Bio:
Randy Peterson
Excerpts from 8/3/01 interview with Steve McClelland of
Details Magazine….
I met up with Randy right before one of his scheduled Spring Break shoots
in Panama City Beach. This small town of 35,000 becomes home to over 100,000
crazy college kids a week for about a month and a half every springtime.
We sat atop the upper deck at The World Famous Spinnaker Beach Club,
over-looking one of their Spring Break bikini contests that have helped
put this small beachside town on the map. The more I looked on at the
crowds and craziness below, I really started to appreciate what a 'hard'(sense
the sarcasm) job Randy and Kelly have with Club Hour.
Steve: Well Randy, I can think of a few
worse places that Panama City beach to be in during Spring Break.
Randy: Yeah, this town has a great nightlife year round,
but for a couple of months a year, these guys (pointing down at the crowds)
make my job easy!
Steve: So Randy, how did it all get started
with you and Club Hour?
Randy: Its funny actually, it all started with pouring
wine and little pooping pigs!
Steve: (laugh) pooping pigs?
Randy: Well Steve, I was taking some time off from traveling
shows, and to pass the time, I was working in a local restaurant. One
night Toni sat down at one of my tables. They were drinking and having
a good time, and I basically got her drunk and asked her for a job.
Steve: And the pooping pigs…
Randy: Well she gave me a try-out and it was at the end
of Spring Break and it involved these little pig key chains that you squeeze
and well…you get the point. I had to throw these key chains to the
massive crowd of twenty, if that, and then give away two prized pro-wrestling
tickets. In fact it was off this very deck we are sitting on now! After
a miserable first showing, I thanked everyone and basically ran for the
hills. I decided to head north to take a previously offered job. But fortunately
for me, through the power of email and a little begging, I was able to
work something out by the summertime. And the rest is…Club Hour.
Steve: So what were you doing before this
gig?
Randy: Well I was traveling doing stunt and entertainment
shows in theme parks and at various venues.
Steve: Stunts? What all did you do?
Randy: Mostly aquatic stuff. For years I did high dive
shows that involved 100 foot ladders and 10 foot deep dolphin tanks. We
also did a lot of comedy stuff and for some of the bigger shows we did
tricks involving fire.
Steve: Wow, so are we going to see a more
physically demanding Club Hour in the future?
Randy: Well I got roped into diving off one of the area
bridges for our Boat Tour, but for the most part I am pretty content with
a microphone in one hand and a beer in the other.
Steve: Speaking of beer, it leads me to
my next question about all the clubs you and Kelly visit during the show.
What really is the primary focus of the show? Is it the people, the places?
Randy: Well I think the focus is FUN! Some places, like
La Vela its all about people and the place, Rocket Lanes is cool because
where else can you bowl, drink, dance, and listen to live music in one
venue, and others like Miss Newby's is all about the people that go there.
Every club is an entity in itself and Club Hour tries to point out the
value each club holds over the next. The important thing is that Kelly
and I are showcasing all the opportunities that this town hold for an
evening of excitement.
Steve: Very cool, so were you always a
club and bar hopper, or is this a new found interest due to the job?
Randy: Well, when I left Johns Hopkins University my
sophomore year to dive competitively, I found myself in sunny Tampa, FL.
It is there, on the fabled street of Ybor City, that I fell in love with
nightlife and all the character that accompanies it. I used to go out
and party 'til closing time, trying to talk to as many people as I could.
Nothing really has changed, but now a camera follows me…I guess
the only thing that has changed is that I can't drink quite as many beers…at
least while the camera is rolling.
He smiled as he finished up another cold one, motioning to the waitress
for one more.
Steve: The question that people have to
be wondering is how hard is it to stay on-track when there are pretty
women and all that craziness all around you, it has got to interfere with
your focus?
There seemed to be a long pause and I noticed Randy's eyes drifting poolside
where two girls danced on the contest runway.
Randy: Oh, the distractions…they're really not
that bad…(wink)
We sat for another hour talking a little about his days in stunt shows
and sports, but mostly we found ourselves enjoying the beauty of Panama
City Beach…. I quickly learned, job distractions are not necessarily
a bad thing!
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