Thomas Richard Christy (born April 1, 1974) is an American musician, stand-up comedian, actor, and radio personality who has worked on The Howard Stern Show after winning the show's "Get John's Job" contest on July 1, 2004.[1] He is known for his prank calls, song parodies, personality and stunts performed on the radio show.
Christy is also a professional drummer who was a member of metal bands Death and Iced Earth.
Childhood and early music career
Christy was born in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1974 and grew up in the nearby city of Redfield, where the 2000 census calculated a population of 140. His father is a Vietnam veteran.
Christy was inspired to play drums after hearing Alex Van Halen's drumming in the Van Halen song "Hot for Teacher".[2] When Christy turned 10 years old, he began to play drums in the Uniontown, Kansas elementary school band. He played snare drum for a year until his parents bought him a 3-piece Gretsch drum set from an antiques dealer in Arcadia, Kansas. After school, Christy would practice to Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Kiss and Quiet Riot records. One of the first drum beats that he ever learned was the beginning of "Cum On Feel The Noize" by Quiet Riot.
In 1989, Christy joined his first band, Syzygy. Based in Fort Scott, they played cover versions of songs by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Metallica and many others. They frequently played a bar in Fort Scott called the Silver Spur and also put together massive ten keg parties at nearby Elm Creek Lake. In 1990, Christy formed a comedy band in Bung Dizeez with his high school friends Paul Brewer and Gary White. Their songs were light-hearted and reflected Christy’s interest in comedy.
In September 1990, Christy bought a new red wood grain Mapex drum set in Kansas City after saving money. After graduating from high school in 1992, Christy became a fan of the band Public Assassin. That August, the band was needing a drummer, in which Christy contacted and set up an audition at a friend’s house in Bronson, Kansas. The audition was a success, and Christy decided to move to Springfield, Missouri to join Public Assassin alongside guitarist and singer Greg Ponder, guitarist Steve Childers and bassist Joe Morton. After moving to Springfield, with help of Ponder, Christy became an electrician for Branson Electric in October 1992. By 1995, Public Assassin disbanded and Christy and Childers decided to form the band Burning Inside, with local Springfield musicians Jamie Prim and Glenn Hickey. That December, Hickey left and the group recorded their first demo as a three piece. In January 1996, Michael Estes was introduced to Burning Inside by long-time friend Jamie Prim. Soon after their first rehearsal, Richard, they decided Estes was ideal to add to the group. The band also moved to Orlando, Florida that February and played numerous shows in the Orlando and Tampa areas. By March, Christy and Estes joined the band Acheron, where Estes is still a member today.
While living in Florida, Christy resided in a rented storage locker, gained a taste for Papa John's pizza, which remains his favorite to the present, and continued to work as an electrician, working for Phillips Electrical Contracting in Orlando.
Later music career
In July 1997, through the help of friends Rick Renstrom and B.C. Richards, Christy, after a successful audition with Chuck Schuldiner, joined the influential metal band Death. Christy had been a fan since high school, and knew new many of their songs when he auditioned. Christy recorded the drums for the band's seventh and final album The Sound Of Perseverance in 1998. Christy’s first trip to Europe followed on the group's tour, highlighted by a performance at the 1998 Dynamo Open Air Festival, with an attendance of 35,000. By August, Burning Inside signed a record deal with Stilldead Productions in Poland and recorded their first full length album, The Eve of the Entities, released in 2000. Christy would continue to tour with Death throughout the latter half of 1998.
In February 1999, Christy played drums for Schuldiner’s band Control Denied and featured on their album The Fragile Art of Existence.
In January 2000, Christy received a call from his friend Andrew Sample of Century Media Records and Jim Morris from Morrisound Recording saying that band Iced Earth is looking for a drummer. Both mentioned Christy's name to Iced Earth founder Jon Schaffer. Richard was also a big fan, and following a successful audition a month later, Christy joined Iced Earth and Schaffer’s project with Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian and Demons and Wizards. A month later in March, Christy got a call from long-time friends Rob Yench and John McEntee of Incantation, asking him to do United States tour with them in April and May 2000. Christy happily agreed, and today remembers this tour as being one of his favourites, one of the many reasons being the chance to see some of his favourite horror movie sites, including the mall featured in Dawn of the Dead, the house and ghost town from John Carpenter’s Vampires, the lighthouse from John Carpenter’s The Fog and the two houses from the finale of John Carpenter’s masterpiece and Richard’s favorite movie; Halloween.
In June 2000, Christy toured Europe once again with Demons and Wizards, playing mostly festivals with up to 20,000 per show. In August, Christy played his first show with Iced Earth at the Wacken Festival in Germany in front of 30,000 people. In September, Christy played drums Apparition, the second album by Burning Inside. That December, Christy played drums for the second Control Denied album at Morrisound studios in Tampa and one week later recorded the drums for the Iced Earth album Horror Show also at Morrisound studios.
In June 2001 Christy rejoined his friends in Acheron for a short tour of Mexico with Dark Funeral. In October, Christy began touring with Iced Earth in support of their album Horror Show. That December, Christy was devastated to hear that Schuldiner had died. Christy later said to be honoured to have been a close friend and band mate to him remains close friends with Schuldiner’s family to this day.
Christy spent the first half of 2002 touring with Iced Earth in Europe and the United States. Much of the last half was spent writing new material with Burning Inside and doing session work. In April 2003, Christy played drums for the Iced Earth album The Glorious Burden.
In October 2003, Christy played drums for the band Leash Law's debut album. The band features Wade Black, Emo Mowery, Rick Renstrom and Steve Elder.
