Thursday, January 16, 2014

Ticket Employee Review: Big Strong Jeremy

Welcome a new Wasteland bit, the Ticket employee review. We will attempt to pull back the triple fake curtain to look at the person behind the on air persona. First up, our review of BSJ, one of the longest tenured and least well known employees at the Ticket hovel.

Jer is the morning board op guy, and has been for a while. That is the extent of what most people know about the man, that he has been there since the beginning and stays pretty quiet. Definitely the least vocal guy at the station with a microphone in front of him. Jer has been the board op for the D&M show and Norm since August of 1997, his first big time job after graduating from Hardin-Simmons University.  A reliable person behind the board; plays drops, but not too many. Votes in the Biggest Show Coming to Town, but otherwise doesn't speak much in regular programming. A smooth operator at the board, a guy that can handle the likes of Gordo, Dunham, Miller and Norm.


Historically at the Ticket Jer is one of the founders of the drop. Along with Grubes, Expo and Psycho Dave, Big Strong Jer helped developed the art. If done right, a drop can create comedy that dominates the segment. Case in point, take Gordo's death to stricken animals segment today. Jer's drops were all over the place, he played many more than he normally does. But they made the segment, punctuating Gordo's description of chopping a Starling's head off with a hatchet. Earlier this week, we had Jub get into the problems with fracking and the ridiculous commercials oil companies produce to promote it, with kids in swimming pools next to fracking towers. Jer's expertly placed drops were not only hilarious but they paint the picture of what Jub is telling you. They add another layer to the on air comedy, another force in our Ticket subconsciousness. They are the honey mustard sauce on your Chick-Fil-A nuggets. The alcohol at your bible study Christmas party.

Gordon sees him as the eternal suffering character, a role we think Jer happily embraces. This is typified when you hear Gordon, in his fake comforting voice whisper, "Oh Jer..." in response to a rare comment from Jeremy regarding car repairs, retirement or something like that.

Random Facts: He had bariatric surgery in 2009, his wife is blind and she has a cool seeing eye dog. He likes Star Wars and pro wrestling.





4 comments:

  1. Very nice P1WL. Keep these coming. I know as much as a regular listener but some of this has to be inside info. I couldn't have remembered all of that over the years. Please share some info about yourself and where you fit into the Ticket background if that's not prying too much.

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  2. And Jer's awesome participation with Mike Sirois and Sean Bass in the AP named, "second show during Norm" comedy is pure greatness!!

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  3. One of Jer's signatures is playing several seconds of a song as a drop. The subtlety of this pays off for listeners that recognize the song's tune (and how it relates to the Musers' conversation) before the lyrics have even begun. The only one I can think of by name is Motley Crue's "Kickstart My Heart".

    I recall once Grubes used this technique and when the Hardline didn't get the reason for the song's play, Danny called him out saying "Who are you, Jer?" I thought it was quite funny and good recognition that this is a Jer signature and he has mastered this bit.

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