PRX default Piece image
"all commercials, all the time" Read the full description.
To hear the full audio, sign up for a free PRX account or log in.
More from NAISA
Your list of Transcendant Experiences
(00:01:00)
From: NAISA
Transcendence expressed as something extraordinary
Pay No Attention to that man behind the curtain
(00:05:55)
From: NAISA
A behind-the-scenes view of journalism
Related Pieces
Piece Description
In "Business as Usual" Dan Bernard and Michael Townsend play with the commercial in commercial radio by producing a radio program comprised entirely of commercials. Bernard and Townsend bring their "It is to Laugh" radio program to the Deep Wireless festival produced by New Adventures in Sound Art with live performances on May 25 and 26, 2007 to be aired on ckln.fm (or 88.1 FM in Toronto) in June. "It is to Laugh" is broadcast every Friday at 10 PM in Portland, Maine on WMPG 90.9 FM.
Broadcast History
WMPG - Portland Maine
Related Website
John Biewen
Posted on May 13, 2007 at 06:52 PM | Permalink
Review of It is To Laugh - Business as Usual
You have to admire the hard work that went into this program. Highly produced, energetically acted mock radio ads--one after another. After another. The ads are deftly done and some are clever, but so are many actual ads on commercial radio and TV. Offered a chance to sit down in front of 22 minutes of those ads, most of us would find something better to do.
These satirical ads are reminiscent of those sprinkled through A Prairie Home Companion. These are shorter, more like real 30- to 60-second ads, and more likely to carry a (predictable) political message, lampooning greedy banks, tobacco companies, the U.S. military, macho trucks and George W. Bush. Tucked in between musical performances and meatier sketches (as on A Prairie Home Companion, Saturday Night Live or the Letterman show), the occasional satirical ad might bring a smile. But I've never heard of a program comprised entirely of such bits. I'm afraid this show isn't likely to start a trend.