Since LA was in the low 100’s last week, obviously this song was running through my mind all the time. A good ol’ summer classic! Martha and the Vandellas with“Heatwave!”
Monday the 19th – I’VE BEEN INSULTED…BY DON RICKLES!! – Today was the day that a bunch of friends would be going to “The Tonight Show.” It just worked out that everybody’s free day to attend the taping was today, so I had a total of 10 people going. It’s pretty rare, but the timing worked as such. My friend Bob Bergen (the voice of Porky Pig) was there with some friends from Connecticut, my friends Alex & Monica were there from Nashville, and my friend Chris Malmin, Sara, and Bruce Kulick (who used to play with KISS in the 80’s and 90’s) with his girlfriend Lisa were there to see KISS perform. It was a bit of a scheduling challenge, but we made it! It was a great mix of people backstage at “TTS,” as some were there to see KISS, some were there to see a basketball star from the Miami Heat, and some were there to see the legendary Don Rickles! Though I never wander into the hallway during the taping of the show, I decided I wanted to see Don Rickles in person before he went on stage. He’s a legend and I’ve always loved his comedy. I found out he was backstage ready to go on, and we were still in commercial break. I just wanted to get a glance! When I poked my head into the stage, Mr. Rickles saw me. He smiled, pointed at me and said, “You! Barber!” I realized he was talking about my long hair. I laughed and he smiled broadly. I GOT INSULTED BY DON RICKLES! Not everyone can say that! I’ll never forget that! I immediately called my dad (another huge Rickles fan) and told him I had been insulted. What a badge of honor! The show went really well and was terrific! At the end of the taping the fire alarms in the studio went off because of all of the pyro from the KISS performance. So it was delicious chaos. I wanted to grab my 10 guests and take them to my booth, but there was a surge of people trying to get backstage to see KISS or Rickles or whomever. With all this the fire alarms were still blaring and it was smokey everywhere. I did get a chance to say hi to my pal Eric Singer, the drummer for KISS, in the hallway. After a quick handshake we moved on down the hall. I’ll never forget this day as long as I live! WILD! I finally got my crew back to my booth to show them where I work. As luck would have it one of the writers needed me to record an additional line. So my 10 friends got to see me in action, even though it was just a one-liner. Then we all went to dinner at Jerry’s Famous Deli and had a great meal. What a fantastic day!!
Tuesday the 20th – THE START OF A BUSY WEEK! – I was up bright and early and headed to Studiopolis Burbank to record another episode of “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” This particular episode featured my character quite prominently. It was great to see the old gang again…Eric, James, Colleen, Alex, Rick, Troy and the rest. When we finished I rushed home to walk Sassie. Then sped back to Voicecasters for an audition. When I was done with that I headed over to NBC for the taping of “TTS.” Busy day, but the week was still young. It was bound to get even busier!
Wednesday the 21st – CANADA IN DA HOUSE! – I was up early again and headed to Mai Tai studios to do another TV commercial for Baskin Robbins. When I finished I got over to L.A. Studios for a quick session for AFRTS. Then I headed over to the Office Depot to pick up some supplies for the home office. I stopped back home to meet up with my friends from Canada. They were in town for the “Dark Shadows” convention that was the previous weekend. Don Frid and his family are related to the legendary Jonathan Frid, the vampire Barnabas Collins from the old “Dark Shadows” show. I became friends with Don a few years back at a DS convention in New York. He and his wife Tammy and kids Connor and Breanne were in town to do some tourist stuff. But because of the 16 year old age limit at “TTS” only Don and Tammy were able to go to the taping. So Connor and Breanne stayed at my house with my pal Sara and watched movies. For the first time in a long time, I made a mistake during the intro. The rehearsals had gone really well, but for some reason I had a brain fart during the live taping and accidentally referred to the band METRIC as METRO. Not sure why I did that, but it just happened. I felt like a jerk. Obviously we could re-record it correctly when the taping was over, but I was embarrassed because I know the band actually heard me mispronounce their name and I felt bad. I asked the booker for the music acts to please apologize on my behalf. When it was time to re-record the opening, I apologized to the director Liz who said, “Don’t worry. At least now we know you’re human.” I laughed a bit as she put me at ease. She went on to say, “Just go home and relax and have a vodka.” I told her I didn’t drink but perhaps today would be a good day to start.” The re-record went well and audio engineer Patrick put the new, improved version into the show for the network feed. As I was talking to one of the writers earlier about my embarrassing gaffe, he suggested I hang a sign in my booth that says something like, “This audio booth has gone ___ days without a vocal incident.” I laughed again and felt a little bit better. But I still get mad at myself for goofing up like that. When the taping was over, we all went to Ernie’s Taco House and had authentic Mexican food. We were also joined by my friends Edi and her kids Josh and Emily Grace, my pals Brittney and Georgette. It was a great meal, and very fun time! Whew! What a day!
