December 8, 2025 • 21 mins
For the final regular podcast of 2025, I am thrilled to welcome back my friend, eight-time Emmy-winning media personality Michael Mackie, to The Jake’s Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast!
Michael Mackie is a proud Midwesterner. Growing up, he always knew he wanted to be in TV. Or on TV. Or watching TV. (He’s not picky.) “I even got my degree in broadcasting from the University of Iowa to prove to the world I was not only educated but well-versed in sitcoms, game shows, and Oprah,” he says. “Also, I got minors in French and acting as well. Someday, that will enable me to write, produce, direct, and star in a straight-to-video project in Quebec.”
Not only is Michael an Aries with a Pisces rising, but he’s also an eight-time Emmy award winner. He’s worked and freelanced for various local television affiliates in Des Moines, Orlando, and Kansas City, and was the co-host of a local daily entertainment show, KC Live. A prolific travel writer by trade, Michael recently joined the prestigious Society of American Travel Writers. “My parents never could comprehend how I earned my keep stringing words together for the universe to appreciate,” he says. “Frankly, that makes three of us. But I feel like it’s what I was put on this earth to do. I was born to tell people’s stories. Whether you read it—welp, that’s up to you.”
Recently, Michael Mackie released his new book, You Have 4 Minutes: My Life as an Unlikely Celebrity Interviewer. The book, which includes an introduction by Cindy Wilson of the B-52’s, explains why actress Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman) was one of his favorite interview subjects, and why Andrew Dice Clay was his worst interview. You Have 4 Minutes explores the art of interviewing, dishes a bit of gossip about the stars, and dives deep into his navigation throughout his life’s biggest challenges – suffering a major stroke at age 40, the beast that is alcoholism, and a year without all refined sugar.
On this episode of The Jake’s Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Michael Mackie spoke about his writing process, some of his most memorable entries, including telling Marie Osmond, “Perky! Boobies Up,” and Jennifer Holliday’s presence on the defunct Kansas City Live set, and having Cindy Wilson write the book’s introduction.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jake-s-take-with-jacob-elyachar--4112003/support.
Michael Mackie is a proud Midwesterner. Growing up, he always knew he wanted to be in TV. Or on TV. Or watching TV. (He’s not picky.) “I even got my degree in broadcasting from the University of Iowa to prove to the world I was not only educated but well-versed in sitcoms, game shows, and Oprah,” he says. “Also, I got minors in French and acting as well. Someday, that will enable me to write, produce, direct, and star in a straight-to-video project in Quebec.”
Not only is Michael an Aries with a Pisces rising, but he’s also an eight-time Emmy award winner. He’s worked and freelanced for various local television affiliates in Des Moines, Orlando, and Kansas City, and was the co-host of a local daily entertainment show, KC Live. A prolific travel writer by trade, Michael recently joined the prestigious Society of American Travel Writers. “My parents never could comprehend how I earned my keep stringing words together for the universe to appreciate,” he says. “Frankly, that makes three of us. But I feel like it’s what I was put on this earth to do. I was born to tell people’s stories. Whether you read it—welp, that’s up to you.”
Recently, Michael Mackie released his new book, You Have 4 Minutes: My Life as an Unlikely Celebrity Interviewer. The book, which includes an introduction by Cindy Wilson of the B-52’s, explains why actress Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman) was one of his favorite interview subjects, and why Andrew Dice Clay was his worst interview. You Have 4 Minutes explores the art of interviewing, dishes a bit of gossip about the stars, and dives deep into his navigation throughout his life’s biggest challenges – suffering a major stroke at age 40, the beast that is alcoholism, and a year without all refined sugar.
On this episode of The Jake’s Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Michael Mackie spoke about his writing process, some of his most memorable entries, including telling Marie Osmond, “Perky! Boobies Up,” and Jennifer Holliday’s presence on the defunct Kansas City Live set, and having Cindy Wilson write the book’s introduction.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jake-s-take-with-jacob-elyachar--4112003/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Hello everybody, and welcome to the last interview of twenty
twenty five, the Jake Sake with Jacob elash Our podcast.
I'm your host, Jacob Elacher, chief controvers writer, and we
got a lot to get ground to cover.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So I'm so honored welcome back one of my all
time favorite guests.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
He is an eight time winning you Emmy winning journalist
and Commas and the author of this incredible book.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
You have four minutes my life as an unlikely celebrity interviewer.
Please give it up, poor mister Michael.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Hello, good to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Michael.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
It's such a pleasure to have you here on the
FOT To be the last guests of twenty twenty five,
that's a lot.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Of pressure, Jacob, and I know the hey Yaia.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
If there's only one person that can do it, it's you.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Oh you're sweet. I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Alrnie, So it has I know you have grown a
lot since the last time you spoke.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
So what how have you grown as a interviewer and
a writer.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Well, let's see.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
You know, this book has been a work in progress
for literally the last five years. So when it finally
got released in September of this year. I felt like,
I'm not even kidding, I felt like I gave birth.
I think that thing had been jest dating for five years.
So it's nice to finally see it in people's hands.
(01:48):
It's nice to finally see it out in the wild.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
And how have I grown?
Speaker 4 (01:54):
I just I think my getting this book out there
has really opened up a lot of doors.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
It's really gotten me a lot more interview opportunities.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
That's for sures, Because you know, I was a pretty
I was a pretty robust celebrity entertainment reporter before.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
But now I got a book under my belt, so yay,
go me, ye tell you? Is right.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
So we got a lot of ground covering such a
little time, however we got I got to talk about
some of these entries. So let's start with Miss Joke,
the legendary Joe Anne Worley and she popped your cherry.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Jane really was the very first celebrity that I ever
interviewed out of the gate, and it was only literal
literally by happenstance. I was working at a TV station
in Des Moines and at the at the news in
the newsroom that I was working at, none of the
other reporters wanted anything to do with entertainment.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
They were all about crime and politics. You know, it
was the nineties.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
If it bleeds, it leads, And so I remember the
very sweaty assignment editor being like, uh, oh, my gosh,
there's a already coming in over the lunch hower. I
totally forgot about it. Who wants it? And it was
like cockroaches when you turn the lights on. Reporters scattered
out of the newsroom and that left me and I
(03:11):
wasn't even a reporter at the time. I would think
I was doing promotion or something, and I was like, well,
I'll do it, and he.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Was like, well, good, go get ready, she's almost here.
Well she was already here.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
She was already in the news she was already like
getting ready in the bathroom.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
And so by in the three minutes.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
That the videographer had to set up, which was hilarious,
it was literally the set looked like between two ferns.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
I'm not even kidding.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Suddenly Joanne really magically appeared out of the ether. I
think she repelled down from the ceiling because suddenly she
was standing right in front of me and I I
had no where, I had no warning who the interview
subject was what we were talking about and Jacob it
was awful. It was the It was literally Joan Worley
was so patient because I was an idiot. And then
(03:59):
the next week, oddly Sherman Hemsley from The Jeffersons showed up,
and then the week after that was Dennis Weaver. So
my career was literally they were like, just get Mackie.
He'll do it because none of the other reporters wanted
to do it. So that young man is my foray
into entertainment reporting with a bunch of B and C
list TV stars from yesteryear.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Speaking of Yesteryear, but an icon, I don't believe he.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Had dacity to say perky boobies up Marie to Marie osbend.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Well. Okay, so Marie, Donnie and Marie were on a tour,
a nationwide tour to promote their like short lived talk
show back in I think.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It was the nineties, I believe late nineties ninety.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Nine, and I had been at this TV station KMBC
in it here in Kansas City for like ten minutes
before my Boston formula. They were coming in and spending
an entire day to promote their show. And I was
going to be their handler. Okay, great, I don't I
don't know anything about being handler to Donnie and or Marie.
(05:08):
But it was really funny because they spent the whole
day there and I was attached to them like glue.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
And at the very end of the day, they.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Were shooting these promos, you know, like watch Donny and
Marie weekdays at three here on k ANDBC nine News
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
And we'd gotten all set up.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
And they were going through the motions, and for whatever reason,
Marie you could tell she was on fumes. She started
like just slumping in her chair and it was noticeable.
I mean, you could just tell she was tired and whatever.
And so I kept hearing in my ear, Mackie, get
her just set up straight, get her to set up straight.
(05:47):
So I just did what Mackie does, and I yelled
across the room. I was like, Murray, Perky, Booby's up.
And let's just say smiled, Perky sat up. Booby's up, Donnie,
and they went right on and did their thing. Apparently,
though behind the scenes, I had created a rift in
(06:10):
the time space continuum because I had said Perky, Booby's
up to Marie Osman.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
She didn't care. But I can't believe.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
I think that was my third day on the job,
and my third day on the job was almost my last.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Day on the job. I got in so much trouble
for saying that.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Oops, oops is right, Oops is right. But we also
had some very interesting moments.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
As well off camera when he had dinner with Jay Butler.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Uh yeah, So Jake Cutler had just competed in his
first Mister Olympia, the bodybuilding competition, and he was runner up.
He had not won yet, and he was a spokesperson
for one of my clients. And again, because my life
works in mysterious ways, literally, the ad agency was like, hey,
(07:03):
you are responsible for Jake Cutler from the minute his
plane lands to the minute his plane takes off. Okay, great,
I'm here for it. Well, Jay was training for the
next year's Mister Olympia, and so he was eating like
fourteen times a day. I'm not even kidding. He was
eating and working out. If we weren't on set, he
(07:24):
was eating and or working out, and or sometimes eating
while working out.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Anyway, it was my birthday and I said, Hey, I'm
gonna drop you off at the gym. And then I've
got you a car service to take you back to
the hotel. He was like, well, what are you doing?
