The vastly talented entertainer whom we named the “Funniest Man in Huntington” tackles our 20 questions. This should be interesting …
By Jack Houvouras
HQ 114 | SUMMER 2021
Clint McElroy has been making people laugh in the Tri-State for more than 40 years. The region was first introduced to the funnyman from Ironton, Ohio, on the radio when he teamed up with Steve Hayes in the 1980s on WKEE, and later WRVC. The duo kept the Tri-State in stitches with their morning “Get Up and Go Show” that was one-part music, three-parts comedy sketches. But the audiences didn’t mind. One listener even wrote in and said, “Less music, more McElroy!”
It was during this period that Clint unveiled a veritable parade of on-air characters that spawned countless giggles and guffaws. Some of his biggest stars included Ducky Crabtree, the radio station sanitation engineer; Spud Rimshot, the lovable vagrant and raconteur; Master Sergeant Surly Bottoms, the grizzled old veteran from down at “the Hall”; Coach Redd Ruffinsore, gridiron grouch; Cowboy Carl Carmichael, the last of the Singin’ Cowboys; The Rampaging River Rat, the Tri-State’s only costumed superhero; and dozens more. Clint was an expert at navigating listeners through radio’s age-old “theater of the mind.”
Growing up in Ironton he was always the class clown. But it might surprise some to learn that in high school he also earned membership in the National Honor Society. He would go on to study broadcasting at Marshall.
Jack Cirillo, a performance studies professor at Marshall, has known Clint for more than 23 years and says he possesses a “clear understanding of the entertainer.” He says Clint’s gift for improvisational comedy is the product of “sheer confidence,” not only in his own abilities, but also in his grasp of the comic genius of favorites like Mel Brooks, Lucille Ball, the Marx Brothers and Monty Python.
“Clint has studied and understands comedy,” Cirillo says. “He is very intelligent. In regard to comedy and acting, he is self-taught; he is one of the most creative people I know and is a great collaborator in theater production.”
You see, there’s much more to Clint than his comedic chops. He’s also a director of local theater productions and a gifted actor who has performed live on stages across America including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. He’s a writer, singer, comic book illustrator and former adjunct professor in the Marshall School of Theatre and Dance. Finally, there’s Clint McElroy: devoted family man. And that might be his greatest talent of all.
Many readers may remember that Clint lost his first wife Leslie to cancer in 2005. He and his three sons — Justin, Travis and Griffin — were devastated and struggled to carry on. It was actually his boys who eventually encouraged him to get back in the game of life. That’s when Clint’s second wife Carol entered the picture. Carol, a nurse, was a former classmate of both Clint and Leslie, and the two began dating in 2007. They were married in 2009. This expanded the family to include two stepkids — Abby and T.J. — and a son-in-law, Chris.
Clint retired from radio in 2018 and then teamed up with his three hugely talented sons on a podcast called The Adventure Zone. The role-playing game/podcast loosely based on Dungeons & Dragons became a blockbuster hit and was eventually turned into a graphic novel. Co-authored by Clint, Justin, Travis and Griffin, and illustrated by Carey Pietsch, the book spent three weeks on The New York Times Best Sellers List. Their second and third graphic novels also made the Best Sellers List.
Over the years Clint has received numerous honors and awards including being inducted into the Huntington Wall of Fame and being named “The Funniest Man in Huntington” by this magazine.
Even though he’s technically retired these days, Clint stays busy with his podcasts, writing, acting and more. Nevertheless, we caught up with the Huntington icon and challenged him to answer our 20 questions. He tackled them with his usual charm, verve and good humor.
HQ1: How would close friends describe you?
Those closest to me have used these exact phrases: “Pain-in-the-ass.” “Snores like a backhoe.” “Really needs to get over himself.”
HQ2: What is something few people know about you?
I can jiggle my eyes back and forth very rapidly. It freaks a lot of people out, but I explain that everybody from my home planet can do it.
HQ3: What is your fondest childhood memory?
Sitting on a piano bench singing “That’s Amore” with my mom. There’s nothing cuter than a pudgy 6-year-old belting out, “When your mouth starts to drool just like Pasta Fazool, THAAAAAAAT’S amore!”
HQ4: What is your greatest regret?
