20 Questions with Jay of Idiotsite.com

whosers.com goes into interview mode with those who make & maintain the sites that we love - letting them say their own opinions on a few issues. These opinions may or may not reflect the opinions held by whosers.com. Not that that matters, but you know, we have to say it ;)

This time we talk with JayWTBF, webmaster (or in his words 'big idiot') of the Idiotsite website (www.idiotsite.com). What started as a source of great sound clips and other technological goodies has turned into one of the larger communities in Whose Line Online today! Learn more about him in this, our 20 questions ...

Whose Line

1) What is the first sighting/reaction to whose line you had that you can recall? Were you hooked right away?

It was a marathon on Comedy Central in August of 2000. I had seen commercials for it before as I had always been a big Comedy Central fan, but never had the time to watch what I wanted. I was off work for my birthday, August 5th, and decided I'd catch the whole thing. I had never seen the US version and this was my first exposure to it at all. I was GLUED to it. No one else was at home and I could die laughing.
Soon after I looked up the show on the TVGuide.com and found out that there was a US version. So I was hooked.

2) Who is the improvisor who had the first/initial largest impact on you? Who is the improvisor who has impressed you the most over the long run?

Right away was Mike McShane, but over the years I have come to believe that Colin is the most impressive.

3) If you had to choose your ideal cast of whose line (4 improvisors, one host, & either the american or british musician team), who would you choose?

Mike, Josie, Colin and Brad.

4) Name one moment on the show that still never fails to crack you up when you think about it. If you remember, tell us what season/who was involved/what version etc.

I have so many, Brad's Drunk Hoedown, Ryan's French Maid.... No wait, I'll go with Ryan's Neon Light Debacle.

Online

1) Can you remember what made you go online to search out whose line related information?

I am a huge web geek, have been for years. Building websites and surfing like mad. It was only natural for me to turn to the web for information.

2) Can you remember what was the first site you encountered, & what you thought when you found it?

I think I first came across some tiny fan sites then hit Rob's MP3 site. From there it was Dean's list, and then Mark's site which lead to Whosers.com.

3) Name one site/community/messageboard that you once were quite fond of but now is no longer active/has disappeared. Name one site/community/messageboard that you visit regularly (other than your own sites/communities) and why you do so.

I never got into the communities until I built my own. I do follow The Chip Shop, cause I met Quink and she's just such a great gal.

4) What do you think is the future of whose line online? Of your own site?

Oh that's a tough one. I think that if the show stays on the air things will stay much the same. Small sites and a few big ones. If the show leaves the air and only shows in reruns on CC or ABCFAM or whatever in
your country, then the small sites will die off and the big sites will be smaller.

My site, truthfully, wouldn't be the first one down, but wouldn't be the last one standing either. Even without the show there is still a lot of community involvement so I think it would last a couple of years after the show.

Community

1) What's one of the strangest experiences you've ever had related to whose line communities/whosers (no names if they are involved please - you can use vague generalizations if you're worried as well i.e. just the type of experience)

Well with a site called Idiotsite you can imagine that a lot of strange people have floated by. But something that still strikes me as strange in a good way is that two of the people that met in my chat room are honestly in a real relationship and sometime down the road I may be involved in an Idiot-Wedding. These are two adults and they do seem sincere.

2) Which is more important to you in community - the fanship or the friendship? At the present time how much of your interaction in communities is to talk about the show, and how much is to chat with those who have become friends?

Friendship first. Creating a community almost never works if you don't let the people involved become acquainted. I'd say about 10% of my site (community wise) is about the show, all the rest is the friends playing and having fun with each other.

3) What do you think is the best thing you'll take away from the whose line community when all is said and done?

I have learned a lot about how to build communities and make it work. I really think that I could do it all over again with any fanatical group. Having people send me birthday cards and Christmas wishes is probably the best feeling in the world. I'll take all the good things and leave the debacles in the past.

4) What do you think of when you hear the term 'whoser'. Who do you think it encompasses? Do you consider yourself to be one?

