(light upbeat music) (light upbeat music continues) (lively rock music) ♪ Hey ♪ Hey ♪ Hey - Welcome to "A Shot of Ag."

I'm your host, Rob Sharkey.

It was a few years ago a young luchador called Rey Mysterio, he switched the name to his finishing maneuver, the 619.

And thousands, tens, hundreds of, dare I say, millions, of fans would cheer, "619," in a studio.

And it became the most iconic area code of all time until our guest today, Blake Wirth.

How you doing, Blake?

- I'm good, man.

Thanks for having me.

- Yeah?

- Yes.

- "Vibe 309," that's your show.

- That's my show.

That's my city, "Vibe 309."

- I'm 309 up there in Bradford.

- You are 309.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- We're real close to the 815, but we're 309.

- So, but you identify as 309?

- If you wanna put it that way, yes.

(Rob laughs) - Okay.

- Your show is here on WTVP.

I understand it's the second-most popular show they do, so congratulations.

- Yeah.

Yep, thank you very much.

Christine Zak's show is obviously the most popular.

- I would agree.

- By the way, I love the Rey Mysterio reference.

When he took his mask off, it was- - No, we don't talk about that.

You talk about that on your show.

Don't you mention that here.

- I'm just saying.

I was still traumatized as a kid when that happened.

- That was the biggest mistake.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

I'm sorry y'all had to hear that.

(Blake exhales) (Rob laughs) You're from Peoria, right?

- I'm from West Peoria.

- Jenn Gordon?

- Well, it matters.

West, you come with a little more edge to you.

So, West Peoria.

- What is west?

What part is west?

- Have you ever heard of Haddad's?

- No.

- It's a grocery store.

It's iconic.

West is west of here.

- [Rob] The new mall?

- Oh, the Grand Prairie Mall?

- Yeah.

- That's north.

- Well, what's west?

- The other way.

(laughs) It's the other way.

- No, what- - Going toward Bartonville, kind of over that way.

- Oh, I thought that was south.

- No.

- No, okay.

So obviously you got- - Depends where you are.

- The Heights is, what would you call that, East?

- (sighs) I would call that Northeast Peoria Heights.

- This is a conversation that's going nowhere fast.

So you're from West Peoria.

That's where you grew up.

- Grew up in West Peoria, stayed in town for college, went to Bradley University.

- What high school?

- Notre Dame.

- Oh, there you go, Fighting Irish.

Yeah, yeah.

You like that movie "Rudy"?

- Love that movie.

- That was a great movie.

- Vince Vaughn's in that.

- What?

- Check the credits.

- What?

- I hope I'm right.

- Focus.

All right, so you went to Bradley.

- Yeah.

- What'd you study?

- Economics, actually.

Didn't use it.

- I mean, that's not an easy school to get into.

You had to be smart.

(Blake exhaling) No?

- That's debatable, yeah.

- What, you paid off somebody to get in there?

- I didn't wanna talk about it.

You asked me things to avoid.

It's paying off my way through college.

- It's Illinois.

Yeah, I got it figured out, okay.

So, after... You went in the Peace Corps?

- Yeah, so I did the Peace- - It's kind of a hippie thing, isn't it?

- Hipster thing, hippie, I don't know, yeah, hippie thing probably, but, you know, JFK started it back in the '60s.

I heard about it in high school for the first time, really was drawn to it, liked the idea of it.

So after I graduated, I went to Madagascar, lived there a couple years.

- Oh, really?

- Lived without electricity just like you do out in Radford.

I actually did have to get my water from a well like I was joking about with you, but I actually had to do that, so yeah.

- Why Madagascar?

- I got to pick the continent I wanted to go to.

I got to rank order continents.

Africa was my first.

I got lucky, sort of the jackpot, by getting Madagascar.

It was an incredible experience, yeah.

- I love that movie, the little rats.

- [Blake] Yeah, I'm actually in the fourth one.

- Are you?

- It's like halfway through.

You can see me in the background.

- [Rob] There's penguins that live there too.

- [Blake] No.

- What do you mean?

No, I've seen the- - Actually, all of the animals in the movie, it's all fake.

That's Hollywood for you.

- You were never there.

- No.

Maybe the moviemakers were never there.

- I imagine that place is beautiful from everything I've seen.

