WIRX “Decoding Carnivale” Call-in with Clancy Brown • 09-22-03

This is the transcript from Clancy’s radio call-in segment on Southwest Michigan’s WIRX/Rock 107.1, with John Jay and Brother Phil.

John Jay: Clancy Brown will be calling in this morning from “Carnivale” – a crazy, crazy-ass show! [“Carnivale” theme music begins playing in the background] even the theme music from this show is weird… It is a strange HYPNOTIC program! And Clancy was just…

Brother Phil: I have to rely on you taping it for me, cuz I don’t have HBO.

John Jay: What a major, major role he played in the show last night! I mean, HUGE, like it was all pretty much about him last night.

Brother Phil: Wow!

John Jay: Probably three-quarters of the show was Brother Justin Crowe.

Brother Phil: Crazy stuff happening to him?

John Jay: Yeah, and he is a NUTCASE! The character, this Brother Justin, is a nutcase! I just… (laughing)

Brother Phil: Anybody vomiting coins on him again?

John Jay: No, no… No vomiting of coins, but there were a couple of truly startling scenes in last night’s show. And I wanna save that for while he’s on this morning, cuz I gotta get his… quite frankly, his explanation… (laughing) his explanation of what the hell was…

Brother Phil: Just a “Explain this to me, Clancy…”

John Jay: Yeah, yeah, that’s exactly it. Yeah, I mean, I want an explanation of what was going through your head when you read the script the first time and saw what was going on here? He had to be lookin’ at that goin’, “What the hell?!? Really…?” (laughing)

Brother Phil: “All right…”

John Jay: “You guys wrote this thing, you must know what you’re doing.”

Brother Phil: “This check’s gonna clear, right?”

John Jay: Yeah, the check is gonna clear…

Brother Phil: “Okay, I’ll do it then.” (laughing)

John Jay: Yeah, it is a crazy-ass show. It’s a crazy show!”

Brother Phil: “Carnivale” – Sunday nights.

John Jay: Yeah, but it is one of those shows that WILL addict you, I think. It’s gonna be along the lines of like a “Twin Peaks” thing.

:: break ::

John Jay: Man, we’ve got a guest-filled morning. We’ve got Clancy Brown from “Carnivale”… Man, what a weird-ass show!

Jim Gifford (the news guy): Yeah, that was excellent last night!

John Jay: I know!

Jim Gifford: I’m hooked in on that thing, big time!

John Jay: Yeah, my first two questions to him on last night’s show: Explain to me the twelve-year-old boy and I want to know about the bullwhip!

Jim Gifford: (Laughing) Yeah! See if you can get some insight on that catatonic woman, too!

John Jay: Yes, exactly…

Jim Gifford: She’s kinda freakin’ me out. (laughing)

John Jay: Oh, I know it! And she’s a psychic, too, and I love the way you get the one-sided arguments with her daughter.

Jim Gifford: Yeah, she’s doing a good job with that, too.

John Jay: Yeah, yeah… There’s this psychic on the show, and she just lays in bed all the time, never moves, just completely stares at the ceiling – all the time, never moves a muscle! And her daughter, who’s a card reader and psychic, as well, has a one-sided argument, cuz her mom is communicating telepathically. So the daughter will just be sitting in the trailer and turn to her mother and go, “Oh, she does not!”

Jim Gifford: (laughing) Oh, that’s good stuff!

John Jay: It is wild!

Jim Gifford: You know what has gotta be one of the toughest jobs on that show? The make-up artists, cuz they hafta make everybody look ashen and dirty, ALL the time!

John Jay: Yeah, yeah, filthy all the time. And I gotta tell ya, the Bearded Lady is creepin’ me out!

Jim Gifford: (Laughing hard)

John Jay: I don’t really like it when she’s on the camera…

Jim Gifford: Well, especially since she’s hot for the kid.

John Jay and Brother Phil: Whooo-ewwwwwww! (Laughing)

Brother Phil: It’s terrible when the Bearded Lady is hot for anyone.

Jim Gifford: Yeah, watch out for that…

John Jay: I like the blind guy, though, who’s kinda doing that “Silence of the Lambs” voice – (Hannibal Lechter voice) “Do you suppose he’s got…?”

Jim Gifford: The characters are FABULOUS in this thing!

John Jay: Yeah, it’s a great show!

::break for news::

[“Carnivale” theme song starts playing]

John Jay: Okay, you watched “Carnivale” last night, what scene are ya talking about?

