maybe the time has come to grow a bit, brother.
What is it you really want?
Justice.
For whom, your brother?
Why not?
It could be your brother too.
or your sister, or your children.
I want justice for all of them.
And I want justice for all the other people whose lives are bought and sold so that a few big shots can climb up on their backs and laugh at the law and laugh at human decency.
And most of all, I want justice for a good man.
This man had love in his heart.
And he died because he went out of his neighborhood to try to do what he thought was right.
Sister, I think what you're asking for is revenge.
You just take care of the justice, and I'll handle the revenge myself.
because I remember seeing that film like 30 years ago and there's a little hiccup in Pam Grier's delivery on that last line and they still used it and I remember the first time I saw it thinking oh man they left some goof or they missed it no they didn't that obviously was a conscious effort to leave that in there because sometimes people do that they misspeak but I don't know I haven't seen the whole movie in quite a while but
Foxy Brown one of my favorite gangsters and then I've got some other favorites the usual we'll talk about all those with Rob Martin when he's here at 720 and Rob Martin is one of my favorite movie gangsters because he was so good he played a retainer wearing hitman in my film the Godfather of Green Bay and It just was was great in it.
So Rob will be here at in studio at 720.
Hopefully we will have these issues worked out by that folks hang with us
and we will read your texts when you can hear them.
I don't want to let anybody's great material get a waste here, so we will read all of that coming up soon.
Our question of the night, in case you want to get something in, and I will read it when we can hear it, is what is your favorite movie, TV, or Broadway musical?
Mine, Les Mis is my favorite Broadway musical.
Grease is my favorite movie musical.
And I'm going to go Glee for TV, TV musical.
And mostly because I think it's really funny.
The writing is very funny.
Music's good, writing's great.
So all right, coming up at 6.35, right after the news, my pal Rob Paravonian will be here on the stream.
We'll talk to Rob about some new material he's putting out and maybe give you a listen to some of his songs.
He's very funny and a great comedian.
And then Rob Martin, Rob number two.
There's two Rob's on the same show, folks.
This is Pandemonium.
And I can't wait to talk to both of them.
This is Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media.
radio
network.
I'm very loud inside my own head, and that's really irritating.
But you know what I do, Conrad?
I just turn the volume down.
Is that simple?
There you go.
Yeah.
I thought you took a powder there.
I was like, wondering, I know your work.
Conrad's got the tools out, folks.
We're trying to figure this out.
But thanks for sticking with us.
Rob Martin will be here at 720.
He was one of the stars of the Godfather of Green Bay that we found in Milwaukee.
And I'm very excited to talk to Rob.
And we've got another Rob.
I'm not saying we're making total radio history, but there's a chance that this hasn't been done before.
Two rubs on the same show.
What do you think, Conrad?
I think there's a very little chance that this has happened before.
You need a serious attitude adjustment, I'm just saying right now.
All right, folks, our question of the night, we will get to the text.
Hopefully, when we get the sound issue figured out, we'll read your text then, but it is, what is your favorite movie, TV, or Broadway musical?
Let me know your answer.
We will read your text on the radio right now It is my pleasure to bring to the show back tonight like he's been here before but we've been anxious to get him back on the show Comedian Rob paragonian Rob.
How are you?
Your volume is great and I so I hope I people can hear us I think it's just a little low, so we're getting that figured out But let's pretend I never even said that Rob you just be you
And it's funny because I reached out to you earlier and I said, hey, what are some of your credits I can put in your intro?
And then I didn't even use them.
So I'll take this time right now to say you've heard Rob on Dr. Demento or Comedy Central, or maybe you saw him opening for George Carlin.
I can't wait to talk about that, Rob.
That is good.
So how you been, buddy?
Oh, that's fantastic.
Good timing for once on my part.
Where did you grow up again, Rob?
Was it Oregon or just in Illinois?
Waukegan.
Yes.
Oh, wow.
Yeah
Hey Rob, I'm sorry to do this to you.
We're gonna can we but I don't want you to say something that people can't hear Can we move you to the phone?
Just because of our issues tonight.
Would that be okay?
Post your number, please, in the chat.
Was that PRI Conrad?
Is he safe if he does that?
Okay, then we'll give you a call.
Yep, where it says three people, right in there.
Okay, perfect.
And we'll give Rob a call because I would hate for... So, okay.
Perfect.
All right, we're gonna get Rob back on the phone.
I didn't want him to tell a funny story without you guys actually being able to hear it, so we'll get that figured out, and... Ah, that's weird.
I'm glad Rob Martin.
Drove up.
He's gonna be in studio.
So that's gonna be good, but we'll get right we'll get this figured out counter.
It's giving a rob a call as we speak ladies and gentlemen The very funny Rob Paribony and I met Rob at the improv in Chicago years ago when we were both stand-ups and He has since gone on to do great things.
He has had his own comedy special He's been on comedy central dr. Demento and as I mentioned, he's open for George Carlin So we will get to all of that as soon as we get Rob back
In the meantime, if you haven't seen Mission Impossible, it's a recommend, folks.
I highly recommend it.
And definitely check it out.
If you have kids, Lilo and Stitch, they're both reviewing incredibly well.
So we've got that going for us.
Lilo and Stitch is getting like a, well, it's getting a 70, but a 93% audience.
Mission Impossible is getting an 80 and 89% audience, my guess, with the audience.
I feel like it should be 100% but I think that long intro before the credits where they kind of recap everything maybe everyone's not too keen on that especially if you're a huge fan and you already know all the stories but I personally liked it because sometimes with these franchises whether it's like Star Wars or Mission Impossible or Fast and the Furious everything kind of blends together and I can't remember who did what or what character was in what movie so I actually like the recap.
All right, we're gonna read some texts anyway, just because I don't wanna run out of time or something, so Conrad, keep me posted.
Lisa Hale, in regard to our question, what is your favorite movie, musical, TV musical, or Broadway musical?
Lisa says, Rent or Hamilton, depending on my mood.
TV musical, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season six, episode seven, Once More With Feeling.
Wow, that is specific.
Appreciate that Lisa.
She says Broadway musical six.
Yes.
I'm that extra.
I don't even know what that is.
I love when like Textures have more knowledge than I do because it's fun to learn stuff yourself too.
That's a great text.
Thank you.
Oh, my buddy Dave Hendrick checking in says the Blues Brothers.
Yes.
Kind of forgot about that one.
That would have been on my list too.
Thank you Dave Mike on the stream or on social media.
I'm sorry says filler on the roof What does it mean this filler on the roof who fiddles every night?
Great one Mike keep those texts coming folks.
Those are social media texts.
We'll get to the Stream text and the phone text shortly.
I understand we have Rob Paravonian back Rob Thank you for sticking with us, buddy
Hey, what's happening?
How is this is it working?
It sounds great
It sounds fantastic.
Wonderful.
