When I was a teenage intern at KITS 105.3 FM aka Live 105 in San Francisco, one of the perks was the occasional cramped studio seat to watch the alternative rock station’s morning show DJ Alex Bennett cook on comedy and politics with special guests. He is one of the real Bay Area radio legends.
Before Live 105, Bennett (né Bennett Schwarzmann) interviewed icons like Robin Williams on the seminal “Rock of the ‘80s” station KQAK 98.9 FM aka The Quake (1982-1985), and worked at then-rock station KMEL 106.1 FM (now a hip-hop and R&B format) until KITS launched in 1996.
Several stations before that, Don Cornelius did news for Bennett’s show on Chicago AM radio station 560 WIND. This is all only a whisper of what makes Bennett such a legendary broadcaster here and everywhere.
Looking back in retrospect as I recently interviewed the now-86-year-old SF-born podcaster, who currently lives in New York City, Bennett had an influence on my interest in how comedy and local politics continue to intersect in the funniest ways.
The first “Alex Bennett & Friends: An SF Sketchfest Salute” planned at Cobb’s Comedy Club on January 31 was already sold out when we hopped on a Zoom late last year. However, a second show at 7pm was just added, and tickets are still available as of this writing.
An opening of an imaginary but potent ‘90s time capsule, the SF Sketchfest tributes are set to feature Bennett’s longtime co-host Lori Thompson. Just as they were then, the “Friends” part of the show now are former morning show regulars Will Durst, Larry “Bubbles” Brown (who had the idea to do a Sketchfest tribute), Bud E. Luv, special guest Bobby Slayton, and the likelihood of awesome surprise guests.
Bennett recalls how he felt when Brown brought up the idea.
“I was somewhat reticent in the beginning because it’s been many years,” he admits. “I didn’t know how many people remembered me, and maybe that’s not as big an issue as, hey, I’m going on 86-years-old.
“The comedy thing started when I was at at KMEL,” he continues. “Just one comic came in one day, and I played with him for a while — I think it was Bobby Slayton. I said, ‘Do you have any other friends?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Well, send them over’. Before I knew it, I was up to my ass in comics, and I had discovered a whole new format.”
He has fond memories of how supportive the local comedy scene was when he lived in the Bay Area.
“It was just wonderful! It was a very nurturing experience for a comic in this town. All the comics wished the other comics well, and they helped them out. It was a scene in which you could get up at a place like the Holy City Zoo, do 20 minutes to maybe two people in an audience, and practice your craft.”
Bennett thinks he will structure the 90-minute show similarly to an old Live 105 morning program—perhaps without the traffic reports.
“I’’ll introduce the comics, they’ll do anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. and then we’ll sit around and talk, take questions from the audience and play with each other.”
During his Live 105 tenure, Bennett talked to “everyone who was well known on TV.” One of his favorites was the late Jerry Springer
“Jerry was a wonderful guy,” he says. “I love Jerry. A very smart guy. Very political, by the way. Very left wing political. He had been the mayor of Cincinnati, and he was not a dummy. But he did this show, and it turned into what it turned into, and who is he to turn down the money? He always told me, ‘It’s a crappy little show. I’m not doing any great art there. Jerry was a very smart, very bright guy.”
When he comes to San Francisco, Bennett will be staying with Bud E. Luv, who daylights as a Lyft driver. However, despite this writer’s passionate warnings to avoid, Bennett wants to experience his first Waymo ride, and perhaps take it to Cobb’s Comedy Club.
“I’m taking it as kind of a thrill ride,” he says, “but I want to see the technology work.”
SF SKETCHFEST: ALEX BENNETT & FRIENDS 7pm, Sat/31, Cobbs Comedy Club, SF. More info here
