September 24, 2025 • 9 mins
Comedian Mark Klein has traveled near and far to sling jokes for nearly 50 years. His parents were proud of him for 12 minutes.
Mark is headlining a special benefit show on Thursday, September 24 at The Caravan in Mid-City Mall. All proceeds go to help brother comedian Mike Armstrong, a longtime performer on the comedy circuit, who is now battling cancer.
Come laugh with Mark to help Mike!
(part one of two segments on WHAS Radio)
Mark is headlining a special benefit show on Thursday, September 24 at The Caravan in Mid-City Mall. All proceeds go to help brother comedian Mike Armstrong, a longtime performer on the comedy circuit, who is now battling cancer.
Come laugh with Mark to help Mike!
(part one of two segments on WHAS Radio)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're a news radio A forty wuhs Terry miners here
in the studio with me. Longtime friend Mark Klein is
a road warrior comedian. It is good to see you again.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
It's a pleasure to be here. The road has gotten wet.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
I worked cruise ships now, so the road went from
asphalt to salt water as time went on.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Time went by.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
But I saw you in the grocery store not long ago,
and there we were two dudes out there shopping for
produce or whatever.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
It was coolest guys in Louisville, that's right, making sure
bananas was still less than sixty cents a pound.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I mean, what's it come to? What's the world come to?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
So then in the parking lot, I saw Tony Venetti
also in the store, Jerry and Madeline Abramson. That was
an all star day.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
You know, we senior discount day.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I think you get the five of this crowd shopping
at four o'clock.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Benetti looked like a cranky old man pushing his cart,
and then I stayed. I stayed out there in my
car just to make sure he put his cart back
in the corral.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Now do you invoice them for your services at the
self checkout. I do always send them an invoice the
day after I checked myself out my alive seventy five
dollars an hour, and I send them a bill.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
They haven't paid it yet, but I send.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
It, of course not I I get to the point
where is it worth the trouble of not knowing what
this cucumber costs? So you gotta hit item by picture, right,
that's right, you gotta get Then you have to remember
is it's a fuller of fruit? Because if you feel stupid.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
When you're punching kum quiet and your driver's license picture
shows up on the you know it's just time to
give up the digital world.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Forget it. It is humbling. I do like the interaction
with the person who's checking out, but I mean I
get the primise. I think there's they're shutting down more
of those self checkout things because some people I know
you're going to be shocked, Mark, are not honest.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, amazingly, Publics has come to town.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
And Publics is called publics because it's owned by its employees.
That's why it's called publics. I didn't know that it's
not a publicly held company. It's owned by its employees,
hence the name publics and their employees specialize in making
you glad to be there. And Kroger, as much as
I love Kroger, could take a lesson from that.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
That's interesting. Okay, you taught me a little lesson though
about that business model. There's all kinds of different people
coming to this marketplace too. It's just interesting. There's still
so much expansion. You know, they said, well, why w
was coming this way and BUCkies is coming from that ways,
and you know, it's like, what, there's more and more.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
When Churchill downs went to penny breakage, when they started
paying out in pennies because of a lawsuit instead of
just rounded numbers, it's called penny breakage. So your ticket
might be worth four dollars and thirty eight cents instead
of four forty or four twenty.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It's called penny breakage.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Okay, Well, they had these kiosks out there, self wagering kiosks,
and they give you the pennies every time. I'm not
about to ask a teller to count me out pennies.
I'll say, here, handsome bob, keep the change. But Churchill
is going to penny breakage. And if the world changes
under your feet.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I'm a twin spires at person. I just like that.
I see. I know youw you for a long time.
You love the race track, you love horses. But let
me tell you, when the twins spiers app came up
and at least the Derby season or breeders cupp or weather,
I will text my kids and say, pick a horse
and show them all, and I'll make the bet for you.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I don't need it to be too easy to go
out there and spend them. It's easy enough for me
the way it is.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
I don't need to be any easier.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
And I try to drive humor from horse racing, and
sometimes successfully, sometimes not. I will tell you the funniest
horse racing joke I know, and you can tell it
in Louisville or it's inside baseball stuff. Okay, most civilians
don't get this in the rest of the world. Kentuckians
and Louisvillans do.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Of course.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Three old men go to the track every day. They've
been best friends for fifty years.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I like it already.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Old man at the track.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Three of them, first race runs off, and after the
first race, one of them clutches his chest. He drops
to the floor. He's gone, it's over. He's done. One
of the other guys goes, oh my god, he's dead.
Three guy goes, no, No, he's still alive.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
In the double.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
See tell that on a cruise ship. They don't know
what you mean.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Where are you gonna tell that joke?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
But everybody knows it.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Everybody knows it.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Here, get the ticket out of his pocket.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Still alive in the.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Dumble, that's all good. Mark Klein is sitting in with us.