And now everybody listening has your phone number.
All right, so.
Oh, no kidding.
Rob, folks, leave Rob alone.
He's a he's a celebrity.
And was it Central America?
Rob, you can't even go to the bathroom there without being.
You know, a couple of those couple of countries in there.
So all right, so tell us you had a big video special release about a year ago.
How is that doing?
And are you happy with it?
Tell us about it.
I'm very happy with it.
I, of course, would love more views, all the views, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
It was based on a solo show I did that was full of comedy songs that were inspired by US history and US culture.
So it was a little bit, it was very much like Schoolhouse Rock Meets the Daily Show.
And so instead of doing like a live comedy special, I did...
like music videos and then sort of daily show type stand-up segments with over-the-shoulder graphics you know sort of like you know daily show week this week tonight kind of thing and I'm really happy with the way it turned out and so it's starting to you know people have people have found it I think more people will find it as like the different subjects become more popular there's stuff about the satanic panic in the 80s there was stuff about the invisible hand of the marketplace for economics
people.
It was a little bit nerdy, but you know, very much me.
That's awesome.
Where can people see it?
If they want to go watch it, where would they check it out?
It's on YouTube.
The easiest way to find it is just my website, robprox.com, rovprocks.com, all one word, because my last name is Paravonian, so I don't want to make anybody spell that.
Do you say a Paravonian?
I've been saying Paravonian for years.
I said both for a long time, and I finally just settled on one because sometimes people get mad at me for not.
Caring which way it was pronounced, but it was because my dad, my dad said both growing up.
He was born here.
His first generation.
His parents came over from Armenia.
So, um, and I caught him once and I asked him, I'm like, whenever you talk to Armenian people on the phone, you say Paravonian.
Whenever you talk to like Americans or the rest of the Americans, you say Paravonian.
And he's like, you know, I never noticed that.
And I
think it was just
like an assimilation thing that he did.
So I just decided I would try for the closest one to the, you know, official pronunciation, but I grew up saying both myself.
Okay.
I like Paravonian.
That sounds like a little more, uh,
As a guy who has nothing exotic about him, Rob, I've got fair skin.
Schwabba is my last name.
There is nothing sexy about me.
You've got Paravoni.
That sounds really cool, actually.
I'm serious.
Like, you know, well, in the nineties, when I was starting in comedy, I was on the fence about whether or not I was going to use a stage name or not just because, you know, but I'm glad if I was in my dad's generation of like the 1950s, I definitely would have had to come up with a stage name.
And I did pick out my 1950s stage name would have been Bobby Verona would have been a star.
I would have been playing Vegas every weekend.
I love that.
Come on.
That's that's a guy who plays like the Sands Casino for like six
years.
That's a guy who brings it and you could easily pass for Italian I think.
I'm ambiguously
ethnic.
That's a good place to be.
Let's talk about you have you sent me a couple songs.
Can you tell tell us about them and then we'll we'll play them.
I'd love for people to hear them.
Okay, yeah, there's one called Driving With Grandpa that was on my most recent live album.
That's gotten played on XM Radio a bit, and that's a really
fun
one to do live.
That's very family-friendly, inspired by, actually inspired by my stepdad, but I decided to make it a little more accessible.
But it's a Beach Boy style song about driving, and I sort of explained it in the setup in the clip of why I chose that genre.
You know, when I was growing up, I always loved the oldie station.
So
it's
very much a true to life.
You know, it's it's it's a style of song.
I was excited to write.
That's awesome.
All right, Conrad, what should we tell us about baby in a bar?
What kind of time are we looking at here?
Conrad, do we have?
We got about three minutes.
So we got can we fit one of these in or should we wait till after the break?
We
should wait till OK, perfect.
So tell us about baby in a bar, Rob.
OK, well, that is I live here in Brooklyn and it's a it's a
I live in a neighborhood that the professional parents have moved to.
It used to be you got married, you had kids, and you moved out to the suburbs.
Those were the rules, you know?
But now, lately, everyone's moved to my neighborhood, so my neighborhood's got very much sort of just professional, like you would call, I used to call them yuppie parents, and the bars in the neighborhood, they often just come in with the baby with them.
It just became such a thing that I had to write a song about it.
And I think it connects.
I know people West Coast and Chicago and Milwaukee have responded to it too.
So I think it's something that is not it's not unique to New York.
So you're you're getting squeezed out or you got to find a way you got to adopt a kid or something to feel at home in your neighborhood.
I think so.
Yeah.
I got to adopt the kid and get a big you know minivan or crossover.
Everyone's driving car crossovers.
Alright, we will play Rob's song, we'll get to both of them, but after the break we'll play, maybe we'll start driving with grandpa, because I'm a huge Beach Boys fan.
So Rob, you're a straight, I think I've seen you perform without your guitar, you're a very funny stand-up comedian, you're also a very talented musician.
When you were growing up, who were your influences?
Like did you have musical act influences or was it mostly primarily stand-ups?
I definitely well I like I like the variety performers you know like the 70s there were all those like variety shows you know like Sonny and Cher and I love Carol Burnett so like comedy wise and then you know Steve Martin came at a time when I was just starting to like love absurd type comedy and you know the fact that he played banjo and did some music and had his big hit with King Tut and
You know, was was I was a huge fan of his and then, you know, around 12 years old, I found the Dr. Demento show where it was just, you know, weird Al and all the comedy music and weird novelty music.
So those were big influences on me coming up.
So
I
was like mixing the two.
Is it.
And what about.
Well, actually, we'll get to this after the break, too.
All right, we're going to do a very short break.
We're going to come back and let you hear some of Rob's hilarious songs.
It's great to have him here.
Rob Paravonian is my guest tonight on Nightlight.
It's his second time here.
And hopefully, there'll be many more if we don't, if I don't rub Rob the wrong way.
That didn't sound right either.
All right, we're coming right back, folks.
This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba, more with Rob Paravonian coming up
next.
You pick up a little guy to buy you I'm gonna pick up a little guy
Post weekend kind of like a Monday feels like a Wednesday.
It's a day without a home folks So we got to live it up here and light it up.
So I'm glad you're with me tonight Thank you textures for letting us know about the sound issues we had much appreciated and Apologies for that but stick with us.
We'll get this figured out Rob Martin will be here at 720 Rob was in the movie the godfather of Green Bay that I made many many years ago And we found him in Milwaukee and he was fantastic
And I think I want to say Rob was one of the first practitioners of Yacht Rock here in Wisconsin.
That is a whole other story, but he had a very popular band.
And we'll talk to Rob about that too at 720.
Right now, we are having a blast with my other pal Rob, who joins us over the stream and the phone.
He is sticking with us tonight as well.
Rob Parvonian is here on Nightlight for the second time.
Rob.
Yeah,
the
leadoff, Rob.
Yeah,
the leadoff, Rob.
And that's a great place to be.
