With his show's two-year anniversary special coming up Feb. 24 at the Frequency, Dan Potacke now lays claim to the title of Madison's talk show king. True, that's partially because he might be Madison's only talk show host, but it's an awesome title nonetheless. The Daily Cardinal sat down with Potacke for a recent Q&A about some of his best memories, Gov. Scott Walker and the possible consequences of the Rapture, among other topics.
Q: How did the genesis of ""The Dan Potacke Show"" come about?
A: Well, for many years I had been a businessman in the local Wisconsin area. Unfortunately I had been putting ads out there, and every publication, TV show, radio station, blog refused to run my ads. So I needed some place to put my advertising out there. So I decided, why not make my own show? And I thought, hmm… what could I do? Well, I've been talking since I was four, maybe I could try talking to people. It's something I do almost once every couple days.
Q: What's it like performing a talk show for a strictly Madison audience?
A: Well it's very nice. Some people come in with one pants leg still rolled up just so you know that they came there on a bike. A lot of drunkenness. A lot.
Q: Any of that drunkenness ever lead to disaster in the show?
A: No, sober or drunk most people usually condone the show, and my occasional fits of crying.
Q: Any favorite guests you have had over the past two years?
A: I would have to say both Mayor Dave and Paul Soglin were wonderful guests, they were both really nice. Mayor Dave couldn't pronounce my last name, which was somewhat unique.
Q: Slightly ironic, too.
A: Yes. As for Paul Soglin, he's very detailed when it comes to his love of the Chicago hot dog.
Q: Since the two of them are currently running against each other in the current mayoral race, if they were to have a debate on ""The Dan Potacke Show,"" what would that look like?
A: I think I would keep it very fair. I would ask tough questions. Like which one likes me more.
Q: Last year you started up a semi-campaign for governor, complete with a campaign ad. One of the planks of your candidacy was selling Menomonie off to other states. Do you think this should be something that Governor Walker should adopt?
A: I don't know. Does Menomonie have a lot of state workers? Because I think he's going to focus on getting rid of as many state employees as possible. So if they had a way to put all of state government there, then maybe he could sell off Menomonie.
Q: So would you say he should sell off Madison first?
A: Well, I don't know if we should go that far, because he's turning the Department of Commerce into a private-public corporation, and I think there'd be a lot of great ways to do that in other areas. Like for example, the state Capitol would make a great Target, because we don't have enough Targets here in Madison yet. The Capitol would look great with little circles of red and white.
Q: The general talk show uniform seems to be a suit, tie, sport coat. Have you ever been tempted to change up that custom at all?
A: No, I always wear my sport coat on stage, because I am trying to be professional. You dress for the talk show you want, not the talk show you have. It's really important to convey that professionalism to the audience and I don't think anything says that better to the audience than a green and brown sport coat. Unfortunately I've been unable to afford to clean the sport coat, so I've worn the same sport coat for two years without washing it. It has a unique odor of many shows to it.
Q: Any particular odors that have special memories linked to them?
A: Yes, I had Barry Levenson, the guy who runs the mustard museum on and there is a little stain from an incredibly hot horseradish mustard he gave me. When I still smell it, it still burns.
Q: Hypothetical situation: Let's say there was another Madison talk show host doing a show before you, and they decided to take your time slot. How would you react to that situation?
A: I would take my show to cable. Not cable television, I would go do it in the parking lot of Charter Communications.
Q: How would you describe your relationship with your audience?
A: Generally pretty kind. I give them prizes every time. I have this thing called the Wheel of Fantasticness. I give them jokes and prizes and they give me self-affirmation for my somewhat regrettable life choices.
Q: If you could throw in anything else to sweeten the deal what would you do?
A: I'd like to have a cast of dancers. And not in any sort of dance numbers. Just in case an interview with a local band isn't going so well – suddenly, dancers! Just have a timer like in a board game, and whenever that buzzes, it's dancing time.
Q: Recently we had the giant blizzard where the university shut down. What's your emergency action plan in the event of another snowpocalypse?
A: Luckily we didn't have (a show) scheduled for the snowpocalypse, but we've done shows in major snowstorms. We actually did one on the 17th where there were probably five people who weren't part of the show there – and let me tell ya, each and every one of them got a wonderful performance. Though if it was a really big storm like the snowpocalypse, I would probably just invite everybody to get on skis and enjoy the show in my apartment. Or failing that, an igloo of some type.
Q: What would you do in the event of, say, the Rapture?
A: Trust me, I went to UW-Madison, I've been in Wisconsin for a very long time, not a lot of people in the Madison area are going to disappear during the Rapture. Population-wise it's going to be about the same.
Q: Are there any other emergencies that could cancel the show entirely?
A: I don't know. We had a show during Governor Walker's inauguration, so I feel the show can survive any disaster.
Q: If you could have any guest on the show right now, choosing from the 6.5 billion people we have right now, who would you choose?
A: (long pause) Snoopy.
