I sketched a Lip Sync Battle at The Abbey and it turned out that one of the celebrities who performed on that night was Ted Bogert who is the host of a podcast called the Ted Bogert Show. In my sketch Ted was dresses as Tina Turner with an amazing flaming orange wig and tight black dress. He later explained that he had to duck tape that wig on. Anyway, he loved that I documented the evening in my unique and and he invited me on his podcast to learn more about what I do.
He had multiple guests lined up for the day and his website has a streamlines way of getting guests to share their social media profiles and info. He tapes his show in the Citrus Club in the BB and T Building (255 S Orange Ave, Suite 1800, Orlando Fl). His email warned that there can be no ripped jeans of flip flops in the Citrus Club. Since I never wear either I was safe and it was good to know that I didn’t need to wear a dinner jacket. It was however quite cold that morning so I ended up wearing a hoodie. Hoodies wee not directly mentioned as being forbidden so I took my chances to keep my ears warm as I walked downtown.
Ted’s invite said I should just mention to the person at the front desk that I was there to see him. The guard at the front desk in the lobby had no idea what I was talking about when I said, “I am here to meet Ted.” I checked my iPhone to re-read the message and realized that Ted meant I should ask up o the 18th floor. When I arrived at the Citrus Club the woman at the front desk pointed me towards Ted. He was offering wedding venue advice to a woman at his table. After a quick intro, I sat at the table next to theirs and started sketching the view out the window. I seldom get to see downtown Orlando from this high up so I was excited to sketch. I started the sketch knowing I had at most 15 to 30 minutes to work.
A new skyscraper has just recently been finished across from the Amway Arena so that became my focal point. It has an interesting modular shape with sections of the building being different values and colors a bit like a Rubik’s Cube.
The interview was held in the Wine Room. Ted had his phone on a tripod in front of the floor to ceiling window and a building across the street offered magnificent reflected sunlight. He briefed me and let me know about a couple of questions he might ask towards the end of the interview. We chatted, joked and before I realized it the show was over. At one point we were talking about my nick name Thor and how that became my nickname at Disney, long before the Marvel movies came out. Then we talked about creating and creators and the phrase Creathor was thrown into the mix. It was such a fun show to do. Our missions to promote the arts are so similar. I was preaching to the choir when I was talking to Ted. Afterwards I shared the podcast on my social media saying it was a fun irreverent time. Ted thought that might have a negative connotation. I suppose that is the danger of quick sound bites on Social Media. The meanings can be confused if the whole story isn’t told. Thanks Ted for the opportunity, It was a fun way to kick off the New Year.