Black Light

From The Joe Frank Wiki
Series
Somewhere Out There
Original Broadcast Date
4/20/1997
Cast
Tim Jerome, Brother Theodore, Arthur Miller, Barbara Sohmers, Patty Hardee, Joe Frank
Format
Improv Actors, 61 minutes
Preceded by: Arena (Remix)
Followed by: A Death In The Family
Purchase

"It was my night! I owned these people."

Black Light is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series Somewhere Out There. It was originally broadcast on April 20, 1997.

Synopsis

After the first story Black Light is all re-used.

Jean Paul (Tim Jerome) tells us what a great show he's putting on: dancing, singing, telling stories and jokes. Everybody thinks he's great except one girl. He talks to her after the show. He tells the story of his awful life: orphaned at 2, beaten at the orphanage, running away at 7, terrible jobs, living on the street, eating out of garbage cans. She wants him to tell stories from his life in his act, make it real. She takes him to her place, they spend the night. He rejects her advice: 'That girl! ha, ha - she was good in bed but she don't know nothing about comedy.'

10:40: Joe calls a counselor, Lorraine Wilson, looking for a reason to live.[1][2]


14:30: Ruminations on darkness and light - Arthur Miller[3]

16: A woman invites someone in, offers him/her a drink.[4]

17: 'Each of us has contemplated suicide...' (German accent - Brother Theodore) talks about suicide.[5]

18:30: A fellow says, 'I feel as if something is missing from my life...' to a therapist (Arthur Miller) who tries to help him.[6]

21:30: "More And More" by Rockers Hi Fi - 'More and more about less and less...'

23:30: The suicide bridge[7]

25:20: An address from the president.[5]

25:50: Surreal business meeting, with bogus words ('fluctuation ratio') and improbable inventory items (spleens and other body parts).[8]

28:20: Joe calls Patty to sing "I Remember You".[9]

31:10: Joe calls Alison to sing "I Remember You".[9]

34:20: 'Sometimes I sign out a chopper...' Vorst tells of looking at girls sunbathing on the roof.[7]

35:10: Vorst tells of going horseback-riding with a woman.[7]

35:50: Vorst talks about how talking to someone in person distracts.[7]

36:50: Vorst urges someone to confess.[7]

40:40: Woman tells story of going to a party with her boyfriend, subsequent relationships with men.[10]

57:10: Joe calls Amy to sing "I Remember You".[9]

Legacy Synopsis

European accented entertainer talks about telling jokes, being involved with a woman who urges him to use the tragedies of his life in his show. Joe talks to a telephone counselor about being alone, asks "why live?" A man discusses light and darkness. A woman welcomes you to her home. Methods of committing suicide, slow suicide. "Something is missing from my life" dialog. "The sun was still shining," sermon. Suicide bridge. The president makes an address. A boardroom discussion of meat products. Joe telephones ex girlfriends to sing "I Remember You" to them. A man talks about watching women sunbathing from a helicopter. The glorious history of confession. A woman discusses a past relationship in the second person: Meeting at a party and playing a truth game, set against quiet guitar music. She describes an ambiguous relationship and dating other people.

Music

Shared material

Miscellanea

  • Includes the horrible brass band music (at suicide bridge.)

Footnotes

  1. originally in No Show
  2. '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.'

  3. originally in A Tour Of The City (Part 1), in which we know the speaker is Voltgen.
  4. originally in A Tour Of The City (Part 1), in which we know the woman is Olga,the someone is Alex
  5. 5.0 5.1 originally in A Tour Of The City (Part 1)
  6. originally in A Tour Of The City (Part 2) in which we know the fellow is Alex, the 'therapist' is Voltgen.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 originally in A Tour Of The City (Part 2)
  8. originally in Lies
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 originally in Let Me Not Dream; music from Party Tyme Karaoke Standards 7
  10. originally in The Truth About Women (Part 1)