Whosers are the old school Whose Line fans from way back, when a community was just getting started. I feel like I am a Whose Line fan. I don't think I am a Whoser, I kind of was distancing myself from the beginning to create a whole new thing. Most of the community members on my site call themselves Idiots. Some do know and love the Whoser community and some haven't formed any relationships there. With a site as big as mine I can't help but be involved in both or all of the Whoser community as a whole. But still I am an Idiot first.

Impact (getting personal)

1) Why did you decide on 'idiotsite' & the term 'idiots' for the people who visit it? what do you think initial perceptions of this are from people who stumble onto your site without knowing anything about it? What do you think the perceptions are of the people who wear that name proudly?

Idiotsite.com was a domain I picked up for my profession. I am a help desk technician and take calls from idiots all day long. I wanted to setup a forum for techs to come in and talk bad about the people they helped. There are some classic tech help stories out there and knew I could do it with a site called Idiotsite.com. Then I fell for Whose Line and heard Colin utter that (now famous) phrase in the "Greatest Hits: Songs of the Bus Driver" (a clip in available on the front page of my site). I'm An Idiot, he said. And since I already had the domain I just redirected the purpose.

Using the term Idiot to describe myself was a built in part of the site. I had planned on being the "big idiot" from the beginning. After wearing that title it was visitors and contributors that asked explicitly if they could be an Idiot too. When people stumble onto the site I am not sure what they think except that we are truly idiots. I have had a couple of emails asking why we would call ourselves something so derogatory, but most of the time people get the joke and go on with it head on. Those that wear the badge of Idiot proudly, I applaud them. For one it does what any fan should do, it shows that you have a drastically different viewpoint than anyone else. Taking a derogatory term and making it endearing is the same as telling someone that dislikes Whose Line that you love it. You are trying to change their perception and in so Idiots are changing the meaning of a word.

2) Have you ever considered quitting/cancelling your site and/or messageboard? Tell us why if you feel comfortable doing so. What changed your mind?

Wow, it was such a hard and big decision to bring on a message board and chat room that it never occurred that I would discontinue them. I really would hate to do that to my group. The only thing that would make me take them down is if they just weren't getting any visitors. So far I haven't had to worry about that. And at that time it would be an easy decision.

3) Do you think your repeated postings & messages that yours is the 'best community for whose line ever' has the potential to scare away/offend some people, attract some people, or do a bit of both?

I haven't done that in a while in other boards, thought I still do one my site. Well I never really touted the community, I was (way back then) touting the downloads, but that was back when the ABC message board was still alive. The chat room did start up near then and the message board was just a baby. I am SURE that lots of people were offended, especially the older Whosers. I had seen the Whoser community at that time and didn't like what I saw. So I wasn't interested in those people anyway. I was interested in the new fans that I could get from even checking out those other sites in the first place.

Carnivorous no? I feel it was a bad decision looking back, but I was desperate to show off what I had done. I am certain that there are people in the other communities that STILL don't like me. I have tried to assert myself in some of those just lately and am still not getting a very positive response. But I am aware that my group is strong and faithful, and we have many crossover members, that like and communicate with many groups.

4) What is your largest pet peeve of types of things that are either posted on your messageboards or emailed to you (as the administrator of your site)

CLIP REQUESTS! GRRRRR! That was such a bad idea when I started my site. I still kick myself. Lately though it's become more tolerable in the message board community. They actually started a clip trading
community. So that's becoming better and the emails are dwindling.

Beyond Whose Line

1) Do you participate in or go watch live improv at all? What do you think of it compared to whose line? Do you think it ought to be compared to whose line really (or are they totally different things)?