In more recent years, Christy has played drums for Caninus, and he announced after signing a record deal in May 2009 that he would re-enter the heavy metal scene, forming a new band called "Charred Walls of the Damned".
The Howard Stern Show
Christy first appeared on The Howard Stern Show in October 1999, where Stern would play voice mail messages that Christy had recorded about co-host Robin Quivers. His debut message was featured on the Labor Day Weekend special in 2006. Christy would continue sending in messages, but it was not until April 24, 2003, when the show was broadcast from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where Christy made his debut appearance. Christy played a round of blackjack to win a date with a porn star, which Christy did not win.
In 2004, John Melendez (known as "Stuttering John") left the radio show to become announcer for The Tonight Show. Stern announced a "Get John's Job" contest which pitted a group of ten Stern fans and contributors against each other for the job filling in Melendez's vacated position. Each contestant was given a week to display any talents they could bring to the show, after which the listeners cast votes for their favourite over the Internet. On July 1, Stern announced Christy had won with 30% of the listener vote, with Sal Governale being runner up with 24%, who joined the show by September.[3]
When Stern moved to SIRIUS XM Radio in January 2006, he gave Christy his own show that would air semi-regularly throughout the year. On May 15, 2006, porn star Hillary Scott was the first guest on Inside the Porn Actors Studio on Howard 101, an hour-long program that was a parody of the television series Inside the Actors Studio, with Christy filling the role of James Lipton.
Since 2005, Christy also performs in The Killers of Comedy Tour with fellow Stern cast mates across the United States and Canada.
In 2006, Christy hosted a program on SIRIUS XM channel Hard Attack called "Richard Christy's Heavy Metal Hoedown".
Prank calls
Richard makes many of the show's popular prank calls, often working in conjunction with Sal the Stockbroker. Many of these calls involve using soundclips; however, Richard also calls as characters that he voices. These include:
- "Rusty Rivers" - Rusty often makes perverse sexual comments. He has also talked endlessly about the weather, regardless of what the theme of the show he's calling actually is.
- "Nervous Mark" - Nervous Mark calls in to talk shows, saying he is nervous about being on the air. He can never get his point across because he is always stuttering and stammering. The character's full name is Mark Dell'Stevenson, as indicated during a prank call to Joe Franklin.
- "Rod Stiffington" - Rod is the host of the fictional "Jack 'N' Rod Show," where Sal acts as his co-host, Jack Mayhoffer. On the Jack 'N' Rod Show, unwitting guests debate members of the Wack Pack, talk to soundboards, or are interrupted over and over by various noises (station jingles, drums, etc.). Jack 'N' Rod have also made calls where they entice their victim to participate in demeaning contests in order to win non-existent prizes.
- "Ethel Mertz" and "Norma Stitz" - Ethel is a befuddled grandmother who gets into long winded stories about her grandson and chess.
- "Simon Buckingham" - An English gentleman, originating as a deliberately unconvincing impersonation of Simon Cowell to tease Eric the Midget, who frequently uses phrases such as "tea and crumpets" and "smoking fags."
- "Head Fag at the Playgirl Mansion" - A young man in great interest of Stern staffer KC Armstrong, Christy's earliest character to emerge on the Stern Show through messages left on their voicemail.
Among the most frequent victims of Christy's calls are shows on the public access Manhattan Neighborhood Network.
Notable radio stunts
- On April 6, 2009 It was reported that Richard would perform fellatio on a man if it would mean Seth MacFarlane could come on the show as a guest. Although Richard denied this claim, he reluctantly agreed to Howard's offer that he allow porn star Nick Manning to ejaculate on his back for the chance to meet McFarlane. Later on in the show, Richard asked that Sal be the one to do the stunt instead, to which Howard agreed but Sal did not.[6]
Movie and television career
Christy has said he once dreamed of a movie career after he saw Brad Pitt, from nearby Springfield, Missouri, in the film Interview With A Vampire. He even hung up posters of Pitt in his New York apartment, worked at a computer store owned by Pitt's parents.[7].
Christy made his directorial debut in 1995 with "Evil Ned 3 - The Return of Evil Ned 2 - Electric Boogaloo". The film was a low budget horror-comedy shot for only $250.[8] His next movie, Leaving Grunion County, is about a small town mechanic who ventures to the big-city to pursue his dream of becoming a country-western singer. Recently, he has completed his latest feature, "Majestic Loincloth", which is set in the time of Vikings.
Along with Governale, Christy starred in, co-wrote, and co-directed the 2006 short film Supertwink. Supertwink premiered on Howard Stern On Demand, and was reviewed by Richard Roeper, who panned it.[9] Christy also appeared in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay playing the role of a Ku Klux Klansman.[10]
In July 2007, Richard was cast in his first television role. He will play "really creepy guy at end of bar" on Rescue Me.[11] Richard has also announced that he recorded voiceover work for the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse.[12]
Christy has been attached to the movie Body Farm, a Pittsburgh based film by Bridge City Films set to begin production in November 2008.
Christy and Governale are both characters in the 2009 horror novel, Castaways, written by award-winning horror and crime novelist Brian Keene.[13]
He stars 2009 Caleb in the Redneck Slasher Albino Farm and presented his movie at Fangoria Trinity of Terrors[14].
Discography
In addition to these bands, Christy has performed live shows with Dream Theater,[15] Tiwanaku, Rick Renstrom, Syzygy, Bung Dizee, Incantation, Public Assassin, Wykked Wytch and Demons and Wizards.[citation needed]
References
External links
