|
Darren's
Career Capsule
Radio Personality, Columnist,
Comedy Writer, Comedian. Welcome to the world of
Darren Marlar.
As a child in Kansas City, Marlar found a love for entertaining
others in school – a love that continued through junior high, high
school, college and career. His entertainment of choice: comedy.
His avenue of choice: radio.
Christian radio.
Since stepping into radio in 1990,
Darren Marlar has quickly worked his way up the ladder and back down
again working at several stations in a variety of formats. It’s
allowed him not only to learn the business of radio from several
angles and positions, but has also has given him an avenue to
release his creativity to grow and expand in ways no other career
could allow. Radio also brought Marlar together with his bride,
Robin, whom he met when she came in to the station to collect a
prize she’d won on the radio. It was actually Marlar who received
the better prize – and he and Robin have been happily married since
1995.
While doing his own morning show in
Kansas City, Marlar also began writing, recording, and distributing
clean comedy material to radio stations of all formats around the
country free of charge. Beginning with just his own station and a
handful of radio friends using his materials, within two years that
number had grown to almost 1,000 radio personalities around the
world using his free radio comedy materials.
Today Marlar is known to listeners
in the Rockford, Illinois area as “Marlar in the Morning” on WQFL
(100.9FM). Between songs of Christian faith and God’s love, 101QFL
listeners hear Marlar’s unapologetic, edgy humor that somehow finds
a way to still remain family-friendly. On top of his morning show,
Marlar also acts as the station’s Production Director, Imaging
Director, is part of the station’s promotions team, and is also the
acting Program Director.
Darren not only likes to write
comedy for the ears of radio listeners, but also for the eyes of
readers. He had a monthly humor column in Rockford, IL for close to
two years, and also wrote a monthly humor column for a magazine in
South Carolina.
While most people would consider
that more than enough for their schedule, Marlar’s resume also has
the addition of what is considered by many to be the hardest job in
the entertainment industry: stand up comedy.
Which leaves only one question:
when does Darren Marlar sleep?
1.How is doing Christian morning radio
different today from 5 years ago?
I can’t really
answer for the industry as a whole - just for me, specifically. I’m
in a different market than I was five years ago. I spent fourteen
years in Kansas City and now I’m in Rockford, IL and have been for
three years. That sounds like a step backwards, doesn’t it? If you
look at market size, it is a HUGE step backwards. But in KC I was
on a tiny AM station and had nowhere to move up to, as the town
didn’t have a contemporary Christian FM station. So I thought it’d
be best to see what I could do on an FM station somewhere - and the
opportunity came to me through 101QFL. But now I’ve found that I do
not miss the big city at all. I love it here (aside from the snow
and wind). I’m working for a radio station that believes in me,
allows me to do pretty much anything I want to do (within reason),
and it’s close enough to Chicago that I can get my big-city fix when
I need it (and that’s rare). I’ve also grown more as a personality
here in the past three years than I ever did in Kansas City. I’ve
also been doing at least triple the number of personal appearances
as before, and have even ventured into stand up comedy on top of the
radio stuff just because I felt comfortable enough to try it here.
I stepped down in market size, but stepped up in the quality and
quantity of product I provide to our listeners and my employer.
Something else
that’s new (to me) is that I get to leave the station after the show
(barring meetings and appearances, of course). At 10am I leave the
station and go home to my studio there - and keep working. No
stations in my past would’ve trusted their jocks to do such a thing,
but somehow I’m trusted here - and that’s great. DOING a morning
show in a radio studio is pretty much required - but preparing for a
morning show at that station can be stifling. Being cooped up in a
tiny room with no windows trying to write funny material is
unbearable - and there’s always somebody needing the production room
when you need to get in. And I won’t even talk about the lack of
privacy or lack of control over the thermostat. I have my own home
recording studio and a laptop so I can do show prep on the couch
while looking at the trees and birds, or I can take my laptop to
Starbucks and watch people to get ideas for the show or my blog
(something else I didn’t do five years ago that I’m doing now). I’m
also doing the on-line profile thing now. I’ve given up on MySpace
though - and I’m doing a LOT of stuff with ShoutLife. It’s like an
extension of the morning show for me. I can post pictures, blog,
give a link there for people to listen online, give samples of my
stand up comedy in hopes of opening doors so I can tell people about
the radio station while I’m onstage making them laugh, etc.
