John Pinette had me hooked as a fan the moment I first heard his debut album, Show Me the Buffet. Like all his fans, I was deeply saddened by his death today at age 50.
In the spring of 1998, a record company sent me an advance copy of Pinette’s CD. They asked me to consider booking him as a guest on KLOS. Mark & Brian generally didn’t want to have guests they didn’t know unless I insisted. When I pitched them on John Pinette, it was one of the few times I insisted.
Of course Pinette was an outstanding guest. A month or two later he was on the finale of Seinfeld. That December, I booked him to do a set on stage at the Mark & Brian Christmas Show. In the summer of 1999, he agreed to appear as a guest on a show I co-hosted on a much smaller radio station. Also in 1999, he was named Stand-Up Comedian of the Year.
John’s YouTube channel has only eight videos on it. Each video is a segment of his I’m Starvin’ special. Here is part one:
