Oh, crap! It worked!

[Jay!]

A local L.A. radio station KROQ has the black-sheep of morning shows in the market, two guys named Kevin and Bean, known for their practical jokes.

They do a bit from time to time where they call and try to get through to important people and celebrities, etc, by impersonating whomever they think will get them through. I've heard them do this bit a million times, and they always, always get hung up on. (LOL!)

Today, because of current affair between America and France, they tried to call Jacques Chirac, the French President. And, who better to call the French than Jerry Lewis? (They love him! )

They tried the bit, and actually thought they got hung up on, bit it seems that they were just on hold, and after they had gone to a commercial, the secretary came back on the line and told them she was putting them through to the President! (This was off-the-air, so they were taping it, and replayed it a few minutes later.)

At that point, they set all jokes aside (!) for fear of causing an international incedent, and proceded to interview the President of France posing as Jerry Lewis. :huh: This had to have been the most surreal thing I've ever heard on my radio.

For the record, Chirac is a very gracious speaker, and while the difference in the American and French positions on the issues were evident ni his comments, he still very much seems to consider the Unites States a "friendly" country, and in fact seems to credit the U.S. Military presence in the Persian Gulf with providing the pressure that keeps Saddam (arguably) co-operating with the UN inspectors.

Too bad they'll all be fired for it tomorrow.

[YogsVR4]

Damn!

If they were truely worried about it they could have hung up at any time.

[taranaki]

Jerry Lewis is probably grateful for the publicity though.........

[supratuner]

Originally posted by taranaki
Jerry Lewis is probably grateful for the publicity though.........

DItto

[Neutrino]

I'm sorry but i have to raise the BS flag on this one. Do you guys realise how hard would be to raise the president of a major country on the phone?

Most likely they had a french guy on the phone that pretended to be chirac.

[primera man]

WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HEAR THAT

[Jay!]

Originally posted by Neutrino
Most likely they had a french guy on the phone that pretended to be chirac.

I was so on board with you until I heard it... Usually everything they do like this is bogus, and at the end you can tell... but this one was completely on the straight and narrow. They didn't ask any off-the-wall questions, as is par for the course with them...

They were even saying at the end how Ralph (the guy impersonatuing Jerry Lewis) was being careful to say "Next time I'm in Paris, we should get together..." and not say "Meet you..." because he had no idea if Chirac had ever met Lewis. Then Chirac replied, "It would be nice to meet you," so he had his answer.

Truth is, if it's a hoax, it's the best they've ever done... :o

[SiRI]

Yeah i dont think they could get a President of a country on the phone with such ease. They could of just as easily put another french guy on the phone seeing when they speak english they all sound alike

[Oz]

This reminds me of a story my Canadian friend told me at Uni today. He is an exchange student from Ottowa, and went on an 'intenational' student cruise of Sydney harbour last night. He was talking to some American guy who said something like "Back home in DC they know how it is. Goddamn french. In McDonalds, they no longer call them French Fry's, they call them Freedom Fries" to which Pete promptyly cracked up laughing, as I did when he related it to me.

Just thought I'd share - can any Americans shed any light on the accuracy/truth here?

[Twist]

A radio station back home managed to get Pres. George W. Bush on the phone for an interview. These guys asked some serious questions but kept the discussion light. And then one of the hosts posed this question to our president:

"Yeah, 'round where I live we're having serious problems with updog."

and our president replied:

"What's updog?"

LOL! They have a take of the W saying "What's up, dog?" They air the clip on occasion. It's great.

[Chris]

Yes, some places have started calling french toast and french fries freedom toast and freedom fries, because the french are so anti-war, and a lot of americans really want to go and blow up most of iraq.

But, its not *SO* hard to get a foreign president on the phone; in Canada, we are quite cavalier about it; if you stand around our parliament buildings, eventually you will see Chretien, with a very small number of body guards; so, gasp, you can actually talk to him

[DemonicAccord]

screw the french.

[Jay!]

The only article I've spotted so far can neither confirm nor deny if it's a hoax:

http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/oc...month=3&day=13

DID KROQ REALLY GET THROUGH TO FRANCE?

Was that really the president of France on KROQ/106.7 FM Wednesday morning?

Members of the radio station's morning team, Kevin and Bean, insist it was. Impersonating comedian Jerry Lewis, KROQ DJ Ralph Garman called the president's office and, after a long hold, was put in touch with Jacques Chirac.

"It was NOT a hoax," Garman wrote in an e-mail. But he said station management had asked him not to speak about it yet; as of Wednesday afternoon, KROQ said that the matter was being investigated, but otherwise had no comment.

Garman had called the president's office and, after a dead-on Lewis impersonation with the secretary, was put on hold. The station then went to commercials and songs. When Kevin and Bean returned, they said that, to their amazement, Chirac had answered and they had recorded the conversation.

Garman seemed honestly flustered during the exchange, dropping any punchlines and simply saying that he was worried about French-American relations. Chirac said he was worried, too, but said that the two countries would always be friends, even if they didn't agree about Iraq.

Chirac - if it was him - initially expressed skepticism that he was really talking to Lewis, but after Garman spoke, Chirac said, "I recognize your voice." At the end of the conversation, the president said he was "a big fan" of the comedian.

If it wasn't a hoax, KROQ officials could be worried about fallout from France, or Lewis, or both. In January, a radio station in Miami was criticized when its morning team used a tape of Fidel Castro's voice to get through to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

They were all keen to avoid talking about it on the air today, and made it sound like they were in trouble...

Originally posted by Oz
Just thought I'd share - can any Americans shed any light on the accuracy/truth here?

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/t91519.html

[ragt20]

well we've had a similar type of radio show host here in the UK manage to get thru to the PM last year I think....so tis not really that difficult.....

[Heep]

Originally posted by Chris
eventually you will see Chretien, with a very small number of body guards; so, gasp, you can actually talk to him

If you'd want to :huh: