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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!)
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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