Several weeks back I spent a couple of Friday afternoons having a cordial digital conversation with one of America’s top 500 Podcasters, Brian McCarthy, just five UES blocks from my own apartment. After plying me with a glass or two of Sancerre, he cracked open a conversation that was equal parts entertaining, stimulating, and occasionally pedantic. All in all, we enjoyed a marvelous time, and hope it signals long-term good-fellowship.
The portrait accompanying the column reveals him sporting a tropical worsted startling pink double-breasted blazer made palatable over a J. Squeeze soft-roll blue button down shirt personalized with a mutually expressive aquamarine emblematic silk foulard necktie of doubtful pink figurines. To each his Dulcinea.
Brian purchased the blazer as an off-price gift at the suggestion of his pal, man-about-town, concert and night club performing guitarist 44th Street J. Press stalwart Robert Wolf who garnered the customer rejected bespoke jacket where it lay like a blinking traffic light in the tailor shop for at least five years. “Been a J. Press customer for twenty years,” Brian confided, “consider the blazing blazer a fitting advertisement for J. Press divertissement.”
We let loose for over an hour capitulating how Grandpa founded the eponymous company on the Yale campus in 1902. I recounted the inside story of dressing Dick Cavett for his 1970s late night talk show.
He drew more out of me about tossing down Jack Daniels with Frank Sinatra and further rekindling my heretofore suppressed memory of an alleged perpetrator entering the store pointing a revolver and telling us to lie down and toss our wallets on the floor. He even unplugged the tale of the blind date at Allen’s Bar on 3rd and 73rd with the knock-out Smith grad that turned into a 61-year marriage.
Get the full story here which has links to all the ways to get the show, more directly— Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, etc.
Our podcast camaraderie fun time re-envisioned the title of Milton Berle’s 1949 musical comedy film:
Always Leave Them Laughing
RICHARD PRESS
1 comment
Dear Richard,
As an avid listener of the podcast for a while, I would just like you to know that you indeed held your own and were a gracious & entertaining guest, I certainly hope to be as articulate & quick witted at anything approaching the glorious numbers of seasons you have made sure gents were correctly attired for.
As a listener from Australia, the history of Ivy style dressing was particularly foreign, and not resembling the relentless bastard weed that tries to choke every living thing around here.
Cheers Steve.