Wurster calls that fool the listeners

[Pidgeon]

I was listening to the Rock, Rot & Rule call for the first time and I loved that like twenty-five people called in and took it completely seriously.

Are there any others like that?

[Omar]

I was listening to the Rock, Rot & Rule call for the first time and I loved that like twenty-five people called in and took it completely seriously.

Are there any others like that?

I'm not sure how many people truly believed that Zachary Brimstead was a real barbershop singer, but there is some great interaction with callers (duets, recommendation that he hire a voice coach, an actual barbershop guy who had never heard of him, etc.) in the first ZB appearance on 11/28/00.

[Chris L]

There's listener interaction in a lot of the early calls but they stopped after a while as more people caught on.

My favorite might be when that Adrian woman was on with the character who was bitter about Tom snaking that last slice of pizza in high school.

[JonFromMaplewood]

I have to confess...early on, when I was first listening to the Best Show (~2005), but well after I knew of Jon W, I was totally fooled by Pudge's first call.

[Sarah]

I was, too.  When I listened to it again, I was disgusted that I'd made the mistake.  I think I just really, really wanted Pudge to be real.

[gravy boat]

I was, too.  When I listened to it again, I was disgusted that I'd made the mistake.  I think I just really, really wanted Pudge to be real.

One of my favorites (and it may be cheating because the caller was a kid and said he was not sure the other caller was real) is the kid calling up about the rock book and an Aerosmith member calls up to razz him. Classic exchange:

Kid: "Too much cocaine--"

JW: "For you maybe."

On one of the first shows I listened to (2004-is?), I thought one of the two Billy Joel tribute bands calling in was real.

[Jason]

Hmmm, I remember one show when Tom was having some argument with a fellow Consolidated Cardboard employee and some woman called up to mediate, she was on the phone for a long time and totally interacted with Tom and Jon.

I think the Rot, Rock and Rule bit was actually pre-Best Sho, or proto-Best Show. Also a lot of those callers have familiar voices.

[Pidgeon]

Hmmm, I remember one show when Tom was having some argument with a fellow Consolidated Cardboard employee and some woman called up to mediate, she was on the phone for a long time and totally interacted with Tom and Jon.

I think the Rot, Rock and Rule bit was actually pre-Best Sho, or proto-Best Show. Also a lot of those callers have familiar voices.

Yeah, the date on my copy says March 1999.

[Sarah]

Also, when I first started listening to the show, I believed that Tom really did work for Consolidated Cardboard.  I was a little disappointed when I realized that wasn't true.  Glad for his sake, mind you, but sorry that he wasn't just a hard-working cardboard worker who moonlighted as the DJ of this great show I had just discovered.

[samir]

Young person "Mac" eventually came to realize that it was Aerosmith's "Jimmy Crespo" schooling him about rock music, and not the drummer from Supergrass Superdrag Superchunk.

[Paul DePhiladelphia]

There's listener interaction in a lot of the early calls but they stopped after a while as more people caught on.

My favorite might be when that Adrian woman was on with the character who was bitter about Tom snaking that last slice of pizza in high school.

Yes! This one of my favorite moments. The two guys exchanging "I love you man's" and she laughs hysterically.

[James W]

Either my first couple of Best Show's were Wurster-less (unlikely), or I was taken in. (To be fair to my feeble brain, all I knew of the show were the name and "it's good". Took me a few goes to "get it".)

[dave from knoxville]

I was, too.  When I listened to it again, I was disgusted that I'd made the mistake.  I think I just really, really wanted Pudge to be real.

Pudge isn't real? MY BIRTHDAY IS RUINED.

[Paul DePhiladelphia]

Happy Birthday Dave!

It took me a while to recognize Wurster's voice but once I did the jig was up and hilarity cancelled out confusion. I will say though that every Andrew Earles call beside Scag has fooled me. And I always think Matt Walsh gets geniunely angry when he is on.

[eastgrandforks]

The call from Augie at Ye Olde Burger Barn (June 26 2001) has a mix of people wondering if the restaurant
is real, and callers trying to get in on the joke.