What Fuels Marc Majeau

When I first started “Radio and Television” at NAIT way back in January of 2010, I didn’t know much about the industry.

A year and a half later, I’ve learnt a lot.  I’m not saying I know everything there is to do about the industry, but I know a lot more now than I did a short while ago.

There are a more than few people that helped guide my way into the program, but the four big ones are: Conan O’Brien, host of “Conan” on TBS, Rod Phillips, former Play by Play voice of the Edmonton Oilers, Kevin Smith, Director/Podcaster, as well as Tim Micallef and Sid Seixerio from The Score Television Network.

First, let’s talk about Mr Conan Christopher O’Brien.  I remember the very first time I ever stayed up to watch “Late Night With Conan O’Brien”.  It was the summer of 2002, and my favourite band at the time, Dashboard Confessional, was appearing on the show.

I didn’t know much about the late night world, other than my mom had occasionally stayed up to watch David Letterman.

When the first drum line from Max Weinberg kicked in, and the opening credits began to roll, I was hooked on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien”.  That was 9 years ago, and I still remember being 12 years old in my basement, thinking to myself: “Holy crap! This guy gets it!”  I had never seen a performer like O’Brien.  The quick wit, the self-deprecating humour, and the intelligence.  He had the entire package.  After that, I began watching and following other late night hosts. Letterman, Kimmel, Kilborn, and Ferguson. I started watching how they crafted their shows, and the routines they got into.

It was the summer of 2002 when I realized I wanted to be an entertainer.  Conan O’Brien has continued to be a mentor, as well as a source for motivation for me.

When I enrolled in RTA, I wanted to make people laugh like Conan O’Brien.  When I had the chance to host my own “After-Hours” show on NR92, I jumped at the chance.  I thought, “This was my chance to host my own late night show!”

Sure, it wasn’t on NBC like I dreamed as a kid, but it was something.  Every Sunday, for a year and a half, I did my best to entertain my few, by loyal listeners.  I tried to go outside the box with my thinking, with such bits as “Can ‘Duel of the Fates’ make anything interesting?” as well as “Horrible Songs by Great Artists”.

Conan O’Brien on his last night hosting “The Tonight Show” said “Nobody every gets exactly what they want, but if you work hard, and you’re kind to be people, amazing things will happen.”

I worked hard on that show, and the odd time that one of my friends would stop me and say “Hey, I caught your show this week, it was really funny!” THAT was an amazing thing to me.  I want that to happen on a daily basis, not just every Sunday.  I want to work my butt off to entertain people, regardless of the platform.

The RTA program was perfect for me, because it let me exercise a lot of muscles that I knew I had, but hadn’t had the chance to work out before.

Rod Phillips is a big inspiration to me.  I was born in 1989 in Edmonton, so by the time I was able to understand who and what the Edmonton Oilers were, we were lead by Shayne Corson and Jason Arnott (a little to late to see Gretzky, Messier, Kurri and Coffey).  But, in 1997, lightning struck, and the Oilers made the playoffs.

I was only 8, so I couldn’t stay up late to watch the epic battles between the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars that season, but, luckily, I had a radio in my room. I stayed up late, with my radio, and listen to Rod paint a wonderful image in my head.

I couldn’t believe that with no picture, it was still clear as day.  Phillips had a way with words that was unlike any other play-by-play man I had ever heard.  He had the passion of a fan, and the voice of a king.

“HE SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRREEEEESSS” will always bring a smile to my face.

Flash forward to a couple years later, and I’m 10 years old.  My dad had to work out of town a lot, and one job in particular kept him in Saskatchewan for 3 or 4 weeks at a time.  The few bonding moments my dad and I would have during the long stretches when he wasn’t in town came on Oiler game nights.  This was before the days of Sportsnet having 67 channels, and you were actually excited when an Oiler game was on (You didn’t just assume it was).

My dad didn’t have a TV where he was staying, so it was my job to be play-by-play for the Oilers while my dad was away.   I thought than that this would be the greatest job ever. Play-by-play man for your favourite team? That sounds like the greatest job on the face of the earth!

My first actual play-by-play job came when I started in RTA, and started doing play-by-play for the NAIT Ooks hockey teams, both mens and womens.  I earned a new respect for Rod, which I thought was impossible! I already loved the man!  The art of play-by-play is incredibly tough, so the hard work, passion and dedication that Phillips put into his career is something that I strive for.

Rod Phillips called his last NHL game this season, and through hell or high water, I made sure I was in attendance at that game.  I even made sure that I brought a walkman with me inside Rexall Place to make sure I could hear Rod call his final game.

Although Jack Michaels looks to be in the big chair for the next 20+ years, I’ll always be shooting for the play-by-play job for the Edmonton Oilers.

Kevin Smith is an inspiration to me, because he turned his hobby into his profession.  Smith turned a weekly podcast (SModcast) with friend/producer Scott Mosier, and was able to get his own podcast theatre (SModcastle), as well as many tours based on his podcasts. Eventually, Smith started his own Internet Radio Station called “S.I.R.” that will debut on May 9th.

He grew SModcast into an entire network, and it spawned many other new shows.  Smith started growing the SModcast network through Twitter, with his 1.7 million followers.  He also used his Twitter followers to promote his upcoming movie, “Red State”.

I think that’s so revolutionary.  He was able to finance his movie, create his own theatre, and the big kicker: the podcasts are free.

Free entertainment.  Smith has made a living from his fans, paying to see all of his movies, and buying all his DVDs, that he returned the favour with the “SModcast Podcast Network”.

I want an idea like that.  I really think podcasting is about to take off in a big way.

When Tim Micallef and Sid Seixeiro from “The Score Television Network” went to podcasts, they immediately found themselves near, or at the top of iTunes “Top Ten Most Downloaded Podcasts”.

There are more and more examples of how many people have made a living based on podcasting, and I really believe that in the next two or three years, the idea will be bigger.

I really believe that social media is here to stay, and it’s all about how people can utilize that to their own benefit. It can benefit anyone from Joe Q Blogger, to radio stations.  Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, MySpace, it doesn’t matter.  There are billions of people on the internet, and it’s all about getting your message across to them

I’m very eager to start my own career.  I don’t know to what part of the world it’ll take me, and I don’t know what kind of people it will introduce me to, but I do know…

“…if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

- Conan O’Brien

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