WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.180 Welcome back to another deep dive before we before 00:00:03.180 --> 00:00:05.919 we get started today I want you to take a second 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:09.220 and imagine something for me okay I want you 00:00:09.220 --> 00:00:12.500 to imagine having to pivot your entire career 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:15.980 like completely reinvent the way you work the 00:00:15.980 --> 00:00:17.679 way you make money the way you connect with people 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:20.980 and you have to do this every single decade just 00:00:20.980 --> 00:00:23.219 to survive in your industry I mean that sounds 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:26.199 absolutely exhausting right most people want 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:29.359 to Find a comfortable lane, settle in, build 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:31.739 some seniority, you know, and just ride it out 00:00:31.739 --> 00:00:34.219 until retirement. But in certain volatile fields, 00:00:34.359 --> 00:00:36.679 if you stand still for even a few years, you 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:39.619 don't just fall behind. You simply disappear. 00:00:39.979 --> 00:00:42.240 And that brings us to the focus of today's deep 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.060 dive. We have a highly detailed Wikipedia article 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:47.479 chronicling the life and career of a comedian 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:50.359 named Bob Levy. A fascinating career, really. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:53.140 It is, and our mission today is to explore the 00:00:53.140 --> 00:00:56.240 wild, entirely unpredictable life cycle of a 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:58.759 working comic. We are talking about a journey 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:01.200 that goes from the trenches of blue -collar manual 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:04.659 labor straight through the absolute madness of 00:01:04.659 --> 00:01:07.980 1990s shock radio and eventually lands right 00:01:07.980 --> 00:01:10.980 in the middle of modern, decentralized digital 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:14.569 broadcasting. Yeah. When you track a career trajectory 00:01:14.569 --> 00:01:16.930 like this one, you are essentially tracking the 00:01:16.930 --> 00:01:19.189 evolution of audio entertainment over the last 00:01:19.189 --> 00:01:22.250 30 years. It's a perfect case study in media 00:01:22.250 --> 00:01:24.530 survival. OK, let's unpack this. Yeah. Because 00:01:24.530 --> 00:01:26.689 you cannot understand where this guy ended up 00:01:26.689 --> 00:01:29.670 without understanding the extremely gritty place 00:01:29.670 --> 00:01:31.870 where he started. The early days. The origin 00:01:31.870 --> 00:01:33.890 story here is about his blue collar as it gets. 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:36.659 So Bob Levy was born in Brooklyn, New York in 00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:40.939 1962. By the time he was six years old, his family 00:01:40.939 --> 00:01:43.900 had moved to Staten Island. And his path through 00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:48.079 formal education was incredibly brief. That's 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:49.980 putting it mildly. Yeah, he dropped out of high 00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:52.079 school after only six years of schooling. Which 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:54.079 meant he was thrown right into the working world 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:56.659 at an age when most kids are just starting to 00:01:56.659 --> 00:01:58.680 figure out middle school algebra. It's crazy 00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:00.900 to think about. We are talking about heavy... 