WIRX “Decoding Carnivale” Call-in with Clancy Brown • 10-27-03

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.

This week’s interview ran into a few glitches… The phone gods were not being kind to our intrepid Decoders, as you will see. But here’s to Brother Phil and Shelley Morgan for soldiering on and getting the technical difficulties cleared up, and here’s to Clancy for being a good sport and keeping his great sense of humor…

John Jay was on vacation when this interview was aired, and so Brother Phil and Shelley Morgan handled the “Decoding Carnivale” segment.

Phil: Rock 107/ WIRX, 8:06 with John Jay in the Morning – Minus John Jay. I’m trying to get ahold of Clancy right now. I will be successful… I swear. The technical difficulties will be taken care of… We’ll do that right after ZZ Top, “Cheap Sunglasses” on Rock 107/WIRX…

(What follows is a comedy of errors, with our DJs trying valiantly to get the phones to behave, and the phones just as stubbornly refusing to. But we’ll spare everyone the gory details of that, and join the conversation when all that silly technical stuff finally starts to cooperate!)

Phil: WIRX, it’s 8:28 in the morning, and I do believe we FINALLY have Clancy Brown on the air. Can you hear us?

Clancy: Can you hear me?

Shelley: Oh, you’ve got to be kidding!

Phil: YES! He’s here!

Clancy: Oh, you can hear me now?

Phil: Yeah!

Clancy: Aw, darn…

Phil: I can hear you over my headphones. Hopefully we’re all going out OVER THE AIR and everything like that! (They were – ed.) Like we’re SUPPOSED TO here in the radio business!

Clancy: Nah, there’s nothing but dead air… (laughing)

Phil: Dead air is a very uncomfortable thing in this business…

Clancy: (Chuckling) Oh, man…

Phil: And speaking of death… Last night, the beginning… I thought, until I knew it was a dream sequence going on, that you had… I’m like, well, that’s it! Clancy’s off the show! He just jumped off a bridge! (laughing)

Clancy: Yeah, I jumped off a bridge, I can’t help ya anymore!

Phil: That was a very, VERY good show last night!

Clancy: Yeah… You liked that?

Phil: Yes, I did!

Clancy: It gave you a little bit more explanation, so you knew what was going on?

Phil: Yeah, it did. It was… I particularly enjoyed the broken bone.

Clancy: Yeah, and the big dumb guy talked!

Phil: Oh, yeah!

Clancy: Yeah!

Phil: I was like… I thought I was watching the NFL… You come out and they show you laying on the side of the riverbank there, with a nasty broken leg.

Clancy: Yeah, I got my old Joe Theisman leg on…

Phil: Oh... My God, was that disgusting!

Clancy: (laughing)

Phil: And then, what was it, like ten or fifteen minutes later, Gabriel gets into the fight, falls against… and there’s ANOTHER broken bone, another compound fracture!

Clancy: There ya go!

Phil: That was very good.

Clancy: Yeah, but see? Ya know, Ben was around to take care of that one. He couldn’t help me.

Phil: No… So you’re the Russian boy?

Clancy: Ah, ya know, I’m looking at that kid who’s supposed to be me as a young man, and he doesn’t look anything like my baby pictures, I’ll tell ya that right now! (laughing)

Phil: (laughing) But at the end, though, they kinda zeroed in on the picture on the stairway…

Clancy: Yeah…

Phil: And, ya know… Well, everything… Ya know, John, bless his heart, he went to this film appreciation class in college.

Clancy: Ah…

Phil: I never did that, so I’m the kinda person that goes and watches a show or goes to a movie or something like that, and I’m very superficial! (chuckling) I don’t know if it’s just me or John’s class that he really gets into all these different messages and everything that are being sent out…

Clancy: (laughing)

Phil: That kind of stuff, to be honest with you, Clancy, goes right over my head!

Clancy: (laughing) Ya know what? If we were making it for everybody who went to film appreciation class, we’d be OFF THE AIR!

Phil: (laughing) That’s true.

Clancy: We’re makin’ it for you, Phil! (laughing)

Phil: Thank you.

Clancy: We’re making it for people who can’t tell the green button from the red button! (Laughing)

Phil: Ooh…

Shelley: OOH! OUCH! That hurt!

(Phil and Clancy laughing)

Clancy: It’s perfectly okay…

Phil: (laughing) That’s okay. I’ll take the abuse.

Clancy: (laughing hard)

Phil: It gets heaped upon me on a regular basis.

Clancy: That’s right. Next week, it will all seem funny.

Phil: Yes it will!

Clancy: That’s what I told my wife when she came stomping in this morning… “Oh, don’t worry, honey. It’s just a little early morning comedy!” (laughing)

(Phil and Shelly laughing)

Phil: His incompetence led to comedy…

Clancy: (laughing hard)

Phil: Incompetence is a form of comedy, by the way…

Shelley: (laughing)

Clancy: Ah…

Phil: So you’re the Russian boy. And I loved the radio thing last night.

Clancy: Yeah?

Phil: Yeah, I was just thinking to myself, “Oh, yeah, that’s the power of radio, my friend!”

Clancy: Yeah, and look who DIDN’T DIE!

Phil: (laughing) Exactly!

Clancy: The fat guy didn’t die!

Phil: (laughing) That’s excellent!

Clancy: Yeah!

Phil: So, no California… I really thought, ya know, boy, if everybody takes off for Hollywood, who’s gonna be left on the show?

Clancy: Yeah, that was a sad moment…

Phil: Half of the carnivale was supposed to go to California, until…

Clancy: Well, they’ll eventually get to California, they’ve just gotta get there all together!

Phil: And Rita, the bitch…

Clancy: Yeah, poor thing…

Phil: (laughing)

Clancy: Poor thing… She just has that man right around her finger, doesn’t she?

Phil: Oh, my God! When I saw her in the rearview mirror, I went, “Welp, that’s it! Shut it off. Get back out of the car…”

Clancy: (laughing) We’ve ALL been there! We’ve all been there…

Phil: (laughing) That’s true.

Shelley: (laughing)

Phil: He’s whipped.

Clancy: It’s like, “Oh. Man… How could I leave the Red Pig?”

Phil: (laughing) Yup!

Clancy: Like, who’s gonna get the Red Pig in California?

Phil: Exactly!

Clancy: (chuckling)

Phil: And then I particularly liked when Rita was talking to the midget, and he… She’s like, “Well, I can’t believe that he’s still running around out there!” No he’s not!

Clancy: “No, he’s not.”

Phil: (chuckling) So what have we got going on for next week? You are in some kind of living hell!

Clancy: I’m in the hospital…

Phil: I was talking to Beth earlier… It’s kinda like you’re in some kind of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” for you next week.

Clancy: Yeah, I’m having some of my issues addressed clinically!


(Shelley and Phil laughing)

Phil: (laughing) Yeah! SHOCK treatments!

Clancy: In that old fashioned, that old time clinical technique of, “Let’s just send him RIGHT over the edge! And THEN… bring him back!”

Phil: Exactly! He’s having kind of a mental problem, so we’re gonna shock the hell outta him!

Clancy: Oh, man!

Phil: Ooh… That looks…

Clancy: They did some research on that one, boy. The type of barbaric stuff that happened, ya know, pre-war, was pretty nasty!

Phil: So, how much are you involved in the show next week, as far as on-air time?

Clancy: Uh… Well, A LOT! I don’t really SAY much, I spend a lot of time screamin’!

Phil: (laughing) Screaming and drooling…

Clancy: (laughing hard)

Phil: Spit coming out…

Clancy: Yeah, I spend a lot of time catatonic, and sort of in that foggy space between heaven and hell…

Phil: Yes.

Clancy: But I’m in it, don’t worry. I’m in it.

Phil: That’s gonna be very, very exciting.

Clancy: It is.

Phil: And like we said, I dunno… Were we on the air when we were talking about this? Because I can’t remember whether or not we were on the air or off the air, at this point… (laughing)

Shelley: It’s all one big massive blur for you, eh?

Phil: Oh, it’s all just running together.

Clancy: It’s all a matter of faith…

Shelley: (laughing)

Phil: It’s all… Bright lights and clicky noises, I like to call it, when things start going haywire around here.

Clancy: (laughing hard)

Phil: The first seven episodes start this Sunday at 2 o’clock on HBO2?

Clancy: Oh, yes!

Phil: So if you haven’t been up to date, then you can watch… Starting at 2 o’clock, you’re having a bit of a “Carnivale” marathon going on.

Clancy: That’s right. You can have a “Carnivale” marathon. You will… Your brain will completely overload!

Shelley: Yeah, by 10 o’clock, you’re gonna be like Justin in the mental hospital.

Clancy: That’s right, you’ll be ready for the loony bin!

Shelley: Excellent!