Call-in from Audience: Yeah, when that guy was in the bunker, and that thing came around the corner all chained up?

John Jay: Yeah! What the hell?!?

Caller: And the bloody hat or scarf or whatever the hell it was hanging on the Little Guy’s trailer at the end?

John Jay: Yeah, what the hell is goin’ on with this show?

Caller: I just shook my head and thought, my God! (laughing)

John Jay: I don’t know what the hell’s going on with this show, but we’ll try to figure it out…

Caller: It’s got me hooked, though!

John Jay: I know it, man! Me too! All right… thanks buddy, bye-bye.

Caller: Thanks, bye!

Station Identification “Let’s go back to The Morning After with John Jay. Rock 107/ WIRX!”

John Jay: (“Carnivale” theme song starts playing) The creepy music is playin’, it’s rainy and dark outside, the perfect mood to talk with Clancy Brown from “Carnivale”…

Brother Phil: Yes!

John Jay: The craziest-ass show on television, right now… Hey, good morning, sir! How are you?

Clancy Brown: (Laughing) How ya doin’, John?

John Jay: Oh, man… Ya know, I gotta tell ya. Number one, I’m wildly impressed with the show. I’ve always been a huge fan of yours, and now… Do you know this guy… this Star Guy, Clancy Brown, is calling us on Mondays to recap what happens on this show on Sundays…

Brother Phil: Yeah, and he’s a Star Guy!

John Jay: Because it’s just so out of control, this show you’re on!

Clancy: (Laughing) And it hasn’t even STARTED, man! This is just the second episode!

Brother Phil: That’s the scary part!

Clancy: Yeah, boy!

John Jay: Now, I… I don’t even know where to start! I watched this thing last night.. And I’m telling you, who’s the critic who said… who’s the MORON who said, “Nothing happens on this show”?

Clancy: There were a few of em…

Brother Phil: Wow!

John Jay: We had suicide last night, the molestation of twelve-year-old boys…

Clancy: (Chuckling)

John Jay: Bullwhips! I mean, it’s ALL happening on there!

Clancy: I don’t think he was even TWELVE, that boy…

John Jay: How old, maybe eight?!?

Clancy: I dunno…

John Jay: God, it was the sickest thing! (laughing) And your role was just huge in the show last night! There was like… You were on like, ya know, seventy-five percent of the show last night, so a big night for you on the show.

Clancy: I’m just thinkin’ it would be a good idea to turn Brother Justin loose on the Catholic Church, that’s what I’m thinkin’

John Jay: Oh, man! Wow! How ‘bout that, huh?

Clancy: You wouldn’t have the problems you have today if…

John Jay: What happened last night was, this place, Mr. Chin’s, downtown… Brother Justin wanted this for his church. So he calls the owner… The owner and him have a meeting, and he says “You’re gonna donate this building to me, so this can be the church for the Okies, the hayseeds,” ya know?

Brother Phil: Yeah, right.

John Jay: And this Templeton guy sort of freaks out, and then… Tell me about the “It’s a Wonderful Life” sort of thing that happened there. It’s like you’re talking to Templeton, and all of a sudden, you guys are like ghosts or somethin’! It was weird!

Clancy: Yeah, well, ya know, I think it’s as baffling to Justin as it is to anybody else. But you don’t wanna piss off Brother Justin…

John Jay & Brother Phil: No! (laughing) No, you don’t!

Clancy: Cuz he’ll show you the worst thing in your life. He’ll show you the truth about… the darkest truth in your soul. And in a way it’s kinda a good thing, cuz it leads to urban reform and takes one sicko out of the world that needs to be out of the world…

John Jay: Yeah, right!

Clancy: But it’s also kind of a terrifying thing. I mean, you don’t really want to cross him.

Brother Phil: (laughing) No!

John Jay: What I really liked about last night, and I picked up on this little thing that I really loved in your character, last night on the show – was like, when that happened, and this Templeton creep comes to your place and you’re sitting there telling him, “You are GOING TO donate this to the church.” And then the scene spun around and it became that sort of “It’s a Wonderful Life” kinda thing…

Clancy: (Chuckling)

John Jay: At the end of that, ya know, when you’re back in the house and your sister brings the lemonade in? Brother Crowe was like… You know HE was just as shocked as the Templeton guy that it happened, but he acted like, “Eh, that’s what I do!”