I know that you are going to do a show
tomorrow night at Caravan to benefit a mutual friend of ours,
a guy who's been on the radio that's a zillionaires
Mike Armstrong, former law enforcement guy.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Mike is in a confrontation with cancer that he expects
to win. I said, how do I know this is
all real? And he took off his hat and he
was bald. I said, I still don't believe it. He said, well,
here's the port they put in for the key most
And I still.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Don't believe it.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And he showed me a bill for three hundred thousand
dollars hospital.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I both believe it.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
So A friend of mine for many, many years in
the comedy community We're doing a show at the Caravan
mid City wal tomorrow night show Thimas seven thirty. I'm
headlining it. There's a bunch of other great comics on
the show. And this is this is the kind of
charitable thing I like to do. I know where it goes,
I know who needs it, I know what's worth doing,
and I'm delighted to do it. And it's gonna be
(05:00):
a great show anyway. So everybody wins.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
That's fantastic. And Mike's a good dude. I mean, he's
a funny person and he's a good like. His laughter
is a good rim shot for other comics.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
He's got a laughter that should be on. He should
be a cartoon voiceover laughter.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
That's exactly. He's like a mel blank kind of a.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Right, exactly right.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Plus Mike, you know, I look Mike and yeah he's
my height and that doesn't happen off in either.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
So he's a little guy like me. So can we
get along just fine?
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So you're traveling like on you do do the cruise
ship business now and again.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Most of my business is on cruise ships. I work
all the cruise lines. I was on Carnival's two newest
ships last year. The poor judgment and bad choices. That
was interesting. Of course, I do a lot of holled
America ships. So are I'm the youngest guy in the
bar by thirty years. Yeah. There's all kinds of cruise
ships out there, and whatever you like to do, there's
a ship for you. My main client is Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Do you have to be on the whole time or
do you do you go to some port where they're
stopping and then you get on and you do your
two days and you get off the next sport and
you fly somewhere else.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
It depends on what line you're working for. My main
client is Norwegian. They put me on for one or
two weeks at a time. Saw a board in Miami,
do the week's cruise, get back to Miami and do
the next passenger.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Load, then go home.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Some cruises will fly to Spain, put you on, you
get off in France. You're on for five days. Just
depend depends on for whom you're doing.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
If you're doing two weeks on the same ship, do
you have to get off when they change over? You do?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Oh? I hate that you have to go through immigration.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
That's right, you got to do all that again. I
do all that.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Again, and incredible.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You know, they when the COVID came, When the COVID
put that amount of business for you know, eighteen months,
two years to get back on the first year and
a half or so, you had to have a COVID
test to get on the ship. Now for a passenger,
you show them your card. Do you have to have vaccination?
You get on no problem. You get on his crew
like I do, and they give you a thorough exam.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I mean it's thoroughtary.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Not only was I COVID negative, but apparently my prostate
was an ex Yeah, they that that's a big deal,
and it still is. You still go through pretty good security.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Well, yeah, I guess they'd have to. That's that's always
so sad. I wonder. We've been on some great cruises
and and some of the crew members are so great. Yeah,
and you always think, you know, I'm gonna miss this
guy Ian it's been great to us this week. I
always wondering, so they got to get off too and
do the whole change over and all that.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
If you get on a ship within the next week,
you have to go through immigration. If you're going to
American port to American port, like Miami back to Miami.
She said, yeah, you got a clear immigration, then you
get on and you stay on. My contracts are a
week to two weeks long. The guys you're talking about
throwing for six months?
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Uh and and their money all fantastic.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
And while you're at sea, are you dreaming about being
at Churchill Down? So I'll bet you are. Well.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I don't know how much they're saving me by being
out there, but you miss home, you know, they don't.
They don't pay me to tell jokes. They paid me
to fly and drive. It paid me to travel. That's
what I'm paid for. I'm gonna tell jokes anyway. So yeah,
that's what the job is. But they it's a it's
a great I was on an Norwegian ship when they
have something called the Haven on Norwegian.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
It's a private area on the ship.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Is that fancy or it's like.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
A country club on the ship. It costs you extra,
it's gated, you can't get in.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
So they said, would you go do a show in
the haven? I'm so sure I will. So I get
my outfit on and go up. There's a woman there
sitting at the front row of this little mini theater.
It's holding a fist full of bills, and I say, man,
we can put those one dollar bills away. It's not
that kind of a show. It goes mister Colne using
one hundred dollar bills. I said, well then it is.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
A kind of a show.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Grates, I'm a rented mule power. I'm on the ship.
I'm doing what they want me to do. I'm there.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Mark Klein's in the studio and he's gonna hang around
here for a few minits because we have some other
things to get to. But he's gonna do a benefit
show for Mike Armstrong of a colleague, another comedian, terrific guy,
tomorrow night at the Caravan. What time we starting there?