Phil: That’s right. You WILL BE living bright lights and clicky noises…

Shelley: (laughing)

Phil: You’ll know what it’s like to be Brother Phil…

Shelley: To be Phil, exactly. (laughing)

Clancy: (laughing) I’ll be interested to see how many people will actually watch the WHOLE thing. That’s going to be a chore!

Phil: Well, ya know, I’m gonna have to take a look at the football schedule and see who the Bears are losing to… Well, no, they actually won.

Clancy: They won! And the Bengals won!

Phil: Yes they did, can you believe that?

Clancy: Hey, it’s our weekend! It’s loser weekend!

Shelley: (laughing)

Phil: Exactly! Well, not quite, because Detroit still lost… But they were playing the Bears, so… Ya know, somebody had to win that.

Clancy: That’s right, somebody had to win it!

Phil: Good Lord… Clancy Brown, thank you SO MUCH for being so patient with me!

Clancy: (laughing hard) I’m blaming John, man! He set you up!

Shelley: He totally did!

Phil: He did!

Shelley: Uh-huh!

Phil: He should have given me explicit instructions…

Shelley: Well, he should KNOW!

Phil: Written down… I told him, too!

Shelley: You’re his brother! He should know that saying, “Hey, do this, this, this, and this,” is NOT going to sink in with Phil.

Phil: Yeah, he should have known that!

Clancy: (laughing) He’s just giggling… He’s listening… He’s listening in on the short wave, just giggling right now at you, man…

Phil: Exactly.

Shelley: He’s still drunk from the night before, cuz they’re in Cabo, for cryin’ out loud.

Clancy: Oh, my God! Well, what are YOU gonna do to get even, Phil? That’s what I wanna know…

Phil: Well, I’m not showing up next Monday!

(Clancy and Shelley laughing hard)

Phil: Nah, I’m kidding… I’ll be here – to have more abuse heaped on me, I’m sure!

Clancy: (just giggling)

Shelley: Oh, wow!

Phil: Are there any more insights or anything you can give us, as far as what’s gonna be happening next week, other than , of course, the drooling and spitting and shocking?

Clancy: Oh…well, what happens next week is Ben goes off on a little journey to find a new Carnie act.

Phil: Wow!

Clancy: And runs into another piece of his story.

Phil: Excellent! I liked the dead fish last night… That was very cool.

Clancy: And then we’re supposed to wonder if that was all set up or whether it was just by accident that he comes across this…

Shelley: So is he going to another carnivale, or is he just wandering the earth looking for another Carnie act?

Clancy: No, he’s… They get a hot tip that there’s a Lobster Boy somewhere!

Shelley: Whoa! Right on!

Phil: The bald albino?

Clancy: Well, the albino takes care of the Lobster Boy, cuz freaks kinda hang out together, I guess.

(Phil and Shelley laughing)

Clancy: And it might be a Lobster Girl… I’m not really sure. But anyway, they go after her. And, of course, there’s a whole line-up of Carnivales there, ready to offer her a ticket to showbiz.

Phil: Excellent!

Clancy: And Ben gets there and has to try to convince her to come to the carnivale…

Shelley: He turns on the charm, does he?

Clancy: He turns on the charm… He says, “Hey, ya know what? I can fix those flippers for ya!”

Phil: Yeah…

Shelley: But then she wouldn’t be the Lobster Girl!

Clancy: Well, exactly! See what kind of commerce conundrum it turns out to be?

Shelley: How about that?

Clancy: It’s a complex show!

Shelley: (laughing) I guess so!

Phil: “And if you don’t come with me, I’ll give you a compound fracture!”

Clancy: That’s right! (chuckling)

Phil: Cuz that was the order of the day yesterday.

Clancy: (laughing hard)

Phil: You gotta love the compound fracture!

Clancy: “The Compound Fracture Show!”

Phil: I almost lost my lunch twice last night!

Shelley: Sweet!

Phil: (making barfing noises)

Clancy: (laughing hard)

Phil: My God!

Clancy: Well, you wouldn’t have lost it if you’d gone to film school… That’s for sure.

Shelley: (laughing hard)

Phil: Yeah, if I’d gone to film school…

Clancy: Take that film appreciation class…

Phil: Yeah, if I’d gone to film school I could have sat there for the next half hour after the show and decoded it myself! I think John just gets WAY too deep into these things!

Clancy: You should have used that half hour to like get up on the technical… the techniques of running that board there… (laughing)

Shelley: (laughing hard)

Phil: Ya know, I’ve seen John sittin’ all over “The Jetsons” for a half hour, after it’s been over!

Clancy: (laughing his ass off.)

Phil: Trying to see some kind of message in “Garfield”!

Clancy: There ya go… “Garfield” is full of em’!

(Phil and Shelley laughing)

Phil: He gets WAY too into it…

Clancy: “Garfield” is WAY more devious than “Carnivale”…

Phil: Well, thanks so much, Clancy!

Clancy: All right!

Phil: You know, I’m probably not gonna have that hard of a time hangin’ up on ya!

(Clancy and Shelley laughing hard)

Phil: I think I can figure that out!

Shelley: You’ve done that a couple times already this morning!

Phil: I’ve been hanging up on you ALL MORNING!

Clancy: I’m gonna send my wife roses today and say they’re from YOU!

Shelley: Now THAT’S a smart move!

Phil: Thank you very much!

Shelley: Whoa… you are a smart man!

Phil: Excellent! Thanks so much…

Clancy: Seeya later!

Shelley: Have a great day!

Phil: Clancy Brown, ladies and gentlmen…

Shelley: Hey, we did it! We got him on the air Phil!

Phil: Yes we did…

Shelley: Now just turn that one button off now…

Phil: Yeah. We can turn that button off… And ya know what? I DID have problems hanging up on him! How bout that?

Shelley: How ‘bout that? (laughing)


To comment on this interview, click HERE

WIRX “Decoding Carnivale” Call-in with Clancy Brown • 10-20-03

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.

(“Carnivale” theme music starts up)

John: There’s the music… Ten minutes after 8 o’clock. Mostly sunny today and 77. A beautiful day!

Phil: Excellent!

John: It is a beautiful day… It’s a wonderful day to DIE!

(Phil and Clancy laughing)

John: I hope I don’t get shot in the face by a midget! What a rotten way to die that would be! Right in the cheek!

Phil: That would not be a good Monday.

Clancy: Yeah, and just after he poured him a drink, too, for cryin’ out loud!

John: I know! And he poured him a helluva generous drink, as well.

Clancy: Yeah, that’s nice. Well, that’s the way it was in the 30s…

John: That wasn’t even a shot glass, that was a friggin’ highball!

Clancy: That’s right!

John: Ya know? And the guy gives him the big kudos, the big Thank You, then all of a sudden, BOOM! One shot to the cheek! I gotta tell ya, Samson’s gotta work on the aim there.

Clancy: Yeah, well, ya know… As long as it’s in the general vicinity that’ll kill ya, I guess.

Phil: That’s all that really matters…

John: But ya don’t shoot a guy in the cheek do ya? Why don’tcha go for the forehead or maybe the middle of the chest…?

Clancy: I think he was goin’ for the eye.

John: Yeah… (chuckling) That would seem right for “Carnie Justice.”

Clancy: I wonder about that gun… Was that gun too big for him to hold?

John: Yeah! Yeah, it was a hog leg in the hands of Samson, I tell ya…

Clancy: Yeah.

John: Welcome Clancy Brown, Brother Justin on HBO’s “Carnivale” every Sunday night. And last night, of course, I watched the show again with great interest and great aplomb. I loved it! It was strange and weird all at the same time. And you, my man, on the show, are in the depths of despair.

Clancy: I am in the depths of despair. I’m wandering like every prophet from the Old and New Testament. I’ve been persecuted by those I’m trying to save…

John: And ya know what I really liked about last might’s show, honestly? I love the little touches that are so reminiscent of… Obviously, I wasn’t around in the 30s, but when you see the movies and you read about what was going on – these weird radio shows from back in the day…

Phil: Oh, yeah!

Clancy: There ya go! We had our John Jay! (30s Radio Guy voice) “Good evening friends…”

John: That’s right! And I love the way they do it. They’re in the studio with that big ass microphone and a cup of coffee, and some cigarettes, (30’s Radio Guy voice) “Good evening friends, tonight I tell ya the story of Brother Justin…”

Clancy: (chuckling)

John: It’s so great!

Clancy: A little Walter Winchell goin’ on there.

John: Exactly!

Phil: We need to be able to smoke in this studio!

Clancy: Nah, nah… No more smokin’. Back then it was good for ya, now it’s not.