I mean, I know it was just a matter of time.
Hey, let me ask you this.
You're in New York.
You grew up in Waukegan.
I met you in Chicago.
You were working clubs.
Was it a good move to New York?
That's where every stand up, not every stand up goes, but that is like the mecca of stand up comedy.
How is that?
Do you like living there as a comedian?
I do yeah I moved here if you remember this there was a summer in Chicago when both the improv and the funny firm closed the same summer I think that was 95 and yeah so I figured it was and I was starting to do the rows starting to do colleges yeah so I was people were moving to either New York or LA and I had gone to college in LA and I was only like three or four years out of college at that point
And so I didn't want to go right back to LA.
I wanted to try New York for a year or two.
And so now I've been here, you know, going on 30 years.
So for
me, it's the
right move.
I really enjoyed the performance scene that I got into here.
There was a lot of cool sort of new vaudeville type stuff.
They call, you know, I started calling it alternative comedy, but like there were shows where there'd be like sketch and characters and monologues and stand ups and music.
And so my music fit in really well in that
scene.
So for me, yeah, it really, it really was a good move.
And then
I just like the city vibe.
I like living in Chicago.
I like the bigger cities.
And having gone to college in LA, it's a nice place.
It just wasn't quite my vibe.
I like getting around on the trains or the buses.
I like riding my bike around town, that kind of stuff.
So for me, even though I'm not as active in the comedy scene here in the city as much,
It's still it's still home now.
It's still it was the right move.
Yeah
30 years man.
That's great Do you have to go into Manhattan for most of your local shows or?
Are there spots in Brooklyn?
I know Brooklyn is like the new Manhattan almost seems like you know
Yeah, not like when I first moved here was definitely going into the into Manhattan For most of my shows, but yeah the last 15 years or so there's so many more performance venues
in Brooklyn, like specific dedicated comedy rooms, improv rooms, and then a lot of bars that have like a music room in the back that'll do like a once a week comedy show, you know, a lot of that going around.
So yeah, I don't have to go into Manhattan nearly as much as I did those those first several years.
That's awesome.
Alright, so Rob is here.
Let's let's hear maybe we'll do baby.
Is that the shorter of the two songs Conrad baby?
No, driving with grandpa.
Let's do drive.
Yeah, the Beach Boys style one is
love this
one.
Alright, this is Rob Parvoni and he's my guest.
He is a New York based stand-up comic and here is one of his songs.
I know you're going to love it, Driving with Grandpa.
When I was a kid, I really liked oldies.
I loved, you know, 50s and 60s music.
When I was 8, 9, 10 years old, I loved the Beach Boys.
Yeah, but the Beach Boys songs are all about California and surfing and driving and girls.
I grew up in the Midwest.
I grew up in Illinois.
I was 10 years old.
I didn't know anything about California or surfing or cars or girls.
So I wanted to try to write a Beach Boys-type song about something I might have been able to relate to when I was 10 years old.
So here's what I came up with.
Now driving with him is one of my greatest fears.
He's yelling at the other drivers like he's insane.
I'm in the backseat praying and praying because I'm the only one who knows we're in the wrong lane.
Driving with grandpa gives me heart palpitations.
Driving with grandpa, it's all moving violations.
Driving with grandpa, I want to make it home tonight.
Always fills me with stress, wop, wop, wahoo.
Because he stops traffic to yell at the GPS, wop, wop, wahoo.
The right directions, it won't show.
We asked three people, nobody knows.
Because the place we're going closed eight years ago.
Right with grandpa.
Right with grandpa.
Thank you, officer.
I'm blanking Morse code to you so you can rescue me.
I do like that.
That's hilarious.
I like you do your own do-wop-wop do.
That to me is
like.
You know, you got to cover a lot of different parts when you're a solo performer.
What's up?
In terms of audiences, America is very polarized right now, Rob.
Are we comedically polarized?
Like, are there parts of the country or certain clubs you don't want to work because you don't want to dig yourself out of a hole or start from below zero or whatever?
Um,
I feel like a little bit.
I think it's mostly like I tried it when I'm in a place where I know there's going to be people on all sides of the political spectrum.
I try to.
choose my material you know choose the material that I would maybe like do on a cruise ship that's more accessible to everybody more neutral the thing that's tricky I think that gets more and more tricky every year is like I think fewer things feel neutral you know some subjects can set somebody off like I I think years ago I had a bit about the Super Bowl and
I think it was maybe around 2020 when, you know, kneeling in sports was a big controversial thing.
So I just I thought I was going to be able to talk about football and that was something everyone could relate to.
But that year it happened to be something that,
you know,
made half the crowd angry, you know.
So I do feel it's a lot trickier just for people to go and have a good time.
But it's it's not as bad as it.
I don't know.
I feel I feel it's not as bad as.
I fear that it is, but it's still, it's harder than it was.
Yeah.
All right, Rob Parvonius here, folks.
We're going to break for intermission here and do a little bit of news, keep you informed, and we'll be back.
And we're going to hear his song, Baby in a Bar.
And talk about other stuff, too.
It'll be fun.
Pete Schwabba, Nightlight, Civic Media Radio Network.
Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.
This is Night Light with Pete Chihuahua.
Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.
And now, a guy who likes to talk trash, but only when he's at the dump.
Pete Chihuahua.
Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen.
We are about to start act two great to have you with me on this Tuesday night while we come together and talk about the joys of life Movies TV music comedy we've got it all and that's what we do here to help us wind down our days after talking politics being chewed up by bosses We're being stuck in traffic even here in Green Bay Conrad you can have traffic.
It's funny.
I in Marinette where I live It's this tiny town if you try to turn on to a road after the factories let out at three o'clock
You're screwed.
You might as well be on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago.
So whatever brings you here, welcome folks.
We had a great talk with Rob Paravanian, heard his, one of his songs.
We had technical issues.
understand they are behind us now.
So thank you, Textures, for letting us know that.
That was kind of our first hour.
In a nutshell, our question of the night is, what is your favorite Broadway TV or movie musical?
Let us know on the text line.
We will get to your texts shortly.
Right now, we have a few more minutes with my pal, Rob Paravanian, who we just heard his song, Driving with Grandpa, and we have a baby in a bar on tap.
Rob, I just want to ask you, what was the...
Was the inspiration for baby in a bar like to pick up girls?
No, it was just it was just my my fascination with how many babies kept showing up at my local bars
Before we get to that song I have to ask you You told me earlier you got the opportunity to open up for George Carlin on his final tour
That is so unbelievable.
How did you get that gig and what was it like?
Um, the gig came about, um, through his managers.
I think his manager's granddaughter was college age and it was right around the time my pocket bell rant was becoming really popular.
