‘Showbiz!’ entertainer Murray Hill became what he didn’t see

This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. My guest Murray Hill calls himself Mr Showbiz. He played one of the big hearted characters in the HBO series Somebody Somewhere about a community of friends in Manhattan, Kansas. His character, Fred Ricoco, was a soil scientist and professor and And a trans man with a great sense of humor. He was also the host of the Queer Cabaret that was held at the Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, Kansas, under the guise of using the space for choir practice. In real life.

Murray Hill is the persona he created to MC innumerable Drag King, burlesque, and music events, including the first TV Drag King competition series called King of Drag. His influences include old school comics like Don Rickles, Buddy Hackett, Dean Martin, Phyllis Dillard, Toddy Fields, and Joan Rivers. And musicians like Elvis and Tina Turner. And Sammy Davis Junior. In the New York Times he was described as having a look that brings to mind a nineteen seventies Las Vegas lounge singer Crossed with a nineteen fifties Borschtbelt comedian.

But eventually Murray Hill stop being just a persona. and became his full time identity. In his new memoir. Showbiz exclamation point. My life as a middle aged man is

We already have this episode, so unlocking it is cheap and permanent: the full transcript (44 minutes, 6,590 words), segment and word-level timestamps, and .txt, .srt, .vtt and word-level JSON downloads, as many times as you like, forever.

No account needed, we create one from your checkout email. With credits it is 1 credit; packs start at 10 episodes for $5, and monthly plans are cheaper still.