John: Yeah, the medicinal properties of the cigarettes…

Clancy: They used to put in all sorts of good chemicals, and now…? Forget about it…

John: Well, this guy, his gig was… He goes around, and apparently there were so many homeless people at that particular point in time, he’d get “Stories from the Road.”

Clancy: “Stories from the Road.”

John: And Brother Justin is sitting around a fire… That was the line from last night’s show, wasn’t it? “I’ve lost my faith.” Right?

Clancy: That’s right. That’s what Charles Karault looked like when he was a young man, I think.

(Phil and John laughing)

Phil: I miss Charles Karault.

Clancy: Don’tcha?

John: Yeah, he was great, man.

Phil: Yeah, he was.

John: But this radio guy, sitting around the fire… Brother Justin takes a big deep pull from a bottle of something… I loved that! And then the radio guys says, (30s Radio Guy voice) “Tell us your story brother, friend…”

Clancy: Yeah, that’s right. That’s investigative journalism…

John: Yeah, “Tell us your story, friend…” He’s asking you the tough questions.

Clancy: Yeah…

John: “I’ve lost my faith” in those mellifluous tones, and from then on we’re apparently, we’re supposed to get that you spilled your guts, eh?

Clancy: Yeah, I did spill my guts. I actually spilled my guts a little bit more than what they showed, but that’s okay. I think it was… Now what was it he asked me? “Have you lost a girl? Have you lost your farm? Have you lost your dog?”

John: Right, right.

Clancy: And of course, that makes my ears perk up, “No! But I lost my God!” Because dog spelled backwards…

John: Right. It’s all about the same, isn’t it?

Clancy: Yeah, well… I lost my dog, I mean… my God, I mean.

John: Right, right… Well, I mean, I just thought it was a great scene. But they cut a bunch out? What did you…? Did they have like a little…?

Clancy: Oh yeah, ya know, it was sorta on the nose, that I went on and on about giving help to the helpless…

John: The children and all that…

Clancy: And comfort to the comfortless, and hope to the hopeless, and all that stuff. But WISELY, they chopped all that noise out.

John: Yeah, I was gonna say, the assumption, obviously, is made by the somewhat intelligent viewers of the show that you must have told the guy the whole story, cuz he was on the air telling it the next scene.

Clancy: Yeah.

Phil: Did it sound just a little too preachy, maybe?

Clancy: Well, it sounded just a little too expository, just a little too recappy.

John: Well, it would have been bad because…

Clancy: In case you missed the last six episodes… Here’s what happened to me!

John: And he also recapped it with his broadcast, as they cut from radio listener to radio listener, so we would have heard it twice inside of ten minutes…

Clancy: Right, exactly so.

John: So yeah, that was a good decision probably. But it was a nice scene nonetheless, with you drinking from the bottle, and all disheveled around the fire…

Clancy: Yeah, you don’t want Brother Justin drinkin’ too much! That’s one thing I’ve come to discover.

Phil: (chuckling) I don’t think you want Clancy Brown drinkin’ too much either!

(Phil, John, and Clancy laughing)

Clancy: I’ve DONE my drinkin’…

John: Now, you keep leading us… I gotta tell ya, you’re taking us hand in hand down a subtle little primrose path here. You’ve given us a lot of clues over the last few weeks that Brother Justin ain’t quite who he seems to be, and maybe he’s being influenced by the wrong half of the dark and light…

Clancy: Well, I don’t know WHAT half of the dark and light he’s being influenced by. I don’t even know that it’s divided into halves anymore.

Phil: It’s a little blurry…

John: Yeah, your admission just a few minutes ago is YOU’RE confused by what’s going on!

Clancy: I am, because, as I watch these… Now you gotta remember, I haven’t been privy to what’s going on in the carnivale that much. I’ve read the scripts but I haven’t seen them shot or put together. I haven’t been a part of that. So I’m watching it like a fan, too! And what’s coming clear to me, as I watch the carnivale part of the story, is that, ya know… it’s not a nice group.

John: No.

Phil: Uh-uh…

Clancy: These aren’t sweet people. These are people who sell their daughters into prostitution, and people who put their sons in rings to fight whoever’s around. Ya know, they’re not the sweetest kinda group. And then they’re looking for this poor sap called Scudder who’s such a drunk, sweet guy. But he wasn’t that sweet, because he decided to go and be a miner, and then KILLED everybody!

John: Right.

Clancy: So, I don’t know what’s going on here. I don’t know… And Ben last night, even though we didn’t see him too much, he wasn’t too patient with the whole group either. He was diggin’ Dora Mae’s grave, and he says, “Hey, is this deep enough?”

John: The grave, right! “Is that deep enough?”

Clancy: “Can I stop diggin’ now?” (laughing)

John: “C’mon… the dogs aren’t gonna smell her through four feet, what’s another couple of inches?”

Clancy: Ya know? They’re… They’re not the sweetest group there.

John: No, they certainly are not.

Phil: I think anyone that comes up with a line like “Carnie Justice,” they can’t be a real sweet group of people.

Clancy: Carnie Justice…

Phil: I just love that!

Clancy: See? See, and then they’ve got this whole ritual where they say, “Pick a number,” and you manage to survive that little test… But then, when you least expect it, the Boss will walk in, some little person will walk in, and bust a cap in ya!

John: (laughing) You get shot in the face by a midget, that’s a bad day!

Clancy: For cryin’ out loud!

John: Especially after you gave him a complimentary whiskey. What was that all about…?

Clancy: What kind of justice is that?

John: Yeah, I loved Carnie Justice, “Stand Tall Before The Wagon!” But then, I’ll be honest with ya, I was thinking standing tall before the wagon was gonna entail a little bit more than having the wagon encircle ya.

Clancy: I know… You just thought it was gonna be you had to stop drinkin’ or somethin’.

John: Yeah, right! (laughing) But I thought standing tall before… I mean, they uncover this sort of strange looking wagon, and they bring it into the tent, and I figure it’s gonna be some sort of medieval RACK affair where they’ve got the guy, ya know… But they circle ya three times and you pick a number, and that’s how many shots they fire at our face before… (laughing)

Phil: Whooo…

John: What if you’re unfortunate enough to choose six? “Oh, well…”

Clancy: Yeah, well, they tipped him a little bit, cuz Rita Sue said, “Pick SIX!” (laughing)

John: Yeah, right! It was a strange show last night, with Ben still in the mine, and then in the World War I foxhole, with a bear devouring… And it turns out it’s Lodz’s bear!

Clancy: Yeah, that was a good one! (Lodz voice) “Hey, have you seen my bear?” (laughing)

John: Wow!

Clancy: (Lodz voice) “I’m in the middle of this battlefield, and I seem to have lost my bear!”

John: Have you considered at all, Clancy, maybe the possibility that you should call somebody at HBO and say, “Look, I do these interviews on Monday morning, and I REALLY have to find out more about what the hell is going on with this show!” (laughing)

Clancy: Well… I’m hiding! I’m hiding these interviews from them.

(John, Phil, and Clancy laughing)

John: Ya know, I got an email from a guy in New Zealand this morning?!?

Clancy: Oh, my goodness!

John: A dude in New Zealand, who obviously can’t pick up the radio station. (Handy guy’s voice) “We’ve got a blow torch rigged, but it ain’t that strong!”

Clancy: (laughing)

John: But he’s reading the interviews on www.Clancy-Brown.com and he’s loving the interviews and waiting with baited breath for each new one. And I’m like, ya know, there’s only two opportunities to read your own words in print… One, if you’re lucky enough to do a radio show and interview a guy like Clancy Brown and you have someone like Beth transcribing them. Two, courtroom depositions! So I feel lucky that it’s this and not the other!

Phil: Yeah!

Clancy: Well, it’s bound to be the other one of these days… (chuckling)

Phil: I’ve enjoyed both!

(John, Phil, and Clancy laughing)

Phil: Yeah, this one is the new one. The courtroom deposition, not so pleasant of an experience.

John: That’s right…

Clancy: Well, we’ll argue that this is all completely out of context. We were actually talking sports!

John and Phil: Right

John: (Judge voice) “Susan, can you read that back to me? What did the witness say?”

Clancy: (laughing)

John: I don’t know about that… So what can we look for next week on “Carnivale”?

Clancy: Next week…

Phil: More confusion!

Clancy: Next week is the SNAKE HUNT episode! Which I like to call “Snake Hunt” -- it’s called “The River”… I’m not really sure… Well, I know why it’s called “The River,” but it really should be called “The Snake Hunt.” There’s all sorts of snake hunts going on… all matter of metaphor and literal interpretation, is open to that…

John: So, if they’re huntin’ snakes next week on the show, do they catch ya?”

Clancy: Well, it’s not necessarily ME! (chuckling)

John: Oh, all right… I’m just alluding…

Clancy: I sorta catch myself at some point.

