Today’s Guest: Stuttering John Melendez, comedian, “The Howard Stern Show,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”
Watch this exclusive Mr. Media interview with comedian Stuttering John Melendez by clicking on the video player above!
Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of people who are hoping for some slip of the tongue to report back to Howard and Jay, even though John doesn’t work either of them anymore … in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!
Nobody in show business has a resume quite like John Melendez.
JOHN MELENDEZ podcast excerpt: “I don’t have a bad word to say about Jay… except that he wears the same freakin’ denim every day!”
He started as a college intern on radio’s “The Howard Stern Show,” where his balls-out willingness to do pretty much anything made him an instant listener favorite – whether to love or hate. For 15 years, he was one of Howard’s guys, ferociously loyal, willing to take the boss’s crap and dish it right back.
If you listened regularly, you knew that despite the abuse Stern gave him over his persistent stutter, he was one of Stern’s on-air treasures.
JOHN MELENDEZ: “Some fans say I sold out. The truth is, I was on the Stern Show for 15 years. I went to NYU; I majored in film and television. I always wanted to be in television. It’s a passion of mine. There were no hard feelings. I loved being on the Stern Show. But it was time. I was ready to move on.”
That changed, however, when Melendez’s career took a turn nobody saw coming: Jay Leno hired him to be his announcer on “The Tonight Show.”
What the f*ck? the world seemed to say as one.
But Leno found the same loyalty in Melendez that Stern had, expanding his role to staff writer and keeping him on his team for six years until his last day on “The Tonight Show” just a few weeks ago.
JOHN MELENDEZ: “I have gotten a lot calmer. A lot of it is self-confidence; the stutter, for the most part, has dissipated. It was bad when I was a kid; it was bad when I was on the Stern Show. Now, when I’m on stage, people get pissed that I don’t stutter.”
Did “The Tonight Show” experience change or mature John Melendez? What will he do next? Here’s a hint: WeddingRoasters.com.
By the way, he’s down to a slight stutter, only when he gets really excited. And this is John’s second visit to Mr. Media.
John Melendez Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • IMDB • John Melendez.TV
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