Clancy: (Laughs) That’s right. Here, have some lemonade…

John Jay: That was so great!

Clancy: Now let’s talk business…

John Jay: Right!

Brother Phil: Mmm… That’s refreshing!

John Jay: It’s like, ya know, like when you do something that’s really cool, and you didn’t really know you were going to do it, but you try to pass it off like, “I planned that!”

Clancy: Yeah, we do that all the time, here at the Crowe house.

John Jay: (Laughing) And that’s kind of the look on Brother Crowe’s face, it’s kinda like, “Whoa! All right… Well, cool! See what I meant? Told ya!”

Clancy: Well, Sister Iris’s ice cold lemonade is just the kind of refreshment you wanna have after visiting one of the Circles of Hell…

Brother Phil: (laughing)

John Jay: (laughing) Yes, exactly! She comes in with the lemonade after the guy’s seen himself molesting an eight-year-old boy… “Oh, God! Thank you! That lemonade is JUST what I wanted! That’s gonna hit the spot!”

Clancy: Right, right! We’re nothing if not good hosts there, at the Crowe household…

John Jay: God, that was great stuff. And then Templeton, obviously, once that is out, he’s gotta take himself out – which was nice. That was a nice little comeuppance to see from our man, Templeton.

Brother Phil: Uh-huh…

Clancy: Yeah. So why is his name Carol? That’s what I wanna know!

John Jay: That’s pretty weird, too.

Clancy: And he’s got a brother named Val…

John Jay: Is that right?

Brother Phil: Wow…

Clancy: So the Templeton’s all named their boys girl names, I guess.

John Jay: Yeah, that’s pretty weird. And I like Adrienne Barbeau in this show, too! I didn’t mention her the last time we talked, but she’s doing a nice job.

Clancy: Yeah, she’s great.

John Jay: It’s been a long time sine I’ve seen her.

Clancy: She’s an old pro, and she’s held up REAL well!

John Jay: Yeah!

Clancy: She’s quite somethin’…

John Jay, Yeah, she looks really good.

Clancy: Nick just can’t seem to keep his shirt on around her! (laughing) That’s the thing…

John Jay: (Laughing) That’s right… It was a really weird show, last night. The last scene with you was you whipping yourself! What the hell was that all about?!?

Clancy: Atonement!

John Jay: Yeah, he’s got a little self-whimolation there in the ol’ room! Whook-chee!

Clancy: Well, ya know, you can feel bad about that… You can feel bad about what you did. You can feel bad about your appreciative thoughts of your sister. And you can feel bad about…

John Jay: (chuckles) Everything…?

Clancy: Motivating someone to kill themselves, I guess.

John Jay: Yeah. I gotta ask ya, as a little Hollywood Insider kinda thing, uh… Did it hurt? I mean, it looked like it hurt!

Clancy: Yeah, it did. Look… (chuckles) lemme tell you somethin’ about that whip…

John Jay and Brother Phil: (Laughing hard)

Clancy: They’d decided… This was in the script for a while, so they’re very thoughtful people – the prop masters and everybody else. And they just decided they were gonna go out and get this whip. So they sent some poor shmoe all around to all these… seedy places… to find a regular whip….

John Jay: (laughing like he may fall out of his chair)

Clancy: But most of the whips, I guess, that are used for that type of thing are… they’re not serious whips, ya know? They’re just kinda feathers… And so she finally, whoever this was, she finally found this whip and said, “Okay, this is a good one! This one won’t hurt… The leather is kinda stiff and everything…”

John Jay and Brother Phil: (laughing their asses off)

Brother Phil: Yeah, this leather whip won’t hurt you at all!

Clancy: So I whacked myself a couple of times… and THAT HURTS! And the director kept saying, “Ya know, you gotta really DO it!” (laughing) And I said, “I’m not really DOING IT! That hurts! I’m a big guy! I could hurt myself, or somebody else with this thing!”

John Jay: (Laughing) Yeah, man!

Clancy: So they did me a favor and kinda cut around me, cuz I couldn’t bring myself to actually hurt myself.

John Jay: (laughing) And it was… cuz the SOUND was…I’m sure they pump the sound up a little bit…

Clancy: Oh, sure.

John Jay: But it was…

Brother Phil: (making whip sounds in the background) Whook-chee! Whook-chee!

John Jay: You were very clearly hitting yourself with that thing.

Clancy: Yeah.

John Jay: I mean there was no shirt, and I don’t care, prop or no prop, if it’s made of COTTON it’s going to hurt!

