AJ and I decided to spend our birthday together as part of the live studio audience at the Rick and Bubba Show. Not nearly as eventful as some of our adventures, it was nevertheless a great time. Cammie and Jennifer joined us for a great time together with our good friends who barely know us.
The most disappointing part of our visit was the fact that Rick Burgess was not present. He had surgery on his torn bicep the day before we visited and was too medicated to broadcast. Rick tore his bicep throwing a brick over a tree limb to hang a tire swing. That is an unusual injury and its a little surprising that a former athlete such as Rick would hurt himself by simply throwing a brick. I don't know exactly what to think of that, but I do know he wouldn't have torn his bicep in 1982. I just hope he can still throw a football over that mountain!
When we first arrived at the Rick and Bubba studio, we had to sign a waiver giving up all claims to the Peanut Butter Banana Cake we brought with us and promising not to yell out anything during the live broadcast that would incur an FCC fine. One of the intern€s, Aubie, brought us some slices of Mrs. Bragg's famous peanut butter banana cake in spite of the fact that we had already signed it away. Luckily, we did not have to sign away the rights to the cake's recipe or Mrs. Bragg would have strung us up by our toes.
For those of you not familiar with Rick and Bubba, you should know that they are not celebrities, but are regular folks who get to meet celebrities on behalf of those of us too busy. Their show could take place in your living room because it is simply a bunch of friends who sit around joking with each other, talking about the news, and telling stories from their lives. Rick and Bubba just happen to have hundreds of thousands of friends (fans) who listen in and participate in their daily visits. All the show members are authentic and genuinely nice people. Even though he was obviously tired from visiting with Rick and watching the College World Series, Bubba spent a lot of time during the off-air breaks visiting with the studio audience. He is just a nice guy (unless you show him your pet snake). The entire cast invited us in to watch them do their job (the show) and made us feel at home and included in the process. I am not nearly so nice at work and would have security remove anybody who showed up just to watch me do my job, so I appreciate their hospitality.
Even without Rick, the 23 June show was very funny and we spent the whole morning laughing. Even the parts of the show that weren't planned to be funny had their moments, like the guest who kept calling Bubba "Rick". Speedy finally had to write Bubba's name on an impromptu flash card and hold it up for the guest to get him re-oriented. We also saw first hand how the guys pick at each other when Speed Racer welcomed Randy Savage (the Macho Man wrestler) to the studio audience. Obviously, Randy Savage was not there and though I thought for a moment Speedy had mistaken me for this celebrity, it was actually just a well played joke by the rest of the staff.
Of all the members of the Rick and Bubba show, I think I identify most closely with Greg Burgess. Greg speaks his mind without apology and often with a bit too much candor. You more often think, "I can't believe he said that", than "I wonder what Greg means." I can identify with that. One of Greg's sayings is displayed prominently in my office, "Know your role and shut your hole." There are more offices that need those words displayed, but for now, we'll have to settle for my office. I am concerned that we may have inadvertently contributed to the softening of the hard-working, pole-climbing, blue collar Greg Burgess by bringing that Peanut Butter Banana Cake. I know its common practice to bring food to Rick and Bubba, but I am afraid Mrs. Bragg's famous cake may have been the straw that broke the camel's back for Greg. In the last half of the show, it was announced that Greg will undergo liposuction. I have a strong suspicion that the lipo-sucker tank is going to be filled with bananas and peanut butter icing.
Many of my friends who knew I was going to see the show had an expectation that I would end up on the radio. I would have been comfortable with that except that the past few members of my profession who sat in the audience have gotten themselves in a little trouble by getting on the radio. So, it was my goal to be member of the audience and not an on air guest and I left "mission accomplished". I strongly recommend a visit and if your goal is to laugh, then I suspect you are going to leave "mission accomplished", too.
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