So she had seen this video of mine on YouTube that was, uh, you know, just started getting news with viral and, um, she passed it up.
along to her dad and her grandfather and carlin's like long time opening act was a guitar comic his name's uh denis blair and that's a guy who opened for him for like decades and so they thought i'd be a good fit for the shows that he uh couldn't make so i so it just sort of came out about that way just really good luck that you know someone in their group saw a video and thought i'd be a good fit and then
I started a few dates for him in the fall of 2007 when he was just starting to work on his material for what would be his last special.
It was called It's Bad For You.
And so I got to see him do that material when it was new, kind of work on it.
And then I did some shows with him the following spring into May of 2008 when he had shot his special and the material was polished.
So I got to see him develop an hour over the... I did about 12 shows with him.
So it was fascinating
to
see a legendary
comedian like sort of work on a new hour.
That is unbelievable.
What?
Yeah, it was cool.
Did you get random?
I did random spots with him.
So like Erie, Pennsylvania, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, they were all just like scattered gigs that their other guy couldn't make.
So I was I was all over the place.
Wow.
So did you get to meet him?
Yeah.
Yeah, I met him like the first show I did with him.
I met him backstage and had had a little chat and it was great because
Uh, his manager had showed him this, the Pocobel rant, the video that was becoming really popular.
And so he's like, yeah, I saw that Pocobel thing that you did.
That's pretty good.
Pretty good.
He's like, anyone else saying you're pretty good is like, well, that's lukewarm, but from Carlin, that was like my best review ever.
That's like, there are legends and then there is a legend like George Carlin.
I mean, maybe the greatest standup ever.
And I remember not walking across the street to meet them once, thinking, well, I'll have other opportunities.
And of course, they never did.
Here it is, you got to meet them and not only open for them, but hang out with them a little bit.
And I think that's really cool.
Yeah, it was a huge thrill, still one of the biggest thrills of my career.
How was the crowd?
Amazing.
The crowd were great.
Yeah, they were, you know, he played theaters, you know, like some, you know, 1,200, 1,500 seat theaters.
We played this theater in Boston called the Wang Center.
And it's one of those giant theaters.
The next night I asked him, like, yeah, that was like, and it was sold out.
It was like a Saturday night.
And I asked him the next night, it's like, yeah, that place was big.
There must have been like, what, 1,800, 2,000 people there?
And they're like, Rob, there were 3,100 people there last night.
And I'm like, I'm glad I didn't know that till now.
It's like had, you know, one of those places that had like balconies and low sections that were so in the dark, I couldn't even see where they were, but it was, yeah, it was cool.
What a thrill.
You're
proud than I could have ever drawn in my life.
Yeah, a little bigger than Zany's downtown in Chicago that holds about 90 people,
which is also good if they're listening.
You know,
I love Zany's downtown Chicago.
I'm available this fall.
We'll see what we can do.
Rob Parmonian is my guest.
He's a very funny stand-up comedian, New York City based.
You've seen him on Comedy Central, Dr. Demento, and he's opened up for George Carlin, which is pretty cool.
We have another song that Rob shared with us called Baby in a Bar about his neighborhood being taken over by family.
His once cool and hip neighborhood now being taken over by babies and families.
Here is that song now.
This song is dedicated to the Brooklyn that has evolved since I moved here because I've seen lots of babies in bars now.
I don't think there are any here tonight.
I hope not.
But yeah, I see a lot of babies in bars and I used to get upset, but then I realized I can't get mad at the baby.
It's not their fault that they're at the bar.
And then I started to wonder, what's the baby thinking?
So I wrote this song from the baby's point of view.
Everything is so big Daddy's drinking a beer He won't give me a sweat This is a great place for me With all this vodka and glass Every surface is wet I know that I'll bust my ass But don't blame my daddy
But don't blame my dad.
He's not an alcoholic.
We've been stuck in the house.
I got the collar because my tummy hurts because my sphincters don't sphinct.
I've been screaming for days.
And daddy isn't a drink.
And I think the bartender's not happy with me because I don't know how to tip it.
I don't have ID.
And all the guys here hate me because I'm blocking their jocks by tripping all the ladies by a logical clock.
I'm a baby in a bar.
I'm a baby in a bar This place used to be cool But now while I'm sitting here In a puddle of drool And I think I annoy The bartender tonight When she shakes up a drink
I just shriek with delight Cause it's shiny and it makes funny noises I'm getting dirty looks and I guess I deserve it But maybe they're all jealous of my bottle service But I think it's cause I'm ruining their sense of mystique This neighborhood used to be edgy Now it's Sesame Street But it's not my fault So spare me to scorn I didn't choose this place I was dragged here in a fjorn So before you take it out on me Stop and think You all are here to get laid Where do you think that will lead?
to a baby in a bar.
You guys sound amazing.
Are you ready for an awesome
show?
Oh, that's fun.
Great stuff, Rob.
Thank you.
Just love it.
Hey, this has been fun.
Let's do it again when we don't have a tech issue.
We just got to have you back on more often.
And since you're a musical
guy,
we'll
come through Green Bay next time through.
Oh, come on, man.
You've got to come through here, Rob.
We've got great audiences
here.
It's been too long.
I haven't been to Wisconsin in a minute.
All right.
Let me see.
I'll reach out to some people.
I get no respect around here.
People don't even like me, but I'm going to go to bat for you, buddy.
I would love to have you here in the studio live.
So let's see if we can make it happen.
All right.
And I'm excited that you got the Godfather guy on.
I love that movie.
It's fun.
Mike Siegel was in it.
Oh,
yeah.
Lance Barber.
What?
Yeah.
Tell him I said hi, even though I've never met him.
It was a fun cast.
I will definitely do that.
Rob's a great... Rob number two is a great guy.
So we're consistently talking about Rob's tonight.
So I much appreciated Rob.
Have a great night and yeah, let's talk soon, buddy.
Thanks for having me,
man.
Take care.
You got it.
That's Rob Paravoni.
And check out his work.
Check out his special.
Just go to the YouTube.
That's what the kids call it, right Conrad?
The YouTube.
The the YT
the YT.
Oh, excuse me And
this
is like I wanted Rob to hear this.
I didn't see this.
I'm a little out of sorts, but he said What's quite is it queer?
Why?
We I think we've had this conversation before
That's a good question.
He says on the stream.
Oh good Do we what what is stuck in my head now me too?
Why or qui?
Excuse us if we're not getting your name right, but that's a great text.
I'm with you.
Counter Rights Mom checks in in regard to our question tonight, which is what is your favorite movie musical, Broadway musical, or TV musical?
You can share all three if you like.
Paula says my favorite is musical Mary Poppins, also liked the greatest showman this week at our neighborhood barbecue.
I won first place in the Cornhole tournament.
That has nothing to do with the questions, but it is fantastic.
Maybe they were singing while they were doing it.
I hope so.
That's fantastic.
Thank you, Paula, and congrats.
Dave on the stream says, La La Land, great one.
Great one, Dave.
And then he also says that's entertainment one, two, and three.
