No Show

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No Show[1]
Noshow.jpg
Series
Work In Progress
Original Broadcast Date
1986
Cast
Joe Frank
Format
Serious Monologue, 88 minutes
Preceded by: A Landing Strip In The Jungle
Followed by: Let Me Not Dream

I have an announcement to make this evening. There is no show.

No Show is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series Work In Progress. It was originally broadcast in 1986.

Synopsis

  • Joe announces that there is no show, and spends the program explaining why against soft piano music.
  • Discussing the inter-connectedness of all things and the indomitable desire to live with his producer.
  • Joe sweeps a tuner across commercial radio stations, suggests his audience listen to something else
  • A woman invites herself to Joe's apartment, talks forever about nothing, and harasses his cat. Sharing a frozen dinner with an elderly cat.
  • Joe calls a telephone counseling line from the studio.[1]
  • A dinner party in Joe's honor, feeling a fraud, discussing the meaning of quality of life. Dinner parties as an Olympic sport.
  • The lawsuit against a film company for plagiarism.
  • Joe's friend talks about problems with his mother.
  • Joe's cat goes into a seizure.
  • Living in a noisy neighborhood. Waking up to a Simon & Simon film crew outside.
  • Joe picks up a girlfriend at the airport.

Music

Shared material

Additional credits

The original broadcast credits state: "Technical production by Tom Strother."

Miscellanea

  • Joe's most truly autobiographical show. 100% true, *probably*. He talks about his daily life and frustrations, and the cumulative interruptions which have caused him to be unprepared to write a show.
  • Joe's most "improvised" monologue. You hear him tell unprepared stories about his life, his narrative is less polished, more hesitant, sounds like his "true speaking voice".
  • Includes material about his lawsuit against the screenwriter of the Martin Scorcese film After Hours, which is not included in the 60-minute version.
  • There is also a 120-minute version that contains duplicated segments plus an excerpt from Joe Frank's America.

Footnotes

  1. 'Frank sits expressionless and unblinking, under an enormous pair of headphones, looking like a still life of a man in outer space. He flips a switch that carries his voice to the glassed-in control booth. "Sharon, get me a crisis hot line."

    'Sharon Bates, a station volunteer, makes the call; when she gets through, she waves to Frank, who's resumed his usual, distant, off-air expression. 'Now he leans forward, his lips nearly touching the microphone, ready for the hot line. "I do a radio program where I talk about my life," he tells the counselor. He rests one hand on his heart. "And because I'm sort of

    depressed"--his voice takes on a caressing shimmer--"I thought of calling you on the air."'


    'Radio Noir : On the Air, a Voice Like Dirty Honey Tells Stories Grim as Nightmares. If You Think Radio Is All Top 40, You Haven't Heard Joe Frank.'