That Time I Co-Hosted the 700 Club
There is no punch line.
Occasionally, when friends or colleagues play the Six Degrees game, I’ll pull out a fun trivia tidbit. I’m only three degrees away from Mobutu Sese Seko, the former dictator of Zaire. Via none other than Pat Robertson.
It’s good for a chuckle — albeit a nervous one — but it’s true. Many many moons ago (think the 80s), I published a zine. I did this before I’d ever heard of zines, and thought it was just called a publication or perhaps a news magazine. I was an editor. It involved lots of work with paste-up boards and an old daisy-wheel printer, scamming interviews with interesting people, and convincing publishers to send me review copies of books. What a life!
Eventually, the “Awww, kid publishes magazine! How cute!” angle got some publicity and I had about 300 or so subscribers around the country. At its peak, I was asked to co-host an episode of The 700 Club, a Christian talk show hosted by now-infamous Christian televangelist and political personality Pat Robertson. Pat wasn’t there that day (otherwise, I’d only be two degrees from Mr. Seko) but the results are still… curious.
Highlights include me with a scarily fluffy mullet, news clips about Michael Gorbachev’s new vice president, an exquisitely awkward audience-participation segment, and The World’s Most Morbid Interview Ever.
Where are they now? Rachel Saunders, Gabrielle Carmouche, and Sheila Walsh, my erstwhile co-hosts, went on to mixed careers in television, film, and music.
Me? I make web things.