Wow, Dave is on it, man.
Great old stuff.
Agreed, Dave?
Okay, Kwi.
Okay, Kwi is fine.
We got to remember that count.
Yes.
Thank you, Kwi, for clarifying that.
Much appreciated.
My last name is Schwabba.
I've been hearing lots of different stuff.
my entire life.
So I totally get it.
Ross from Crawford County, he's in the 608.
He says, I'll show my age live cats, movie, sound of music, or West Side Story.
Nothing wrong with that, Ross.
We're all getting older every day.
So glad you're texting and glad you're listening.
Thank you, buddy.
Tom from Minona says the commitments.
Yes.
Or the last waltz.
Another great Martin Scorsese movie that is kind of forgotten about.
Thank you, Tom.
Steve from Florida, that's Conrad's dad, folks.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is an awesome musical starring the almost 100-year-old Dick Van Dyke.
That is true, Steve, and definitely worth a re-watch.
Tyler from the 608, he's in Wisconsin Rapids, says, Popeye with Robin Williams and Shelley DeVall was pretty good, I think.
Therefore, I am what I am.
Me thinks what me thinks.
Am I confusing that with Shakespeare?
Thank you, Tyler.
Annie from Watertown who let us know our volume was down before says I Think we've worked it out though, but thank you Annie and sorry about the inconvenience Ross from Crawford County says Conrad you're probably hearing from others I don't need to read these texts I just gave a blanket statement that I appreciated all the listeners telling us that we were not in great shape before but we've got it all figured out thanks to the awesome talents was it drew Yeah, Drew Smith drew crushed it Drew Smith was on it folks and now we've got radio
Joe from the 715 says, Les Mis, for sure.
Broadway show, totally agree.
Bridget from the 818 says, Hamilton, I love the music, the story, creative and innovative.
Well said, Bridget.
Tom from New Berlin says, I liked Pitch Perfect.
All three of them, the voice was the original instrument.
Very well said, Tom.
And totally agree.
Robert from La Crosse, his phone is in the 801.
Do you know where that is, Conrad?
Take a guess.
8-1.
And then go to the Google.
But guess first.
I'm going to say South Carolina.
I want to say Southern Utah.
And I don't know why.
OK.
All right.
Robert says, cabaret, not the movie production.
The musical explores themes of escapism, apathy, and the dangers of ignoring political unrest using the cabaret as a metaphor for the situation in Germany, 1929 to 1930.
And now for the situation unfolding in the USA.
OK.
Thank you for the text, Robert.
Much appreciated.
Thanks for listening.
Kate in the 715 says, Legally Blonde, Anything Goes, Waitress, Mean Girls, and Wicked.
Great choices.
Sydney from Oregon says, Fiddler on the Roof, but only that one song.
You know the one.
Yeah, anytime a show is that popular that you can say a text letter.
put in a text like that, and everybody knows what you're talking about means it's a monster musical.
Keep those texts coming, folks.
You can hear me now, and I want you to be on the radio, so let me know.
Coming up next, actor, martial arts teacher, singer, Rob Martin is here in the studio.
That's coming up next on Nightlight with Pete Schwabba on the Civic Media Radio Network.
on a Tuesday, technical glitches behind us, Drew Smith crushed it.
We are running banging on all cylinders.
Another text on the stream, Kwai, who now we know how to pronounce his name, that's a big help.
And I feel much better about this says, Xanadu is my favorite movie musical.
And he said he had a crush on Olivia Newton-John.
Who hasn't had a
crush?
That's a smart man right
there.
And that is the voice, ladies and gentlemen, of actor, martial arts entrepreneur,
singer, dad, Rob Martin.
Welcome, Rob.
I can't help it.
I look at this microphone and I think, you know, I feel like I'm Harry Doyle.
You know, Harry Doyle.
Yeah.
Oh, right.
Just a bit outside.
Hey, everybody, welcome to Civic Media.
Harry Doyle here.
In case you haven't noticed it, Schwabba and Conrad are threatening to come out of the cellar.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold on a
second there.
Pseudo you
that was from the movie.
I you know, I know
Bob Uker Unfortunately never will probably be able to be on the civic media airways be a lot more difficult,
but it just was
yeah, he was exactly All right, Rob.
So I have to tell people how we met you all right I made this movie I talk about it from time to time on the show, but I try to have to overdo it, but I Met you we were casting the role of a hitman in the Godfather of Green Bay.
Yes, we
We auditioned two very fine actors.
One was named Peter Ballastrieri, and one was named Rob Martin.
I was threatened by him and his leather coat, dude.
Listen, he's a really good actor.
I don't know if he's still acting, but we thought he was spectacular.
The problem was, it's not a problem, and it's nothing he did.
He was just so convincing and scary.
And Brian Edding, the producer said to me, you know, this is a comedy.
Rob also looks scary.
You.
Yeah.
And, but...
You were also somehow funny too.
And that's why we went with you.
And I'm so glad we did.
You just crushed it.
Well, I appreciate that very much.
I mean, I didn't have a last name like Ballastriere.
No.
You know, that's not like I'm not making any comments about it.
No, I know.
I
listen, it's a great.
It's a phenomenal name.
Perfect.
But anyway, it's great to have you here.
You drove
up
from Milwaukee so we could reunite here on the air.
And that was such a fun experience for me getting to know you.
And I just I want to go out of my way here to say
What a home run we hit with, you know, some actors we brought in, Tony Golden, Lauren Holly, Tom Lennon, Lance Barber, those, I was living in LA at the time, but the actors we found in Milwaukee and Chicago, but we were three for three.
We had you, Eric Price and Mark
Bortchart.
Of the three you just mentioned, I have to say, Eric Price had to be one of the funniest people, comic relief people in that entire film.
Oh yeah.
He was...
Brilliant, the Spagomlet thing has still got me laughing.
I wish I could take credit.
It was hysterical.
People
will come up to me and say, that was so great.
The right, I go, you know, it's Eric Price.
He just ad-libbed that.
Averbent over to Bart Starr's place.
Yeah, they got a new thing called the Spagomlet.
Awesome, awesome.
He was so funny.
That part was written for a guy who was like 45 or 50.
But Eric is just one of those guys.
He was so funny.
And his audition was like, we got to use him.
We have to
rewrite the
part a little bit.
He was great.
But you as well, playing Chuck Martinelli, AKA slugs, you're a retainer wearing hitman.
And
that was your idea.
And I remember going to the dentist's office up there to get fitted for it.
Oh, it was still hilarious.
But there are two scenes in that movie.
And I'll get to that.
But the reason I think you saw the comic in me was there was two things going on at that audition.
Number one, I had auditioned for the bartender.
So I had I had a cell southeastern, you know, Wisconsin bartender past pretty good.
Okay.
Yeah.
So you put that I put a straw in my mouth, you know, I got the towel over my shoulder.
