In its heyday, radio was used for much more than listening to the latest singles on your way to work. Productions similar to what we now find on television were aired nightly, and families all over the country tuned in to see what characters could get themselves into on the first sitcoms.
Now one UA student hopes the Capstone will tune in to see what Finn and Jack can get themselves into on his radio show “Smokestack,” which will air Thursdays at 6 p.m. beginning Sept. 30.
“It’s written in the kind of classic radio comedy tradition,” said creator Jared Downing, a sophomore majoring in philosophy.
Each show will feature 45 minutes of sketch comedy and 15 minutes of an ongoing situational comedy called “Finn and Jack.” Downing expects Thursday’s premiere to keep listeners laughing both with the scripted sketches and the unscripted talk from the ensemble cast.
The group’s Facebook event promises “an hour of hilarity on UA’s invisible stage.”
An example of a sketch they have planned for Thursday tells the story of engineering majors forced to take “Feelings 101” taught by a drill sergeant. Downing said after they were done recording the show in Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, they walked out to a round of applause from people who had been passing by and stopped to listen.
“He’s appealing to all students,” said Trey Coleman, a sophomore majoring in computer science. “It makes me want to listen because I’m going through the same situation in one of my classes, and I can laugh at what they are trying to portray in the skit.”
One reason Downing’s show appeals to all students is that he calls himself an “equal opportunity destroyer” and can think of plenty of topics to make skits out of from around the campus.
He has to be careful because WVUA has a number of rules about what can and can’t be said on the station. He can’t, for instance, make fun of any other student media organization, mention price of any kind or name companies from around Tuscaloosa.
“You have to get kind of creative about it,” Downing said. “But if you don’t take yourself serious enough you can do no wrong.”
He said he came up with the name to pay tribute to the smokestack that was torn down over the summer. He said it was one of his favorite things on campus.
He is also bringing back the old radio traditions he is so interested in. The most popular radio shows in radio’s golden age were centered around two main characters trying to get out of crazy situations.
“Finn and Jack,” the ongoing sitcom set to wrap up “Smokestack” every week, is a fictional story about two freshmen at the University. The show will follow Finn, played by Downing, and Jack, played by Mitch Robinson, as they navigate the campus and get accustomed to its traditions.
“People are so used to the television and Internet; they are looking for something different,” Coleman said. “If he does it right and appeals to the right audience I feel the show could be a success in the long run.”
Downing said he hopes that the show will make it in the long run, but for now he and the cast are just trying to prepare the first show and see how the audience responds to it.
If You Listen…
What: Smokestack, a sketch comedy radio show
Where: 90.7 The Capstone, WVUA
When: 6 p.m.