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Seven thirty a showtime tickets are I think nineteen dollars
and bring people to no taste because that's what the
comedians will have and you'll have a great time.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I promise you.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
That great place, great venue, and it's good to see
you again. Sit tight. We're back in a bit here
on NewsRadio eight forty whas
You're a news radio A forty wuhs Terry miners here
in the studio with me. Longtime friend Mark Klein is
a road warrior comedian. It is good to see you again.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
It's a pleasure to be here. The road has gotten wet.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
I worked cruise ships now, so the road went from
asphalt to salt water as time went on.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Time went by.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
But I saw you in the grocery store not long ago,
and there we were two dudes out there shopping for
produce or whatever.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
It was coolest guys in Louisville, that's right, making sure
bananas was still less than sixty cents a pound.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I mean, what's it come to? What's the world come to?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
So then in the parking lot, I saw Tony Venetti
also in the store, Jerry and Madeline Abramson. That was
an all star day.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
You know, we senior discount day.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I think you get the five of this crowd shopping
at four o'clock.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Benetti looked like a cranky old man pushing his cart,
and then I stayed. I stayed out there in my
car just to make sure he put his cart back
in the corral.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Now do you invoice them for your services at the
self checkout. I do always send them an invoice the
day after I checked myself out my alive seventy five
dollars an hour, and I send them a bill.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
They haven't paid it yet, but I send.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
It, of course not I I get to the point
where is it worth the trouble of not knowing what
this cucumber costs? So you gotta hit item by picture, right,
that's right, you gotta get Then you have to remember
is it's a fuller of fruit? Because if you feel stupid.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
When you're punching kum quiet and your driver's license picture
shows up on the you know it's just time to
give up the digital world.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Forget it. It is humbling. I do like the interaction
with the person who's checking out, but I mean I
get the primise. I think there's they're shutting down more
of those self checkout things because some people I know
you're going to be shocked, Mark, are not honest.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, amazingly, Publics has come to town.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
And Publics is called publics because it's owned by its employees.
That's why it's called publics. I didn't know that it's
not a publicly held company. It's owned by its employees,
hence the name publics and their employees specialize in making
you glad to be there. And Kroger, as much as
I love Kroger, could take a lesson from that.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
That's interesting. Okay, you taught me a little lesson though
about that business model. There's all kinds of different people
coming to this marketplace too. It's just interesting. There's still
so much expansion. You know, they said, well, why w
was coming this way and BUCkies is coming from that ways,
and you know, it's like, what, there's more and more.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
When Churchill downs went to penny breakage, when they started
paying out in pennies because of a lawsuit instead of
just rounded numbers, it's called penny breakage. So your ticket
might be worth four dollars and thirty eight cents instead
of four forty or four twenty.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It's called penny breakage.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Okay, Well, they had these kiosks out there, self wagering kiosks,
and they give you the pennies every time. I'm not
about to ask a teller to count me out pennies.
I'll say, here, handsome bob, keep the change. But Churchill
is going to penny breakage. And if the world changes
under your feet.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I'm a twin spires at person. I just like that.
I see. I know youw you for a long time.
You love the race track, you love horses. But let
me tell you, when the twins spiers app came up
and at least the Derby season or breeders cupp or weather,
I will text my kids and say, pick a horse
and show them all, and I'll make the bet for you.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I don't need it to be too easy to go
out there and spend them. It's easy enough for me
the way it is.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
I don't need to be any easier.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
And I try to drive humor from horse racing, and
sometimes successfully, sometimes not. I will tell you the funniest
horse racing joke I know, and you can tell it
in Louisville or it's inside baseball stuff. Okay, most civilians
don't get this in the rest of the world. Kentuckians
and Louisvillans do.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Of course.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Three old men go to the track every day. They've
been best friends for fifty years.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I like it already.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Old man at the track.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Three of them, first race runs off, and after the
first race, one of them clutches his chest. He drops
to the floor. He's gone, it's over. He's done. One
of the other guys goes, oh my god, he's dead.
Three guy goes, no, No, he's still alive.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
In the double.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
See tell that on a cruise ship. They don't know
what you mean.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Where are you gonna tell that joke?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
But everybody knows it.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Everybody knows it.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Here, get the ticket out of his pocket.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Still alive in the.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Dumble, that's all good. Mark Klein is sitting in with us.