Clancy: Well, it did hurt. It wasn’t supposed to hurt… But it did hurt, so…

John Jay: (laughing hysterically) I’m just thinking about that scene, when you filmed it the first time. Like, if you accidentally just really caught yourself with the sweet spot of that thing… Just like, ::whook-chee:: “Oh God! Jesus!!! Ow, oh!!!”

Brother Phil: “Cut! Cut! For Godssakes!”

Clancy: You got it! That’s exactly what happened!

John Jay: (laughing) “Clancy, you’re Justin… You can’t scream ‘Jesus Christ… Ow!!! Oh, Jesus, My back!’”

Clancy: (laughing hard)

John Jay: It was so… God, I thought, this show was so fantastic…

Brother Phil: Ice pack, stat!

Clancy, John Jay & Brother Phil: (all laughing)

John Jay: Yeah, absolutely… Well, we gotta come up with a name for this little bit. (“Carnivale” theme music starts up) We gotta call this like “Decoding ‘Carnivale’ with Clancy Brown.”

Clancy: (laughing) I’ll leave the marketing up to you…

John Jay: So give us an overview of, week by week, give us an overview of what happened on the show and what we should really look out for in the next one, ya know what I mean? Like key points, plot points, that you think are key to everyone understanding what IS going on in this incredibly insane show …

Clancy: Well, the key to understanding what’s going on is to keep watching.

John Jay: That’s right.

Clancy: You probably could have missed the first episode and seen this one, and been up to speed. But you can’t miss this episode, you can’t miss the next episode, and you can’t miss any of them after this. Let’s see… What happened on this episode?

John Jay: Well, we started to get a little bit more of the dream sequence. We saw that World War I bunker with the BEAR? What the hell?!?

Clancy: Yeah, the World War I bunker... Yeah! What the hell with that bear?!? And was that the bear’s costume hanging from the door of Management?

John Jay: That’s right!

Clancy: And given the coin situation, was it really hanging there?

John Jay: Exactly!

Clancy: And given the baggage situation, the baggage car that Nick looked into that wasn’t there.

John Jay: Where he found a picture of his mother…

Clancy: See, you gotta start questioning anything to do with the mystery of his father. Is it really happening? Is it actually there or is he somehow having a waking dream?

Brother Phil: Hmmm…

Clancy: But it’s all significant to it, so all these pieces are falling into place. But you don’t know if they’re falling into place because he’s actually finding them, or because it’s actually coming up from his subconscious. Although that picture that he found, that was real, cuz we saw somebody else handle it.

John Jay: That’s right!

Clancy: And we got the idea that Management IS actually another entity, and not just a figment of Michael’s imagination – although we haven’t seen Management yet.

John Jay: Yeah, I did like that scene when, what’s his name on the show? The little tiny guy?

Clancy: Samson… That’s Michael J Anderson.

John Jay: When he’s in the trailer and he turns to the curtain and goes, “What the hell are you up to?”

Clancy: Right.

John Jay: That was a nice little foreshadowing moment there…

Clancy: Yeah.

John Jay: I kinda dug that. And the thing is, ya know, the beauty of this show is that there are so many sort of dream sequence kind of moments, you don’t really know… You’ve REALLY gotta watch and say, okay now, is this happening?

Brother Phil: You gotta pay attention.

Clancy: Yeah.

John Jay: Right! Exactly… What’s a dream sequence, what’s not? What’s imagined, what’s real? And the show is making you question that at every single turn!

Clancy: That’s right! And what is Apollonia, the catatonic woman’s hook with Nick? Why is she so anxious to sit down with him again?

John Jay: Right!

Clancy: And then what is her relationship with the blind guy, Lodz? It’s getting very complicated, but it’s all sort of making a bizarre kind of sense.

John Jay: Yup, yup… I love the arguments that Apollonia gets in with her daughter.

Clancy: Right (laughing)

John Jay: The one-sided arguments…Just out of nowhere she’s going, “Shut up, Mother!” Whoa! She threw a coffee cup at her in last night’s show with her mind ::crash!::

Clancy: “That’s it! I’m outta here!”

John Jay: (laughing) Yeah, she storms out… That was classic stuff, right there. It’s a fun show. “Carnivale” on HBO. It’s on a nine o’clock every Sunday night, correct?

Clancy: Correct! Nine o’clock every Sunday night.

John Jay: You got pushed back, week one, because of that “Sex and the City” thing.