00:02:01.370 --> 00:02:04.129 physical labor to make ends meet in New York. 00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:07.489 He spent years working as a landscaper, doing 00:02:07.489 --> 00:02:09.930 grueling yard work in the heat. He worked as 00:02:09.930 --> 00:02:13.490 a house painter. Tough digs. Very tough. This 00:02:13.490 --> 00:02:15.469 wasn't someone who spent his late teens and early 00:02:15.469 --> 00:02:18.729 20s studying sketch theater at an expensive conservatory 00:02:18.729 --> 00:02:21.810 or hanging out at comedy clubs analyzing the 00:02:21.810 --> 00:02:24.770 structural mechanics of a punchline. He was living 00:02:24.770 --> 00:02:28.550 a very hardscrabble life. With that kind of background, 00:02:28.770 --> 00:02:31.229 how does someone even find their way to a comedy 00:02:31.229 --> 00:02:33.629 stage? I mean, you don't just put down a paintbrush 00:02:33.629 --> 00:02:35.550 and suddenly know how to command a room of drunk 00:02:35.550 --> 00:02:38.610 people at a comedy club. You don't. But he did 00:02:38.610 --> 00:02:40.710 have a completely different kind of stage presence 00:02:40.710 --> 00:02:42.909 before he ever picked up a microphone. Oh, right. 00:02:42.969 --> 00:02:45.370 The surprise detail. For a brief period of time, 00:02:45.569 --> 00:02:47.949 Bob Levy was actually a professional wrestler. 00:02:48.189 --> 00:02:51.110 Hold on. A landscaper turned professional wrestler. 00:02:51.349 --> 00:02:54.090 Yep. He stepped into the ring under the incredibly 00:02:54.090 --> 00:02:57.889 dramatic name. Heartbreaker Bobby Slayer. Heartbreaker 00:02:57.889 --> 00:02:59.990 Bobby Slayer. Just picture that. You go from 00:02:59.990 --> 00:03:02.210 landscaping and painting houses to throwing yourself 00:03:02.210 --> 00:03:04.710 around a canvas ring in tights. It's quite the 00:03:04.710 --> 00:03:07.289 visual. That leap alone tells you a lot about 00:03:07.289 --> 00:03:09.590 his willingness to just throw himself into a 00:03:09.590 --> 00:03:12.629 performance. Learning how to take a physical 00:03:12.629 --> 00:03:15.150 bump in a wrestling ring probably translates 00:03:15.150 --> 00:03:17.569 pretty well to the emotional vulnerability of 00:03:17.569 --> 00:03:20.930 bombing on stage. Definitely. The theatricality 00:03:20.930 --> 00:03:23.310 of professional wrestling actually shares a lot 00:03:23.310 --> 00:03:25.629 of DNA with stand -up comedy. How so? Well, you 00:03:25.629 --> 00:03:27.930 are playing an amplified character. You are working 00:03:27.930 --> 00:03:30.750 the crowd. You are trying to elicit a very specific 00:03:30.750 --> 00:03:34.370 visceral reaction, whether that's cheering or 00:03:34.370 --> 00:03:37.349 booing. Makes sense. But the leap to comedy wasn't 00:03:37.349 --> 00:03:40.289 some lifelong dream. Livvy wasn't even a comedy. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.699 fan growing up. He didn't have a deep appreciation 00:03:42.699 --> 00:03:45.639 for stand -up until around 1990. So what was 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:48.520 the catalyst in 1990? That was the year he really 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:50.599 started listening to the Howard Stern Show. Ah, 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:53.979 the Stern influence. Exactly. He became a massive 00:03:53.979 --> 00:03:56.879 fan of the broadcast, and something creative 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:59.939 just clicked for him. He began writing his own 00:03:59.939 --> 00:04:02.719 jokes and penning these elaborate song parodies. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:04.539 And he'd send them in? Yeah. He would actually 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:08.110 send them into the show. That creative spark 00:04:08.110 --> 00:04:11.289 gave him the courage to start attending open 00:04:11.289 --> 00:04:14.370 mic nights. Specifically, he started going to 00:04:14.370 --> 00:04:16.850 open mics hosted by Jackie Martling. Who was 00:04:16.850 --> 00:04:18.870 a prominent writer for the Stern Show at the 00:04:18.870 --> 00:04:21.870 time. Exactly. Now the reality of stand -up comedy, 00:04:22.050 --> 00:04:25.990 especially in the beginning, is notoriously brutal. 00:04:26.149 --> 00:04:30.250 The hustle is relentless. I want you to imagine 00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:33.449 doing all of this, putting yourself out there, 00:04:33.569 --> 00:04:36.709 and going entirely unpaid for your first year 00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:38.490 of stand -up. That's a tough pill to swallow. 00:04:38.949 --> 00:04:41.810 Because that is exactly what he did. He was grinding 00:04:41.810 --> 00:04:44.290 away on stage night after night trying to figure 00:04:44.290 --> 00:04:46.629 out his voice without seeing a single dime for 00:04:46.629 --> 00:04:48.970 it. What's fascinating here is how he earned 00:04:48.970 --> 00:04:51.029 the nickname that would stick with him for the 00:04:51.029 --> 00:04:52.910 rest of his career during that unpaid grind. 00:04:53.189 --> 00:04:55.290 Yeah, if you know of him, you probably know him 00:04:55.290 --> 00:04:58.629 as the Reverend Bob Levy. Right. Wait, the Reverend. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:00.920 That implies a clean -cut guy in a suit giving 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:03.139 a sermon. How does a shock comic get a name like 00:05:03.139 --> 00:05:05.879 that? It's rooted in complete irony. Jackie Martling 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:07.439 was the one who dubbed him the Reverend, and 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:09.959 he did it for a very specific, almost antagonistic 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:12.500 reason. Do tell. Martling gave him that name 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:16.139 because Levy was a, and I am quoting the source 00:05:16.139 --> 00:05:20.110 text directly here. A filthy fucking pig on stage. 00:05:20.209 --> 00:05:22.410 Which is such a brilliant comedy club inside 00:05:22.410 --> 00:05:24.750 joke. Yeah. You introduce the most vulgar guy 00:05:24.750 --> 00:05:27.069 in the room with the most pious title imaginable. 00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:29.709 Exactly. Marlin wanted to call him the exact 00:05:29.709 --> 00:05:31.889 opposite of what he was actually doing during 00:05:31.889 --> 00:05:34.310 his act. Right. He was delivering this incredibly 00:05:34.310 --> 00:05:38.050 dirty, observational, shock heavy humor. Calling 00:05:38.050 --> 00:05:41.209 him the Reverend was the perfect ironic counterpunch 00:05:41.209 --> 00:05:43.610 that instantly set the audience's expectations 00:05:43.610 --> 00:05:47.069 only to completely subvert them the second he. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.259 He opened his mouth. It perfectly sets the stage 00:05:49.259 --> 00:05:51.480 for the kind of performer he was becoming. And 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:54.980 by 2001, that gritty shock humor persona was 00:05:54.980 --> 00:05:56.779 really starting to gain traction in the industry. 00:05:57.019 --> 00:05:58.879 He was definitely making moves. He was hitting 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.519 some major milestones around this time. He appeared 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:03.800 on comedy's Dirtiest Dozen, which perfectly fit 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:05.860 his brand of humor. He performed at the massive 00:06:05.860 --> 00:06:08.459 Woodstock 94 Festival. Dealing with crowds that 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:10.759 were massive and unruly. Yeah, and he was even 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:13.199 opening for huge classic rock acts like the Edgar 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:15.740 Winter Group and Bachman Turner Overdrive. That 00:06:15.740 --> 00:06:19.199 is a rock solid working conics resume. Opening 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:22.240 for a classic rock bands is a very specific skill 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:24.740 set. Because they're not there for jokes. Exactly. 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:26.579 Crowds are not there to see comedy. They are 00:06:26.579 --> 00:06:29.600 there to drink beer and hear music. If you can 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:32.439 survive those rooms, you are building an incredibly 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:34.920 thick skin and navigating the comedy circuit 00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:37.839 effectively. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:06:38.019 --> 00:06:40.319 Because the true breakthrough, the thing that 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:42.459 catapult him into a totally different stratosphere 00:06:42.459 --> 00:06:45.709 of recognition, was a return. to the very show 00:06:45.709 --> 00:06:48.509 that inspired him to start comedy in the first 00:06:48.509 --> 00:06:51.269 place. The Howard Stern Show. Yes. This is where 00:06:51.269 --> 00:06:54.889 we see the immense power of massive centralized 00:06:54.889 --> 00:06:58.389 media platforms in the early 2000s. In that era, 00:06:58.529 --> 00:07:01.529 terrestrial radio was king. It really was. If 00:07:01.529 --> 00:07:03.750 you could capture the attention of that specific 00:07:03.750 --> 00:07:06.589 massive audience, your career could change overnight. 00:07:06.750 --> 00:07:09.029 There were no podcasts, no social media algorithms 00:07:09.029 --> 00:07:11.790 to go viral on. You needed the gatekeepers. And 00:07:11.790 --> 00:07:14.170 Levy bypassed the gatekeepers by leaning into 00:07:14.170 --> 00:07:18.149 the hostility of the format. In 2002, he entered 00:07:18.149 --> 00:07:20.329 a contest on The Stern Show called The World's 00:07:20.329 --> 00:07:22.949 Meanest Listener. A very fitting title. To compete, 00:07:23.250 --> 00:07:26.490 he submitted audio clips of himself absolutely 00:07:26.490 --> 00:07:29.870 roasting Howard Stern and the entire show's staff. 