Were you why aren't we doing dinner? I said, oh, well,
it's my birthday tonight. He was like, well, okay.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
First of all, Jake Cutler sounds like he sounds like
someone who has potatoes in his mouth. So he was like,
while we're mugging out with dinner, owl, I would like
to go off with dinner. I'm not good enough to
go out to dinner with you. And I was like, well, sure,
I didn't tell any of my friends. I just had
(08:12):
the car service drop him off at the restaurant.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
That we were eating at.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Let me tell you, mouths didn't just hit the floor.
They went into the sub basement when Jake Cutler walked in,
sat down and proceeded to eat dinner with me and six.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Of my closest gay friends. So that's my birthday story
with Jake Color.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
And he could not have been nicer or more accommodating.
And I think I counted. I think he ate something
like twenty two.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Chicken breasts at dinner that night. It was odd.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
It was impressive, And by impressive I mean appalling, but
when you're you know, mister Olympia, you gotta you gotta,
you gotta eat alrighty.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
One of the important things that you were a part
of was Kansas City Live. Of all the cant see
Live sort of that could get to a lot of them,
only they were all. The top three in my opinion,
were when you saved Jimmy Walker's life, when Miss Jennifer
Holidays showed up, and then of course the infamous E. J.
Millers Shenanigans.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Jimmy Walker forgot his h he's a diabetic, and he
forgot his insulin case in the green room, and I
didn't find out about it.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
I went into the green room.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
I never go into the green room after the show,
but for some reason I went in there and there
was sitting on the couch and then I was like,
oh my god, Jimmy Walker is going to die. Not
to be dramatic, but I started calling around. Okay, first
of all, it took a swat team. It took literally
a whole entire seal team to get that back to him.
(09:46):
I do not know why getting an insolent case back
to Jimmy Walker took such effort and energy, but it,
did you know what? I got it back to him
four hours later, and he's still and he is still
alive to this day, probably thanks to me.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Jennifer Holliday was a diva.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
I loved at there about an hour before the show.
Most celebrities breathe in like five minutes before the show starts.
She got there an hour beforehand, and she was perfectly quaffed.
Her hair was perfect, her makeup as perfect, her dress
she had these like six inch stiletto high heels on,
and she.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Just kind of I do not know.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
It was like we left the gate open and Jennifer
Holiday just meandered all the way through the TV station
from the basement to the production area, to the green room,
out to the lobby, into the newsroom upstairs to sales.
I mean it was literally like Jennifer Holliday was touring,
(10:48):
giving herself a one woman tour of the TV station.
And then she was a great interview on top of it.
And then TJ Miller, What an ass had he was?
He wasn't my interview, but he's kind of a shock
jock version of an interview subject, and so he was
just awful.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
He was. He almost made my co host cry just
because he was so mean and.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Mean spirited and just and took a We had a
segment on beforehand about pancakes, like a chef was making pancakes,
and he grabbed a bunch of pancakes in the middle
of the interview, put them all over his hand, and
then dumped a bunch of syrup on while he was talking.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
It was just gross. TJ. Miller, You're the worst.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, alrighty now, I guys say
this the biggest challenge Franken biting Jimmy Fallon.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Jimmy Fallon.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Is the world's best interview were but when I was interviewing,
when he's the the subject of an interview and he's
the interview, we Jimmy Fallon is like add adhd add
his squirrel squirrel, some shining something shiny squirrel. And so
(12:02):
during our interview, which was I think maybe about ten
minutes long, which is an eternity, he went off on
so many tangents that he would not even finish one
thought before he would go on to something else, and
so congruently the interview really didn't make sense because he
was so like, you know, squirrel, squirrel something shiny squirrel,
something shiny, And so basically I just had to sort
(12:27):
of converge stories. And we call that Franken biting, for
like Frankenstein, when you put a bunch of sound bites
together and just cut so it makes it sound like
it's of some sort of semblance. And that Jimmy Fallon
just rambling incoherently, which is really kind of how the
interview went.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Bless awesome.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
The last and very important part of the book I
really loved was a nine to one to one sliding scale.
It was very interesting and can you tell the audience
preview that with my audience.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
So my nine one one sliding scale. I have a friend, my.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Best tiet, Eric is notorious for.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Not using his phone for its intended purpose, which is
to call people, or to receive calls, or to call
people back, or to even call people just in general.
And sometimes I need to get a hold of Eric,
and he would always be remiss in returning my phone calls.
