Improviser: on-air, onstage, & online

Frank Murphy is joined by his friend Kathryn Frady. He recently recorded some See More Smokies episodes with fashion model Victoria Henley. Frank and Kathryn saw each other at Brandon Gibson’s funeral. Kathryn and her husband James spent Thanksgiving with Frank and his wife Jere. Kathryn produced Amahl and the Night Visitors at Opéra Louisiane. They will do a different Christmas opera next year. Frank saw a picture from 2013 of Kathryn in Marble City Opera’s production of The Gift of the Magi. Frank will emcee Marble City Opera’s fundraiser on Saturday at the Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum. Kathryn will sing during the event as will ten other opera singers who have performed with Marble City Opera over the last ten years. Tickets are available at https://www.marblecityopera.com/tickets Kathryn will sing in a production of Cabildo in Iowa. The opera was written by Amy Beach in 1932. Kathryn will play a ghost. The Cabildo is an actual building in New Orleans that was once a prison. Frank says he did an opera-based scene in Tuesday’s Einstein Simplified improv show. Kathryn gave her niece a backstage tour during Amahl and the Night Visitors at Opéra Louisiane. Frank likes the backstage area at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium. Frank bought a discounted ticket to the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Clayton Holiday Concert. During the show, Frank got a text and a call from his home-alarm monitoring company. The motion detector had triggered the alarm. Frank’s next door neighbor was also notified because he is listed as Frank’s emergency contact. Frank contacted four more of his neighbors to ask them to look around while the police were on the way. Frank thinks the heating system might have caused the curtains to billow under the motion detector. Kathryn wonders if it could have been triggered by a mouse. 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/ Come to the Rose Glen Literary Festival on February 25, 2023 at the Sevierville Convention Center for “Dr. Bill Bass - A Conversation with Frank Murphy.” Learn more at https://www.roseglenfestival.com Kathryn wants to meet Dr. Bass. She is workshopping an opera about grave robbing called Doctor & the Devils. Kathryn gave her husband a massage gun and a karaoke microphone for Christmas. Frank asks if James is a singer in addition to being an actor and director. Kathryn says James does not usually sing but he actually did sing karaoke for two hours, including David Bowie songs. Frank plays a lot of David Bowie songs on LakeFM, which reminds him that the audio podcast feed of the Frank & Friends Show is now available in LakeFM’s mobile app. https://www.lakefm.com/how-to-listen/ Jere sings with the Knoxville Choral Society. Frank attended their Fall concert at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Frank sat next to a man in his ‘80s who was visiting Knoxville. The man’s sister is also in the Knoxville Choral Society. In a matter of minutes, the older man tells Frank that he works as a jazz pianist at bars and restaurants in the San Fernando Valley. The man says that he composed the song “Spooky” which Frank knew as a song by Classics IV. The man’s name is Harry Middlebrooks. He told Frank that he had appeared on The Lawrence Welk Show. Frank relates that he once met a singer named Ava Barber who used to be on the Welk show. Harry says, “I’d love to talk to Ava! Have her call me this weekend.” 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. Support the Frank & Friends Show by purchasing some of our high-quality merchandise at https://frank-friends-show.creator-spring.com Find us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.instagram.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.twitter.com/FrankNFriendsSh Thanks! #knoxville #knoxvilletennessee #knoxvilletn #podcast #opera #improv

