Improviser: on-air, onstage, & online

Frank Murphy’s friend Avi McCullah is today’s co-host. Avi worked on-air at Jewelry Television and ShopNBC, where she sold high-end men’s watches. She would fly from Knoxville to Minnesota to appear on ShopNBC. Frank’s figs are in season. He has been harvesting about 60 figs per day this week. He accidentally broke off a branch of a fig tree and is trying to ripen the figs from that branch by placing it in water. Avi has lied to her sons about figs. She told them that natural fig bars are called “pop tarts.” When they ask for a pop tart, they get a fig bar. Figs are inverted flowers. Frank says the taste and texture of his Brown Turkey figs remind him of oatmeal with brown sugar. Frank brought 24 figs to a meeting of a non-profit organization. As the chairperson was trying to start the meeting, another man started telling Frank about the laxative effects of figs, which is something Frank appreciates. Avi is dating someone who told her, “Let thy food be thy medicine.” Frank asks if she is dating a medieval barber. Avi asks if you can make fig jam or preserves without sugar. The fig jam recipe Frank and his wife Jere use calls for 3 cups of mashed figs, 3 cups of sugar, and two small boxes of lemon Jell-O. Avi asks if you can make fruit leather with figs. Fruit leather is like a natural fruit roll-up. The concept is similar to soft beef jerky. Frank watched an Adam Ragusea video about making beef jerky. Avi wants to learn old methods of food preservation. Frank says that canning fig preserves is easier than he feared. You can vacuum seal the mason jars by putting them in boiling water for a certain amount of time. The topic of canning reminds Frank of an episode of Visiting with Huell Howser in which Huell and cameraman Louie Fuerte visit a tuna cannery. Frank recalls Huell being amazed that they cook the tuna in the can. The episode is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cxuzj-k-XuU When Avi uses the word schniblet, Frank says it’s the secret word and that they should get an extra $100 between them. As a kid, he used to stay up late to watch Groucho Marx on reruns of You Bet Your Life. Avi says she gets self-conscious on camera. Frank once needed to find a co-host for a project called SMOMOTV and he asked Avi. They recorded a show in an extra room at a brochure printing plant between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Avi taught Frank to buy a cheap bronzer but an expensive makeup brush. Avi says the medieval barber doesn’t have prepared foods in his pantry. Frank mentions that there is a sales tax holiday in Tennessee during August on some food products that could be called staples or ingredients. Prepared food items and candy are not included. Avi says that snack foods in England have fewer ingredients than the same products in the United States. She is trying to be aware of the ingredients in her food now that she has turned 40. This episode is sponsored by Audible Premium Plus. Sign up for a 30-day trial and get a free premium selection that’s yours to keep. Go to http://AudibleTrial.com/FrankAndFriendsShow Support the Frank & Friends Show by purchasing some of our high-quality merchandise at https://frank-friends-show.creator-spring.com Find us online https://www.FrankAndFriendsShow.com/ Please subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://YouTube.com/FrankAndFriendsShow and hit the bell for notifications. Find the audio of the show on major podcast apps including Spotify, Apple, Google, iHeart, and Audible. Find us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.instagram.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.twitter.com/FrankNFriendsSh Thanks!

