Enjoy the many
personalities of Joe Conklin

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes an interview with Philadelphia native Joe Conklin, WIP radio’s great comedian and impersonator.
Now you are probably wondering, when do I listen to Joe Conklin? The answer is simple — on my way to school.
Joe has been doing impersonations since he was 6 years old and professionally since 1985. Joe graduated from Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1979 and then Temple University. He grew up in the Olney section of Philadelphia. Joe Conklin is not his stage name, so pull out all those old yearbooks.
How did he get started?
"It is a talent that I was born with. I just decided I had a responsibility to do something with this wonderful talent. I think it is something that just comes natural," he said. "My interest was in sports, so as I got older my comedy gravitated towards what I was interested in. I was exposed to a lot of sports commentators growing up from watching the games on television."
Joe said he was able to pick up different voices.
"I imitate pretty much everything that I hear, including sounds. Some of them stick and some of them don’t. If I think I have it pretty much close to the voice, then I will pursue it. If it is real far away or pretty difficult, then I back away from it."
Now, anyone who can impersonate more than 200 people is not only bound to attract many fans, but could also ruffle a few feathers of the person being impersonated, so I was curious if anyone ever was annoyed.
"Dick Vermeil got annoyed once, Ray Rhodes used to get annoyed, Andy Reid gets a little bit annoyed at times," Joe said, referring to past and present Eagles head coaches. The good part, however, is that Joe doesn’t let it bother him.
Joe has gotten to know and become friendly with several of the people he impersonates, including Harry Kalas and Bill Campbell, whose impersonations he does fantastically. Other local sports personalities he has perfected include Bobby Clarke and Allen Iverson.
Now Joe demonstrates equal opportunity, as he has created characters that are modeled after family members, including Billy the Helper and Dr. Bob McLaughlin — impersonations of his cousin and uncle. I would watch out when you invite Joe to your annual family barbecue.
Joe feels Harry Kalas is one of his crowd favorites, in addition to Chip Snapper, who is an original character he created from Kensington. He enjoys doing Harry Kalas and Bill Campbell impersonations the most because "you can pretty much do anything in their voice." One person he has a difficult time impersonating is John Madden. However, he heard another impersonator perform his voice and he has improved on this.
Now, I don’t want to give anyone ideas, however, I thought this was funny when Joe mentioned he imitated many of his teachers from grade school and high school. I guess practice makes perfect.
I had a chance to catch up with Joe when he was performing at Mac’s in Somers Point, N.J. The show was hilarious as he imitated Rich Kotite; Spike; John Chaney; Ray Rhodes; Charles Barkley; Allen Iverson; Harry Kalas; Merrill Reese; Mike Quick; Bill Cosby; Arnold Schwarzenegger; Squidly Diddly; Chip Snapper; Jack Nicholson; Marv Albert; Keith Jackson; Andy Reid; Charlie Manuel; Sylvester Stallone; Burgess Meredith; Bill Campbell; John Facenda; Mike Tyson; Regis Philbin; President Bush, Angelo Caltadi and Arlen Specter.
Not only does Joe do amazing voices of humans, he can also impersonate many sounds, including fog horns, car horns, bike horns and English police car sirens.
How can I forget to mention this? Joe can make it appear that you are listening to full three-way conversions at one time. The most amazing thing is that he is as convincing in person as he is on the radio.
Now if you never heard of Joe Conklin and want to laugh until you can’t breathe anymore, you can catch him on the morning show on WIP sports radio. He spends two days a week there, but at other times various tapes of his are played on the air. If it was up to me, I would have him on WIP five days a week! ••
If you are interested in finding more information on Joe Conklin, go to www.joeconklin.com
Columnist William Feldman can be contacted by e-mail at wmkidscolumn@aol.com