John: The preview shows you taking a swan-dive there.

Clancy: Yeah, yeah… Well, Brother Justin is over the edge.

John: Yeah, man! Brother Justin’s in deep…. He’s in deep stuff!

Clancy: He’s upset, and he’s about to cash it all in.

John: Oh, man…

Clancy: And then we’ll see what happens… I don’t cash it in.

John: No, obviously.

Phil: Or that would be kinda the end of the show for you…

Clancy: Yes, that’s right. I’m not Dora Mae (chuckles) But, um…

John: (laughing) Yeah, next Monday we’ll call back and, “Well, we were gonna talk with Clancy this morning, but he killed himself on the show!”

Clancy: He killed himself…

John: “So there’s really no point in talking to him anymore!”

Clancy: Speaking of light subjects like death… Did you get what happened there in Babylon?

John: What I got from it was they killed the daughter so that they would have someone to dance and party with!

Clancy: There ya go!

John: Cuz all the miners that were killed there in Babylon were male…

Clancy: That’s right.

John: There were no females, so they snatched up the girl that was in the Cooch Show, killed her, and now they’ve got a chick to party with!

Clancy: That’s right! Ya know?

Phil: Ahh…

John: That’s a creepy little number, right there. I liked that scene where she’s standing in the bar, and the arm comes in and pulls her back in. (Miner voice) “C’mon honey, we ain’t done with you…”

Clancy: That was terrifying!

John: Yeah, I know!

Clancy: The look on Samson’s face was like he was about to throw up.

John: Oh, yeah!

Clancy: So that was too bad… But, now really, is that a terrible way to spend eternity?

John: What, partying with some harlot?

Clancy: Well, no… I mean, just partying? You’re in the afterlife, you got nothing but… Isn’t there something about being a martyr for Islam, don’t you get like a bunch of virgins or something like that to hang out with?

John: Eighteen virgins or something…

Clancy: Well, isn’t that something like the same thing?

John: Ya know, I would say under some circumstances it would be okay… THAT particular bar, I’ve seen the inside of it, doesn’t really look all that much fun…

Clancy: (chuckling)

John: And that town – a little dirty and dusty for my liking. But hey! Ya know….

Clancy: (laughing) But you’re DEAD! What difference does it make?

John: Yeah, what difference does it make? You’re dead, you can do whatever it is that you want.

Phil: EVERYTHING was dirty and dusty back then, though!

Clancy: (laughing) That’s right!

Phil: Even the afterlife apparently was dirty and dusty.

Clancy: Of course!

John: Dirty and dusty… You don’t even get to take that helmet off when you die! That sucks!

Clancy: That’s right!

John: How about a nice shower?

Clancy: That’s right, you’ve got to walk around with that lantern all the time…

John: Hey, Clancy Brown… Thank you very much, my friend!

Clancy: All right, good talking to ya, John!

John: Always a pleasure to talk to Clancy Brown on Monday mornings. Remember “Carnivale” is on Sundays at 9 o’clock on HBO. How many more weeks of the show, Clancy?

Clancy: This was six, so we’ve got six more!

John: Excellent!

Phil: Excellent!

John: Very good!

Clancy: And we’re juts picking up steam…

John: We’ve just reached the halfway point. We’ve got Clancy Brown swan-diving from bridges. We’ve got Scottish guys getting shot in the face by midgets… How are you not watching this show?!?

Clancy: (chuckling)

John: It’s the best! All right… Clancy, thank you very much, my friend.

Clancy: Take it easy.

John: We’ll talk to you again next week!


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WIRX “Decoding Carnivale” Call-in with Clancy Brown • 10-13-03

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: It’s about eleven minutes after eight o-clock, News Center 16 says today, sunny and seventy. Beautiful! Right now it’s about fifty-eight. And you know what we do…

Phil: Yeah!

John: Every single Monday. You know what we do!

Phil: We have fun!

John: We wait for this crazy weird-ass music to start. (“Carnivale” theme song starts up) Very creepy, very, sorta strange in nature, which fits perfectly with our lovely guest…

Phil: Yeah?

John: Clancy Brown…

Clancy: (Clancy laughing in background)

Phil: Our lovely guest…

John: Brother Justin… He is a lovely, lovely man.

Clancy: You gotta love that.

Phil: “Could you please not introduce me as lovely?”

Clancy: You’re both lovely people.

John: “For godsakes! I’m Officer Hadley! I’m anything but lovely!”

Clancy: Such a lovely show…

John: Yeah, it’s Clancy Brown, LIVE in California. We’re “Decoding Carnivale.” Welcome to the show once again!

Clancy: What’s up?

John: On a Monday morning… Hey, nothing man. I mean, nothing and everything.

Clancy: Nothing and everything…

John: We’ve got… It’s the salad says of being a radio show, these days.

Clancy: (laughing) Is that right?

John: We’ve got a show like “Carnivale” to talk about, we’ve got Rush Limbaugh addicted to painkillers, we’ve got the Cubs on the brink of the World Series… Life is pretty good right now!

Phil: Yeah!

Clancy: Isn’t it?

John: Yeah!

Clancy: Can you believe that? Who’re you gonna root for if the Cubs and the Sox go in?

John: I gotta go with the Cubs, are you kiddin’ me?

Phil: Hell, yeah!

Clancy: Aw, jeez…

John: But what a series that would be, huh?

Clancy: What a series that would be IF Boston won. What would they all complain about in New England anymore?

John: I know!

Phil: It’d have to be back to the weather.

Clancy: It would be California!

John: They’d start screamin’ about… Yeah, if Boston won the series, they would… ya know, nobody could talk about that “Curse of the Bambino” nonsense anymore.

Phil: Yeah…

Clancy: But the whole identity of a region of our country would be lost.

John: (laughing) That would be right.

Clancy: But I’m rooting for the Cubs, too. We can’t do that, we can’t leave them…

John: But it’s the same thing with the Cubs, though. If the Cubs won the series…

Phil: Oh, God…!

John: I mean, if the Cubs won the series, what are the Chicago sports fans gonna bitch about?

Phil: The Bears.

Clancy: The Bears. I mean, Chicago is like… They love baseball anyway. They’ll just say it was a fluke.

John: Well, the Bears at least have a world championship under their belt.

Clancy: That’s true.

John: They’ve got ONE!

Phil: They’ve got one, yeah…

John: All right! All right!

Clancy: Back to business…

John: Yeah, back to business!

Clancy: Back to the important stuff! Let’s talk about TV!

Phil: Totally confused.

John: I swore myself off that show last night?

Clancy: WHY?!?

Phil: (laughs)

John: (crying) Cuz I’m lost… Clancy, I’m lost!

Clancy: You’re LOST?

Phil: Yeah, he’s always…

John: What the hell is the…?

Clancy: Just because… Just because we took a night off from Ben and Justin…?

John: What the hell was Ben doing in a mineshaft?

Clancy: That’s intense, isn’t it?

John: Oh, my God!

Clancy: How did he end up in that mineshaft? Or is it a MIND shaft???

John: I think it’s a… Yeah! That’s what it was!

Phil: (laughing) That’s a mind shaft, yeah!

John: It’s a mind-something! I don’t know if I’d use the word shaft, but it’s something!

Clancy: (chuckling)

John: Yeah, so Ben ends up drunk in Babylon. We see him stumbling out of the bar. Next thing you know, he is…

Clancy: Underground.

John: He is under the earth’s crust, running into Scudder and a pickaxe murder victim, with a Zippo, and… What the hell, man?

Clancy: I dunno. You know what I thought was weirdest about that? That Zippo never ran out of fuel!

John: I know!

Clancy: And he never burned his hand.

John: (laughing) That’s what I kept thinkin’ – it never burned his hand.

Clancy: Well, he heals… He heals quick.

John: Well, that’s right. He’s a quick healer.

Clancy: They set that one up really good.

John: And then we lost a -- just by way of recap – we lost a cooch dancer last night.

Clancy: That was a shame.

John: Yeah, she’s a harlot. She shouldn’t have done the “blow-off.”

Clancy: She shouldn’t have done the “blow-off!” The “blow-off” shouldn’t have been done! She shouldn’t have listened to Mama.

John Yeah! And Samson TOLD them not to do the “blow off” cuz he didn’t trust the crowd. And that was a pretty twisted lookin’ crowd that came into the Carnivale last night.

Phil: And it sucks every time you lose a harlot.

Clancy: Yeah, it’s true. Even if she wasn’t a harlot, but they thought she was a harlot… It sucks every time you lose anybody on TV that’s willing to take their clothes off!

John: Right!

Phil: That’s right!

John: But you didn’t have a… You, you did a… The role of Brother Justin last night, was more voiceover than anything else.

Clancy: Oh, yeah, yeah… That was a big show for the Carnivale, so I didn’t mind the week off.

