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The Scarlet & Black

The Scarlet & Black

The Englemen on air

The+bros+in+the+studio.+Photo+by+Tela+Ebersole.
The bros in the studio. Photo by Tela Ebersole.

A new radio show, “Brothers Engleman: An Experience of the Airwaves,” realizes a long-time brotherly dream. Joe Engleman ’14 and Lou Engleman ’17 talked about hosting a radio show when Lou was still in high school. Now they live two floors apart and share a radio show and are members of the same improv comedy group, Infinite Coincidence. Like many radio shows, they play songs and talk about their life, but the theme is based on a unique weekly feature.

“It’s called the ‘grudge of the week.’ We pick out a childhood grudge that we still have against each other and talk about it … settle it once and for all on the air,” Lou explained.

Their music is associated with their memory. Last week, for example, the theme was birthday parties, so songs associated with birthday parties were played.

“What is cool about … this joke grudge being a framing device, is that it gets us talking and we can do music based on that without  … the sappiness and nostalgia,” Joe said.

That is not to say that the Englemen shy away from sentimentality.

“We are thinking about having a Christmas show … to catch up with the old times that [Joe] missed while he was abroad. … to cram everything into one show that covers Halloween, Christmas and Thankgiving,” Lou said. “It’s a holiday special that doesn’t really cover one single holiday.”

As the semester goes on, more serious grudges may begin to come out.

“I try to keep in mind that a lot of things I would personally find funny might be a little too dark for radio,” Lou joked.

The brothers find that comedy on the radio presents a greater challenge than face-to-face with an audience.

“I think if you saw people in front of you, you’d know which jokes were working. Here, you kind of have to guess and hope,” Lou said.

Successful comedy is the top priority for this show.

“We are in it for the laughs,” Joe said.

The bros in the studio. Photo by Tela Ebersole.
The bros in the studio. Photo by Tela Ebersole.
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