And so finally I said, listen, what if there's an
(13:29):
emergency and I absolutely positively.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Have to get a hold of you.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
He was like, well, then text, Like if it's an emergency,
just text nine to one one, and I'll call you
right back.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
And I was like, well, what if it's not an emergency.
He's like, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Let's we'll create a scale, and so we created the
nine to one one sliding scale. Like one one one
is the equivalent of you have to call me back
within forty eight hours.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
You know, I have a hangnail. It may or may
not be infected.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
I want to talk about it all the way up
to nine one one, which is death or imminent death,
Like eight one one would be seven to one one
would be a broken bone. Eight one one would be
a compound fracture, like the bone is now sticking out
of the skin. Like there's a whole sliding scale, a
nine one one sliding scale. And I share that with
(14:19):
readers because it's important. And now you know, Jacob that
if you need to get a hold of me, and
it's important to text me. But anything over a sixty
one one gets my spidy senses tingling. So don't cry wolf,
it better be serious.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
I will and I will remember that.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Speaking of remembering, probably one of the biggest names that
played a big role in this book is the legendary
Cindy Wilson.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Of the b fifty twos. So what did it mean
to have her right? And the forward of this book.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
She did I once I got the you can see
that forward by Cindy Wilson.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
So I've been a sta of the Bee fifty twos
for literally one hundred and fifty thousand years.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
I can tell you exactly where I was and what
I was wearing when I saw the Bee fifty twos
on MTV for the very first time back in nineteen
eighty three. It was legal, the song was legal, tender,
and it was as if time stopped.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I just was like I had been obsessed with them
ever since.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
And in nineteen eighty three or right then and there,
when that video came out, I vowed that someday I
would be friends with them.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I didn't know how at the time, I didn't know
where or when or why, but I knew that I
was going to be friends with the Bee fifty twos.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
And sure enough, over the years, I have sort of
ingratiated myself as a stand and I wouldn't say we're friends,
but I would say we're chummy. We're I'm chummy with
Fred and Kate and Cindy. And so when my publisher
challenged me to find a celebrity to write my forward.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I was like, oh, I'm gonna have.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Cindy Wilson do it? Okay, well easier said Easier said
than done. Just because I want something doesn't mean that
it's gonna happen. So fortunately I sort of knew her.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Publicist, which ps also happens to be your husband.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
So I I'm part of the B fifty two fan club,
like I do some of the behind the scenes stuff
for the fan club, and so I reached out to
the fan club president and said, you know, I've never
asked you for one thing in five years of working
for the B fifty Two's like behind the scenes, I've
(16:35):
never asked for one thing.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Can you make this happen? And you know what? She
her name is Liezel. She put the wheels in motion.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Cindy said yes. Cindy's also said I'm never gonna make
your deadline, and I said, that's fine.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Here's your drop dead deadline.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
It was like six weeks later, and the publisher was like,
we need it, you know, by that six week date.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And she got it.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
And I'm not kidding that night that it was due
at nine o'clock on a Sunday night, and I got
it and I read it, and I bald because it
is Chef's Kiss. It is so nicely written. And dare
I say, Cindy Wilson is now a stan of mine.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
I just did an interview with her.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
It comes out next, it comes out then we'll it'll
be out in the pitch, the Pitch Kansas City, So
you should be able to read that by the time
this interview comes out. And yeah, I got to see
her when I was in Detroit when they were touring
with Devo, and I handed her a book and I'll
try and find it while we're talking. But I got
a picture and an autograph.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Oh nice, nice, And I got to say this, this
book was one of my favorite spoilerwert guys. This book
is one of my favorite books of twenty twenty five.
And I mean it. It's funny, it's amazing, it's witty.
I can immediately transfer myself over there that However, Michael,
why shouldn't my audience read your.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
You know, I put a lot of heart and soul
into it. They are bite sized chapters.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
This is the perfect quintessential celeb centric book that you
can read.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
It's first of all, it's hilarious. I know you laughed
your ass off, Jacob. I know you did.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
For facts, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
It's an easy read if you don't read. There are
plenty of celebrity pictures. Here's I don't know if you
can see that because of the glare, but there's.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Me and Cindy that was adorable.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
There it is, there, it is now there's a glare.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
So there's me and Cindy and that was backstage at
their concert in Detroit.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
But more than.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Anything, people are like, well, what if I don't like
pop culture. Well, it's a little bit more than that.
It's about how I don't know if your viewers know this,
but I survived a stroke fifteen years ago and I
came out on the other side of it.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
I'm also proud to Sam and recovery.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
I'm going on ten years of being in long term
recovery from alcoholism and it's just it's just a really
heart felt book that I put my I put my
all into and Jacob, now one word in that book
was written using AI.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
It's all Michael Mackey all the time.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Proud of you, my friend. I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
And where can my audience get this amazing book and
connect with you on social media?