2. What is
the most fulfilling aspect to you personally about doing a morning
show on Christian radio?
Leaving at 10am.
Okay, just kidding (although that is reeeeallhy sweet). I’m sure
morning shows all over the country now are going to go into the
boss’s office and demand that perk. Good luck with that - it took
me almost seventeen years in radio to convince someone it could be
done effectively! Really fulfilling for me though is the
spotlight. I love entertaining, and doing a morning show demands
that - both on the air and off. It’s also a really active shift
which is good for me because I get bored easily. In fact, I’m
always looking for ways to change up the show a bit to make it more
entertaining for both the listeners as well as myself. Once I add a
couple of elements I’ll try them out for a couple of months and then
either drop them or leave them in - and then add a bit more on top
of it. It’s like a stew that keeps growing and growing. I started
with a few ingredients to make it a decent stew, but I get
dissatisfied with the recipe and add something else... and then
something else. I have the potential of creating a monster.
It’s not that way
right now though. I’m really restricted now due to my also filling
the roles of production director, imaging director, and program
director. These are all temporary titles, but while I take care of
those areas I’m unable to do the morning show as I’d like - and it’s
very frustrating. I’m always full of ideas and it’s hard when I
don’t have time to work on them. I’m really looking forward in the
next couple of months or so to stepping away from all of my duties
and focusing solely on the morning show. I’m chomping at the bit to
get the show back to where it needs to be.
3. How do
you personally keep the ministry in the business?
That’s a good
question, because usually people ask if it’s more a ministry OR a
business. The fact is that Christian radio is both. In fact, it
has to be a business FIRST - otherwise the ministry won’t have the
platform to reach others from. I don’t really talk much about
ministry stuff in my show, because the music does a really good job
of sharing the hope of Jesus, the love He has for us, the fact that
He died and rose again, etc. God will lead me once in a while to
talk about something spiritual, but that is EXTREMELY rare.
However, one thing I am doing regularly that has become a huge hit
is something I call Power Charges. I create 5-10 sixty-second
spiritual promos that air throughout the entire day. They’re
usually light-hearted and fun, and not only do they get a spiritual
life-lesson across, but they do so using the personality of the
morning show. They also act as an additional morning show promo in
a way, because they begin with me saying, “Hi, it’s Darren from
‘Marlar in the Morning’ with another Power Charge,” and end with,
“from ‘Marlar in the Morning’ and Positive Hits, 101QFL!” Listeners
LOVE them. I wish I’d started doing them three years ago when I
first arrived here.
4. What are
some of the things you do to prep for your morning show?
Unlike my
previous fourteen years as a solo act, I now have a co-host. Her
on-air role isn’t as large as mine - mostly weather and news plus
getting involved once in a while with a few bits that I do
regularly. I still do a ton of prep work (4-5 hours each weekday
plus one day on the weekend for a few hours), and while I am still
writing for myself, I’m now also writing some material for my
co-host; particularly the news kickers so she can set me up for a
punchline. I need eight kickers each day. I have to write the
story, or at least edit it, so that it sets up the kicker comment -
and that’s not always easy. But as a stand up comedian the
challenge of writing good comedy is also part of the fun. Most of
the rest of my prep takes place on the internet as I sort through a
myriad of websites looking for celebrity stuff and interesting news
blurbs. I also keep my show prep from years past so I can easily
update the celebrity birthdays, weird holidays, etc. My show is
highly produced, and that means a lot of pre-production. I do most
of my traditional show prep during the week, and then on weekends I
work on pre-production like my Power Charge promos, finding and
editing down stand-up comedy from a variety of comedians to use in
my “Marlar’s Morning Laugh Trax,” I edit and produce “As the Jungle
Turns” - a daily soap opera created by permission using the “Jungle
Jam” stuff (parents love it too - not just the kids!), I sort
through and/or write any parody spots I’m thinking about using in
the future, and I also download movie trailers and edit them for
radio to be used in our weekly movie reviews segment, “The Ticket.”
It’s a LOT of production, and I’m never caught up. The sad part is
I’m always full of ideas - and almost all of them require
production. My mind just naturally thinks in that direction. Dang
it.
