UncleDad and Chris Wisnia's OLD TIMEY RADIO SHOW! Ep 1: The Carnival Murder

0:00 Music. Hello everybody and welcome to this special Halloween season. As you guys all know, I love Halloween so much. I try to do something every year and unfortunately Mike can't be involved in all that stuff.

0:41 So I came to the next best friend I have, the one and only, you've heard him in a lot of episodes. Let's give it up everybody for my co-host on this special show, Chris Wisnia. What's up, man? Hey, Uncle Dad. I'm sure flattered to be the second best choice here. Well, it's always Mike first, right? Yeah, so for those who don't know or are new to the show, every Halloween season, I do something called Uncle Dadoween. Now, Uncle Dadoween is a special project that I try my best to do 31 days of content. Well, I realize that's very hard to do in short notices.

1:24 So I'm working on a new concept and I want to do it with my best friend, the one and only Chris Wozniak, because I love his insight. People love him being on the show. And what we're going to do here is a little, something a little unique, I would say. I don't know. What do you think, Chris? I am super excited for this. And he really means that this time. So, before we dive into your thoughts on what we're about to do and whatnot, I just want, for people who haven't heard you before, can you introduce yourself and tell them what you do? My name's Chris Wisnia, as you've heard, and I draw and write comic books. Okay.

2:05 I think that's everything you need to know about me, right? Well, what's the big one you got out right now? My most recent book is Doris Danger, Giant Monsters Amok, which came out with Fantagraphics. And it's a parody and homage of old 1950s and 1960s giant monster in underpants comics. I love that. And that kind of brings us to here in some respects, right? Right. Like, you know, that vintage era of of entertainment, I guess. Right. And and you know, I'm only wearing underpants. Don't tell them, you know, Kristen, I know you're a fan of the vintage world, if you will.

2:49 The classic golden era of cinema and golden era of comics, all that. So I'm curious, you know, and radio and radio and radio. Yes radio right and and we'll get to that but i want to ask you one interesting question here because it's kind of a serious question how important do you think entertainment was during that golden era of cinema radio and comics boy i i don't know for other people i i i think the the entertainment industry was was different back then you know no one had phones to just instantaneously stream whatever they delighted in.

3:33 It was a more rare treat. You had to go out to experience it. You had to pay whatever it was, 10 cents or something, to go see a movie. The television started coming in to houses at some point. And before that, that the radio was coming in. And so I think everybody was kind of, receiving the same stories. And I think everybody, you know, nowadays, everyone can have their interest in this little thing or that little thing. And a lot of people around them might not even be aware of those little things.

4:15 Whereas back then, everybody tuned in to this radio show on Thursday night. And so there's a little bit more of a shared communal experience of pop culture, right yeah yeah i love that you say that because i i feel like that was a big part because radio was free right anybody could as long as you had a radio anybody could do and radios were pretty affordable back then and you know and i bring all this up because we're specifically doing a show based upon old-timey radio now for those who know you know we usually do these halloween themed stuff where it's horror related this isn't necessarily horror related it's adjacent but but not horror related. What we're going to be doing for a total of four episodes, no, five episodes, sorry, me and my man here, Chris Winsdia, are going to listen to original programming from 1947 through 1950.

5:06 Now, this programming is called the Five Mysteries Program, or better known as the Five Minute Mysteries Program. Basically, these are literally five minute episodes where you'll be able to listen and get a whole thriller in five minutes. And by the end of it, you have to guess who did it. Well, me and Mr. Chris Wisnia are going to figure out who did it together. So what we're going to do here is we're going to play the radio show, and I'll pause it here and there. And when I pause it, me and, excuse me, Chris Wisnia will talk about our thoughts at the moment. I think that's kind of what we're thinking of how the show is going to work. What do you think, Chris? I'm willing to give it a try. Yeah, let's see where it goes.

5:48 I so before go ahead i was just going to say i i'm concerned about trying to solve mysteries with you because i have a a not great attention span and i i find if i have to focus on something to find clues i i might not be a very good help unless we rewind over and over we listen to this right it's on a tape and we can rewind it yeah yeah maybe listen to the same sentence three or four times sometimes until i focus my attention yeah i love it though you're the common man you're the average person listening i love it but before we start chris what is your.

6:35 I know you have a very soft spot for film noir and all that great stuff. Film noir is also very heavily influenced in radio shows. So I'm curious, what is your relations with radio shows? Do you like them? How do you listen to them? That kind of stuff. Yeah, I do listen to them. I find them fascinating. When you were saying that this show came out in 47, I was thinking, okay, so where were we in film and television at home? And I guess television had been developed maybe the 20s or something, but it kind of became popularized in the 50s. So this show was maybe a hair before everybody had televisions, but at a time when some people did.