I didn’t really have much say in the matter, but I would say not having grandchildren earlier. A lot of my smiles are generated by August, Barbara, Charlie, Cooper, Dorothy, Henry and Lydia. And, yes, that is in alphabetical order, because Grampas can’t play favorites.
HQ5: What is something you could talk about for hours?
Theater. When I was an adjunct professor at Marshall, I got to talk about theater to hundreds of students…and someone gave me MONEY to do it!
HQ6: For the perfect meal, what would be on the menu?
Screaming Yellow Zonkers, a Loose Meat Hamburger from the former Sta-Tan Pool in Ironton and lobster.
HQ7: What movies made you laugh the hardest?
Animal House. My pal Rick Mayne and I laughed so hard we sat through the next showing. I probably owe the Pinellas Park Cinema some money for that.
HQ8: Whom is the one person, past or present, you would most like to meet?
Actor and stand-up comedian Jonathan Winters. He was the funniest human being who ever walked the earth. His act consisted of him opening a box of items and improvising hilarious sketches around them, creating wild characters that were just slightly more normal than he was.
HQ9: What song moves you the most?
The theme from Rudy, by Jerry Goldsmith. Every morning for 25 years, when my alarm went off at 3:30 a.m., the only way I could rouse myself out of bed and face the new day was to have “DAH-duh, duh-DAH-duh, duh-DAH-duh-doh-doh-DAH-DAH” playing in my head.
HQ10: What are three books everyone should read?
When I was 12 years old, I was looking in a dumpster at an apartment complex where we lived (Oh, don’t look at me like that! You’ve looked in a dumpster or two!) and found a grocery sack full of Doc Savage paperbacks. I discovered the total joy of reading a book that no one was making you read. But the three books everyone should read are: The Autobiography of Ben Franklin, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry and the complete set of The Adventure Zone graphic novels by Carey Pietsch and…the names of the other writers escape me.
HQ11: If you had a day off from work, what would you do?
Do a little writing, read comic books, watch British cop shows with my wife and play with my dogs. OH WAIT! I’m retired. That’s what I do now.
HQ12: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
The Highland council area in Scotland. My “people” came from Scotland. I enjoy the show Outlander, and I’m absolutely sure I could find the Loch Ness Monster if somebody would just give me a chance.
HQ13: What irritates you the most?
When people say: “It’s always the last place you look, isn’t it?” Of course it is! Because when you find it, YOU QUIT LOOKING!
HQ14: What scares you the most?
I have to go by decades: In the 1960s it was the Haunted House at Camden Park. Even at age 5, I knew if the thing broke down, I would never get out alive. In the 1970s it was asking someone out on a date. I’m still bad at it, which is fortunate because I know my wife Carol would not approve. In the 1980s it was the 42 hours of labor leading up to the birth of Justin McElroy. In the ’90s it was the book Cujo by Stephen King (I’m still not ready to talk about it). By 2000, it was something happening to my kids. By 2010 it was that the show Lost wasn’t going to end well (discuss among yourselves). And today it’s once again the Haunted House at Camden Park.
HQ15: What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?
The faces of six brides: Leslie McElroy, Carol McElroy, Sydnee McElroy, Teresa McElroy, Rachel McElroy and Abby Kuehne.
HQ16: What talent would you like to possess?
The ability to play ANY musical instrument. I took piano lessons for six years, and I remember overhearing my teacher tell my dad, “Who knows? Maybe you could try singing lessons.”
HQ17: What do you like most about Huntington?
The availability to get involved in the arts, not just as a consumer but as a participant. Do you want to act? Draw? Sing? Dance? Sculpt? Write? There are people in Huntington who will involve you, embrace you and train you.
HQ18: What is your favorite spot in West Virginia?
The stage at the (you choose) Ritter Park Amphitheater, Joan C. Edwards Playhouse, City Hall Auditorium, old Huntington High School or new Huntington High School.
HQ19: What brings you the most joy?
A wise person taught me to “choose joy” by looking for it in everything. I suppose that means you should check my answers for questions 1 through 18. Just not 14. It got a little dark there.
HQ20: How would you like to be remembered?
I’d like people to say, “You know, for a couple of hours that bearded guy with glasses took my mind off my mortgage, my bills and my crummy in-laws. Too bad he snores like a backhoe.”