Frank Murphy is joined by his friend Kathryn Frady, who had the idea for Frank to donate a See More Smokies adventure to the auction at Marble City Opera’s recent fundraiser. Frank has been sending press releases to many newspapers in the area to promote Tennessee Scholars’ Bowl. He also quizzed Tala Shatara and Veronica Ogbe on Living East Tennessee. Kathryn was surprised that Frank cut his biggest fig trees to about knee-high. He anticipates that they will grow back vigorously in the Spring. Frank called himself the “figgest loser” after attending an event for fig growers. On the registration form, he described himself as “intermediate” but later realized he should have chosen “beginner.” Frank’s friend Bean doesn’t like it when Frank talks about figs. Frank thinks that Bean should include the song “Them Figs” by The Subdudes on the podcast A Cup of Tea and a Chat with Allie and Bean. Here’s a link to the song: https://youtu.be/Ydf4OqIrFJg and here’s a live version: https://youtu.be/4jA2Vz4eOnM Frank brought some of his Brown Turkey figs to exchange at the event. He and his wife picked a Negronne plant and a LSU Scott’s Black plant. The guest speakers were very critical of Brown Turkey figs, suggesting that the trees were only good as rootstock for grafting. Nobody picked Frank’s Brown Turkey plants in the exchange. 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/ Come to the Rose Glen Literary Festival on February 25, 2023 at the Sevierville Convention Center for “Dr. Bill Bass - A Conversation with Frank Murphy.” Learn more at https://www.roseglenfestival.com Frank was telling someone about the late Brandon Gibson and how he met Kathryn because of Brandon. Kathryn’s dog Sasha got a lot of Christmas presents. One of Frank’s sisters got a second dog. His other sister has an older dog that needed to go to the vet. Frank started to say “how” but cut himself off mid-syllable. His sister knew that Frank almost asked, “how old is he?” Frank and his wife have had their iPhones for over five years. The batteries don’t hold a charge. Every time he starts the car, his iPhone plays a song from Apple Music, usually “The Knife” from the Psycho soundtrack. He figured out that he can say “Hey Siri, stop!” to stop the music. When Frank upgraded the IOS software, his Irish female Siri voice morphed into a horrible robotic voice. He looked for solutions on YouTube and found a way to restore Irish female Siri. Frank also likes videos from Payette Forward that tell which iPhone settings you should turn off. Kathryn is planning to go to New York to audition for some operatic roles. She dyed her hair to a #2, which is the second-darkest color. Kathryn was very blond when Frank met her about five and a half years ago. Kathryn and her husband had Thanksgiving dinner with Frank and Jere. When Jere was preparing the dressing, she was surprised that Frank had eaten the celery she was planning to use. Kathryn’s father had his first Christmas since retiring from being a pastor. Jere sang at a 4pm and 10pm Mass on Christmas Eve and then went to Midnight Mass with Frank. 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. Support the Frank & Friends Show by purchasing some of our high-quality merchandise at https://frank-friends-show.creator-spring.com Find us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.instagram.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.twitter.com/FrankNFriendsSh Thanks! #knoxville #knoxvilletennessee #knoxvilletn #podcast #figs #siri #marblecityopera #scholarsbowl #knoxvillepodcast

Frank Murphy is joined by Becca James, who is interested in going on a See More Smokies adventure. Frank says he used muscle memory to put on his bronzer. Frank is starting his press tour for Tennessee Scholars’ Bowl. Frank’s wife Jere made a batch of cracker candy. She pours melted sugar and butter over a tray of crackers and then places chocolate chips on top. The hot tray goes in the freezer until the candy is solid. Jere was worried that Frank would be startled when she dropped the cookie sheet on the floor to break the candy into pieces. Becca made some peppermint bark but failed to use parchment paper. Her twin boys helped spread crushed candy canes over the melted chocolate. She usually makes Pizzelle cookies for Christmas. Jere makes chocolate chip cookies at Christmas time. Frank asks if all cookies are Christmas cookies. Gingerbread cookies are his favorite. Frank’s daughter sent him a video of her kids destroying a gingerbread house with a mallet followed by another video of them peacefully eating the gingerbread. 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/ Frank got a text from his friend Jim who is a widower. Frank took a screenshot of himself at the funeral for Jim’s wife Tracy. Jim sent Frank a text that said, “I thought of you today. I was listening to the Weird Al song “Tacky” and it got to the verse about live-tweeting a funeral, taking selfies with the deceased…” Jim also sent Frank a link to the music video: https://youtu.be/zq7Eki5EZ8o The late Brandon Gibson is pictured on the front of Blank Newspaper. Kathryn Frady’s eulogy is included in the retrospectives of Brandon’s life. Many people from the local opera and theater scenes attended Brandon’s funeral. Frank says the funeral was both hilariously funny and tragically sad. One of the first things that Becca knew about Frank was that he and Dave Morales would race to be the first to notify the other about celebrity deaths. 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. Support the Frank & Friends Show by purchasing some of our high-quality merchandise at https://frank-friends-show.creator-spring.com Find us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.instagram.com/FrankAndFriendsShow https://www.twitter.com/FrankNFriendsSh Thanks! #knoxville #knoxvilletennessee #knoxvilletn #podcast #knoxvillepodcast #christmascookies