00:07:30.350 --> 00:07:33.389 Which is an incredibly bold strategy to attack 00:07:33.389 --> 00:07:35.829 the very people you are hoping will give you 00:07:35.829 --> 00:07:38.550 a platform. Right. But the roasts were so well 00:07:38.550 --> 00:07:41.269 crafted and vicious that he became a top three 00:07:41.269 --> 00:07:43.629 finalist in the competition. And he didn't stop 00:07:43.629 --> 00:07:47.269 there. A couple of years later, in 2004, he doubled 00:07:47.269 --> 00:07:49.850 down and competed in another major contest on 00:07:49.850 --> 00:07:52.769 the show called Get John's Job. To really understand 00:07:52.769 --> 00:07:54.449 this period of his career, we have to look at 00:07:54.449 --> 00:07:56.970 the broader context of entertainment. At that 00:07:56.970 --> 00:07:59.490 time. Let's do it. During the shock jock boom, 00:07:59.670 --> 00:08:02.230 the medium demanded far more than just standard 00:08:02.230 --> 00:08:05.230 stand up comedy routines. You know, where a guy 00:08:05.230 --> 00:08:07.170 stands in front of a brick wall and tells observational 00:08:07.170 --> 00:08:10.750 jokes. Sure. It was an era defined by sheer unadulterated 00:08:10.750 --> 00:08:13.509 spectacle. Audiences wanted crossovers. They 00:08:13.509 --> 00:08:15.569 wanted real life conflict and they wanted larger 00:08:15.569 --> 00:08:17.850 than life characters interacting in highly unpredictable 00:08:17.850 --> 00:08:20.550 ways. And Levy was perfectly positioned right 00:08:20.550 --> 00:08:22.389 in the middle of that circus. Just look at the 00:08:22.389 --> 00:08:24.089 live events he was hosting during this period. 00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:26.589 He became one of the hosts of the Killers of 00:08:26.589 --> 00:08:28.629 Comedy Tour. Right. And this wasn't your standard 00:08:28.629 --> 00:08:31.990 comedy club lineup. Not at all. This tour featured 00:08:31.990 --> 00:08:35.389 an incredibly eclectic mix of guests and staffers 00:08:35.389 --> 00:08:38.029 from the Stern universe. You had established 00:08:38.029 --> 00:08:41.009 sharp comics like Jim Florentine sharing the 00:08:41.009 --> 00:08:44.029 bill with legendary, chaotic show personalities 00:08:44.029 --> 00:08:46.750 like Beetlejuice and even former professional 00:08:46.750 --> 00:08:49.289 wrestlers like the Iron Sheik. It sounds less 00:08:49.289 --> 00:08:51.769 like a comedy tour and more like a traveling 00:08:51.769 --> 00:08:54.610 carnival of shock entertainment. It was a traveling 00:08:54.610 --> 00:08:57.610 carnival. And his role within that universe only 00:08:57.610 --> 00:09:00.210 solidified when The Stern Show made its historic, 00:09:00.429 --> 00:09:03.330 paradigm -shifting move to SiriusXM satellite 00:09:03.330 --> 00:09:06.610 radio in 2006. For someone not familiar with 00:09:06.610 --> 00:09:09.429 the broadcast rules back then, why was that move 00:09:09.429 --> 00:09:11.629 to satellite such a big deal for comedians like 00:09:11.629 --> 00:09:14.889 Levy? Because of the FCC. Ah, right. Terrestrial 00:09:14.889 --> 00:09:17.690 radio is heavily monitored and regulated by the 00:09:17.690 --> 00:09:19.929 Federal Communications Commission. You couldn't 00:09:19.929 --> 00:09:22.090 swear. You couldn't cover certain topics without 00:09:22.090 --> 00:09:24.450 risking massive fines for the station. Which 00:09:24.450 --> 00:09:26.610 is tough for a guy named the Reverend. Exactly. 00:09:26.950 --> 00:09:29.169 Yeah. Moving to a subscription based satellite 00:09:29.169 --> 00:09:32.509 model meant those FCC regulations no longer applied. 00:09:32.750 --> 00:09:35.519 It was totally uncensored. For a guy whose nickname 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:37.399 was given to him because he was so filthy on 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:40.700 stage, this was the promised land. It must have 00:09:40.700 --> 00:09:42.519 felt like the ultimate playground. It really 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:44.980 was. He stepped up as the host for the show's 00:09:44.980 --> 00:09:47.879 series of live comedy roasts and co -hosted a 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:50.980 weekly comedy show on the Howard 101 Sirius XM 00:09:50.980 --> 00:09:54.720 channel from 2006 to 2010 called Miserable Men. 00:09:55.289 --> 00:09:57.429 But the spectacle of that era wasn't just about 00:09:57.429 --> 00:09:59.269 what you could say into a microphone. It was 00:09:59.269 --> 00:10:01.190 about what you were willing to put your body 00:10:01.190 --> 00:10:03.929 through for the audience. And there was one specific 00:10:03.929 --> 00:10:06.370 event from 2008 that I cannot get over. You have 00:10:06.370 --> 00:10:09.250 to picture this. Bob Levy, a stand -up comedian 00:10:09.250 --> 00:10:11.909 in his mid -40s, a guy who used to paint houses, 00:10:12.190 --> 00:10:14.929 agrees to an actual sanctioned boxing match. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:17.840 Against Danny Bonaduce? Yes, the former child 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:19.679 star of the Partridge family. Well, the Deuce 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:22.159 had completely reinvented himself at that point 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:24.720 as a formidable radio personality and somewhat 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.080 of a combat sports enthusiast. He was known for 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:29.500 being incredibly intense. So they get into the 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:32.620 ring for a planned three -round fight. Now, I 00:10:32.620 --> 00:10:34.779 will spare you the suspense. It did not go all 00:10:34.779 --> 00:10:36.980 three rounds. No, it didn't. Levy ended up losing 00:10:36.980 --> 00:10:40.080 to Bonaduce by a technical knockout, a TKO, in 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:41.980 the second one -minute round of the fight. Ouch. 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:45.779 But... Just the fact that it happened, a comedian 00:10:45.779 --> 00:10:48.679 and a former child actor throwing actual punches 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:51.820 at each other for radio content, it perfectly 00:10:51.820 --> 00:10:55.159 encapsulates that early 2000s hunger for extreme 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.220 spectacle. It wasn't enough to just tell a joke. 00:10:58.379 --> 00:11:00.899 You had to literally bleed for the bit. If we 00:11:00.899 --> 00:11:03.539 connect this to the bigger picture, behind all 00:11:03.539 --> 00:11:05.860 of that wild public spectacle and getting punched 00:11:05.860 --> 00:11:08.539 in the face for radio ratings, there is another, 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:11.740 much more pragmatic side to a comedian's career. 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:14.779 The business side. Exactly. Being a working road 00:11:14.779 --> 00:11:16.740 comic means you are essentially an entrepreneur. 00:11:16.899 --> 00:11:19.200 You are the product, the marketing team, and 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:21.679 the logistics coordinator. And sometimes, to 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:23.779 ensure you always have a place to work, you have 00:11:23.779 --> 00:11:25.919 to literally build the stages you want to perform. 00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:40.000 Levy clearly understood the economics of the 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:43.080 business. In December of 2007, he took the leap 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:46.100 into venue ownership, opening Levy's Comedy Club 00:11:46.100 --> 00:11:48.519 at the Ramada Inn in Levittown, Pennsylvania. 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:51.460 Which is a brilliant move. You capture that suburban 00:11:51.460 --> 00:11:54.159 market outside of Philadelphia. People who want 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:56.440 to see a comedy show but don't want to deal with 00:11:56.440 --> 00:11:59.620 driving into the city, paying for parking, and 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:02.549 dealing with the crowds. Smart business. And 00:12:02.549 --> 00:12:04.750 he didn't stop there, either. He later expanded 00:12:04.750 --> 00:12:07.289 that business model, opening three other comedy 00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:10.370 clubs all the way down in Easton, Florida. Florida, 00:12:10.470 --> 00:12:12.649 wow. And his entrepreneurial drive to control 00:12:12.649 --> 00:12:15.029 the physical spaces of comedy didn't fade over 00:12:15.029 --> 00:12:18.490 time. Fast forward all the way to October 2022, 00:12:18.769 --> 00:12:21.049 and he partnered with fellow comedian Kevin Brennan 00:12:21.049 --> 00:12:23.870 to co -open a new venue called Brennan & Levy's 00:12:23.870 --> 00:12:26.330 Comedy Loft in Vineland, New Jersey. Building 00:12:26.330 --> 00:12:27.950 brick -and -mortar businesses while maintaining 00:12:27.950 --> 00:12:30.470 a relentless performance schedule requires a 00:12:30.470 --> 00:12:33.779 massive amount of hustle. And his hustle in traditional 00:12:33.779 --> 00:12:36.419 terrestrial radio during these years is just 00:12:36.419 --> 00:12:39.879 as exhausting. Until 2008, he wasn't just doing 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:42.000 his own gigs or flying down to check on clubs 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.080 in Florida. He was heavily embedded in the East 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:47.889 Coast radio grind. Which is a deeply physical 00:12:47.889 --> 00:12:50.210 grind. He was a writer and a regular presence 00:12:50.210 --> 00:12:54.049 on Kid Chris's morning radio show on WYSP in 00:12:54.049 --> 00:12:57.210 Philadelphia. Morning radio is brutal. Morning 00:12:57.210 --> 00:12:59.330 radio means waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning 00:12:59.330 --> 00:13:03.049 every single day to generate fresh, topical content 00:13:03.049 --> 00:13:05.629 for hours on end. And he was also physically 00:13:05.629 --> 00:13:08.169 moving up and down the coast. He hosted a show 00:13:08.169 --> 00:13:11.330 called Ears Wide Open alongside Stacey Pressman 00:13:11.330 --> 00:13:14.210 and Joe Conti. which broadcast in two major markets, 00:13:14.350 --> 00:13:16.330 Washington, D .C. and Boston. That's a lot of 00:13:16.330 --> 00:13:18.629 travel. He also had a stint as the host of Rising 00:13:18.629 --> 00:13:20.669 with the Reverend Bob Levy back in Philadelphia, 00:13:20.990 --> 00:13:23.509 co -hosting with Will Bozarth and John Kensel. 00:13:23.850 --> 00:13:26.570 What you are outlining is a classic, heavily 00:13:26.570 --> 00:13:29.629 localized broadcast career. He was bouncing between 00:13:29.629 --> 00:13:32.190 cities, driving the highways, completely reliant 00:13:32.190 --> 00:13:34.149 on the traditional terrestrial and satellite 00:13:34.149 --> 00:13:36.549 radio infrastructure. Right. But the infrastructure 00:13:36.549 --> 00:13:38.929 of audio entertainment was about to undergo a 00:13:38.929 --> 00:13:42.149 massive seismic shift. The radio towers were 00:13:42.149 --> 00:13:44.289 about to lose their power to the Internet. The 00:13:44.289 --> 00:13:47.289 digital frontier. The podcasting revolution. 00:13:47.669 --> 00:13:50.269 This is where we see that vital career pivot 00:13:50.269 --> 00:13:51.970 we talked about at the very beginning of the 00:13:51.970 --> 00:13:54.139 deep dive. It was inevitable. As traditional 00:13:54.139 --> 00:13:56.679 radio started to fragment and audiences moved 00:13:56.679 --> 00:13:59.120 to their smartphones, Levy transitioned right 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:02.379 along with them. In September 2015, he launched 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:05.139 his own comedic podcast, appropriately titled 00:14:05.139 --> 00:14:08.200 The Bob Levy Show, which moved to the Radio Misfits 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:10.639 podcast network shortly after. He recognized 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:12.519 that the medium was changing and uncapped it 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:14.779 to the new reality. And he kept building on that 00:14:14.779 --> 00:14:18.220 digital footprint. Since November 2020, he's 00:14:18.220 --> 00:14:21.820 hosted the Levyland podcast. In 2021, he started 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:24.480 making regular appearances on Kevin Brennan's 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.200 Misery Loves Company podcast. Staying very active. 00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:29.460 He even made sporadic appearances on Internet 00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:31.879 live stream shows like Barry Caravelle Alive 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:34.899 in the early 2020s. But things get incredibly 00:14:34.899 --> 00:14:37.340 specific, almost surreal when we look at his 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:41.019 work from 2022 to 2024. This era is a perfect 00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:43.539 example of the hyper niche nature of modern digital 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:46.190 comedy. It really is. The Internet allows content 00:14:46.190 --> 00:14:48.669 to be so specifically targeted to a dedicated 00:14:48.669 --> 00:14:51.409 community that it would never make sense to a 00:14:51.409 --> 00:14:54.190 traditional radio programmer. No way. For two 00:14:54.190 --> 00:14:57.750 years, Levy co -hosted a daily long form podcast 00:14:57.750 --> 00:15:00.669 called The Uncle Rico Show. And the subject of 00:15:00.669 --> 00:15:03.470 this daily long form show. It wasn't politics. 