7:18 And yeah, the radio show I find absolutely fascinating because you are given a story as if you're being read a novel or whatever your reading choice is. But it's read by actors, so it's kind of acted out, but you can't see the actors. And so descriptors need to be forced into the telling of the story. So you might have the sounds of footsteps and a door opening, or you might hear screaming and thumping around. And as a listener going, well, what's happening?

8:03 I can't see. Is someone fighting someone? And the creative ways that radio came up with trying to pass a story on only through sound. Movies and television, you've got sound and picture. Comic books you only have picture you you have words so you can you can kind of put that in of your own but you're you're coming up with what do these sounds sound like what do these voices sound like what is the the speed and cadence and delivery of the dialogue and and so it's kind of a flip side of comics in that way where a lot of the enjoyment comes from what you're able to sum up in in your own head and i i just find that fascinating and and very much a lost art form because no one that i know of nowadays listens you know you listen to audiobooks i guess but but those you know say you know blah blah blah john said you know that's not built into a radio show so i i'm looking forward to listening to these yeah it's exciting and i wanted to kind of point it out really fast some of the cast members that were a part of this series i don't know if you know these names but i'm gonna throw them out there uh were jason beck stats cotsworth michael fitzmaurice timmy hyler abby lewis frank lovejoy and ian mccallister were all part of this series do any of those names ring a bell i i don't recognize

9:36 any of those there's one that i think as comic book fans we should know and that's jason beck because he was the the narrator for the Adventures of Superman radio show. Aha. Okay. Yeah. And I'm sure back then they all kind of did all the things, right? Because how many radio people were there, right? Right. Well, we'll dive in more into the other actors and actresses a little bit later on. But let's go ahead and start it off. I'm going to pause it here and there. When I pause it, that's when you and I will talk about something. And just so everybody knows, we have not listened to this. I have not listened to this before. He has not listened to this before. all I do is I grab the audio to set it up for recording but I don't listen to it so we're all going to be learning and trying to figure out this mystery together so of course let's celebrate week one of Halloween with Chris Wisnia's and Uncle Dad's Old Timey Radio, another five minute mystery.

10:48 Thank you. Go ahead, sir. I'm smiling so big listening to this. And I want to take a bet. How long do you think this opening organ tune is going to run? Well, I can see the audio wavelength. So how about the audience? How long do you guys think it'll be? I'm going to guess a minute and a half. I'm going to guess they're filling time here. Well, what's funny is I'm actually glad you brought that up, Chris, because I actually have information about this. Oh, boy.

11:28 So the organ, the organ, let's talk about that real fast. The organ was probably one of the most important things of old-timey radio, and I would even argue cinema, right? That was such a huge thing, sports even, right? That was such a big part. But specifically radio, there was the goat of this, if you will, the greatest of all time, and that is Rosa, I think it's pronounced Rosa Rio. Do you know that name? No. So Rosa Rio had been doing this from 1933 all the way until 2010. And what were some of his gigs? Do you know? Oh, so it's a female. So her, she is, yes, she did motion pictures.

12:11 So some of the motion pictures she did was one of the greatest films of all time, The Jazz Singer. Remember that? Yeah, The Jazz Singer. She also did the Phantom of the Opera film, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and she did the original Birth of a Nation. I was going to say, you know, in Oregon, your first thought is, oh, it's church music. But then your second thought is, oh, it's like gothic horror music. So how great that she was part of all these classics. Oh, totally. Totally. And for those who haven't seen the original silent film, The Birth of a Nation, that is a one wild movie to watch. I don't know if you've seen that, Chris.

12:54 I'm sure you have. But it's a wild movie for the time. Would you agree with that? For any time. Just the story. Yeah, true. 100%. I don't want to give anything away about it because people should check it out. But they did reboot it, I believe, or remake it or whatever. I haven't seen that. Have you seen the remake? I wasn't aware of one. Yeah, they actually came out not that long ago, but probably not as good. But anyways, Rosa Rio also went on to do a bunch of radio shows. She did Bob and Ray, Ethel and Albert, Lorenzo Jones, My True Story. And one of my favorites, and I'm sure you love this too, Chris, is The Shadow. She did all the music for The Shadow.

13:35 I was wondering too, I was actually recently listening to the radio show The Avenger. And yes it had seriously it was like a three minute organ intro and i i'm looking at my watch going are you kidding me this is still going and uh yeah just the passage of time, was experienced no differently back then you know i i imagine people were listening to this organ going oh isn't this a lovely piece you know where where nowadays we're like oh can we can we move on it's just such a different perception oh for sure and something i want to celebrate too is so she was born june 2nd 1902 and lived all the way to 2010.

