Memorable "Mike" Moments

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 20, 10 November 1939, Page 47

Memorable "Mike" Moments

| (5) Dudley Wrathall There are some things that, like the elephant, one never forgets. The house where one was born, one’s first disillusionment, and many ridiculous situations of which one still blushes at the memory. Next anecdote in our series of Memorable Mike Moments comes from Dudley Wrathall, of 1ZB. For this he has no cause to blush -but he remembers it after eight years without any difficulty: "When announcer at 4YA Dunedin (1930), I relayed annually the Otago Early Settlers’ Association’s function from the Early Settlers’ Hall. The function consisted of clatter of cups and saucers and buzz of conversation, with intermittent items by artists — the broadcast was not-so-good. I had the brainwave of getting some wellknown old identities to come to the mike and say a few words, thus adding to the interest of the broadcast. "Six oldest inhabitants were rounded up by the secretary — in between times I explained the

‘mike, what to say, etc. Everything went swimmingly until I tackled the last one — about 90 — and deaf! "TI could see that he didn’t ‘get’ my explanation, but took a chance, and when the time came, tapped him on the shoulder and nodded toward the mike. He staggered forward, and, placing his cupped hand behind his ear, gazed blankly at the ‘mike,’ and shouted, ‘Who’s speaking? Who’s speaking?’" (6) Phil Shone Phil Shone remembers rather a similar situation. It was, as a matter of fact, Dudley Wrathall’s account that reminded him of it. He said: "Oh, yes, I remember. I was detailed off to make the acquaintance of a lady visitor and make her feel at home in the studio. "She was due to broadcast in a short space of time, and therefore I had little opportunity to make her ‘feel at home,’ as it were. Naturally, thinking she would know which object was the ‘mike’ I failed to instruct her on this point, and was highly amused when she got her cue to start talking, because she placed her mouth up close to our silver ashtray and carried on with her fortune telling."