Indianapolis Star and News Saturday January 9th, 1999 |
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By Vic Ryckaer
STAFF WRITER Greenwood, Ind. -- Rob Larkin
and Jay Penn are Metro South's own not-ready-for-prime-time players.
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Despite the rough start, club owner Dave Wilson (that's WIBC AM 1070 radio's Dave "The King" Wilson) soon told Penn he was going to host the shows regularly. "I said, ' I need you to go on stage. Get your butt up there and be funny," Wilson said. Penn eventually was funny. He kept performing and got better every night. Larkin followed a similar path. The 25-year-old Washington, Ind., native began as a bouncer in 1997 but pleaded for some mike time. The club manager let him go on stage if he promised to bring a bunch of friends in. "I did really good my first night," Larkin recalled. "The next three months were pretty bad." Wilson saw some talent and, maybe as a way to stop Larkin's incessant begging, he let him host, too. "A lot of comedians say, 'I'm in it to make people laugh. I just want to be famous.'" Larkin said. "There's nothing cooler than standing up on stage making people laugh." Larkin lives in Greenwood and by day works for a computer consulting firm that contracts with the Indiana State Department of Health. He had a brush with fame when he starred in a commercial for Hoosier Park. He played a crazy shirtless football fan painted blue and white from the waist up. The theme was, don't pay a bunch of money to sit next to this guy when there is a more civilized sport at the horse track. Penn had his own brush with fame. "I was on The Tonight Show," Penn Said. "You can see my back. I was sitting up front. |