John: Is that right?

Clancy: (chucking) Yeah…

John: What is it like, as an actor, when you’re playing a key role in a show and you get the script… I mean, how far ahead of time did you get the script for that week’s show?

Clancy: We got it pretty far ahead of time.

John: Didja?

Clancy: Yeah, I had my little moment of nervousness, but then you see the script and you see how good it is, and I thought that was a tremendous show last night.

John: (chuckling) I did too! It just was, ya know… My wife and I watched the show, I swear to God, we watched the show, looked at each other and went, “Geesh… Uh….”

Phil: “I have nothing…”

John: “I got nothin’!”

Clancy: “I got nothin’…” I just thought that was the scariest show so far.

John: It was definitely scary when, a really skin-crawling, bone-chilling moment for me on that show was when they… the quick little camera shot of all the people outside the bar…?

Clancy: (chuckling) Oh… Oh, God!

John: Was that Creepsville, or what?

Clancy: Oh, my God! Wasn’t it?

Phil: Ooh…

John: And the thing is, what made my skin crawl more than anything else, is that nothing happened.

Clancy: That’s right.

John: They’re in there, the Carnivale people are in there dancing and drunk off their ass, and you see this quick little shot through the dingy glass of the door of all these grungy townsfolk with their little lanterns, standing there, but you can’t make out any faces. All you can see is like the outline of hats and the little lanterns. You’re like, “Holy crap!”

Phil: Whoa!

Clancy: Welcome to Voyeur Town!

(All three laughing)

John: Oh, man! What the hell are they doing in there?

Clancy: Well, some of it will get explained in the next show. But that’s a creepy place, Babylon. Nobody wanted to go.

John: Yeah.

Clancy: Now we see why.

John: Exactly, man. It’s not a pleasant place to be.

Clancy: No…

John: And then Lodz, and his savage addiction to that absinthe stuff?

Clancy: That was great.

John: He had, what did they call it?

Clancy: The clanks.

John: The clanks!

Clancy: (laughing)

John: Now that absinthe, I read about that. What did they used to call that, like the Green Death, and all kinds of really weird little nicknames for this kind of drink where you strain some kind of liquor over a…

Clancy: Over a sugar cube.

John: Yeah! Into a glass…

Clancy: Yeah, yeah… If you wanna find out about it, you go online, and all the stoners will let you know what a gift from God it is. I think it has some kind of similarity to marijuana, in what it does. But I’m no expert and it’s not good for ya!

Phil: No…

John: No, unlike the weed it’s savagely addicting, and it was very popular in the early part of the 20th century.

Phil: Way back when…

Clancy: And ya know, a lot of things were legal back then. Ya know, drugs were good for you back then.

John: (laughing) Yeah!

Phil: Yeah, Coca-Cola actually had cocaine in it.

Clancy: That’s right

John: Yeah, the “medicinal” properties of the absinthe… (Old country doctor voice) “You know what you need, darlin’ is a huge pile of cocaine! It’ll make you feel better!”

Clancy: (also in country doctor voice) “A little arsenic, a little cocaine, a little absinthe… That’ll cure your ails…”

John: God, yeah! So you had a small role in the show, other than the voiceover. What’s coming up for us next week with Brother Justin?

Clancy: Oh, Brother Justin is, uh… Brother Justin is deeply hurt and deeply confused. And he’ll go on a journey to discover what the heck is going on with himself.

John: Is that right?

Phil: Hmm…

Clancy: Yeah, but I don’t wanna give away too much. I mean, this show was about the Carnivale and that aspect of our narrative so, ya know, it was kinda interesting to spend that much time, I thought. Like we got to see the Cooch family, and that whole dynamic… Holy Moly!

John: Yeah!

Clancy: What a couple of weirdos!

John: Yeah, that was totally strange.

Clancy: Did you know that they were all related? I mean, did you get that before – that they were husband and wife and daughter?

John: I wasn’t clear on the… I knew, I think I got that the two dancers were sisters…

Clancy: Yeah.

John: But I wasn’t sure that Stumpy was Dad and the other was Mom.

Clancy: (chuckling) Stumpy IS Dad!

John: (laughing) But we got that last night!

Clancy: Oh, goodness… All hell’s gonna break loose!

Phil: That’s just strange…

John: Yeah!

Phil: Stumpy is DAD…

John: I love the little scene there cryin’ behind the tent, and Stumpy comes around – the loving father of the COOCH SHOW DANCER!

Clancy: Yeah!

John: And says. “Put this on it so it won’t pus up!”

Clancy: Oh, yeah! Yeah!

Phil: (groans) Oh, God…!

Clancy: “Here ya go, sweetie. Aw… jeez…”

Phil: (making puking sounds)

John: That was so great because what father HASN’T had that moment with his daughter?

Phil: Yeah.

Clancy: That’s right…

John: In those immortal words, “Put this on it so it don’t pus up!”

Clancy: (doing Stumpy voice) “So it don’t pus up!!!”

John: (laughing) Whew! The show is totally brutal, man…absolutely brutal. And then the previews for next week, you… The line I’m lookin’ forward to… I’m looking forward to seeing, I’ll be honest with you, is the struggling Brother Justin. You’ve lost your God.

Clancy: Oh, yeah boy…

John: You’re faith is shaken.

Clancy: My faith is shaken! And whose wouldn’t be? Whose wouldn’t be?

John: Well, sure. After the plaintive wailing at the knees of a bunch of burned-up twelve-year-olds…

Clancy: That’s right. The fella that says, in that little preview, “What’s your story, friend?” Strangely enough, he’s an old college buddy of mine.

John: Is that right?

Clancy: We did plays together at Northwestern.

John: No kiddin’?

Clancy: Isn’t that strange, we end up like that? Just a little aside…

John: All right.

Phil: It’s a small world.

John: I’ll take that.

Clancy: It IS a small world, it’s a damned small world! Rob Knepper is the actor…

John: Speaking of people that you’ve worked with. I’ve got a note here, and if I don’t ask this… I was supposed to have asked this for the last three weeks I’ve talked to ya.

Clancy: Okay.

John: On “Earth 2,” that TV show you were on for a little while…?

Clancy: Yup!

John: Tim Curry?

Clancy: (chuckles) Yeah…

John: What was it like working with my man, Tim Curry? That guy is wild!

Clancy: (laughing) He is… He is wild! He is! He’s one of the funniest men alive, and he doesn’t take anything very seriously.

John: You get that impression just watching him work.

Phil: Um-hmm.

Clancy: That’s right. I ended up working with him a lot after that on a show called “The Mighty Ducks” – a cartoon.

John: Right.

Clancy: And so we would just end up laughing most of the time we were doing the cartoon show.

John: When you see him now, do you, as an actor, say, “Hey, thanks a lot for helping me out when that “Sgt. Bilko” thing came out!”

Clancy: (laughing) He’s got the greatest resume… He’s got like “Sgt. Bilko,” he’s got “McHale’s Navy,” ya know?

John: Yeah, “McHale’s Navy” is the one I’m thinkin’ about.

Clancy: He really doesn’t care WHAT he does, as long as the check clears.

John: “Home Alone II.”

Clancy: (laughing) “Home Alone II.”

John: How about Tim Curry as a hotel concierge? That one I’m not buying. That guy is altogether too scary to be working in a hotel in New York.

Clancy: Oh, man…

John: Yeah, I love Tim Curry, big fan!

Phil: Yup!

John: Big, big fan of Tim Curry… And ya know, you’ve got a big LONG list of people you’ve worked with like that. So that’s pretty cool!

Clancy: Yeah, there’s a whole bunch… Who haven’t I worked with? (mogul voice) I’ve worked with em all! Big and small, great and not-so-great.

Phil: Was that your first venture into cartoon-type voiceover work?

Clancy: One of the first. And it was nice and cozy, cuz Tim was there.

John: Well, that’s cool. Hey, are you doing other voiceover stuff, too? I thought I heard your voice on a Dodge commercial the other day.

Clancy: Uh, probably Chrysler.

John: Is that it?

Clancy: Yeah, I’m selling Chryslers now…

John: Excellent! I KNEW I heard ya!

Clancy: Hey, and I got Arnold elected, too! Or at least I’m taking credit for it…

Phil: Well, good!

John: How’s that?

Clancy: I did a little commercial voiceover for him, as well. (http://www.joinarnold.com/en/press/pressqt.php?v=Momentum )

John: Did you really?

Clancy: Yeah!

John: (laughing)

Phil: Wow!

Clancy: Yeah, how ‘bout that, huh?

Phil: You’re popping up all over the place!

John: Yeah, that’s right.