5. How does
a Christian air personality know where to draw the line with a bit
or comment?
There’s a line?
Gee... no wonder I’m always in trouble with the boss! Finding the
line of appropriateness is always tough for me. I try to do a
morning show for Christians who want to laugh while simultaneously
doing a show for non-Christians who want to get away from the blue
humor and cursing on other morning shows but don’t want the
religious DJ to speak Christianese. So I do what I can to keep
“Amy” in mind... I know she has kids in the car, so I don’t get
graphic when talking about certain things. But I don’t avoid
subjects like most people would, I just present them in a safer
way. It pretty much comes down to this: if I wouldn’t bring up the
subject with my grandmother in the room, I won’t bring it up. That
usually keeps it safe enough for any crowd - and there’s PLENTY of
things to talk about in this world without bringing up subjects that
are potentially embarrassing to the listeners or their children. In
fact, I take this same approach with my stand up comedy.
However, I’ve
also found that the invisible line of what is appropriate actually
changes depending on how listeners think of you. For the first two
years at WQFL I did the same kind of show I do now - but without the
Power Charges. I received a lot of unkind mail from people. A LOT
of it. A lot, a lot, a lot. But once I began adding the Power
Charges to my show prep, the complaints stopped almost entirely, and
almost immediately - like a magic wand had been waved over the
listeners to calm them. My conclusion is that, if you are well
balanced on the air, you can get away with a lot more than you might
think. If I made a joke two years ago about my dad blaming his
gas-passing on invisible animals under his chair, I’d have had
mothers calling in screaming that I was making inappropriate
comments with children in the car. But now I could make that kind
of joke and probably not receive any calls because the listener also
knows where I’m coming from spiritually. They know I’m sincere in
my faith, and I may have a weird sense of humor, but they’re no
longer offended as easily because they know me as a “Christian” -
not just a DJ on the radio. It’s amazing how much grace is given to
you once people know you’re of a like mind with them. I don’t
suggest the gas-passing jokes though... not unless you’re referring
to automobiles. Trust me.
6. Do you
have a way to “test” an idea you have before you go on the air with
it? if so, how?
I wish. But that
also makes the job exciting because in a way, opening that
microphone and trying something new is dangerous. You don’t know
what the reaction will be. It could be a great reaction - it could
be a terrible reaction - it could be no reaction at all. If
something works, run with it. If you get no reaction, drop it and
move on to the next dangerous thing. If you get a bad reaction to
something and people call the show to complain, make sure you record
those calls and get them on the air, because that’s great radio too!
7. Do you
think Christian radio morning shows can grab a piece of the
mainstream morning audience? How?
Ask WCSG in Grand
Rapids. Christian station - but #1 in their market. Wow. That’s
just not possible without grabbing some listeners away from the
mainstream stations.
8. In your
opinion what are the biggest obstacles facing Christian morning
radio today?
Being more
life-relevant, and less ultra-Christian. It’s way too easy to go on
the air and begin the day with a prayer, take prayer requests during
the show, have a daily power verse, a bible trivia question, talk
about the artist’s spiritual walk, blah, blah, blah. It’s cliché to
do those things unless you know for certain WHY you’re doing them.
If it’s just because you’re a Christian station, then stop it. Your
Christian listeners don’t need you to start their day with a prayer
- they can do that on their own. They can also read the bible every
day without you spoon-feeding them a verse every day. We need to
look for ways to be more life-relevant. What are your listeners
interested in? Are they spending money to see EVAN ALMIGHTY? Talk
about it. Are they watching “24” or “Heroes?” You know they are.
Don’t avoid talking about that stuff just because it’s not what you
think of as being on a Christian radio station. Anyone can stick in
a “Bible on CD” in their car radio - you have to give them a reason
to tune in to you instead. What will that reason be?
9. What (if
any) other Christian radio morning shows do you consider as
innovators today?
Unfortunately I
don’t really keep up with other morning shows - I just don’t have
the time to do so. I wish I did, because I love hearing what other
people are doing. It’s inspiring and motivating to me to hear
someone else doing really good radio. It gets the juices flowing for
me. Again - something I’ll be planning to do once I’m able to
concentrate on the morning show again. I’ll be spending a lot of
time at HisAir.Net listening to airchecks to spur me on to improve
the show.
Previous Interviews
|