14:21 Wow so she passed away at age 107 unfortunately she had broke her hip in march of 2010 and then she got very bad case of influenza and because of the influenza she couldn't perform anymore And it just really got to her and she passed away in May. So two months later. But it's just forced into retirement at age 106, huh? Isn't that crazy? But dude, good for her. She celebrated as one of the best to ever do it. Probably the last one to ever do it, really. And also during World War II, because I also feel like radio shows are very big during that time. World War II, she had her own radio show, Rosa Rio Rhythms.

15:03 So check that out but without further ado did you look up the show is it just her playing organ for a half hour or whatever yeah pretty much different rhythms yeah, Yeah, that's a different time. Different time for sure. Yeah. Without further ado, let's continue. So it was only 40 seconds. So I was half right. Almost half right. Half right. Yeah, this is the perfect time to go get some cheese from the fridge. Use the bathroom.

15:48 Right, yeah, exactly, exactly. Let's continue. Come on, Mary, let's take a turn on the ferris wheel. We haven't done that in years. Big and too winded to go another step. You go on alone now, right here. Nothing doing. Well, sir, sir. Somebody calling me. Down there, Henry. Come in this way. Oh, shit, look. Oh, gee, I'm mighty glad I found you, sir. Hey, what's the matter, Roop? Something wrong? Donny Clare, the star aerialist over in the Big Top. She was just found murdered in her tent. Okay, so right away, I have to comment on this. I love that, you know, that type of dialect is called the transatlantic sound, right? Like the way they speak.

16:34 Am I correct in saying that? Or no? I don't know. Yeah, that sounds good to me. I'm pretty sure that's correct because it's always like that I love how he goes, the aerialist over here got hit by the big top. I've got a question for you Uncle Dad, where do you think this is taking place? I'm going to assume it's 1940-something, right? So I feel like a lot of these were recorded in Chicago or whatever. So I would imagine the concept is that it's in a small town in Illinois or New York. What do you think?

17:14 See, I was trying to be obnoxious. I was just pointing out, this is at a circus carnival. Well, yeah, I knew that. i thought you meant more of a like a music playing right you've got the the whatever you called that voice who's always at the carnival right markin and yeah and of course the title of the episode but you know this this is radio so how do they convey that and it's like oh you just play this dumb organ song also you know what you brought up a good point we didn't mention the name of the episode. So the name of the episode that we're listening to is Carnival Murder.

17:55 Keeping with the Halloween theme. And we're less than a minute in and 40 seconds of that was the organ and we already know there's been a murder at the carnival. And also the sheriff just happens to be there. I love that. Alright, let's continue. Now let's get this straight. Cause of death, strangulation. Grease paint smears on her throat and several. Okay. How does he know that right away? Tell me, Chris, tell me how he knew that. As a radio listener, we can't see the blatant clues he sees. Uncle Dad, I'm sure it would be very obvious to us if we could only see it. I guess. All right.

18:43 Small fresh scratches on the palms of her hands. Yeah, well, I mean, he's describing it, sure, but he knew right away, despite looking, I don't know. All right. I assume also, grease smear. Well, what do you say, Sheriff? We can't keep the crowd waiting in the big top all day. As company manager, what do you think? It's kind of upset your show, doesn't it? Why don't you talk to the voodoo doctor? He was the last one with her. Might be a good idea. Which one's he? Well, he's right over there, Sheriff. The one in all the pain. Ah, see ya. Did he say the voodoo doctor is the one that's in all the paint? Is that what he said? Yeah, because if we're on a radio show, how are we going to know he's full of paint otherwise?

19:27 You see, it's brilliant story writing. It conveys the image to us so seamlessly and naturally. I can't tell if you're being facetious or not. I wonder if this is a good time to talk about carnivals while we're stopped. You know what? I like what you do. The culture. Well, I was thinking about how it comes from, I think, European gypsy culture from maybe the 1800s or something originally. But it has a real American 20th century kind of lore. And I read that.

20:09 Was it the Chicago State Fair got people real excited about technology? Did you look up research on this? Yeah, I do have some of that. So it wasn't the State Fair. It was the Chicago World Fair. Remember when they used to do a World Fair? Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah. So that's kind of what they started seeing, like, oh, this is something that we could do, right? And that would have been in 1893. So, gosh, I mean, that's such a long time ago. but you know and you're right on everything you're saying with like the coming in from european culture but then when it goes to the united states right we then start adding things like uh burlesque shows in it we add magic lantern shows we add i feel like it's like the american thing right like we add the we add more uh sparkle to everything right like more little bells and whistles i i read also that this this world fair they were showcasing technology and they were and And so the lights and the ride and things like this, I think, were kind of a new thing.

