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	Podcast:		Word Balloon Comics Podcast
	Episode:		History Of Radio Sketch Comedy THE USUAL SUSPECTS
	Category:		TV & Film
	Duration:		01:17:53
	Publish Date:		2026-03-27 10:49:58
	Description:		Back in my WXRT days, when rock radio still had a little room to get weird, there was one audio ,The Usual Suspects. Their sharp, character-driven sketches didn’t just make me laugh, they lit the fuse for everything I later tried on The Score and even here on Word Balloon. Today, I’m talking with two of the masterminds behind that magic, Barb Wallace and Tom Wolfe, a brilliant writing team whose partnership went from Chicago airwaves to Hollywood success, with credits on shows like Murphy Brown and Welcome to New York, starring Christine Baranski and a young Jim Gaffigan. For me, these two weren’t just funny—they were the blueprint.
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