00:15:03.610 --> 00:15:06.409 It wasn't pop culture. It wasn't general observational 00:15:06.409 --> 00:15:09.070 comedy. Not at all. The entire premise of the 00:15:09.070 --> 00:15:11.649 show was focusing on the hilarious antics of 00:15:11.649 --> 00:15:14.649 one specific person stuttering John Melendez. 00:15:14.830 --> 00:15:16.830 Another alumnus of the Howard Stern universe. 00:15:17.210 --> 00:15:19.870 Exactly. Melendez was a former minor staff member 00:15:19.870 --> 00:15:23.299 and call screener for Stern. And yet the Internet 00:15:23.299 --> 00:15:26.399 is so vast that there was enough of a dedicated, 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.480 highly engaged audience out there to support 00:15:29.480 --> 00:15:32.259 a daily broadcast analyzing his Internet presence 00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:34.919 and public life. That's incredible. It was hosted 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:37.080 by a whole panel of comedians. You had Levy, 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:40.340 Shuley Igar, Mike Morse, and Anthony Zenhauser. 00:15:40.500 --> 00:15:43.120 And they created an entire interconnected web 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:45.539 of creators that the audience refers to as the 00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:48.559 Dabbleverse. A Dabbleverse. It features a really 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:51.240 extensive roster of guest appearances from other 00:15:51.240 --> 00:15:54.379 comedians swimming in the exact same digital 00:15:54.379 --> 00:15:58.019 waters. People like Anthony Cumia, Chrissy Mayer, 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:01.559 and Carl Hilbergerger. Levy also became a co 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:04.820 -host of the BS show on the Shuley Network. It 00:16:04.820 --> 00:16:07.259 is a fascinating evolution when you look at how 00:16:07.259 --> 00:16:09.840 this content is actually distributed and monetized. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:11.580 Right. The business model completely changed. 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:14.179 In the past, to reach an audience of that size 00:16:14.179 --> 00:16:17.240 and get paid, you had to get past terrestrial 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:20.240 radio gatekeepers, convince a club owner to book 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:23.039 you, or get a satellite network to give you a 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:24.679 channel. Like we were just talking about. Now, 00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:26.820 the modern entertainer is no longer just a performer. 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:30.299 They are a decentralized media network. How exactly 00:16:30.299 --> 00:16:32.799 does that tech stack work for these shows? Well, 00:16:32.860 --> 00:16:35.139 these shows are broadcast live and streamed real 00:16:35.139 --> 00:16:37.440 time across multiple platforms simultaneously 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:39.980 to capture the audience wherever they are. Got 00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:42.200 it. They utilize mainstream video sites like 00:16:42.200 --> 00:16:45.019 YouTube for discoverability. They monetize directly 00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:46.980 through the audience using platforms like Patreon, 00:16:47.340 --> 00:16:49.960 converting casual listeners into monthly paying 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:53.269 subscribers. And importantly... To avoid the 00:16:53.269 --> 00:16:55.690 risk of algorithmic censorship or deplatforming, 00:16:55.990 --> 00:16:59.330 they also broadcast on free speech video hosting 00:16:59.330 --> 00:17:02.549 platforms, specifically utilizing Rumble and 00:17:02.549 --> 00:17:05.470 X, formerly Twitter. It is a completely decentralized, 00:17:06.069 --> 00:17:08.630 direct to consumer ecosystem. It represents a 00:17:08.630 --> 00:17:11.150 total shift from the heavily regulated world 00:17:11.150 --> 00:17:13.769 of FCC monitored terrestrial radio we talked 00:17:13.769 --> 00:17:16.589 about earlier to an era of independent digital 00:17:16.589 --> 00:17:19.269 broadcasting. The technology dictates the format. 