Podcast episode 209ish: Tetsuro Shigematsu

I tend to think of CBC national radio hosts as stuffed shirts. Maybe that's why Tetsuro Shigematsu never lasted at the Mother Corp, where he took over from the venerable Bill Richardson to host The Roundup for two years. It's hard to be a stuffed shirt when you don't wear one. I'd interviewed celebrated nudist Watermelon before, but Shiggy became my first guest to do the whole interview topless. I'm still not sure why, but it made for a lively show. (Ball's in your court, Watermelon.) We also talked about Tetsuro's on-again/off-again relationship (literally) with beat poet Allen Ginsberg and his experience as a samurai expert on Deadliest Warrior.

Listen to the episode here in convenient podcast format. Or go download it onto your portable podcast gizmo over at iTunes, where you'll promise to leave a rating and comment.

Nov. 7: Tetsuro Shigematsu

I first knew of Tetsuro Shigematsu, tonight's guest, as a stand-up comic. Then as a sketch comic with the now defunct Hot Sauce Posse. Then he fell off the radar, comedically speaking. I guess because he got a job as a national radio host on CBC. Remember SAD GOAT? Yeah, he took over for Bill Richardson on that afternoon show, the name of which escapes me and since this is a blog I'm not going to research it... Wait! It just came to me: The Roundup. That's it. (Because this is a blog, I'm not even going to go back and edit the earlier sentence.)

And then that show ended. The next time I saw Shigematsu was this past summer when he was loitering outside an elementary school. (Sounds creepy, but he had a valid reason.) Turns out he was living down in L.A. for a spell working on Spike TV's Deadliest Warrior (he has samurai roots, doncha know).

So we've got lots and lots to talk about, including his stint on This Hour Has 22 Minutes which I didn't mention above only because I never watch that show. But I'm not above talking about it. So tune in tonight at 11 to CFRO, 102.7 FM in Vancouver or livestream it at coopradio.org.