Hey guys doing you know, and oh, that's a nice car you got there.
Hey, that's a beaut.
And my agent said, she said, Listen, I'm not supposed to.
I'm not supposed to give anybody lead time on this.
She goes, but I want this for you.
So please take these sides and go and learn them.
So I did and for the hit man.
Yeah.
No, no, no for the bartender.
Gotcha.
So then I don't think I got chosen except for Donna, who chimed in and said, I want to try him out for the, for the hit man.
Oh, this is all coming
back to me.
Yes.
So then I'm thinking to myself, I'm going up there to be a bartender, but now I'm trying to put a hit man together here, this, you know, Midwestern suburban boy.
You know, naive, naïve, take extraordinary.
So I'm like, what would a, what would a hit man do?
And I brought a pack of cigarettes, having never smoked a day in my life and was trying to light them during the audition.
And I kept fumbling with the cigarettes.
And then when I took a puff of it, like I knew I didn't have this gig because I'm thinking to myself, there's no way that, you know, I got to get this out of the way so that people can see
me.
There's no way I have this.
So when I got the call back, I.
I for sure I thought Ballastriar had it.
100% thought that he had it.
Yeah.
But she saw in me this thing and I was like, okay, cool, let's do it.
That's fantastic.
That happened a couple of times because I know Tom Lennon got, or no, I'm sorry, it was Lance.
I think Lennon wanted another part, wanted Lance's part.
No, Jeremy Piven, I'm sorry.
We were out to him as the DUG character, which went to Tom Lennon.
Piven said, I like...
the Kenny character, but we had already cast Lance and he wasn't as well known as Jeremy Piven at the time, but we just thought Lance was great too.
And you get married to these cast members and it's like, you can't get them out
of your head.
What
a cast.
Yeah,
Lance Barber goes on to do Young Sheldon as the father.
Like I don't, when I saw a clip of that that just happened, I wasn't a follower of that whole series.
So when Young Sheldon clip came across on YouTube and I saw that it was Lance, I was like.
Oh my god.
He's amazing.
Kids, come here.
I was to work with that guy.
You also, you stared down, for a guy who hadn't really done too much acting at the time, you had scenes with Tony Goldman, who was one of the most respected actors there is.
Hollywood
royalty.
Yeah, and Hollywood royalty with the MGM connection, but you were not intimidated at all and you looked at him and...
I think you looked up at him because you're a tall guy.
He might have an inch or two on you.
And you said, listen to me, you mutt.
And it was beautiful.
It was like, it was just great.
I kind of believe how you hit it out of the party.
Rob Martin is here.
We'll have more with Rob.
And we're going to talk about, we're going to talk about a really cool thing, Rob.
Rob overcame in his life.
And we're going to talk about movie gangsters because he played one.
We'll do that all after the news.
This is Pete Schwab in Nightlight on the Civic Media radio network.
You got Nightlight with Peach Waba, folks.
We are on the Civic Media Radio Network, broadcasting live from beautiful downtown Green Bay.
Was this a beautiful enough downtown for you to get in your car in your posh suburb of Milwaukee, Robin Drive?
You don't want the answer to that.
Because the answer is I came here wholly and specifically to spend 40 minutes with you.
Because 20 years after we shot a movie, the only movie that I, by the way,
Can I say the word, can I say ass on the radio?
Yeah, well, you
just did, but yeah, go for it.
I kicked Tony Goldwyn's ass.
You did.
And he just came to us.
Movie fight, yeah.
Off of Last Samurai.
Yeah.
He flew in and
came out.
Ghost where he was like a killer.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
That beat push.
He was, he learned the hard way, what it's like here in Wisconsin if you cross the run guy.
I came here for you.
So, let me ask you that.
You, like I just said,
you got the part, you did such a good job in the movie.
Did you ever, did you try to pursue acting then or were you kind of like this was an experience?
Cause there are people like you that do that and then they just don't, they're like, yeah, that was fun, but I teach martial arts or I teach singing or whatever.
I know you had a band at the time.
So there's
a.
There's a much longer answer.
But the but the answer is a lot.
The true answer is a lot deeper.
And it was given to me by a guy who was helping me of all people build out my basement last summer.
And he said because because the way it ended was really hurtful, very, very messy.
What was
messy?
So the end of the band.
Okay, I was in was very rock band founded.
Yeah.
So we were going through a lot at that time.
And he said
and this is how it comes into what you're asking me.
He said, your dream is not what you think it is.
He said, your dream is the one thing that you'll sacrifice everything else for.
He goes, so what will you sacrifice everything for?
And the answer was instantaneous, my family.
Nothing trumps that.
And
so when it came to, at the end of the movie, I mean, I told you that story briefly, Donna Bauer, who was the casting agent, just a nice lady, she had said to me, I need you out in Los Angeles.
because you're going to work.
Yeah.
And so here I am staring that that, you know, fork in the road with, like I said, high definition, you know, 4k, either I go to Los Angeles and pursue the dream of being a full time actor with, you know, freedom because I didn't have kids at the time.
So there's
and you got a good credit in your back pocket.
Yeah,
tons in my reel because I
did a
national couple national ads and oh sweet.
So I had the opportunity and then I had this woman that I absolutely adored.
as the other side.
And I told you the story.
In the parking lot of a Taco Bell in Marinette.
I know that Taco Bell way too well.
Talking to my closest friend in the world, Jason Thrun.
And I said, I don't know what to do.
I had tears in my eyes.
And he's like, dude, all I can say is I don't want to be in your shoes right now.
And I chose Jack,
absolutely.
And
I would.
Now you have three kids.
That's the beautiful thing, you make a decision.
when kids are involved and you got a happy marriage, you're not gonna ever regret that.
I don't, never.
And frankly, you know, a lot of people are told, oh, move to LA, and they do, and you know, maybe they have some success, maybe some success, maybe they don't, but you're never gonna regret that decision.
The interesting thing is, I think it depends on what people move out there for, because if you have a Harrison Ford or a Diane Keaton who moves specifically...
Their passion is acting right so Robin Williams another good example who goes to school for it And that's what he wants to do with his life that person it doesn't matter if they become huge stars But then there
are those people
that go out there because they want the fame and the fortune and the rock star status, you know,
I'm
still impressed by I don't like his religious views But I'm still amazed by Tom Cruise and what he's willing to put himself through when he's committed to a part.
It's so easy consummate
Whatever you think of him unbelievable.
He I thought he was weird and he won me back over now I'm like he's maybe the greatest movie star that's ever lived so
and if he hasn't earned that by now he never
will So let's talk about you had a we were talking about your singing career You founded a band called the Doc Siders.
I was a co-founder.
Yeah co-founder with Kevin and you had a very a head injury.
Yep
that kind of derailed that a little bit.
I mean, you could have
done it.
Completely.
Yeah, completely.
