Richard Christy

Richard Christy
Birth name Thomas Richard Christy
Born (1974-04-01) April 1, 1974
Fort Scott, Kansas, U.S.
Genres Heavy metal, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Power Metal, Thrash Metal
Occupation(s) Drummer, radio personality, stand-up comedian, electrician
Instruments Drums
Years active 1996–present
Associated acts Acheron, Death, Control Denied, Burning Inside, Iced Earth, Leash Law, Charred Walls of the Damned
Website www.richardchristy.com

Thomas Richard Christy Jr (born April 1, 1974) is an American musician and radio personality who currently works on The Howard Stern Show. Christy began to work on the show after winning the "Get John's Job" contest on July 1, 2004.[1] He is known for his prank calls, song parodies, personality, and stunts performed on the radio show. He is also a stand-up comic and an actor, appearing in and directing several independent films.

Christy is a professional drummer, and a former member of metal bands Death and Iced Earth. He is currently working in his own project, Charred Walls of the Damned.

Childhood and early music career with Death

Christy was born in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1974 and grew up in the nearby city of Redfield, a small town with a population of 146, according to the 2010 census. His father is a Vietnam veteran.

Christy was inspired to play drums after hearing Alex Van Halen's drumming in the Van Halen song "Hot for Teacher".[2] Later Dave Lombardo and Pete Sandoval inspired him to play faster.[2] Other influences include Frankie Banali, Mikkey Dee, Bobby Jarzombek, Sean Reinert, Gene Hoglan and Alex Marquez.[2] When Christy turned 10 years old, he began to play drums in the Uniontown, Kansas elementary school band. He played snare drum for a year until his parents bought him a Gretsch drum set from an antiques dealer in Arcadia, Kansas. After school, Christy would practice to Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Kiss and Quiet Riot records. As Christy grew older, he trained as an electrician.

Christy was a fan of the band Death and moved to Orlando, Florida in the mid-90s in hopes of meeting band leader Chuck Schuldiner. A chance encounter with Schuldiner at the Altamonte Mall led to Christy's musical break as he became the drummer in Death, performing on the band's seventh studio album The Sound of Perseverance as well as doing the band's world tour in 1998. A personal friendship and musical camaraderie with Schuldiner also brought Christy into the line-up of Schuldiner's other musical project, the more melodic Control Denied, and Christy played drums on their debut album The Fragile Art of Existence. Schuldiner's battle with cancer that culminated in the Death leader's passing in December 2001 brought Christy close to the Schuldiner family, and former Death manager Eric Greif has stated that they remain very close to this day.

While living in Florida, Christy also continued working as an electrician for Phillips Electrical Contracting in Orlando.[3]

Later music career

Christy announced after signing a record deal in May 2009 that he planned to re-enter the heavy metal scene, forming a new band called "Charred Walls of the Damned". Their first single, Ghost Town was premiered on The Howard Stern Show in November 2009 and is currently in rotation on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.[4]

The Howard Stern Show

Christy first appeared on The Howard Stern Show in October 1999, where Stern would play voice mail messages that Christy had recorded about co-host Robin Quivers. His debut message was featured on the Labor Day Weekend special in 2006. Christy would continue sending in messages but it was not until April 24, 2003, when the show would broadcast from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where Christy made his debut appearance. Christy unsuccessfully played a round of blackjack to win a date with a porn star.

In 2004, John Melendez (then known as "Stuttering John") left the radio show to become the announcer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Richard Christy begged for months for a job with the Howard Stern Show. Stern announced a "Get John's Job" contest which pitted ten Stern fans and contributors against each other in competition for Melendez's vacated position. Each contestant was given a week to display any talents they could bring to the show, after which the listeners cast votes for their favorite over the Internet. On July 1, Stern announced Christy had won with 30% of the listener vote, with Sal Governale being runner-up with 24%; both Christy and Governale joined the show by September.[5]

When Stern moved to Sirius XM Radio in January 2006, he gave Christy his own show that would air semi-regularly throughout the year. On May 15, 2006, porn star Hillary Scott was the first guest on Inside the Porn Actors Studio on Howard 101, an hour-long program which parodied the television series Inside the Actors Studio, with Christy filling the role of James Lipton. In February that same year, Christy had a brazilian wax performed on him and was aired live on Stern's show.

Between 2005 and the tour's demise in late 2009, Christy also performed in The Killers of Comedy Tour with fellow Stern castmembers across the United States and Canada.

In 2006, Christy hosted a program on Sirius XM channel Hard Attack called "Richard Christy's Heavy Metal Hoedown".

Prank calls

Richard makes several of the show's popular prank calls, often working in conjunction with Sal Governale. Many of the calls involve the use of soundclips, though Richard also calls as characters that he voices, including:

Among the most frequent victims of Christy's calls are shows on the public access Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

Movie and television career

Christy has said he once dreamed of a movie career after he saw Brad Pitt, from nearby Springfield, Missouri, in the film Interview With the Vampire. He even hung up posters of Pitt in his New York apartment, and worked at a computer store owned by Pitt's parents.[6]

Christy made his directorial debut in 1995 with "Evil Ned 3 - The Return of Evil Ned 2 - Electric Boogaloo". The film was a low budget horror-comedy shot for only $250.[7]

Along with Governale, Christy starred in, co-wrote, and co-directed the 2006 short film Supertwink. Supertwink premiered on Howard Stern On Demand, and was reviewed by Richard Roeper, who panned it.[8] Christy also appeared in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay playing the role of a Ku Klux Klansman.[9]

In July 2007, Richard was cast in his first television role. He cast to play "really creepy guy at end of bar" on Rescue Me.[10] Richard has also announced that he recorded voiceover work for the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse.[11]

Christy has been attached to the movie Body Farm, a Pittsburgh-based film by Bridge City Films set to begin production in November 2008.

Christy and Governale are both characters in the 2009 horror novel, Castaways, written by award-winning horror and crime novelist Brian Keene.[12]

In 2009, he appeared as Caleb in the Redneck Slasher Albino Farm and presented his movie at Fangoria Trinity of Terrors.[13]

Christy recently finished shooting a 6 part comedy series called There Goes Da Neighboorhood, described as "a Black Devil Doll Sitcom of Outrageous Proportions", scheduled for a 2014 release.[14]

Discography

With Acheron
With Death
With Control Denied
With Burning Inside
With Iced Earth
With Leash Law
With Charred Walls of the Damned

In addition to these bands, Christy has performed live shows with Dream Theater,[15] Tiwanaku, Rick Renstrom, Syzygy, Bung Dizeeze, Incantation, Public Assassin, Wykked Wytch and Demons and Wizards.

References

  1. ↑ "The Howard Stern Show". Howard Stern.com. 2004-07-01. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  2. 1 2 3 "Heavy Metal Drummer Richard Christy Interview". Heavymetal.about.com. 2010-06-14. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  3. ↑ "Biography". The Official Richard Christy Website. Richard Christy. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  4. ↑ The Official Site of Howard Stern | HowardStern.com
  5. ↑ "Richard Christy Gets John?s Job!". Howard Stern.com. 2004-07-01. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  6. ↑ SIRIUS XM Radio, Howard 100 - The Wrap-Up Show from November 5, 2007
  7. ↑ "Richard Christy in person for The Evil Dead + Evil Ned at the Pioneer Theater - Movie Theater in New York City". Twoboots.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  8. ↑ "Supertwink (2006) (TV) - Memorable quotes". Imdb.com. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  9. ↑ "Howard Stern Show cameos Harold and Kumar 2". Slashfilm.com. 2007-02-16. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  10. ↑ "Howard Stern Show News". MarksFriggin.com. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  11. ↑ "The Official Richard Christy Website". Richard Christy. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  12. ↑ "The Official Brian Keene Website". Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  13. ↑ "Chris Jericho, Richard Christy, & More coming to the TRINITY OF TERRORS!". Fangoria.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2009. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  14. ↑ There Goes Da Neighborhood facebook page, (retrieved December 21, 2013)
  15. ↑ "The Official Richard Christy website". Richard Christy. Retrieved 2011-10-10.

External links

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