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Well, I am M t ESQ. That's M two esquire
for those of you in the back. You can find
me on all the social handles M to esq. My
website is obviously Michael McKie dot com. And the book's
funny that you should ask hold on because my publisher
(19:51):
literally just emailed me today. Starting today, so by the
time this comes out, your book will be at Unique
find Gifts in downtown, over the and Park. I am
also at all the maid and k c's, especially the
one on the Plaza. I'll be doing some book signings there.
I met a place called the Raven. Oh, and this
is fun.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I am at two of the bookstores at the.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Kansas City International Airport, So on your way out of town,
if you need an easy pz lemon squeeze read, you
can swing by and grab. You have four minutes, and
I'll have autographed copies at kCi through the holidays.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Wonderful, wonderful guys. And also social media as well. He's
Michael's a great one.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
I do love me some Twitter. I love me some Twitter,
I love me some Facebook. So yeah, Michael mackey dot
com on Facebook and then M two s ESQ M
two e s Q everywhere else.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
All righty guys, if you missed an episode of the
Jake Stak with Jacob Elizer podcast, is there our channels
on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Spreaker
Jake Stak with j jc b e O y A
C H g R.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Now are you on some I'm on.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Social to me to Facebook, Instagram, threads, Twitter and YouTube
Jacob Alia Chuck jc b EO by adhj R. And
if you want to watch my original interview with Michael Mackie,
visit Jake sashake dot com skin jakesash check dot com.
And also, I gotta say this a shout out to
the American Business Awards for awarding me the Silver CV
for Best Interview Talk Show of twenty twenty five. Michael,
(21:21):
thank you so much for ending twenty twenty five. I
hope to catch up with you in twenty twenty six
in time for the brand's fifteenth anniversary celebration.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Sounds good friend, Happy holidays.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Alrighty guys, thank you so much for watching, Thank you
so much for listening. Until next time, have a great one.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Good bye,
Hello everybody, and welcome to the last interview of twenty
twenty five, the Jake Sake with Jacob elash Our podcast.
I'm your host, Jacob Elacher, chief controvers writer, and we
got a lot to get ground to cover.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So I'm so honored welcome back one of my all
time favorite guests.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
He is an eight time winning you Emmy winning journalist
and Commas and the author of this incredible book.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
You have four minutes my life as an unlikely celebrity interviewer.
Please give it up, poor mister Michael.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Hello, good to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Michael.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
It's such a pleasure to have you here on the
FOT To be the last guests of twenty twenty five,
that's a lot.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Of pressure, Jacob, and I know the hey Yaia.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
If there's only one person that can do it, it's you.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Oh you're sweet. I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Alrnie, So it has I know you have grown a
lot since the last time you spoke.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
So what how have you grown as a interviewer and
a writer.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Well, let's see.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
You know, this book has been a work in progress
for literally the last five years. So when it finally
got released in September of this year. I felt like,
I'm not even kidding, I felt like I gave birth.
I think that thing had been jest dating for five years.
So it's nice to finally see it in people's hands.
(01:48):
It's nice to finally see it out in the wild.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
And how have I grown?
Speaker 4 (01:54):
I just I think my getting this book out there
has really opened up a lot of doors.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
It's really gotten me a lot more interview opportunities.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
That's for sures, Because you know, I was a pretty
I was a pretty robust celebrity entertainment reporter before.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
But now I got a book under my belt, so yay,
go me, ye tell you? Is right.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
So we got a lot of ground covering such a
little time, however we got I got to talk about
some of these entries. So let's start with Miss Joke,
the legendary Joe Anne Worley and she popped your cherry.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Jane really was the very first celebrity that I ever
interviewed out of the gate, and it was only literal
literally by happenstance. I was working at a TV station
in Des Moines and at the at the news in
the newsroom that I was working at, none of the
other reporters wanted anything to do with entertainment.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
They were all about crime and politics. You know, it
was the nineties.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
If it bleeds, it leads, And so I remember the
very sweaty assignment editor being like, uh, oh, my gosh,
there's a already coming in over the lunch hower. I
totally forgot about it. Who wants it? And it was
like cockroaches when you turn the lights on. Reporters scattered
out of the newsroom and that left me and I
(03:11):
wasn't even a reporter at the time. I would think
I was doing promotion or something, and I was like, well,
I'll do it, and he.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Was like, well, good, go get ready, she's almost here.