I know that you are going to do a show
tomorrow night at Caravan to benefit a mutual friend of ours,
a guy who's been on the radio that's a zillionaires
Mike Armstrong, former law enforcement guy.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Mike is in a confrontation with cancer that he expects
to win. I said, how do I know this is
all real? And he took off his hat and he
was bald. I said, I still don't believe it. He said, well,
here's the port they put in for the key most
And I still.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Don't believe it.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And he showed me a bill for three hundred thousand
dollars hospital.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I both believe it.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
So A friend of mine for many, many years in
the comedy community We're doing a show at the Caravan
mid City wal tomorrow night show Thimas seven thirty. I'm
headlining it. There's a bunch of other great comics on
the show. And this is this is the kind of
charitable thing I like to do. I know where it goes,
I know who needs it, I know what's worth doing,
and I'm delighted to do it. And it's gonna be
(05:00):
a great show anyway. So everybody wins.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
That's fantastic. And Mike's a good dude. I mean, he's
a funny person and he's a good like. His laughter
is a good rim shot for other comics.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
He's got a laughter that should be on. He should
be a cartoon voiceover laughter.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
That's exactly. He's like a mel blank kind of a.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Right, exactly right.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Plus Mike, you know, I look Mike and yeah he's
my height and that doesn't happen off in either.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
So he's a little guy like me. So can we
get along just fine?
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So you're traveling like on you do do the cruise
ship business now and again.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Most of my business is on cruise ships. I work
all the cruise lines. I was on Carnival's two newest
ships last year. The poor judgment and bad choices. That
was interesting. Of course, I do a lot of holled
America ships. So are I'm the youngest guy in the
bar by thirty years. Yeah. There's all kinds of cruise
ships out there, and whatever you like to do, there's
a ship for you. My main client is Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Do you have to be on the whole time or
do you do you go to some port where they're
stopping and then you get on and you do your
two days and you get off the next sport and
you fly somewhere else.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
It depends on what line you're working for. My main
client is Norwegian. They put me on for one or
two weeks at a time. Saw a board in Miami,
do the week's cruise, get back to Miami and do
the next passenger.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Load, then go home.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Some cruises will fly to Spain, put you on, you
get off in France. You're on for five days. Just
depend depends on for whom you're doing.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
If you're doing two weeks on the same ship, do
you have to get off when they change over? You do?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Oh? I hate that you have to go through immigration.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
That's right, you got to do all that again. I
do all that.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Again, and incredible.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
You know, they when the COVID came, When the COVID
put that amount of business for you know, eighteen months,
two years to get back on the first year and
a half or so, you had to have a COVID
test to get on the ship. Now for a passenger,
you show them your card. Do you have to have vaccination?
You get on no problem. You get on his crew
like I do, and they give you a thorough exam.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I mean it's thoroughtary.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Not only was I COVID negative, but apparently my prostate
was an ex Yeah, they that that's a big deal,
and it still is. You still go through pretty good security.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Well, yeah, I guess they'd have to. That's that's always
so sad. I wonder. We've been on some great cruises
and and some of the crew members are so great. Yeah,
and you always think, you know, I'm gonna miss this
guy Ian it's been great to us this week. I
always wondering, so they got to get off too and
do the whole change over and all that.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
If you get on a ship within the next week,
you have to go through immigration. If you're going to
American port to American port, like Miami back to Miami.
She said, yeah, you got a clear immigration, then you
get on and you stay on. My contracts are a
week to two weeks long. The guys you're talking about
throwing for six months?
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Uh and and their money all fantastic.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
And while you're at sea, are you dreaming about being
at Churchill Down? So I'll bet you are. Well.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I don't know how much they're saving me by being
out there, but you miss home, you know, they don't.
They don't pay me to tell jokes. They paid me
to fly and drive. It paid me to travel. That's
what I'm paid for. I'm gonna tell jokes anyway. So yeah,
that's what the job is. But they it's a it's
a great I was on an Norwegian ship when they
have something called the Haven on Norwegian.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
It's a private area on the ship.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Is that fancy or it's like.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
A country club on the ship. It costs you extra,
it's gated, you can't get in.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
So they said, would you go do a show in
the haven? I'm so sure I will. So I get
my outfit on and go up. There's a woman there
sitting at the front row of this little mini theater.
It's holding a fist full of bills, and I say, man,
we can put those one dollar bills away. It's not
that kind of a show. It goes mister Colne using
one hundred dollar bills. I said, well then it is.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
A kind of a show.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Grates, I'm a rented mule power. I'm on the ship.
I'm doing what they want me to do. I'm there.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Mark Klein's in the studio and he's gonna hang around
here for a few minits because we have some other
things to get to. But he's gonna do a benefit
show for Mike Armstrong of a colleague, another comedian, terrific guy,
tomorrow night at the Caravan. What time we starting there?
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Seven thirty a showtime tickets are I think nineteen dollars
and bring people to no taste because that's what the
comedians will have and you'll have a great time.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I promise you.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
That great place, great venue, and it's good to see
you again. Sit tight. We're back in a bit here
on NewsRadio eight forty whas
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