With his quick wit and dry sense of humor, Michael Feldman has drawn over 1.4 million loyal listeners to his radio show, \Whad'Ya Know?"" Broadcasting from Madison, the show features a live band and audience as well as weekly staples such as ""All The News That Isn't"" and ""The Whad'Ya Know Quiz."" People who tune in can count on some good laughs as Feldman ad-libs with cohost Jim Packard and chats with call-ins and audience members alike. The Daily Cardinal recently spoke with Feldman about his past, his upcoming book and a county of Wisconsin without stoplights.
You grew up in Milwaukee and you graduated from the University of Wisconsin and you host a show based in Madison. I was just wondering what it is about Wisconsin that keeps you here?
You know, it's just that I failed at everything else outside the state, so I had to stay.
You seem pretty successful to me, but-
Yeah, I'm sort of like a protected species... like cranes in Baraboo.
What drew you to radio?
I was a high school English teacher and I volunteered at WORT, actually, years ago. There was a Friday night show, the host left and I volunteered to do that. I started to do a call-in show Friday nights and then a while later something opened up in the morning, and I started doing a breakfast special on WORT for a couple years and it got me hooked.
How much research, time and behind-the-scenes work goes into a show like this?
Well you know, it takes my whole life. It's been preparation for this. During the week I actually do sort of keep office hours and do some writing. I have a researcher who comes up with the quiz material and then I write it into questions. So, she helps a great deal. So that's the background on that. And the rest is spent writing little things, writing jokes and, you know, lining up guests along with my producers and so forth.
Is it hard to come up with material consistently on a weekly basis?
No, it's pretty easy actually. Mostly easy lifting.
You were in Wausau, actually a couple years ago, which is where I came from-
Oh, you're from Wausau? Did you hear about the guy who beat up the Easter Bunny? That's a curious story, and then it had to happen in Wausau, you know. Bad break.
Your ""Whad'Ya Know"" quiz always has really unique prizes, and a lot of times kind of wacky. Are prizes donated?
Yeah, we sort of look for them. Anything that seems inappropriate we like to use, junky or trashy kind of stuff. Well, not too trashy.
You seem to have good rapport with the people you interview-how do you put them at ease?
You know, I think people just think that if I can do radio, anybody can, and I think that relaxes people. We serve doughnuts and coffee before the show, and it's not a lot of pressure, so we try to keep it kind of relaxed.
What about people who are kind of difficult to handle?
I don't handle them.
A lot of the show does seem to be ad-lib. Is it difficult to be humorous and witty on call?
No, it's the only way I can do it. I can't plan anything.
You and Jim Packard are a great team. How and when did you first meet?
When did I first meet Jim? That's a good question. Jim, actually, has been on, like, every radio station in Madison in the early days, and surrounding parts of Wisconsin. I met him when he was working probably at WIBA, one of the other radio stations, years ago. We didn't work together until this show, after I came back to Madison to do this show.
You just started talking, and decided it would be fun to do a show?
The station manager at that time kind of stuck me with Jim and it turns out it worked out pretty good.
Also, you have a sense of humor that's pretty similar to Groucho Marx. Did he influence you at all or were there others?
Well, I always liked Groucho, I don't know that he really influenced me. Probably my father was more of an influence than Groucho Marx, and I sound actually more like my father than Groucho.
You always seem to know a little bit about everything, so I thought I'd try to ask you a little Wisconsin trivia. I was wondering if you knew which city came first alphabetically in Wisconsin?
Let's see, Algoma... um, what's before Algoma? Algoma's before Ashland... you know, Algoma is the first A I can think of.
That's close, it's Abbotsford.
Oh, Abbotsford! Oh, OK.
Do you know the last?
The last, in Wisconsin... Z something. Is there like a Zanesville?
There's a Janesville...
Not a Janesville, no a Zanesville, I think in Ohio there's a Zanesville. Wait a minute, give me a second here. No Zulu. I don't think... Zachariah.... no, I can't think of a Z.
Zoar. Z-O-A-R.
Oh yeah, where's that?
It's about twenty miles east of Antigo. It's just a tiny little unincorporated city.
Zoar, maybe I'll use that.
There's only one county in the state without stoplights. Do you know which one?
A rural county up north somewhere, is what I'm thinking.
I'll give you a hint, it has a French name.
OK, so it has a French name. Probably up north somewhere. With a French name. Is it near, um, maybe it's Couderay? That's not the reservation... um, near Lac du Flambeau? No. Um, near Hayward?
Lafayette.
Lafayette County. Well, I'm 0 for 3, just goes to show you what I know.
Your show's been on for over 15 years now, have you seen a lot of transformation along the way?
I want to write something about road shows especially, so I was looking back through all these old show notes and so forth and run downs, and ah, yeah, it's amazing how much the same... it hasn't changed. I'm doing the same stuff.
Well, why change a good thing, right?
Yeah, I guess. I don't think I could change now if I had to.
