(GK: Garrison Keillor, SS: Sue Scott, TK: Tom Keith, TR: Tim Russell)
GK: Our sound effects man Tom Keith is, as you know one of the top sound effects men in the business----
TK: One of???
GK: He does our show and he does "Car Talk" --- he does the laugh track (TK MAGLIOZZI LAUGHTER) ---- and he does "All Things Considered" ---- like if they did a story about tennis (TK VOLLEY), Tom'd do the sound effects so the reporter wouldn't have to leave the office, or a story about transportation needs (TK QUICK TRAFFIC ZOOMS, TRAIN WHISTLE, JET PLANE TAKEOFF), he'd do the sound effects, or if they did a story about health care (TK RESPIRATOR), or gun control (GUNFIRE), or saving the spotted owl (OWL), and on our show of course Tom does all of the dogs (DOG), camels (SFX), elephants (SFX), bison (SFX), cougars (SFX), caribou (SFX), wapiti (SFX), elk (SFX) and of course elands (SFX). And this week the show is in Pasadena because Tom is working on a major motion picture, which we're not allowed to discuss, except that it involves chickens.
TK: That's right.
GK: Spielberg and chickens.
TK: I can't comment on that.
GK: Tom Keith has worked on a lot of films. He worked with the late Sam Peckinpah on "Biker Chicks From Hell" (CHICKEN, MOTORCYCLE REV) and he worked very closely with Ingmar Bergman on the chicken scene in "Wild Strawberries" ---- I don't know if you remember that or not, the chickens looking out the window toward the birch trees and the ruins of the barn and the snow drifted across the rocks of the little island off the coast of Goteborg. The scene took weeks to rehearse.
TR: SWEDISH EXPLANATION
(CHICKENS PACING, CLUCKING)
TR: INTERRUPTING, SWEDISH. INDICATING MORE ANXIETY.
(CHICKENS, MORE JITTERY)
TR: SWEDISH. PRAISING PREVIOUS EFFORT. ASKING FOR MORE DARKNESS.
(CHICKENS, FLURRY OF ANXIETY)
TR: SWEDISH. URGING MORE SIMPLICITY. MORE DARKNESS.
(CHICKENS, VERY QUIET. SPARE CLUCKING)
TR: SWEDISH, PRAISE.
GK: He worked with Bergman, he worked with Kurosawa in that samurai chicken routine in "Rashomon".
TR: JAPANESE EXPLANATION
(CHICKEN KARATE ATTACK, OTHER CHICKEN FLURRY)
GK: And yet Tom regards radio as the greatest challenge of all. To be able to create a picture using only sound. Here's a little work of art by Tom Keith, called "Chicken of the Sea".
CHICKEN WALKING. SURF. CHICKEN. SURF. FOGHORN. CHICKEN WITH DIVING MASK ON. SCUBA. CLUCKING UNDER MASK. SURF LOUDER. CHICKEN DIVES IN. CHICKEN UNDERWATER.
GK: Our sound effects man, Mr. Tom Keith. (PLAYOFF)
(c) 2000 by Garrison Keillor