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Pushing the envelope
How this ‘ridiculous’ radio show pushes the edge of controversy
The Advocate
After a 15-minute conversation that ranged anywhere from bowel movements to a girl’s mindset during a date to what men really envision when they think of “Octomom,” Mt. Hood Community College broadcasting student Tom Ely stopped and said, “That’s the kind of stuff that we talk about on the show. If we were on-air, this would have been perfect.”
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He and fellow broadcasting student Vince Sanchez – better known as “J.R. From Afar” to their loyal listeners – co-host the Wednesday night raunch-fest “Humpday,” a show that they call “on the edge of controversial” in terms of content.
“Our main target is a college male,” said Ely. Sanchez added, “Late 20s or early 30s is what most of our content is put toward, because we talk about stuff that is attractive to that particular listener.”
The duo say they try to push the boundaries of humor with items that are sometimes “ridiculous,” including comedy bits with “reoccurring segments” and things that will “just get people laughing.”
“The one thing we try to avoid is politics,” said Ely. “Sarah Palin was too much to keep from making fun of, and sometimes we’ll get into some serious stuff, but usually we try to keep the environment pretty light.”
As for their “reoccurring segments,” Ely points to one example in particular.
“We do this thing with J.R. From Afar where we take a slang term that he uses and no one really knows the meaning of, and we do a British accent over classical music,” said Ely. “But for the most part, we’re a live show. We’re always looking for students to come on and talk or do whatever. The number one requirement is that you have to openly talk about your sex life.”
Sanchez explains: “Things your boyfriends do, or girlfriends depending upon who’s on, stupid things that your significant other does, funny things – we really like to just pick the brains of a female. We want to know what’s going on up there, and we know everyone else does, too.”
While the typical comedy routine is always fun, the two say they love doing things for charity, including getting involved in the recent fundraiser for an MHCC cosmetology student who was stricken with cancer.
“For the cosmetology fundraiser, we had (MHCC student) Kevin Fackrell sacrifice his leg hair,” Ely said. “Another part was a ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ type show with men-based questions that we asked girls.”
Sanchez added, “We ended up doing a cut-a-thon at a salon in downtown Gresham and raised almost $1,500. We added another $500 with the pizza feed in the Main Mall.”
Ely said they want to piggyback onto as many events as the school puts on as they possibly can, and Sanchez said one of their biggest goals is to get involved with as many programs at the college as possible.
“We’re trying to be a medium and make as many friends as we can,” said Sanchez. “We want to try to be the conveyor of knowledge for the school.”
After teaming together for five months to create 14 episodes, Sanchez and Ely say they are very different from one another, which is a draw to the show, but that they are good friends because of it.
“As a team, what’s interesting is our contrast of personalities,” said Ely. “We’re totally different, far apart on the spectrum, but we get along really well.”
Sanchez said they feed off each other while on the air.
“We have a way of making people feel comfortable,” said Sanchez. “Tom writes really well, then I’ll come in and do some good production, and together we’ll end up putting out a good finished product and making a good team.”
A team that both want to get better, they say.
“We have a somewhat formatted show, but we need to make sure we refine,” said Sanchez. “Next year, we’re just trying to have a solid, consistent radio show with a loyal listener base.”
Ely said keeping the format firm but flexible would be key to their success.
“We want to entertain people,” said Ely. “We want to make sure people can relate to and interact with the ‘Humpday’ community.”
When considering their favorite episodes so far, Sanchez pointed to the first one he and Ely did together.
“We had some bisexual girls on the show,” said Sanchez. “She was our first guest. She was open like 7/11 – she told us whatever a guy would want to know, answered all of our questions. It was good radio.”
That episode, as well as all the others they’ve done together, will be available on KMHC.org/Ely/Humpday by June 11, along with a link to the podcast of the show. Ely and Sanchez will be working throughout the summer up through the start of the next school year, with a two-hour episode of “Humpday” airing every Wednesday night at 8 p.m.
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