Thursday the 22nd – IS IT SATURDAY YET??!! – Between all of the visitors and the various VO gigs, I was needing some rest. But it was only Thursday and the weekend was still a few days away. I got to Studiopolis Burbank around noon to record some more voice tracks for upcoming “Bleach” episodes. Then I headed home and got changed for “TTS.” I did the taping and then headed over to the bank, and then It’s a Wrap. I got a couple of great shirts and three pairs of jeans. That night I did some auditions and tried to relax.
Friday the 23rd – NO REST FOR THE WINGERT! – Again, I was up bright and early and headed for Lime Studios in Santa Monica for a session for Bumble Bee tuna. It only took about an hour, and unlike most sessions where the producers are in another town, the producers and writers were at the session! It’s always nice to get the in-person, human touch from time to time. I finished up my part in about an hour and then headed back home. I stopped at the vet’s and got some food for Sassie, and then went home to meet up with the groomer to give Sassie a bath. She looked lovely after her grooming and smelled nice and clean! They had finished early, so I decided to bike to NBC. I hadn’t had time to bike to work earlier in the week because of the busy schedule, but today I had time to do it. I biked over to my chiropractor’s office (it felt GREAT to be back on the bike again!) and then over to NBC. The previous week I couldn’t bike because temps were in the low 100’s, so it was great to have pleasant weather again. I biked home and enjoyed an evening of rest to decompress from the busy week!
Saturday the 24th – AUTOGRAPHS! – My maids came over early to clean and they finished up in good time. I grabbed Sara and we went to the Hollywood Show in Burbank to collect some autographs. Barbara Feldon from “Get Smart” was there and I had lots of stuff for her to sign. I also met Richard Roundtree, best known as Shaft from the movies in the 70’s. What a great guy! It was also great to see Steve Railsback again, particularly since we had just screened “The Stunt Man” on DVD a week ago. Since the attendance at the show was lower than usual, the celebs at the show were happy to chat longer than normal. Steve told me some great “Stunt Man” stories. When we were done we grabbed lunch with my friend Edi and her kids. Then Sara came to my house to do laundry while I grabbed a quick nap. I got up in time to let friends in for movie night. Since some of our usual crew were gone to the San Diego Comic Con, it was a lighter group than usual, but we had a great time screening John Carpenter’s The Thing, and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad on Blu Ray.
Here’s Richard Roundtree (“I’m talkin’ about Shaft! Then we can dig it!) and Sara and myself at the Hollywood Show. What a nice guy!
From one of my favorite movies…”The Stunt Man!” It’s Steve Railsback!
Also legendary in his portrayal of Charlie Manson in “Helter Skelter”
and the astronaut in “Lifeforce” GREAT ACTOR!
SUNDAY the 25th – SUNDAY SNOOZIN’ – As expected, I didn’t get up until 4 in the afternoon! I really needed the sleep so my body just shut down. I got up in time for evening church and the mood was especially festive there. It was great hanging out with everyone. When church was done my friends Chris and Colleen, and their friend Becky, walked over to the Studio Cafe with me, where we met up with my pal Sara. We spent a good couple hours eating and chatting….good friends, good times, good fun. That evening I was going to try to catch a nap, but instead I ran into an old friend of mine on the way home. Come to find out he had been living in my complex for a year! Strange that I hadn’t run into him before now, but I took the opportunity to have him stop over for awhile with the rest of my friends and hang out at Planet Wallywood. I did my auditions and sent them to my agent, did some more stuff around the house and then turned in. I’m hoping the nice weather will hold through the week so I can keep biking to NBC!
And how was YOUR week??!!!
