The Many Voices of Charlie Varon #4
Satire, Pranks and Other Comic Bonbons

Comic Bonbon #4:
"Mitch's Silence," featuring Studs Terkel & Dr. Oliver Sacks

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September 2023

I can't stop thinking about Sen. Mitch McConnell and that news conference, the one where he froze and went silent for 30 seconds.

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Then my friend Jim Rosenau sends me a link.

 

It's to an old radio show. Studs Terkel, champion interviewer, is talking to beloved neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks. Both men are gone now, but Jim knows how much I love their voices. "A twofer," Jim says.

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I listen to the interview, then start doing their voices, just riffing to myself, which makes me exceedingly happy. Then the question poses itself: McConnell's silence + Studs Terkel + Oliver Sacks = ?

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I rough something out, call David Ford, and we get going. As is often the case, the best details come from David's fertile comic mind.

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