Clark Kent has a famous alter ego with the power of flight, superhuman strength and X-ray vision. James Bewley’s alter ego, Dale, simply has a propensity for cheap teal business suits and whiskey in all of its forms.
Cult podcast “Dale Radio” chronicles Dale Seever’s idealistic adventures through life. A live taping of “Dale Radio Live!” featuring Kenny Burrell and the UCLA Jazz Ensemble will be performed at the Hammer Museum Thursday evening, with guests including artist Marc Horowitz and Mary Lou Metzger of the “Lawrence Welk Show.” Daily Bruin’s Phillip Horlings spoke to Bewley about eating pie on the radio and why a live mixologist beats a DJ any day of the week.
Daily Bruin: Tell us how you created Dale. What is he like?
James Bewley: I was a part of a sketch comedy group. This character was developed there as part of a cabaret night. I had a collaborator who would play my wife and we would sing inappropriate duets … talk about the problems of our marriage, etc. She had gone off to nursing school and we weren’t performing as a couple anymore, so I made it that the stage marriage had dissolved and Dale was somebody that was on his own now trying to make a go of it.
Dale is very comfortable talking about his issues onstage. … I try to make it that he isn’t somebody (who) goes negative. Even though things may annoy me, James, he takes those things and tries to find the positive … like subway smells or the Gowanus Canal as being a source of inspiration. … There is more comedy in trying to like something as opposed to disliking something.
DB: How did you decide to pursue the “Dale” character in podcast form?
JB: It was as simple as being able to buy a microphone. The first one I used was a headset … for a Playstation. I realized I could record into my laptop with it. So I poured myself a scotch and I just started talking as this character for a little 20-minute set, and just put it out there.
DB: What different forms of “Dale Radio” have you done over the years?
JB: I do a mix of just Dale, Dale talking to people in their studios and apartments and the live shows. I’ve been doing those since early 2011. I’ve had people that are liquor experts, people that were on SNL, people that are great pie makers in Brooklyn. We’ve had a good mix of Dale eating pie on the radio, which makes a fantastic podcast experience.
DB: Where do you generally perform your live shows?
JB: Most shows I’ve been doing at a place that was a former public bathhouse along the Gowanus Canal called the Brooklyn Lyceum. … It’s a little bit run down, it’s a place that’s emerging as a cultural center … and it seems like a place that Dale would perform. I’m very happy to be there.
DB: The Hammer Museum is a larger venue, but you have a lot of people participating.
JB: Yeah, I’m pretty sure that they don’t really have a solid idea of what’s in for them. I don’t know what their take on this is, but I’m just happy that everyone can be involved ““ including the UCLA Jazz Ensemble and Kenny Burrell. That is mind-blowing that they are going to be playing my theme song. … And my dear friend Daniel is going to be up there, mixing some drinks on stage. Some people have felt that I should have a live DJ, but he’s going to be making drinks. I like to pair each show with a particular scotch, or whiskey, or some sort of enjoyable drink.
DB: What can a UCLA student expect from going to your show?
JB: You are going to see people that are making entertainment possible … in a variety of different ways. Marc Horowitz is doing films and commercial projects, using the Internet to create his work. From a completely different perspective, Mary Lou has been in the game a long time but is still making things happen. And (there’s) me, who is in the mix, somewhere, just trying to be entertaining.
Email Horlings at phorlings@media.ucla.edu.