Tell us about... I remember reading that, Rob, when you posted something or your wife posted something, or maybe Kevin did on Facebook about this injury you had while you were roller skating, correct?
Yeah, so... It was a visceral reaction.
I was like, oh, my God.
Yeah,
people wear your helmets.
Yeah.
So we went to... We went skating as a family in the dead of winter, February.
On February 27th and 22.
And, um, yeah, I don't really, I mean, we were there for probably an hour before the incident happened.
And then I don't remember anything for three days after that.
And I was in the hospital, suffered, um, three brain bleeds, five fractures of my skull.
I had a subdural, which was the scariest one, I guess.
Um, and when I came out of it, I couldn't speak.
So I had speech aphasia, um, where, you know, we, I'd mixed my words up and, um,
The singing thing they can't they did a lot of research to try and figure out what the holy grail was for me So was it multiple friendships?
Was it the singing career?
Was it the artistic background?
And they couldn't pinpoint it the only thing I can say is that because Jackie was an ER nurse at one time She didn't have the typical and I don't mean this in a negative way the typical loved one response where it's oh my god And then
they run
over to you and are you okay?
Her thing was mechanical
she
read
it switched on call the ambulance right now don't move them ran over to me made sure that they put me on the when they weren't properly putting me on the gurney she corrected them got me to freighter hospital and freighter saved my life
Well done Jackie, right?
I mean I and how do you feel like you just made a joke where you're not a joke But wear your helmets when I'm at a skating rink and it's been a while But I took my kids a few times to skating rink.
I cannot believe With how hard those floors are and you're you're sometimes you're going 30 miles an hour with no helmet.
Why wouldn't you wear a helmet?
Why don't they why doesn't the skating rink make you wear a helmet?
I don't think they've
gotten there yet, but it probably will happen I met the people actually this last February was my first time back And we went back there and oddly enough my son broke his wrist that day, so we probably won't go back
gosh
But I met the people that were there that day and I've had a fabulous Reconnection with them and they're they're recounting
of how it happened and stuff.
So it was
very
cathartic to go back.
So you had, you know, you decided you chose love over the movie business, which probably would have just frustrated the hell out of you at some point, like it does all of us.
Probably.
And then you had this great, the Dock Siders, this great Yacht Rock band kind of out in front of the curve a little bit, right?
With Yacht Rock, like I hadn't even heard of it until I talked to you.
Yeah.
So there was another band that was doing it out of LA who really moved the bar.
We weren't motivated by them.
What happened was Kevin and I, Kevin had invited me to go with him to see Toto at the shell in Oshkosh, I think it's like right on the river.
And we met Paige and Lukather on the walk and he chatted with them and we were driving home and he put on XM radio.
So this was 17.
And he had this Yacht Rock radio on XM.
And the first song I heard was, uh, dance with me.
And I was like, Oh my God, I haven't heard this for 30 plus years.
What?
And I was hooked.
And he said, I kind of want to start a band.
I'm like, I'm in.
Let's do this.
Let's absolutely do it.
And, um, you know, I, I gave a caveat where I said, I'm only doing this because he and I had a history together.
Very, uh, up and down kind of friendship.
And I'm absolutely a part of that I would never say it was one person or not sure but he You know I said as long as we're doing this for fun.
I'm in I don't need a business I just want to sing with you and his wife Aaron and sing with you and Aaron again That's all I wanted of this and then because we had such an huge response You know it escalated very very quickly and then we were touring the country singing Ram's head on stage and
singing in Annapolis, Maryland and singing in Kansas and singing in Nebraska and doing these, you know, huge venues.
So it escalated quickly.
And then the last show was right before the head injury was in at the Pap's Theater.
And Tony Orlando had come up to to sit in with us.
And I mean, the guy's consummate pro, the legend.
Yeah.
So it was very, very cool.
Very cool.
Rob Martin is my guest.
He played Chuck Martinelli, also known as Slugs in The Godfather of Green Bay.
If you've seen his work, he did some really phenomenal stuff with Tony Goldwin.
I got to hug Lauren Holly.
Yeah.
Hello.
How about that?
You're doing okay.
I had to do it on screen without a shirt on.
That was a little...
How do you do
that?
That's
a good question.
We should get back to that one because how do you pull that one off?
I've had many people ask me that.
You just have a couple of cocktails and you go for it.
There you go.
But my favorite scene you had was with Gary Bichetto, where he was like your captain or cop or whatever and you're at the bar.
Oh, so funny.
And you sit down and you start to talk and you got the retainer and your mouth and Gary goes, take it out.
Then you take the retainer.
He was so good.
He was great.
I couldn't stop laughing because you and Brian were saying, Rob, we can't do this all day.
Got
a
schedule here, but it was cracking me up every time I pulled it out and then you said Rob see if you can
oh, yeah
So let's talk you played a gangster in a movie Do you have like like when you I know this was just like this indie film half a million dollar indie film or whatever But did you have someone you were
chilly Palmer?
Oh from get shorty from get shorty who played chilly Palmer again?
Come on John Travolta.
Oh,
he was the main character.
Yeah I saw that movie once and I remember really liking it and then I tried to watch it about 15 years later And I just kind of wasn't as into it But I should know that if you
watch if you watch my scenes now with chili Palmer in mind You'll see that I was trying to I never saw
myself
as a don kill Corleone or
or
you know They're not funny.
No analyze this
De Niro did a great job with what was his name in that movie?
Harold Ramis?
No.
Oh, Billy Crystal.
Harold Ramis.
Yeah, he did a Billy Crystal,
but what was the, what is his gangster name in the movie?
I can't remember.
Vito.
Okay.
Mr. Vito.
And he was hilarious, but Chili Palmer was my...
I think my favorite, well, I've got a few of them, and I think I accidentally threw my list out, but Dennis Farina in Midnight Run.
Okay.
Foxy Brown, Pam Greer.
Love her for many
reasons.
I I I should I should I'm remiss.
I should watch that movie.
I've never
watched.
Yeah, it's good Tommy from good fellas love Joe Pesci.
Okay And there's a few more.
I can't believe I threw my list was written on my questions
Don't you ever go over my head again you?
Yeah You got it and even but I do love Don Corleone.
I mean, he's not funny, but he's just amazing and Michael Corleone.
He's the only one that I think still had
a heart in
Michael any of
the gangsters.
That's why I liked chili Palmer too is because
they were
they were he was cool.
He wasn't like revenge was his thing if it only if it was necessary.
Yeah.
But Michael was you know what I'm going to skip the metal man.
I'm just going to kill everybody.
Right.
He like the most decent guy turned into the biggest devil.
You know.
Yes.
Conrad just texted me.
He remembers on my list was
Albert Finney in Miller's Crossing you ever seen Miller's Crossing?
Oh my god The Danny Boy scene college papers have been written on it's Albert Finney laying in bed smoking a cigar big Irish gangster.
