Thursday, December 7, 2006 at 9:29 AM
Edited Thursday, December 7, 2006 at 9:30 AM by Sam McManis - Bee Staff Writer Last Updated 6:51 am PST Thursday, December 7, 2006
Story appeared in SCENE section, Page E5 Conversing with Adam Carolla is much like listening to his morning radio show, which airs locally on KWOD (106.5 FM). The rants just keep coming, sprinkled with provocative digressions, strong opinions and humor that either makes you cackle or cringe. In other words, hang on, because you never know what's coming. It's been nearly a year since shock-jock extraordinaire Howard Stern bolted to satellite radio, leaving it to Carolla and others to attempt to fill Stern's considerable headset.
Some, like former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth, failed miserably. But Carolla, whose show is syndicated on the West Coast, has fared better in the ratings. We caught up with Carolla by phone in Los Angeles as he prepared for his gig as host of KWOD's Twisted Xmas concert (featuring My Chemical Romance and Papa Roach) Friday night at Arco Arena. Q: Does it take awhile for a show starting from scratch to hit its stride, or did it come together fast? A: Hopefully, your life is in the same process the show is in, metaphorically, in terms of evolving and treating it like a gin rummy hand where you discard the cards that aren't working for you and collect the ones that'll make it strong. ... If you're doing a morning show and never done it before, you'd better be much better at it by the 11th month than the first or second month. (Otherwise) the likely scenario is you're going to get fired. Q: Three words for you: David Lee Roth. A: There you go. Q: Not to slag on Roth, but did that guy go on the air without being aware how difficult a daily radio show was? A: You can't be set in your ways when your ways are unfunny and boring. You must be flexible. (Roth) wasn't willing to evolve or modify his show. I like to think ours changes from week to week. Q: Everyone talks about this shadow of Howard Stern. When he left to go to Sirius, people said it would be like replacing Michael Jordan or Babe Ruth. Was it daunting to be that guy? A: No, never for me. I have either a certain naiveté or gross narcissism. All opportunities have some baggage or they wouldn't be opportunities. If somebody said, "Jennifer Aniston is single now; do you want to sleep with her?" And I'd say, "No, Brad Pitt was so good- looking with his shirt off I could never compare." Q: You're friends with Stern, right? A: Like most people who can be very cruel at times, he can be very nice at others. If you're on his good side, there are many advantages to being friends with Stern. Q: Some might say the same about you: "Does Adam have a ranting guy persona and act differently off the air?" A: Yes and no. I don't manufacture opinions I don't actually have. I may super-size them a little... I talk about people I don't like, but (it's) my radio persona attacking their celebrity persona. Like, I don't have a problem with Nicole Richie the individual. I have a problem with Nicole Richie the celebrity. I don't think Richie has a body of work that we need to examine. Q: When you first replaced Stern, you said your two biggest challenges were not using the F-word on the air and waking up at 4:15 a.m. Which has been harder? A: The wake-up part. Q: So you've been able to tone yourself down for the FCC? A: Part of this job is being aware of what you say. I can monitor myself nicely. I've been bleeped out a couple times. It's not an exact science. Q: Let me ask about Michael Richards. Doesn't a comic have to feel free to go out on a limb? But then, can't you get in trouble for that? A: I got pulled off the air in Hawaii some years ago on "Loveline" (with Dr. Drew Pinsky) when I went on a rant about ... Hawaiians. ... But it wasn't my intention to hurt feelings. Q: I read that an Asian group recently was upset at your morning show. A: That had nothing to do with me. That was a bit our sports guy did, and I got blamed for it because my name's on the show ... Q: If you were to be politically correct all the time, would you have any material left? You certainly seem to work the edge. A: I don't consciously think about the edge. If something's interesting to me, then it's my job to make it interesting to the listener. Sometimes, it's about race, gender or sexuality. But other times it's why shoelaces on tennis shoes are so long ... I'm not a racist, a sexist, a pedophile. So I feel free to speak very freely about it. Q: In fact, you may even be a family-values guy. In one of your recent bits, you interviewed (porn star) Nikke Nine's mom. ... and you were taking the mom to task for her parenting. A: Well, I've been accused of actually having right-wing political leanings. Q: Is that true? A: It is in the sense that I'm not going to declare myself a Democrat and then go along with every ... idea they have. I feel I can pick and choose. Q: So, to wrap up, is this radio show a long-term gig? A: It's sort of like cancer recovery. I found out a year ago I had cancer ... Q: Oh, sorry. A: No, I didn't. (Speaking) metaphorically. But I appreciate your sympathetic tone. Anyway, it would be naive to make plans to go to Greece in 2012 if you found out you just had cancer. Your job is to make it through the first critical year and see if the chemo takes. —ZT-In-Thought | 