21:09 And I read that from that, people got so excited about it because not everyone could go to the World Fair. And so traveling shows became a big thing and a booming industry of bringing this, quote, technology and spectacle around the country. And then amusement parks started kind of popping up as well, which had the advantage of being in a fixed location. It didn't have to be torn down and put up wherever they went. But this sort of romantic idea of this touring show of bizarre technological wonders, attractions, but also the kind of side shows of freakishness and the fears of.

22:00 You know crime traveling along with it but but also the romanticism of leaving home and just going on the lam more or less you know just just traveling and getting getting a bite to eat wherever you go and all you have to do is put put up this scaffolding or whatever from city to city and uh yeah so it's really a fascinating thing that that is once again another kind of thing of the past absolutely and you know i was going to tell you would you say that the carnival is like old americana yes you too yeah yeah i think so i i feel like when you think of like i love looking at old carnival ads like we've seen them like if maybe i'll put one in our promotional picture but old carnival ads were i mean they're probably also hand-drawn like i mean and dude they were just there's so much going on and like you don't really see that care for these kind of things anymore and i think uh you know the carnival in general like you said kind of being like a dying art you know it's i think the closest thing really to like a like successful carnival besides like a circus of course it's like uh almost music festivals because music festivals offer carnival elements now right granted they cost you way more than they need to but they have like like coachella is a good example right you go to coachella you get all these the acts but you also get the ability to go on carnival rides and carnival games, right? So, I don't know.

23:28 Let's continue. Hello, Voodoo Doctor. Yes, sir, I am. What's your name? What do I call you besides Voodoo Doctor? Just call me Neil. Urban here tells me that you might be able to throw some light on the murder of Miss Clare. Urban, eh? I thought so. Why, you... No rough stuff, eh? Talk, Neil. Don't feel like it. Well, Urban, suppose you tell me what you know. Well, Sheriff, just before the show started, I saw the voodoo doctor sneak away from Dottie's tent. Dressed just as he is in costume. Yeah, greased from head to foot. I waited until he passed and then looked into Dottie's tent. She was dead. And you think? I'm going to call it right now.

24:09 I think I know who did it. Who do you think did it? I don't think it's the voodoo doctor. Because they're making it too obvious. Sheriff? Is it the sheriff? The sheriff. there's whoever this character he's talking to called urban that's who i think did it. So i i want to ask yes did we talk to the voodoo doctor that's who we just talked to right now neil neil was the voodoo doctor neil was the voodoo doctor and and what what was the cut to the the new character he said well neil if you're not going to talk will you talk urban okay and what Was the voodoo doctor shouting at the sheriff? No, that was Urban. So what caused Urban to lose his temper like that and interrupt? I don't know.

24:56 That wasn't unclear. Was he just listening to the voodoo doctor? And he had issue with something the voodoo doctor said, perhaps? Well, because the voodoo doctor wasn't talking. So I think that's why. Okay. So someone has to speak on behalf of the voodoo doctor and put him under the bus. Yes. Right. Right. All right. Neil, the voodoo doctor. Neil Donnie, I'm sure of it. I heard him threaten her. That's a lie. Donnie asked me to come to her tent. She was dead when I got there. Did you touch anything? Not a thing. I'm not so crazy as to leave fingerprints on somebody else's dirty work. Does everyone in the show use the same grease paint that you have on, Neil? No, I'm the only one.

25:40 As a voodoo, I have to paint up like this. Well, if you and Urban were the only humans to be near the body before she was murdered... He's your man, sir. I don't think so, Urban. Clearly it's Urban. So, go ahead. Let's look at a little story structure here. Now we have a third gentleman who wouldn't be so dumb as to touch a body. It'll be interesting in five minutes to see how many possibilities for murders they can introduce. Right? Sure. Yeah. So far, we just have the—well, it's pushing toward the voodoo doctor.

26:20 Remember, the voodoo doctor's name is Neil. Would you prefer I call him Neil? Is that why you're bringing this up? No, because of what kind of doctor? His name is Neil. That's my point. Like, how are we not reacting to that? Do you think his name is N-E-A-L or N-E-I-L or K-N-E-E-L? Well, it's the funniest. I'd probably say it's N-E-I-L. Okay. So getting back to the story structure, I just find it interesting that they're really pushing toward Neil being the guy because he's got the face paint.