Clancy: I’m tellin’ ya… (laughing) I’m gold! How’s your ratings been since you’ve been talking to me? (chuckling)

John: (Arnold voice) “I got elected Governor on da strength of Clancy Brown’s endorsement, and everything like dat…”

Clancy: (Arnold voice) “Dat’s right… Don’t listen to dose women.”

John: (Arnold voice) “It vas just a little bit of da ass-grabbing…”

Clancy: (Arnold voice) “I vas a young man den…”

John: (Arnold voice) “I vas on da set of “Eraser” and my box-headed wife, Maria, she knew about it all…”

Clancy: Ooh, ooh… rough on Maria there...

Phil: Yeah.

John: Yeah, it’s tough… it’s tough. Hey, Clancy Brown, thanks once again! I wanna thank you for doing this with us each week. Is there one thing you can leave us with about last night’s show that might help us make the transition to next week?

Clancy: Ooh…

Phil: Yeah, cure John’s headache.

John: Yes, please!

Clancy: Just remember we’re about to witness “Carnival Justice” and that is NOT to be missed.

Phil: Ah…

John: That was the best line of the whole show! Isn’t it Samson who said that to Ben?

Clancy: No, it was Lodz.

John: Oh yeah, that’s right! (Lodz’s Hannibal Lechter voice) “Get ready to see a little carnivale justice, boy…” That’s classic!

Phil: Ooh… Oh, boy!

Clancy: That’s gonna be fun!

John & Phil: Yup, that’s gonna be great.

Clancy: “Stand up tall before THE BOX! I don’t care who it is, as long as it’s one of YOUR people.”

John: Do what now?

Clancy: Well, there’s another line in the preview where Samson says, “We need somebody to ‘Stand up tall before The Box.’” Whatever that means…

Phil: Mmm-hmmm…

John: Are we gonna find out what that means next Sunday?

Clancy: (chuckling) Oh, YEAH! Man… Oh, yeah.

Phil: With a snicker…

John: With a snicker he says, “Oh, yeah…”

Phil: I have a feeling The Box isn’t a pleasant place to be.

John: Yeah.

Clancy: Don’t worry, we’ll get back to the elliptical, confusing, uber-story here pretty soon. But enjoy these two episodes, cuz they’re pretty much about what they’re about.

John: And best of luck to Beth for trying to transcribe “elliptical show, uber…”

Phil: “Uber…”

John: “Uber”- whatever. I dunno what the hell he just said, either! (laughing)

Clancy: (laughing) We were a little rough on her last week… She is… She’s the reason we’re all here, so…

John: Once again, Clancy Brown from “Carnivale.” Thank you SO much, my man, for spending time with us.

Phil: Thank you very much!

Clancy: All right, talk to you later, guys!


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WIRX “Decoding Carnivale” Call-in with Clancy Brown • 10-6-03

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: 8:07, and how appropriate that I played the one [station identification] that says, ‘Deeply Confusing…’

Phil: Right!

John: Cuz we’re just getting ready to talk about the “Carnivale” with Clancy Brown, star of the HBO smash hit, man! Sixty degrees and sunny today, and right now it’s about… thirty-eight! It’s not that cold where you are, is it Clancy?

Clancy: Ah… It’s beautiful here, as usual.

John: It’s beautiful in sunny California?

Clancy: As usual…

John: Clancy Brown, star of “Carnivale” on HBO. And it’s “Decoding Carnivale”! Every Monday morning we chat with Brother Justin Crowe to find out what in THE hell is going on over there!

Phil: What’s going on over there?!?

John: What are you people trying to do to us?

Clancy: Well, ya know, last night was just a little domestic bliss. Ya know, showing you a black blizzard, nothing compared to day two of your ride, of course…

John & Phil: Yeah, whoa!

Clancy: Just a little black blizzard that happened every now and then in the 30’s… And, ya know, a little love for a few of the freakier members of the “Carnivale.”

John: Yeah, exactly! Samson goes and gets his rage on with this prostitute…

Clancy: (laughing)

John: And then sort of gets pissed off when she services other people?

Clancy: Yeah… My goodness!

John: Yeah!

Clancy: And then he gets jealous, for cryin’ out loud!

John: He gets jealous of the who-o-o-ore!

Phil: Wow, of the hooker!

John: Yeah, I was dyin’…

Clancy: That was my favorite line, his driver says, [hayseed voice] “I’ve got two bucks.” (laughing) And Samson’s like, “Two Bucks?!?”

Clancy and John: (laughing)

John: What did he say when he they left? He said somethin’ about, “That girl’s got…” somethin’… His driver.

Clancy: He says, “She’s a wing-dinger!”

John: Yeah, “she’s a real wing-dinger!”

Clancy: And Samson’s going “Shut up…”

John: “Would you shut up?!?”

Clancy: (laughing)

John: Pretty funny… “Are you gonna be back around these parts?” “Yeah, I expect.” “Well, don’t come here!”

Clancy: Yeah, “Don’t come here…” Ooh.

John: That was good stuff! And Justin had… you had another nice soliloquy last night on the show.

Clancy: Oh, boy! That one went on and on, didn’t it?

John: Yeah, boy, you were right in your sister’s face there!

Clancy: Well, ya know, for cryin’ out loud! You try to do something good, and then all these people who are supposedly the faithful of your flock come up and try to put the kibosh on all your good works. That’s gotta upset you a little!

John: Yeah, just a little bit. You get a little bit pissed. Now I was talking to my wife after the show last night and, ya know, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing… And I remember from my Film Appreciation classes… I was hip to a little symbolism from a previous show, when you went to Mr. Chin’s the first time, and you were drowned like in a rainstorm of blood. There’s got to be some sort of connection between the scene of you with blood all over your face and hands, you know, drenched in blood, and the fire last night at Mr. Chin’s, which killed a whole bunch of the kids that were staying there.

Clancy: Hmmm… Ya think so?

John: So does Clancy have, or, not Clancy… Does Justin have blood on his hands? This show is just…

Phil: He gets pretty deep, doesn’t he?

Clancy: (chuckling) Hmmm…

John: It is rife with symbolism!

Clancy: Yes it is! And ya know, I don’t know what’s going through these writers’ minds sometimes. (laughing)

John: Yeah, I’m telling you what!

Clancy: They just bring it out! I did notice, though, that they did bring up the Heavenly Chorus when I was doing my keening wail…

John: (laughing)

Clancy: I guess that’s cuz, when we shot that, I sounded a little too much like Chewbacca…

John and Phil: (laughing)

John and Clancy: (providing their separate versions of Chewbacca with a sciatica.)

John: Yeah, but what’s it like when you shoot a scene like that, and the director says, “Cut! Ya know, can we do that again? You sounded a lot like Chewbacca there…” And you’re so emotional and you’re into the thing.

Clancy: Well, that one went on and on, as I recall.

John: Did it really? Wow…

Clancy: Yup! They were just… (laughing) It was a night of sounding like Chewbacca.

Phil: “Take twenty-two!”

Clancy: Yeah…

John: “Clancy’s sounding like Chewie again… Let’s get him in here.” That was a pretty tough thing. I mean that Mr. Chin’s burns down, and you had the dormitory up there, and the kids died. And I did notice that, when they pulled away with you on your knees, only one of the onlookers there took off his hat in respect. Everybody else just sorta stood around and went “What’s this guy so upset about? They were just a bunch of Okies…”

Clancy: Yeah, well, ya know, maybe they set the fire.

John: Yeah.

Clancy: I’m pretty sick of that town, I gotta tell ya, ya know? My Goodness…

John and Phil: (laughing)

John: Oh, those inconsiderate bastards…

Clancy: They don’t know how lucky they have it!

John: Hey, have you noticed…? By the way, I found this out about four days ago, that Beth, the president of your fan club, is transcribing these interviews and putting them on the website?

Clancy: Yeah, that’s a little scary, isn’t it? (laughing)

Phil: (laughing)

John: Yes! I went on there and I saw the whole thing, and every word we say is on this website.

Clancy: I know, even interpretations of our laughter. (chuckling)

John: Yeah, exactly! It is the strangest thing ever!

Clancy: You come off great, Phil…

Phil: Oh great, cuz all I come off as is “Phil: Hahahaha! (laugh laugh laugh laugh!)”

John: (laughing at Phil)

Phil: (laughing) I sound like an idiot!

Clancy: Yeah, you got a little Ed McMahon thing going on there…

Phil: This is dandy, I’ll visit tonight during my show.

John: I’m lookin’ at this thing, and I’m going, ya know, I believe that most of the people are only marginally interested in tuning into the LIVE version of this thing!

Phil: (laughing)

John: Who’s gonna wanna sit on the internet and read this interview?!? Ya know? Wow! This is really… Well, ya know, Beth, she goes way above and beyond the call of duty.

Phil: More power to you. Thank you.