Well she was already here.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
She was already in the news she was already like
getting ready in the bathroom.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
And so by in the three minutes.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
That the videographer had to set up, which was hilarious,
it was literally the set looked like between two ferns.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
I'm not even kidding.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Suddenly Joanne really magically appeared out of the ether. I
think she repelled down from the ceiling because suddenly she
was standing right in front of me and I I
had no where, I had no warning who the interview
subject was what we were talking about and Jacob it
was awful. It was the It was literally Joan Worley
was so patient because I was an idiot. And then
(03:59):
the next week, oddly Sherman Hemsley from The Jeffersons showed up,
and then the week after that was Dennis Weaver. So
my career was literally they were like, just get Mackie.
He'll do it because none of the other reporters wanted
to do it. So that young man is my foray
into entertainment reporting with a bunch of B and C
list TV stars from yesteryear.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Speaking of Yesteryear, but an icon, I don't believe he.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Had dacity to say perky boobies up Marie to Marie osbend.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Well. Okay, so Marie, Donnie and Marie were on a tour,
a nationwide tour to promote their like short lived talk
show back in I think.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It was the nineties, I believe late nineties ninety.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Nine, and I had been at this TV station KMBC
in it here in Kansas City for like ten minutes
before my Boston formula. They were coming in and spending
an entire day to promote their show. And I was
going to be their handler. Okay, great, I don't I
don't know anything about being handler to Donnie and or Marie.
(05:08):
But it was really funny because they spent the whole
day there and I was attached to them like glue.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
And at the very end of the day, they.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Were shooting these promos, you know, like watch Donny and
Marie weekdays at three here on k ANDBC nine News
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
And we'd gotten all set up.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
And they were going through the motions, and for whatever reason,
Marie you could tell she was on fumes. She started
like just slumping in her chair and it was noticeable.
I mean, you could just tell she was tired and whatever.
And so I kept hearing in my ear, Mackie, get
her just set up straight, get her to set up straight.
(05:47):
So I just did what Mackie does, and I yelled
across the room. I was like, Murray, Perky, Booby's up.
And let's just say smiled, Perky sat up. Booby's up, Donnie,
and they went right on and did their thing. Apparently,
though behind the scenes, I had created a rift in
(06:10):
the time space continuum because I had said Perky, Booby's
up to Marie Osman.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
She didn't care. But I can't believe.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
I think that was my third day on the job,
and my third day on the job was almost my last.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Day on the job. I got in so much trouble
for saying that.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Oops, oops is right, Oops is right. But we also
had some very interesting moments.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
As well off camera when he had dinner with Jay Butler.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Uh yeah, So Jake Cutler had just competed in his
first Mister Olympia, the bodybuilding competition, and he was runner up.
He had not won yet, and he was a spokesperson
for one of my clients. And again, because my life
works in mysterious ways, literally, the ad agency was like, hey,
(07:03):
you are responsible for Jake Cutler from the minute his
plane lands to the minute his plane takes off. Okay, great,
I'm here for it. Well, Jay was training for the
next year's Mister Olympia, and so he was eating like
fourteen times a day. I'm not even kidding. He was
eating and working out. If we weren't on set, he
(07:24):
was eating and or working out, and or sometimes eating
while working out.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Anyway, it was my birthday and I said, Hey, I'm
gonna drop you off at the gym. And then I've
got you a car service to take you back to
the hotel. He was like, well, what are you doing?
Were you why aren't we doing dinner? I said, oh, well,
it's my birthday tonight. He was like, well, okay.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
First of all, Jake Cutler sounds like he sounds like
someone who has potatoes in his mouth. So he was like,
while we're mugging out with dinner, owl, I would like
to go off with dinner. I'm not good enough to
go out to dinner with you. And I was like, well, sure,
I didn't tell any of my friends. I just had
(08:12):
the car service drop him off at the restaurant.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
That we were eating at.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Let me tell you, mouths didn't just hit the floor.
They went into the sub basement when Jake Cutler walked in,
sat down and proceeded to eat dinner with me and six.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Of my closest gay friends. So that's my birthday story
with Jake Color.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
And he could not have been nicer or more accommodating.
And I think I counted. I think he ate something
like twenty two.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Chicken breasts at dinner that night. It was odd.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
It was impressive, And by impressive I mean appalling, but
when you're you know, mister Olympia, you gotta you gotta,
you gotta eat alrighty.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
One of the important things that you were a part
of was Kansas City Live. Of all the cant see
Live sort of that could get to a lot of them,
only they were all. The top three in my opinion,
were when you saved Jimmy Walker's life, when Miss Jennifer
Holidays showed up, and then of course the infamous E. J.
Millers Shenanigans.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Jimmy Walker forgot his h he's a diabetic, and he
forgot his insulin case in the green room, and I
didn't find out about it.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
I went into the green room.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
I never go into the green room after the show,
but for some reason I went in there and there
was sitting on the couch and then I was like,
oh my god, Jimmy Walker is going to die. Not
to be dramatic, but I started calling around. Okay, first
of all, it took a swat team. It took literally
a whole entire seal team to get that back to him.