00:17:19.430 --> 00:17:22.809 Exactly. These comedians built an entire interactive 00:17:22.809 --> 00:17:25.069 universe completely outside of the traditional 00:17:25.069 --> 00:17:27.049 media structures that originally made them famous. 00:17:27.589 --> 00:17:30.069 Levy did leave the Uncle Rico program in 2024, 00:17:30.450 --> 00:17:32.769 but his integration into that digital ecosystem 00:17:32.769 --> 00:17:35.890 is undeniable. So what does this all mean? When 00:17:35.890 --> 00:17:37.789 you zoom out and look at this entire story, why 00:17:37.789 --> 00:17:41.109 does the career of a guy named The Reverend matter 00:17:41.109 --> 00:17:42.970 to you listening to this right now? It's a great 00:17:42.970 --> 00:17:45.269 question. It matters because it is the ultimate 00:17:45.269 --> 00:17:48.029 lesson in navigating the creator economy. No 00:17:48.029 --> 00:17:49.789 matter what field you are in, whether you are 00:17:49.789 --> 00:17:52.430 in sales or tech or teaching or running a business 00:17:52.430 --> 00:17:55.009 survival, means you have to be willing to abandon 00:17:55.009 --> 00:17:57.390 the old way of doing things the second the technology 00:17:57.390 --> 00:18:00.809 changes. You cannot be precious about the medium. 00:18:00.990 --> 00:18:03.730 You have to follow the audience, even if that 00:18:03.730 --> 00:18:06.789 means leaving the radio studio to broadcast from 00:18:06.789 --> 00:18:08.589 your living room on a live stream. Just think 00:18:08.589 --> 00:18:10.349 about the sheer trajectory we've covered today. 00:18:10.750 --> 00:18:13.130 You start with a high school dropout from Staten 00:18:13.130 --> 00:18:16.200 Island doing manual labor. He throws on some 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:18.940 tights to take bumps as heartbreaker Bobby Slayer 00:18:18.940 --> 00:18:21.839 in a wrestling ring. Which is still insane to 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:24.960 me. He finds a creative spark, grinds it out 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:28.619 as an unpaid open mic comic, and leans into being 00:18:28.619 --> 00:18:31.539 the filthy guy on stage to earn the ironic title 00:18:31.539 --> 00:18:35.119 of The Reverend. Right. That hustle gets him 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:37.059 to the biggest satellite radio platform in the 00:18:37.059 --> 00:18:40.460 world as a SiriusXM roastmaster. He literally 00:18:40.460 --> 00:18:42.759 fights a child star in a boxing ring for entertainment 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:44.980 value. Can't forget that. He built his own brick 00:18:44.980 --> 00:18:47.059 -and -mortar comedy clubs to secure his own stages. 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:49.259 And then when the radio towers start to lose 00:18:49.259 --> 00:18:51.839 their dominance, he pivots again, becoming a 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:54.059 fixture in a live -streaming, multi -platform, 00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:56.799 direct -to -consumer ecosystem known as the dabbleverse. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:01.019 It is a relentless forward momentum, a 30 year 00:19:01.019 --> 00:19:04.240 masterclass in not letting the industry leave 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:07.180 you behind. And this raises an important question. 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:09.720 Where do we go from here? Well, if the leap from 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:13.019 terrestrial radio to decentralized direct to 00:19:13.019 --> 00:19:15.339 audience platforms like Patreon and Rumble define 00:19:15.339 --> 00:19:22.369 this generation of comedians. Oh, that's interesting. 00:19:46.920 --> 00:19:49.400 content or will the ecosystem generate its own 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:52.319 drama? That's a huge shift to consider. It is 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:54.119 something to seriously think about as we watch 00:19:54.119 --> 00:19:56.299 the media landscape shift under our feet once 00:19:56.299 --> 00:19:59.680 again. That is a wildly complex puzzle and honestly 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:01.579 a perfect thought to leave you with today as 00:20:01.579 --> 00:20:03.720 we consider the future of entertainment. Thank 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:05.380 you so much for joining us on this deep dive. 00:20:05.539 --> 00:20:07.779 I hope you found as many surprises in this story 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:11.079 as we did. Stay curious, keep exploring, and 00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:12.220 we will catch you on the next one.