By Jack Houvouras
HQ 73 | SPRING 2011
A person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed. – Bennet Cerf
I’ve never been a morning person. Instead I’m a confirmed night owl, physically unable to turn in early. Oh, I’ve tried many times over the years to change my ways, but to no avail. I typically hit the hay at 2 a.m. and roll out of bed later than most.
Of course that was not an option when I started this magazine more than 20 years ago. Back then I was logging long hours as I tried to get my fledgling business off the ground. Crawling out of bed at dawn was always a grueling task until one fateful morning when I discovered the Get Up and Go Show on WRVC Radio, starring Clint McElroy and Steve Hayes. The pair was wildly entertaining, but it was McElroy who stole the show — this crazy, quick-witted comedic genius had me in stitches. It was like having the humor of Saturday Night Live in my home every morning. For the first time in my life I actually looked forward to getting up in the morning just so I could see what this McElroy guy was going to do next.
There were so many great characters he embodied, so many spot-on impersonations, so many hilarious skits. Yes, I loved “Ducky Crabtree” and “Spud Rimshot,” but what I reveled in were his more obscure characters.
Before the days of being politically correct, Clint was on the edge with on-air personas like “Richard,” the station’s highly effeminate employee who would drop by the studio from time to time. “Hello-ooo,” he would bellow flamboyantly, marking his arrival. He would then proceed to enlighten the two oafish DJs on such issues as art, culture, fashion and, of course, interior decorating.
Clint named an African-American character “Lyndon Baines Johnson Johnson.” There was nothing racist about the guy, but his name alone slayed me.
At the height of the Elvis sightings across the country years ago, Clint would have “The King” call into the station every week to chat. He would always tell the guys that he was phoning from his home in “the fabulous River View Trailer Park in Ash-Land, Kentucky (you know, like Graceland).”
Every now and then the DJs would telephone a local business that was in the news only to have the call answered by the character “Myron Flaber.” Myron, who worked for Manpower, wasn’t the brightest guy in the world and spoke with a dull, dispirited voice. “Myron? Is that you? What are you doing at the Keith-Albee?” Clint would ask. “Manpower sent me over,” Myron would reply. Somehow Manpower never got upset with Clint’s character. They actually liked Myron and would send Clint suggestions on where they had temps working each week. Only Clint could get away with that.
Of course these are just some of the characters Clint has created over his long career in radio. He’s been doing his brilliant on-air work for nearly three decades now, and he’s never missed a beat.
But there’s so much more to Clint than his radio career. He is an entertaining Jack-of-all-trades whose talents also encompass acting, singing, directing, teaching, writing and illustrating. Audiences from throughout the region have seen his work in local theater. Not just a gifted performer, he also gives back to the young people of the community in numerous ways, including directing Huntington Outdoor Theatre productions as well as years of service with the Musical Arts Guild Children’s Theatre. Recently he began teaching theater at Marshall University. He has had numerous comic books published including Deep and Wyde: Blood is the Harvest, Green Hornet: Dark Tomorrow and King of the USA.
As if that weren’t enough, Clint also remains a devoted family man. He and his wife Leslie raised three equally talented sons before she passed away in 2005 after a long battle with cancer. Despite that terrible loss he has been given a second chance at love with his new wife Carol.
I’ve often said that Clint McElroy has the rare type of talent that could have easily taken him to New York City, where he would have found success on Broadway or on the set of Saturday Night Live. But for numerous reasons he chose to remain in Huntington, and the people of our community are all the richer for it. Last year Clint was inducted into the Greater Huntington Wall of Fame and I was honored to write a letter of recommendation on his behalf. Writing that letter, like writing this column, was easy.
