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Here’s another podcast for your listening pleasure: Coyle and Sharpe: The Imposters (iTunes link). In the 1960’s, Jim Coyle and Mal Sharpe played street pranks in San Francisco, recording bogus man-on-the-street interviews and involving passersby in bizarre (and funny) put-ons. For the young-uns among us: it’s like a gentler version of Ali G.
Coyle is no longer with us, having died in an absurdly improbable manner described on the official Coyle and Sharpe site: “In 1967, Coyle left California to pursue a career in tunneling. He died in 1993 while burrowing under the City of Barcelona.” But Sharpe is still an active radio host, and is now selling a CD/DVD set of their recordings: Coyle & Sharpe: These 2 Men Are Imposters.
The podcast contains selections from the CD set. To get started, I’d recommend:
Ep. 7 – Wolverine Football: Coyle and Sharpe approach a football coach at a practice session, posing as foreign sports enthusiasts who have brought a pack of football-playing wolverines to the US. “Wolverines against humans in football. This is what we wish.”
Ep. 3 – The Plank: In an absurd put-on, Coyle and Sharpe involve a man in a discussion of The Plank and the controversy regarding The Vice, which will grab and destroy you if you linger too long on The Plank.
See also: an interview with Mal Sharpe on The Sound of Young America. (Stay tuned for more on The Sound of Young America later this week!)
Comments (2)
Comment
Sharpe compares Coyle to Andy Kaufman so I’m guessing Coyle either died a more traditional death than tunneling or is still alive and not interested or unable(ill/stroke victim) to promote the CD/DVD’s.
posted by Tdave on 8-10-2007 at 1:52 am
When they were writing Coyle’s obit, Mal told the NY Times that Coyle died in a skydiving accident :). Thanks for posting the link.
posted by Jesse Thorn on 8-12-2007 at 6:45 pm