(09:46):
I do not know why getting an insolent case back
to Jimmy Walker took such effort and energy, but it,
did you know what? I got it back to him
four hours later, and he's still and he is still
alive to this day, probably thanks to me.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Jennifer Holliday was a diva.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
I loved at there about an hour before the show.
Most celebrities breathe in like five minutes before the show starts.
She got there an hour beforehand, and she was perfectly quaffed.
Her hair was perfect, her makeup as perfect, her dress
she had these like six inch stiletto high heels on,
and she.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Just kind of I do not know.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
It was like we left the gate open and Jennifer
Holiday just meandered all the way through the TV station
from the basement to the production area, to the green room,
out to the lobby, into the newsroom upstairs to sales.
I mean it was literally like Jennifer Holliday was touring,
(10:48):
giving herself a one woman tour of the TV station.
And then she was a great interview on top of it.
And then TJ Miller, What an ass had he was?
He wasn't my interview, but he's kind of a shock
jock version of an interview subject, and so he was
just awful.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
He was. He almost made my co host cry just
because he was so mean and.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Mean spirited and just and took a We had a
segment on beforehand about pancakes, like a chef was making pancakes,
and he grabbed a bunch of pancakes in the middle
of the interview, put them all over his hand, and
then dumped a bunch of syrup on while he was talking.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
It was just gross. TJ. Miller, You're the worst.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, alrighty now, I guys say
this the biggest challenge Franken biting Jimmy Fallon.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Jimmy Fallon.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Is the world's best interview were but when I was interviewing,
when he's the the subject of an interview and he's
the interview, we Jimmy Fallon is like add adhd add
his squirrel squirrel, some shining something shiny squirrel. And so
(12:02):
during our interview, which was I think maybe about ten
minutes long, which is an eternity, he went off on
so many tangents that he would not even finish one
thought before he would go on to something else, and
so congruently the interview really didn't make sense because he
was so like, you know, squirrel, squirrel something shiny squirrel,
something shiny, And so basically I just had to sort
(12:27):
of converge stories. And we call that Franken biting, for
like Frankenstein, when you put a bunch of sound bites
together and just cut so it makes it sound like
it's of some sort of semblance. And that Jimmy Fallon
just rambling incoherently, which is really kind of how the
interview went.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Bless awesome.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
The last and very important part of the book I
really loved was a nine to one to one sliding scale.
It was very interesting and can you tell the audience
preview that with my audience.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
So my nine one one sliding scale. I have a friend, my.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Best tiet, Eric is notorious for.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Not using his phone for its intended purpose, which is
to call people, or to receive calls, or to call
people back, or to even call people just in general.
And sometimes I need to get a hold of Eric,
and he would always be remiss in returning my phone calls.
And so finally I said, listen, what if there's an
(13:29):
emergency and I absolutely positively.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Have to get a hold of you.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
He was like, well, then text, Like if it's an emergency,
just text nine to one one, and I'll call you
right back.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
And I was like, well, what if it's not an emergency.
He's like, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Let's we'll create a scale, and so we created the
nine to one one sliding scale. Like one one one
is the equivalent of you have to call me back
within forty eight hours.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
You know, I have a hangnail. It may or may
not be infected.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
I want to talk about it all the way up
to nine one one, which is death or imminent death,
Like eight one one would be seven to one one
would be a broken bone. Eight one one would be
a compound fracture, like the bone is now sticking out
of the skin. Like there's a whole sliding scale, a
nine one one sliding scale. And I share that with
(14:19):
readers because it's important. And now you know, Jacob that
if you need to get a hold of me, and
it's important to text me. But anything over a sixty
one one gets my spidy senses tingling. So don't cry wolf,
it better be serious.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
I will and I will remember that.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Speaking of remembering, probably one of the biggest names that
played a big role in this book is the legendary
Cindy Wilson.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Of the b fifty twos. So what did it mean
to have her right? And the forward of this book.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
She did I once I got the you can see
that forward by Cindy Wilson.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
So I've been a sta of the Bee fifty twos
for literally one hundred and fifty thousand years.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
I can tell you exactly where I was and what
I was wearing when I saw the Bee fifty twos
on MTV for the very first time back in nineteen
eighty three. It was legal, the song was legal, tender,
and it was as if time stopped.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I just was like I had been obsessed with them
ever since.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
And in nineteen eighty three or right then and there,
when that video came out, I vowed that someday I
would be friends with them.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I didn't know how at the time, I didn't know
where or when or why, but I knew that I
was going to be friends with the Bee fifty twos.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
And sure enough, over the years, I have sort of
ingratiated myself as a stand and I wouldn't say we're friends,
but I would say we're chummy. We're I'm chummy with
Fred and Kate and Cindy. And so when my publisher