27:01 And why else would she have the face paint rubbed off on her? Exactly. But I also want to point out, as soon as they introduced a second person, we in our postmodern society say, well, whoever they're pushing toward, it can't be that person. But I want to point out, they've introduced two other possibilities now that they're trying to make not look like could be the people. But that's now splitting our chances of getting who it is. I would say it's two, because I would say it's a safe bet it's not the voodoo Dr. Neal. Neil. Yes, it's not Neil. I think you're in for a little surprise. You see, I'm holding you for the murder of Dottie Clare.

27:46 Why did the sheriff arrest Urban, the show's manager, for the murder of his aerialist? In a moment, we'll hear, but first... I don't know what I'm talking about. But first, let's get another one minute of organ playing. Yeah. So now I'm second-guessing myself. Are there two characters, or is it just Neil or the manager? So there's the sheriff, who's the guy overseeing everything. Okay. You have Irvin, who is the manager. Okay. And then you have Neil, who is the voodoo doctor.

28:29 So forget everything I just said. There's not a third person. But I know there's a choice of two then, right? Right. They're really minimizing this because they're not going to make the sheriff who's investigating the case like I guessed. Right. Right. And it's their said, OK, we got to keep this crisp and tight. We got to give you two choices. So what was the clue that jumped out to you, Uncle Dad? I don't know if it was the clue, but it was the cadence of the way Irvin was being so aggressive. So i'm guessing that they're gonna have evidence in something someone said and i'm guessing it has to do with the grease paint it has to and so the question is what did we miss well there's a little way to find we were so busy being silly we lost track of our job to try and solve this murder.

29:32 Well, not just us, also the audience. Let's go ahead and continue with this beautiful organ. We're going to... I've got it. You think you got it? I think I figured out how the sheriff knows. Okay. Wait till I end song and then I'll tell you. You tell us.

30:15 I'm not. Before he reveals, go ahead and tell us why you think so. I think Urban revealed something in what he said that proved it wasn't Neil. All right. Well, let's find out here. Oh, back to our story. You're crazy, Sheriff. You ain't got one piece of evidence against me. Listen, you claim it was Neil that came out of the tent after Dottie Claire was murdered. Neil's torso and his face and hands are covered with grease paint. It's all over the dead girl's costume, too, ain't it? What more could you want? Just something you overlooked, Irvin.

30:55 Anyone struggling with him would have... You have something to say? Anyone struggling with the voodoo guy would have it all over himself. Yes, exactly. Let's continue. ...grease paint all over his own hands, too. The only marks on Dottie's hands were scratches. This is proof enough that Dottie Clare did not struggle with your voodoo man, as you said. Consequently, he couldn't have strangled her. Oh, Urban, looks like you slipped up that time. And that slip is going to cost you your life.

31:36 And the murderer's fingerprints are all over her body as well with that grease paint. Exactly. I think that literally was it so let me make sure so hold on, yeah one more minute of Oregon Oh, my God. Heaven, And that's all she wrote. How many of the five minute, how many minutes of the five minute mystery was that Oregon?

32:22 You're going to have to add it all up for us. I can see it here. One, two, two 40. So almost three. I love it. Yes. So yeah, we, we guessed right. Or you guessed right. I guess I did too. Cause I kind of, I felt like it was pretty obvious, but you had the better intuition. Cause you think like a detective, because you are a hard-boiled detective, am I right? No, you're not right. Damn it. But yes, now at home, the listeners, did you get it right? Did you know it was going to be Irvin? I'd love to find out. Please follow us on Instagram at UncleDadTalks and post in the comments when we post the promo card, did you get it right?

33:05 And of course, you need to follow not just me, but follow Chris Wisnia. Wisnia, where can they follow you at? Or what's your handle to follow up? Well, before I reveal my handle, I just want to say I'm looking forward to all the comments about how ridiculously poorly we were at figuring out the obvious clues on this one as we went through our minute 40 of mystery while dancing to the organ song. And you can find me at your social media of choice, Chris Wisnia Arts. And I'd love to see you there and share with you all the projects I'm working on, including a lot of my comics for free at my website, interviews and talks I do at my YouTube channel.

33:56 And you can support me at my Patreon as well. Thank you. I love that. Go check him out. We absolutely appreciate him for being a part of this. So this is just episode one. And episode one came out to 35 minutes. I don't know if they're going to be like that every single time. But, you know, me and Mike always say we're going to do 20 minutes and it ends up becoming an hour. And we had a lot of groundwork to lay discussing what this show is about and stuff. And so we're not going to mess around and goof off next episode. We're going to get right in and solve that mystery. Amen, brother. Amen. man and remember everybody this is all part of uncle dad oh we and so everybody have a great october and we will see you all next week thanks for listening.

34:38 Music.