Clancy: Yeah, that girl show was on…

John Jay: Yeah, that chick show that’s on there. Although there’s lots of nudity on that, which is always good.

Clancy: Yeah, yeah… Nudity is always good.

John Jay: You get a little nudity on your show, too, with the Cootchie dancer.

Clancy: We did... We had a little “Cootch”… Yeah, they’re the best. That’s the best act in the show.

John Jay: I love that.

Clancy: That’s a plot thing that’s about to develop, that little triangle that’s gonna emerge.

John Jay: Pretty soon, in LA though, Clancy, it’s only on TV you’re gonna be able to see them dancing the Cootch. I guess they’re talking about outlawing the… No physical contact between the customers and the dancers at the topless clubs there in LA…

Clancy: Yeah, well… The only way I know that that’s true is because I watched Real Time with Bill Maher, and he had a comment about it. I wouldn’t know that… However, if I came over there and laid hands on YOU, I would definitely go into your mind and find that out… (laughing)

John Jay: (laughing) Exactly! I like it when they put the black contact lenses on ya. That’s gotta hurt!

Clancy: Ya know, actually, it didn’t! Ya know, it’s a funny little thing that they put those lenses in, and there’s a little hole in the middle of ‘em, but because the hole is exactly where your pupil is, they look completely blacked out, but you can see through them just fine. So it is a little weird to walk around in them…

John Jay: You ever go into like Arby’s in them?

Clancy: Nah, I’d LOVE to, though!

Brother Phil: That would be great! It would be so much fun!

Clancy: I’d like to walk in… or just go to the drive-thru.

John Jay: (howling) Beef and cheddar!!!

Clancy: BIG MAC!

Brother Phil: Free! I want it free!

Clancy: (deep, monster burger voice) I want an extra value meal… Supersize it!

(Everyone laughing)

Brother Phil: I want a Happy Meal…

John Jay, But you have no eyes!!!

Clancy: (laughing)

Brother Phil: (sweetly) But I want a Happy Meal…

John Jay: That would be so great, getting your chicken McNuggets! Clancy Brown from “Carnivale!” We’re gonna do this… Are you gonna be available for us next Monday, or are you taking off somewhere?

Clancy: Ah, I think I’ll be around.

Brother Phil: Excellent!

John Jay: You’re a good man, a good man…

Clancy: If I can’t make it, I’ll let ya know before hand.

John Jay: Super! “Decoding Carnivale” is that what we’re gonna call it?

Clancy: Do you take callers or anything?

John Jay and Brother Phil: Yeah!

Clancy: Well, ask ‘em to call in with questions, if you want.

John Jay: (laughing) I don’t like to take callers… Those people scare me.

Clancy: I don’t mean for me…

John Jay: I know… (laughing)

Clancy: I mean, to call in to give us a list of questions.

John Jay: I’m just kidding (laughing) I love the people… LOVE THEM!

Clancy: That’s in case you guys run out of questions.

John Jay: And often I do…

Clancy: (laughing)

John Jay: Hey, thanks again for joining us, man! I really appreciate it.

Clancy: My pleasure…

John Jay: You are the best! Clancy Brown, “Carnivale,” HBO on Sunday nights at nine o’clock, and when do they repeat it?

Clancy: All week… They repeat it, they just play the hell out of it.

John Jay: Which is kinda cool. I love that HBO does that. I mean, if you miss your show, you can still catch it again. I think network TV ought to take a cue from them…

Clancy: Yeah, but…

John Jay: They probably never will…

Clancy: No.

John Jay and Brother Phil: (laughing)

Clancy: You’re never gonna sell soap with a show you’ve already seen.

Brother Phil: (laughing hard) Yeah, really! Good point!

John Jay: That’s good…All right, Clancy. Thanks again, man. I really appreciate it!

Brother Phil: Yeah!

Clancy: All right, good to talk to you!

John Jay: Okay, we’ll talk to you again soon…

Brother Phil: Seeya!

John Jay: Clancy Brown from “Carnivale” – LIVE from Los Angeles, California.

Brother Phil: EXCELLENT!

John Jay: Yeah, outstanding… I love that guy!

Brother Phil: Yup!

John Jay: And that show is killer, man! It’s in Sunday night’s at 9:00… What else are ya doing? Nothing.

Brother Phil: Watching that!

John Jay: Yeah, you gotta watch that show…


To comment on this Interview click HERE