challenged me to find a celebrity to write my forward.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I was like, oh, I'm gonna have.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Cindy Wilson do it? Okay, well easier said Easier said
than done. Just because I want something doesn't mean that
it's gonna happen. So fortunately I sort of knew her.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Publicist, which ps also happens to be your husband.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
So I I'm part of the B fifty two fan club,
like I do some of the behind the scenes stuff
for the fan club, and so I reached out to
the fan club president and said, you know, I've never
asked you for one thing in five years of working
for the B fifty Two's like behind the scenes, I've
(16:35):
never asked for one thing.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Can you make this happen? And you know what? She
her name is Liezel. She put the wheels in motion.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Cindy said yes. Cindy's also said I'm never gonna make
your deadline, and I said, that's fine.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Here's your drop dead deadline.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
It was like six weeks later, and the publisher was like,
we need it, you know, by that six week date.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And she got it.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
And I'm not kidding that night that it was due
at nine o'clock on a Sunday night, and I got
it and I read it, and I bald because it
is Chef's Kiss. It is so nicely written. And dare
I say, Cindy Wilson is now a stan of mine.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
I just did an interview with her.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
It comes out next, it comes out then we'll it'll
be out in the pitch, the Pitch Kansas City, So
you should be able to read that by the time
this interview comes out. And yeah, I got to see
her when I was in Detroit when they were touring
with Devo, and I handed her a book and I'll
try and find it while we're talking. But I got
a picture and an autograph.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Oh nice, nice, And I got to say this, this
book was one of my favorite spoilerwert guys. This book
is one of my favorite books of twenty twenty five.
And I mean it. It's funny, it's amazing, it's witty.
I can immediately transfer myself over there that However, Michael,
why shouldn't my audience read your.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
You know, I put a lot of heart and soul
into it. They are bite sized chapters.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
This is the perfect quintessential celeb centric book that you
can read.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
It's first of all, it's hilarious. I know you laughed
your ass off, Jacob. I know you did.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
For facts, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
It's an easy read if you don't read. There are
plenty of celebrity pictures. Here's I don't know if you
can see that because of the glare, but there's.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Me and Cindy that was adorable.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
There it is, there, it is now there's a glare.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
So there's me and Cindy and that was backstage at
their concert in Detroit.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
But more than.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Anything, people are like, well, what if I don't like
pop culture. Well, it's a little bit more than that.
It's about how I don't know if your viewers know this,
but I survived a stroke fifteen years ago and I
came out on the other side of it.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
I'm also proud to Sam and recovery.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
I'm going on ten years of being in long term
recovery from alcoholism and it's just it's just a really
heart felt book that I put my I put my
all into and Jacob, now one word in that book
was written using AI.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
It's all Michael Mackey all the time.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Proud of you, my friend. I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
And where can my audience get this amazing book and
connect with you on social media?
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Well, I am M t ESQ. That's M two esquire
for those of you in the back. You can find
me on all the social handles M to esq. My
website is obviously Michael McKie dot com. And the book's
funny that you should ask hold on because my publisher
(19:51):
literally just emailed me today. Starting today, so by the
time this comes out, your book will be at Unique
find Gifts in downtown, over the and Park. I am
also at all the maid and k c's, especially the
one on the Plaza. I'll be doing some book signings there.
I met a place called the Raven. Oh, and this
is fun.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I am at two of the bookstores at the.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Kansas City International Airport, So on your way out of town,
if you need an easy pz lemon squeeze read, you
can swing by and grab. You have four minutes, and
I'll have autographed copies at kCi through the holidays.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Wonderful, wonderful guys. And also social media as well. He's
Michael's a great one.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
I do love me some Twitter. I love me some Twitter,
I love me some Facebook. So yeah, Michael mackey dot
com on Facebook and then M two s ESQ M
two e s Q everywhere else.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
All righty guys, if you missed an episode of the
Jake Stak with Jacob Elizer podcast, is there our channels
on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Spreaker
Jake Stak with j jc b e O y A
C H g R.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Now are you on some I'm on.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Social to me to Facebook, Instagram, threads, Twitter and YouTube
Jacob Alia Chuck jc b EO by adhj R. And
if you want to watch my original interview with Michael Mackie,
visit Jake sashake dot com skin jakesash check dot com.
And also, I gotta say this a shout out to
the American Business Awards for awarding me the Silver CV
for Best Interview Talk Show of twenty twenty five. Michael,
(21:21):
thank you so much for ending twenty twenty five. I
hope to catch up with you in twenty twenty six
in time for the brand's fifteenth anniversary celebration.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Sounds good friend, Happy holidays.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Alrighty guys, thank you so much for watching, Thank you
so much for listening. Until next time, have a great one.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Good bye,
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