He's about to fall and go down and People are coming after they enter his home.
He puts a cigar down and he picks up a Tommy gun puts his feet in his slippers
And I'll give you the exciting conclusion right after this.
We'll have a few more minutes with Rob Martin when we come back.
It's Peach Wabbit and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Welcome back.
This is Night Light with Peach Swabba.
I am Peach Swabba and it is great to have you here on this Tuesday, post Memorial Day Tuesday.
Our question of the night, what is your favorite Broadway movie or TV musical?
We have a text from Steady Eddie.
We have to get to Kurt Krause.
I was just about to mention Kurt Krause's name because he sent me a really cool photo of him and Rob.
But Steady Eddie says, Pete, when the double record album Jesus Christ Superstar first came out, I was in high school.
I bought it, loved it, and literally wore out the vinyl set.
So I bought another one, but my favorite musical is The Wizard of Oz.
I sometimes out of the blue find myself singing the song somewhere over the rainbow and thinking about Judy Garland.
Another line from the song in the Wizard of Oz sung by the scarecrow that I often sing to myself after I make some stupid mistakes.
With the thoughts I'd be thinking I could be another Lincoln if I only had a brain.
Pete, feel free to use this version of this lyric next time you hit a goofy golf shot on the green or into the windmill in my case.
That putt I should have been sinking if I only golf like Lincoln.
Damn it if I only had a brain.
Pete, did you know Old Abe was an excellent golfer?
I did not know that steady, Eddie.
I had no idea.
Thank you for the text, pal.
And Chris, from the 715, Chris Alfheim, here in Appleton, or in Appleton, says, liked, did they effectively answer your question?
Oh, sorry.
You just got to take that stuff off.
I always start to read it, and then I catch myself.
Now I want to know what it says.
Well, something with Marinette.
But we'll get into that.
OK.
Thanks, Chris.
Chris is texting the show inadvertently.
Conrad, she probably doesn't even know she was texting us.
I'm not sure.
And then Kurt Krause, Rob, sent me a picture of the two of you guys.
And I've been posting a lot of stuff on the stream lately, but it's not the picture of you and Kurt is great.
Then he's got some other pictures of people I don't even remember, like backstage.
But one of them is you teaching the Macarena on the set of the Godfather Green Bay.
Yes.
How fun was that?
And my own fault for putting that song.
in the movie, so it's in people's heads forever if they watch it.
But that must have been fun for you.
Smartest move you ever made.
Now the movie stuck in people's brains.
Yeah, your sister that was really mad at me, though, right?
Julie made.
Why?
Why was she mad?
Because I I either took over because it was I was watching and it wasn't being taught correctly.
And I think she had it.
But how am I going to turn down?
Uh, uh, what were those, those girls, the, the Hawaiian, oh, they were Hooters over there, Hawaiian tropics.
Well, I, every, I was told they were Hooters waitresses, but I don't remember a lot of the stuff cause I didn't add other stuff in my plate.
So I don't know where they found them.
I thought Hooters.
I just remember teaching Tony Goldman how to do the Macarena in your garage.
How
fun was that?
How tired must he have been that night?
Just landed from freaking Japan.
Yeah.
No kidding.
That was fun.
You did a good job, dude that Macarena and the guy we hired to mimic it We paid five grand I think he was great He did a great job because that's what you have to do the license of song you can get I think we paid him then we paid for like a festival license or something But yeah, that song is forever in people's heads, but it was a great song admit it.
It was a great song.
Thank you Did you see a mission impossible the new one?
No, okay.
No
What kind of movies do you like to watch Rob as a dad and as an artist?
What is your what is your taste?
Oh, Pete, you're talking about a guy who refuses to go to streaming and buys everything on 4k and blu-ray.
But still, I'm so I love that.
I know some people like
that.
I love movies.
Yeah.
So the the remodel that I just did on the basement, first of all, I've never built.
I shouldn't say never.
But building out a whole basement, framing it all out.
and saving us the money that we saved by not hiring contractors to do it, and the elaborate stuff that I forced myself to try and learn.
I just told Jackie, I said, listen, my payment for doing this is that area right over there is gonna be my theater.
Oh, wow, nice.
And so I did tons and tons hours of watching prices and looking on eBay for stuff that was...
so far out of my price range that my only hope was to find something that was used.
And I lucked out so I have it's awesome.
So I just watched for the first time in that theater on 4k
the new Top Gun, the Maverick.
Oh, sweet.
Oh, that's a great
one.
Watching a screen like that.
Yeah.
Oh, you're going to love this new mission.
So I guess favorite movies.
I don't have one.
If I had my top three all time favorite movies, Blazing Saddles would be in there.
Nice.
Because of the connection to my dad, probably smoky in the bandit, even though it's not the best movie in the world.
But Comfort Movie, a Comfort Movie.
Absolutely.
Get that.
I'm not a huge gangster guy, but I did absolutely love the Godfather.
One and two, not a big fan of three.
And like wise.
Gosh, there's so many I can't catty shack for obvious reasons.
Holy grail.
Do your kids like to watch movies with you?
My kids are of the generation where it's seven seconds.
Yeah.
My wife, my daughter too was like that.
She always said, I hate movies.
Every time we make her watch a movie, she loves it.
She loves everything she sees.
I'm like, you should watch more movies with us.
Do we have a text for Rob Conrad?
No, I'm just saying we got one last
time.
Oh, Jim
from Appleton says, my favorite is Into the Woods.
Great songs.
Thank you.
Thank you, Jim.
And I got to give you a shout out.
Mike Desitel, a fan of the show and a guy who's contributed to the show, that was one of the best memories of his life was you teaching him the Macarena.
And he remembered that.
And we'll have to see if we can scrounge up a picture or something.
Absolutely.
That's
great stuff.
Rob, this was fun.
Thank you.
It's over.
Thank you for driving here.
Well, we can sit in chit chat for a few minutes.
OK.
With the
on-air part of it as
well.
We'll do like
an after.
What do they call that with?
Conrad's giving me the where number one sign.
Yep Hey, this is a rough night, buddy
97.9 FM WGBW.
How about we do this?
How about we go out with a little of More you can you do more you can take us to the break.
Yeah, try
All right,
Rob
Martin, ladies and gentlemen.
Hold on.
I'd like to thank all my guests.
Rob Martin, Rob Parvonian, and Tomorrow Night folks on the show.
We got another great one.
Milwaukee Zone, the film critic Matt Miller will be here.
We'll be breaking down the weekend box office, which crushed.
And Dennis Graham from Rock Hansen.
That's Tomorrow Night on Nightlight on behalf of the lovable producer Conrad and my pal Rob Martin, who is going to do Bob Euker.
Hey,
thanks for listening, ladies and gentlemen, here at Civic Media, 97.9 FMW, GBW.
Keep your eyes open for Schwabba and Conrad in the evenings.
Good night, Wisconsin.