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JOE, THE LOVE POTATO - 
                       1 PART LOVE GOD, 3 PARTS COUCH POTATO 

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This bit was inspired by a cassette tape for women marketed as an audio fanatsy date. A supposedly sexy voiced man taking the woman out for a romantic evening. He'd say things like "Why don't we take a walk on the beach?" and  "You look beautiful under the moonlight," things like that. 

Jonathan Brandmeier had been making fun of it on his show in Chicago on WLUP-FM,
and we thought "yeah maybe that's a woman's perfect first date, but what happens on the second date or the third? Six months goes by and now he's moved in, quit his job and all he does is sit around the house watching TV."

The premise was simple. Joe was in complete support of his mate searching for fulfillment in the outside world, as long as he didn't have to raise a finger to help. A guy who found a "loophole" in the women's lib movement to get what he really wants. Joe struck a chord. 

The 80's were a time when more and more women were leaving their homes and joining the workforce, and for many couples Joe was a release valve for issues they were going through. Women felt he made fun of the guys, and guys wanted to be him.

He started on Jonathan Brandmeier's Show and quickly spread to other radio shows across the country and was even heard on The Dr. Demento show. Local celebrities talked about Joe on TV, we'd sell out live gigs with just the mention of his name on WLUP-FM, we sold cassettes of his bits to fans everywhere and people as far away as California were heard in public repeating his catch phrase "Atta girl." 

Joe was performed by Michael Crawford, who graduated with us at The Players Workshop of the Second City and was a founding member of Duck Logic. We all wrote the bits together, but Mike somehow was the embodiment of Joe, physically and more than a little personality-wise. He's no longer with this world but he'll always be an important part of what made Duck Logic funny. Thanks Mike.




Below is just a cross-section of the phenomenon that was Joe. There were way too many to include them all here, but you will find the rare commercial for attorneys Allegretti & Ryan. 

Don't miss "Vacation with Joe" on our Dr. Demento page and watch Joe in "action" in "Breakfast With Joe" on our TV Archives page! Enjoy.