John: I’ve never read my idiocy in print, though, and it doesn’t play well.

Clancy: (laughing) Well, ya know, there are different ways to interpret it, like Shakespeare, ya know…

Phil: Uh-huh…

Clancy: You can give it different inflections, different emphasis.

John: Yeah, exactly. But I just can’t imagine… I can’t get past the thought of some guy just web surfing and stumbling across that, and going, “Who the hell ARE these guys?”

Clancy: But see, that’s the genius of it. The people that find this stuff, the people that find our interviews, are LOOKING for things. Now, it’s not as bad as finding like an old interview that I did about this show…

John and Phil: Yeah?

Clancy: (laughing) And I just sound like the biggest dope that ever walked the earth.

John and Phil: (laughing at Clancy)

Clancy: I’m not even talking about the same show anymore, ya know?

John: Yeah, I did read a couple of the other interviews in there, and I read some of the reviews of the show. I mean, there all sorts of… There is copious information on the website!

Clancy: Oh, yeah! Lots of great opinions, too!

John: What is it, the fan club website, is it Clancy-Brown.com?

Clancy: It’s Clancy-Brown.com, I believe…

John: I think it’s Clancy-Brown.com…

Phil: Okay.

Clancy: And then it’s got a link to the weblog that Beth runs…

John: Right.

Clancy: And everybody go! Everybody go to that fan club and send in twenty dollars, so I can support my charity.

Phil: Yeah, check it out!

John: www.clancy-brown.com

Clancy: Thank you.

John: That’s the website for the Clancy Brown Fan Club. Um, and she does have the transcribed interviews… I mean, that’s a lot of time spent!

Phil: I mean, somebody reading those, it’s kinda like, “I can’t take my eyes off of it…” It’s almost like gawkers at a car accident. You can’t stop watching it.

Clancy: Whoa-ho-ho-ho…

Phil: “For some reason, these guys aren’t smart but, but I can’t stop reading it!”

Clancy: Nope, you can’t stop reading it. “It must have been funny when it happened…”

John: (laughing) Yeah… “Was this really on the air somewhere? I can’t believe it!”

Clancy: (laughing)

John: So, um…More about the show… The most interesting part of the show to me, last night, and we’re getting a little bit more now into Nick Stahl’s character, Ben Hawkins. And he was in that little shack with, what’s his name?

Clancy: Lodz.

John: Lodz? Yeah, right. And he was able to stop the black blizzard!

Clancy: That was a GREAT moment, wasn’t it?

John: Yeah, it was pretty cool.

Clancy: “You did that!” “No I didn’t!” then… (huge dust storm sounds)

John: And it starts right back up again, like whoosh!

Clancy: Yeah! “You did that, too!” (laughing)

John: Yeah, “You did that, too!” So, we’re starting to get some insight into how incredibly powerful and key this character of Ben Hawkins is.

Clancy: Yeah.

John: And also, I think, with your character mirroring his power – you guys both have something going on that you’re not really sure what it is.

Clancy: Well, I’m not sure that Justin could start or stop a black blizzard. I dunno about that…

John: I dunno, I kinda got the impression maybe last night that Justin can start a fire!

Phil: Yeah. (laughing)

Clancy: Well, maybe. Maybe I can…in my sleep!

Phil: Right! And Justin just doesn’t know of the extent of his power yet. He’s just now learning.

John: Yeah.

Clancy: That’s right.

Phil: He’s like Grasshopper!

Clancy: Uh, yeah, I think Ben is getting a little more taste than he actually wants to admit, so….

John: Yeah, exactly, cuz he’s really coming on strong as the guy who’s gonna have a, I dunno, I don’t know if you would say a big DECISION to make... But he’s gonna have to sorta come to grips with what or who he is, ya know?

Clancy: Well, he’s certainly got a lot more issues about it than Justin.

John: Yeah.

Clancy: Justin’s got it all figured out – Justin thinks.

John: At least he thinks he does.

Clancy: Right.

John: At least he thinks he’s got it all figured out.

Clancy: Exactly.

John: I thought last night, and I thought this show was gonna take a whole wildly creepy new turn, when your sister came into your bedroom while you were sleeping. You know what I’m sayin’?

Clancy: Mmm-hmm!

John: She had that kind of look on her face where, “Hey, goddang-it! If she crawls into the bed with him… Now that’s enough!”

Clancy: (laughing)

John: “I’ve had it with this show!!!” (crying)

Clancy: (laughing) Well, you know, Samson was getting’ some, Sophie got some… Why can’t Justin?

John: The show was all about sex last night, yeah! I’m goin’ “Holy crap! If …” Ya know?

Clancy: Oh my goodness, c’mon… You’re a sick man.

John: This dirty little family… We’ve got twelve-year-old Laotian boys in hotel rooms… It’s just like, wow!

Clancy: Yeah, but kissin’ your sister…? Now that’s disgusting. That’s really disgusting.

John: (laughing) Yeah…

Clancy: (laughing)

John: Well, what are we looking for in next week’s show?

Clancy: Uh, next week… Next week Brother Justin doesn’t do a whole lot. I mean, he sort of opens the show and wraps up the show with a bunch of quotations from Revelations. But the show mainly takes place in Babylon. They finally get to Babylon, and I think it’s a very scary show, cuz nobody really knows what’s going on, even the people in the carnival don’t really know what they’re in for.

John: They don’t really get it.

Clancy: Yeah, it’s a great classic “Twilight Zone” episode, that one.

John: And we’re now starting to sorta question Samson and whether or not he’s just flat-out crazy or if there really is some mythical Management.

Clancy: Exactly!

John: Cuz, ya know, Jonesy went into the trailer yesterday and there wasn’t anybody behind that curtain…

Clancy: Yeah.

John: But Samson’s always talking to somebody back there…

Clancy: And it’s a bad time… It’s turning out to be a bad time for anybody to lose faith in Samson and Management.

John: (evil laugh) Yeah!

Clancy: Yeah, next week’s a pretty creepy show, pretty scary…

John: All right.

Phil: I’ve got a question. I don’t know how this works in Hollywood or whatever, but you’ve done twelve episodes, right? They’re in the can? They’re filmed?

Clancy: Correct.

Phil: Well, when will the negotiations start? When will you find out if they’ve picked you up for more episodes? Are there ongoing negotiations, right now, to film more?

Clancy: Well, no… As far as the actors are concerned, all that stuff is pre-negotiated, and if they decide to do another one, we’re already locked in with our contracts. But they get to say at any moment if and when they want to go on. It’s kinda like getting half-married, ya know? You go up there and say, “I do.” And then the network goes up and says, “Well, we might.”

Phil: There’s just a lot going on for twelve episodes.

Clancy: Yeah, and it doesn’t resolve. I mean, there’s a few questions answered by the end of it, but more questions are raised than answered.

John: It does seem as though HBO is being real supportive of the show and promo-ing it hard. And it seems like it’s a pretty big hit. It’s getting a lot of press and a lot of coverage, and I would THINK they’d wanna keep it going!

Clancy: That’s the way I’m characterizing it!

John: (laughing) Yeah, why not, is what I say…

Clancy: That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it, man!

John: And I like the fact you’re doing the HBO promo voiceover at the end of the show, for the website.

Clancy: Yeah, it’s as close as I get to the carnival this season, is pitching the HBO website. (chuckling)

John: That’s pretty cool. I saw that last week for the first time and I forgot to mention it. It’s like, you know, I could just hear the people at HBO going, “That Clancy Brown fella, that Justin dude… He’s got big pipes! Let him do it!”

Clancy: Come one, come all to HBO.com… Right after you visit Clancy-Brown.com! Thank you very much.

John and Phil: That’s right.

John: Hey, thanks again, man. I really appreciate it! Lovin’ the show!

Clancy: Hey, good to talk to you. Glad you’re okay, glad everything went all right this weekend, and I hope you raised a lot of money.

John: Yeah, it went really well.

Phil: It did, it was great!

John: And we raised a lot of money, and we appreciate you bringing it up. It was a scary time and a good time, and it was a raging success, so far.

[John & Phil, and a group of other area riders rode completely around the perimeter of Lake Michigan on Harley-Davidson motorcycles – in some really raging weather – to raise money for the Berrien County Cancer Service’s HOSPICE AT HOME program. More info on how you can donate to this worthy cause can be found at: www.wirx.com )

Clancy: All right, excellent!

John: And… Go Cubs!

Clancy: Yeah, absolutely! How ‘bout that?

John: Did you watch the game last night?

Clancy: Yeah, that was sumthin’!

John: Yeah, wow! It was unbelievable!

Clancy: Let’s see what happens now… I just wish they were playing San Francisco. That would have been real poetic justice.