I have seen improv live in the hotbed for live improv, in Toronto. I saw seven different stages in six days and will never trade that experience for the world. Live improv is different from TV. Live improv really makes you feel that there is little safety net, the stakes are higher and you are really on the edge of your seat. Whose line may be like that at a live taping (which I have never had the pleasure of being at) but it doesn't translate well on TV. Comparing the two is the same as comparing watching a tape of someone's wedding to being at a wedding. The emotions cannot run as high, it is intellectually impossible. But I admit that it still a rush to see a new episode, but not nearly the rush of watching improv live. It should be compared though for one reason. TV improv gets people interested in the real thing. That is good for comedy, good for TV and good for communities like ours.

2) Have you found that interest in an improvisor has led you to a new area of interest (new show, new type of comedy, etc) via something else they have been involved in outside of whose line?

Other than the basic "TV improv to Live improv" interest, not really.

3) Do you find that whose line has similarities to other non-television things you have an interest in? If so, what connections do you see? If not, why not?

Oh yes, I have always been considered a funny person. I used to think that I'd make a good stand up comic when I was growing up. Many people confirmed this and I felt in some way drawn to it. It never came about, never really had the opportunities and just left that alone. Until Improv and visiting improv and comedy venues showed me what I really want to do. It is my dream now to open a club that has both stand up comedy and improv in my home town.

4) What other shows that the performers are in (other than whose line episodes or tapings) have you seen? What other ones would you want to see?

While visiting Canada, I have spent about three months of the past year there, I have seen lots of Colin's performances in other shows. I have seen Ryan in the Hot Shots movies, and Chip here and there. Greg can be found in a few places but mostly his standup and game/dating shows. I'd love to see more of what some of the British gang are up to. I hear that Rory is quite big still in the UK and the others are still performing improv over there. I'd love to see that with some of my idiot pals. Eddie Izzard has become quite famous and I love his standup and movie appearances.

Esoterica

1) Name the strangest (i.e. due to it being something you normally wouldn't listen to, or due to the content) song you've had stuck in your head recently.

Commercial jingles. I don't watch much TV or listen to much radio, but the local car dealer jingles keep getting stuck in my brain. Do you have any cures?

2) Recommend one other tv show that is not at all related to whose line, and tell us why you'd recommend it to whosers.

Sports Night. Sports Night is about sport the same way the Love Boat was about the sea, or M*A*S*H was about the military. It was written by the same genius that has brought us the highly acclaimed West Wing.
Aaron Sorkin has a way to make dialogue sound like you would talk if you were the wittiest person alive. Sports Night in particular made every character so real and inviting with their levity and sarcasm. Best of
all he created them with such deep love for each other and the team that you can't help but fall in love with the series. It's another of ABC's total advertising debacles that this show is still not on the air, but I did buy the DVD set that has all of the episode and have watched it three time through since Christmas.

3) Tell us about either the city or region or country (your choice) you live in and why you would recommend people consider that as a place to visit someday.

I live in Houston, Texas. I can't really recommend it as a place to live or visit. It's hot for 9 months, not pleasantly warm or nice, just hot. October is the only month worth anything in Houston. Texas is a
very conservative but friendly place, so most people visiting feel welcome but stifled. Maybe that's why its so big. You have room to breath and get away with your thoughts, but you go back to the people and find them close minded and well more conservative. Rednecks and heehaws, over run the place but you can find, in Houston at least, enough diversity to get with a few people that are like you. So come on down, the food is great, the people are friendly on the surface, the heat is enough to keep you warm for years no matter where you live, and you can always go back home, just don't stay here. I'll be leaving as soon as I can.

4) What were you doing just before you answered these questions? What are you going to do now that you've finally finished them?

I was "working". I work late nights at a tech support call center. It's been quite quiet tonight so I got this all done in just over two hours. I'll go back to work now, and chatting with the idiots on the message board and chat rooms.

Thanks for the time, you've really made me think about some things here and I hope that I didn't hurt or offend anyone further. If I did, just remind yourself that I am an Idiot.

Posted 10/04/2003

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And that's us signing off from our chat with Jay! What do you think about him? You want to rave about his talents, or his community? You want to agree with something he said? You want to disagree with something he said? Write a letter to the editor & respond to this interview!

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