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!

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