Frank Murphy’s friend Jeff Detrow is today’s co-host. Jeff had a long and successful radio career in San Diego on KFMB, KKLQ, and KYXY. The Jeff & Jer Showgram was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2016. https://www.radiohalloffame.com/the-jeff-jer-showgram Jeff points out that Frank’s red gingham shirt is another one purchased at an estate sale. It’s one of ten shirts that belonged to the father of Eddie Mannis. Jeff pretends to use a Frank & Friends Show beach towel as a shirt, prompting Frank to make sure there is a wraparound logo shirt available in the online merch store. Frank has several boxes of his dad’s Kodak slides. He promised his sisters he would digitize the images. Frank finally bought a mid-range slide scanner after a period of indecisiveness known as “paralysis by analysis.” Frank signed up for another Google account in order to store the photos online and use their automatic photo retouching. Frank watched YouTube reviews to help him decide which scanner to buy. Jeff is amazed by the high number of product reviews on Amazon. Frank says the gold standard of Amazon product reviews used to be those written about the Hutzler Banana Slicer. https://www.amazon.com/Hutzler-571-Banana-Slicer/product-reviews/B0047E0EII Frank and his wife Jere drove Artie Rocket home to Northern Virginia and then stayed for three nights at a cheap motel nearby. The lobby was closed, causing Frank and Jere to go to the motel next door to check in and get their key. The motel’s promotional photos differed from reality. The pool was closed. The free breakfast had been discontinued. There were cigarette burns on the bathroom sink. Frank removed some hair from the shower drain before realizing it wasn’t his or Jere’s hair. Jeff thinks the shower drain story was gross. Frank follows up with the story of how “Jere the Brave” got her nickname. Frank and Jere were staying at a different cheap motel directly across the street from their most recent visit. Jere solved a toilet problem by using the straw from a Super Big Gulp. Jeff reads some reviews of bad hotels on Yelp. One room had no cold water and a clogged sink. The floor was littered with floss picks. The jacuzzi was the color of chicken soup. Jeff reads a one-star review of a hotel room in Paris over a cheery music bed called “Gaiety in the Golden Age” by Aaron Kenny. This episode is sponsored by BoneZones.com (don’t forget the S). Buy books and other merchandise autographed by Body Farm founder Dr. Bill Bass at https://bonezones.com/ Support the Frank & Friends Show by purchasing some of our high-quality merchandise at https://frank-friends-show.creator-spring.com Sign up for a 30-day trial of Audible Premium Plus and get a free premium selection that’s yours to keep. Go to http://AudibleTrial.com/FrankAndFriendsShow Find us online https://www.FrankAndFriendsShow.com/ Please subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://YouTube.com/FrankAndFriendsShow and hit the bell for notifications. Find the audio of the show on major podcast apps including Spotify, Apple, Google, iHeart, and Audible. Find us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.instagram.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.twitter.com/FrankNFriendsSh Thanks!

Frank Murphy is joined by Eden Carnes, who designed wigs and face paint for an upcoming production of Cats by the Primary Players Children’s Theater Group. The performances will be January 13 to 15, 2023 at the Clayton Center for Arts on the campus of Maryville College. Learn more at https://primaryplayers.com/ Eden recently completed high school and beauty school. She devised a method of building wigs with synthetic hair in a fraction of the time it takes to make traditional wigs with yak hair. Four cast members came along in wigs and make-up. Eoin Faller as Bill Bailey Zee Carnes as Admetus Tristan Hall as Munkustrap Gianna Lombardo as Etcetera Eden first met Frank at an improv workshop in Pigeon Forge. Frank thought he went there to take the class but ended up as the assistant instructor. Frank was surprised when Eden was in the cast of The Nutcracker in Oak Ridge and was a contestant on East Tennessee PBS Scholars’ Bowl. Frank once interviewed Eden when she received a congressional medal for community service. Eden plans to attend school for naval architecture and marine engineering on Long Island, New York. Frank surmises that Eden wants to be close to the theaters on Broadway. Frank urges Eden to avoid watching Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera. In it, the Phantom has moved to Coney Island and tricks Christine into coming to New York. Tristan sings an excerpt of “The Old Gumbie Cat.” Frank thinks he resembles Peter Criss of KISS. Frank’s friend Kristen Detrow wants to see a photo of Eden putting cat make-up on Frank. Kristen responded, “Rawr.” Frank was once an honorary Hogette. The Hogettes were super-fans of the offensive line of the Washington Redskins in the 1980s. Support the Frank & Friends Show by purchasing some of our high-quality merchandise at https://frank-friends-show.creator-spring.com Sign up for a 30-day trial of Audible Premium Plus and get a free premium selection that’s yours to keep. Go to http://AudibleTrial.com/FrankAndFriendsShow Find us online https://www.FrankAndFriendsShow.com/ Please subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://YouTube.com/FrankAndFriendsShow and hit the bell for notifications. Find the audio of the show on major podcast apps including Spotify, Apple, Google, iHeart, and Audible. Find us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.instagram.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.twitter.com/FrankNFriendsSh Thanks!