Phil: Well, I’m kinda happy they’re playin’ the Florida Marlins! (laughing)

John: Yeah, I’m a little happy they got the Marlins as opponents.

Phil: I’m hoping that the Marlins are going to be a little bit easier road to the World Series than the Giants would be.

Clancy: I dunno, man. They’ve got sumthin’ going on right now in Florida.

Phil: Yeah, they do.

John: But who needs to see the friggin’ Florida Marlins in the World Series again?

Clancy: Yeah, they already won it once, for cryin’ out loud!

John: And then they dismantled the team! I got no respect for them at all.

Clancy: Well, there’s poetic justice… It’s like, you know, how can the Florida Marlins already have a World Series ring and the Cubbies don’t?

John & Phil: Yeah, exactly. Right.

Phil: I tell ya what, Pryor and Wood shut down the best offense in the NL…

Clancy: Right. They’re unconscious, those guys. They’re so good right now.

Phil & John: Yup, absolutely.

Clancy: All right.

John: Well, I could sit and talk baseball with Clancy Brown all day, but…

Clancy: (laughing) Okay, talk to you later, man!

John: Hey, thanks buddy! Thanks very much for getting up again, and we’ll talk to you next week.

Phil: Yes, thanks!

Clancy: No problem… Bye!

To comment on this interview, click HERE

HBO Orders
Twelve Episodes of their
New Original Series "Carnivale"

This Interview first published in the July, 2002 issue of The Official Clancy Brown Fan Club Newsletter.

Interviewed by Beth Blighton

[WARNING: CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS! Do not read this article if you do not want to hear possible plot points! Answers stated within the context of this interview are solely the opinion of the interviewee.]

PLEASE NOTE: This interview was conducted in the spring/summer of 2002, BEFORE changes ere made to the Brother Justin character, and his part from the pilot completely reshot. A lot that is said in this interview may or may not apply any longer, but it is worth reading for the possibilities!


CBFC: What can you tell us about your recurring role in the upcoming HBO series "Carnivale"?

Clancy: I'm playing Brother Justin...

CBFC: And he's not a nice man...?

Clancy: Like the Kurgan, he is part of a protocol of behavior, in which he represents the darker side. I can't say he's non-human because he's very human! The Kurgan had a prescribed game that he was playing, and Justin is also involved in a competition -- the game between God and the Devil. Brother Justin is the proxy for the forces of darkness on earth, and so he has certain goals and behaviors that he does in order to achieve his ends.

CBFC: He's rather a sinful preacher, then, and doesn't practice what he preaches?

Clancy: Not necessarily... He's a very righteous guy. He's Brother Justin, so he doesn't necessarily indulge in any earthly delights -- unlike the Kurgan. The thing that's interesting about this is the question of what is godliness and what is evil, in this situation.

CBFC: So he's using his piety as his weapon?

Clancy: Right, and it's very right-wing righteous, mean-spirited piety. The God of Brother Justin is the angry God of the Old Testament. But Brother Justin himself is not angry, he's just a "Brother." He's full of compassion. Where Kurgan was all action and violence, Brother Justin is very different. He's more subtle. He'll use everyone's weaknesses against them.

CBFC: Which is always the way...

Clancy: Right, which is what the Devil does. He's makes temptation available, then turns it to his advantage.

CBFC: By using logic and the like?

Clancy: And love, and all that stuff. That's where he's really insidious. It's that he preaches a kind of love that is very demanding and very rigorous, with the promise of salvation and whatever else.

CBFC: Is Patrick Bauchau's character Brother Justin's nemesis then?

Clancy: In the camp of the good guys, this Carnival -- and I don't even like saying "good guys/bad guys" cuz there's really more "darkness and light"-- and this camp of light is this Carnivale, with all these bizarre people with strange gifts.

Samson is the midget who runs the thing, and he's as strong as can be. He's played by Michael J. Anderson, the fella I worked with in "Snow White." He's sort of in charge of the Carnivale, and he's got huge strength. There's actually a Strong Man in it that we think is retarded or has Down Syndrome, but he's actually quite brilliant. He just keeps quiet, he's like a mute. There's the Snake Lady, which is Adrienne Barbeau... I'm not really sure what her power is except maybe she can talk to animals or something. Bauchau is blind and he can do the mind thing, kind of lay on hands. He's an empath and, at one point, he lays hands on our hero and goes into one of his dreams, gets this vision.
And then there's another one that we never see, called "The Management," and this is the guy who was the main hero of light, the dominant creature of light, that I battled early on and nearly killed. For all intents and purposes I defeated him and he's barely alive. He's sort of the mysterious God figure of this Carnivale. We never see him, and he's always referred to as "Charlie" (laughs), and they're all kind of his "angels."
So everybody has their little powers. Together they're quite formidable, but individually they're not as powerful as I am. And they're looking for the ascendent creature of light, which is our star...

CBFC: Which is the kid that kinda shows up?

Clancy: Right, the Nick Stahl character. And Nick joins the troupe, and their mission through the season is to protect him as he masters and gathers his abilities. My mission, of course, is to find them and destroy them.

CBFC: Of course! What else would be your mission?

Clancy: Well, I'm the avatar of darkness, so that's my goal! It's nice to have it so clear! Ya know, many people go through life not knowing... (laughs) They don't know what they were put on earth for, but I am absolutely certain, at this point.

CBFC: And what is Brother Justin's look? Is he going to be the typical preacher, man in a black suit, Johnny Cash type?

Clancy: He was a magician in a Carnivale with these people at one point, and he was a tattooed magician. So he has tattoos all over his body, which we only see suggestions of because he's always covered up -- since, as we know, the religious right doesn't really sanction tattoos. But the tattoos are pretty significant, since they're sort of my protection. They make me invulnerable to all earthly attacks.

CBFC: And I'm guessing that somewhere there must be a weak link in all that. There's gotta be somewhere not protected by the tattoos or something.

Clancy: It'll be somewhere on my body... That might even be the nature of the tattoos. I don't know how much I'm supposed to give away, so... But they are my armor, and they get stronger with each soul that I subsume.

CBFC: This sounds really interesting and different.

Clancy: The guy who wrote it, Dan Knauf, has incorporated all sorts of things... He's incorporated tarot cards and some astrology, not much, but whatever works with the tarot cards, a lot of Catholic myth and Judeo-Christian stuff...

CBFC: Do you think the real Religious Right will get all freaked out over this series? Do you think they will be protesting and such?

Clancy: Well, the idea is that, even though the rhetoric is reminiscent of some of the Religious Right rhetoric, Brother Justin never actually quotes Scripture. He doesn't really have a denomination. The art direction they have sort of melded Nazi symbolism with religious symbolism, but nothing specific, either way. Just enough to go, "Oh yeah, man, that's a Nazi jackboot uniform, and that sort of looks like a cross." But it's not really a cross that we recognize... more like a "T" on steroids! So their studiously avoiding any direct link, although the obvious historical corollary is this guy, Father Coughlin, who was rabidly anti-FDR.
He was a radio preacher and he got a big following during the Depression. He wasn't an actual force for evil or anything, he just wasn't a big FDR fan. He eventually ran for office and got whomped, and sort of disappeared off the face of the earth. But, for a while there, he was in the court of kings... Kings would pay him court. He was pretty well known. He preached a lot of brotherly love and stuff like that, but he also preached individual responsibility, which was really what his problem was with FDR, in saying that the government can't solve all our problems for us, we have to do it ourselves. But then he just kinda let it get to him and he thought that maybe he should run for president or something.

CBFC: Is there any idea yet when the series might air? Sometime in 2003?

Clancy: The idea is that they'll start shooting it sometime in September. And I imagine they would have to have a few in the can before they start airing it, but I don't really know what HBO's turnaround time is on this specifically.

CBFC: And Nick Stahl is the young guy who is gonna be playing John Connor in the new "Terminator 3" movie? I guess that kind of connection can't hurt the series!

Clancy: Yeah, I think that was probably one of the reasons they picked it up, cuz it's a very expensive thing to produce. I think that was a big reason why they decided to go forward with it. As much as everyone loves me... (laughs) They're not gonna bet the big bucks.

CBFC: Well, they just don't know what they have with you... But I did think, when I saw that T3 connection, that it couldn't hurt, and maybe they'd see dollar signs and greenlight "Carnivale."

Clancy: Yes, exactly. And so they have, and so they shall... and bless them forever. (laughter) I think it'll be interesting. It's supposedly gonna get a web site, and the guy who wrote it, Dan Knauf, is pretty web savvy and everything. He's got his own web company, so he's no dope. I really love him... He's a complete kook and this is one of the most creative things I've ever read. It's just extraordinary, what he's made up! And he's good at making it up as he goes along, too.

CBFC: Well, we're definitely looking forward to it!
Good luck and happy filming!

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