Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 17, 1994 TAG: 9403170143
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOE KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Christine Tschida, producer of ``A Prairie Home Companion'' on Minnesota Public Radio, sent him a fax. It said, ``Garrison is serious about doing a broadcast from Roanoke next season. Do you have some dates you'd like to suggest?''
She underscored ``serious'' and included a list of dates next fall and spring when Garrison - Keillor, that is - and his music and comedy troupe will take their radio show on the road.
Keillor and cronies visited Roanoke in early February and sold out the civic center auditorium for two non-broadcast shows under the auspices of WVTF, which Mills manages. That news spread quickly in public radio circles. Recently, a representative of another syndicated show, Michael Feldman's ``Whad'Ya Know?,'' called to offer Mills and the station the opportunity to sponsor a live, Saturday morning broadcast.
Mills hesitated, saying he and his people had been busy with ice storms, with their upcoming fund drive and with the two Keillor sellouts.
``He said, `Yes, I know. That's why I'm calling. I understand you guys can really pack 'em in,''' Mills said.
The flattered Mills faxed Tschida word of his willingess to take on ``Prairie Home'' and began negotiations with Feldman's people. Those dealings have been completed. ``Whad'Ya Know?'' is coming to the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium April 30 for a nationwide broadcast from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets are $20 and $15.
Syndicated to 180 stations by American Public Radio, Feldman's program originates in Madison, Wis., and is generally described as a comedy, quiz and call-in show with interludes of jazz. The comedy comes almost entirely from Feldman's interplay with audience members, guests and unsuspecting residents of the program's ``Town of the Week,'' whom Feldman calls on the phone.
The quiz portion, which teams people in the studio with others on the phone, is largely an excuse for Feldman to ask trivia questions (``If you had a dewlap, where would you have it?'') and award ridiculous prizes, such as pink flamingo lawn ornaments, fossilized dinosaur droppings and samples of a regional Wisconsin beer.
People Weekly described the program as ``Garrison Keillor meets Groucho Marx.'' The New York Times called Feldman ``a less-mannered and more openly neurotic version of Garrison Keillor.''
Feldman is not keen on what he calls the ``Garrison comparison.'' He once complained that radio personalities nowadays are ``spoken of in terms of Keillors. `How many Keillor units is he?''' and asked, ``When are they going to start asking Keillor about me?''
In truth, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out, they are quite different. ``Mr. Keillor,'' it said, ``is a brilliant writer and monologuist, Mr. Feldman an ad-libber and comic.''
But, it added, ``Off-mike, Mr. Keillor can be sullen and unpleasant. Mr. Feldman is Midwestern nice and really likes people.''
Oh, but he's a wiseguy. Most of his show is taken up with his flip banter with audience members, who know what they're in for. His standard question, after introductions, is ``What do you do?'' and his attention span is just long enough for him to say something funny, or, as the case may be, not funny.
Mills said Feldman has agreed to serve as master of ceremonies for the first Roanoke Valley Shrimpfest, an all-you-can eat event set for April 30 beginning at 4:30 p.m. on the grounds of the Salem Civic Center. He will entertain at the Corporate Challenge Shrimp Eating Contest and will emcee the 8 p.m. concert performance by the Atlanta Rhythm Section, said Wendi Schultz, executive director of Roanoke Festival in the Park, which created the event. Schultz said 3,000 tickets will be sold.
Shrimpfest tickets are $20 and are available from the Roanoke Festival office at 116A West Kirk Avenue, at the Salem Civic Center box office and from Roanoke Kiwanis Club members. Concert-only tickets costing $5 will be sold at the gate.
Tickets for admission to the Shrimpfest, the concert and the Feldman show will go on sale April 1 at the Roanoke Civic Center box office and at Ticketmaster outlets. They are $35.
Mills said one obstacle to Feldman's usual manner of working is the civic center's lack of aisles. The auditorium's layout will interfere with his habit of roaming the hall.
``They're going to live with it,'' he said.
``To give you an idea of how much they want to come, they normally require that they get a videotape of the hall before they will agree to do it, showing the outside, the loading ramp, the stage. It's a walk-through, with somebody holding a camcorder and narrating.''
They dispensed with it this time, saying, ``If it's good enough for Keillor, it's good enough for us.''
by CNB