- It's got every landscape from mountains to ocean to desert to highlands, everything you can think of.

It's beautiful.

It's very biodiverse.

- And what was your purpose there again?

- English education, did some health stuff, but, yeah, that was part of the journey that brought me back here, but.

- When you do something like that, I mean, do you feel like you're appreciated over there?

- I do because they actually called me White Rasta.

I had really long hair, and they thought I was a hippie, probably.

I had this aura about me just 'cause I looked different, and they respect me.

And I tried to always speak their language.

That was the important part.

- You probably massacred it.

- Oh, I butchered it.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, well, it took me... By two years in, I finally got the language under me, but they just respected the effort because, yeah, that went a long way.

- Okay, so then you taught in South Korea too?

- Taught in South Korea.

They were a little less appreciative of me over there, I'll be honest with you.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

- Just 'cause you weren't as cool?

- My jokes weren't landing.

Nothing was working.

You know, they weren't picking up what I was putting down.

- They have an angry neighbor to the north too.

Maybe that's what it is.

- Yeah, well, I think I was in South Korea.

Could have been North, though.

(Rob laughs) - I think you would've known.

- Yeah.

- So then you what, came back home?

- Yeah, came home, started doing some film stuff, started scratching the creative itch, worked in social work.

Then I worked at Simantel, which is a marketing agency.

I was a writer, copywriter, and then now I... So everything I've learned along the way, I've been able to take little bits and pieces, tools, stories, relationships built, what have you, and kind of parlay that into everything I'm getting to do now.

- So you got "Vibe 309."

That is your show.

- [Blake] Yes, sir.

- Tell me what that's about.

- (exhales) Ultimately, it's about bringing people together.

I mean, it sounds a little trite, but it's a late-night talk show is how I describe it.

We have a live studio audience, which is a lot of fun.

The tapings are a ton of fun.

- We don't get that.

- We got in-studio segments, and we have out-of-studio segments, so just kind of like this.

My desk is a little bigger than this one, but I have the desk.

My couch is a little longer.

I'm not saying it's better.

I'm just saying it's a little different.

So the set's a little... You know, I got the... What's actually back there?

I was wondering 'cause I have a skyline of Peoria behind me.

- They found that in the garbage.

- But "Vibe 309," it's a very fun show.

I kind of try to show the heart and the humor of all the people and the places in our city, in our region.

- [Rob] All in Peoria?

- 309, so all the way out to Radford.

- Bradford or Radford?

- Whatever you wanna call it.

- Okay.

Yeah, 309.

So we will be venturing out and doing the surrounding communities from Washington, East Peoria, Morton, and so on too.

- How far south does... 'Cause Springfield's 217, right?

- Yeah, now Champaign's I think 217 as well.

- Is it?

Okay.

But it goes a long ways.

- I think it does.

- Yeah.

Okay.

And how did you get said show?

- So I pitched it.

I had the idea that... To be honest, I brought this here trophy.

I don't know, I'm not trying to go to this segment early.

- You brought it.

You walked across the room and picked it up.

- Walked across to get it off my set.

But I don't bring this in to be braggadocious.

I bring it in because, to me... So that is a standup.

I won a standup beginner competition for Kiwanis Club.

- That's quite the trophy.

- Yeah, it's huge.

- Yeah.

- It's got a lot of weight to it, but, for me, this represents kind of the night I stopped dragging my feet, stopped just... Yeah, I've always wanted to do standup, and I never did.

I'd always had all the excuses not to.

And then when I finally did it, and the crowd was reacting to the jokes, and I had that feeling up on stage, I wanted to keep doing stuff like that.

So truly a couple weeks later, I pitched the show to "Vibe 309."

So this trophy represents the night I was like, "The gloves are off.

I'm just doing it.

I'm gonna go for it.

I'm gonna do it."

So, really, really special night and relic, but that's kind of where the show came from.

I had wanted to do something more creative, and I had been working on the Choose Greater Peoria Initiative and learning a lot about the region and the people who kind of drive the region, and all of that was packaged up into a coffee meeting with Jenn Gordon.

- Doing standup is not easy.

- No.

- A lot of it is not even... I mean, you can have the best material in the world, but if you can't deliver, it doesn't go over.

- [Blake] That's true.

Have you tried to do standup?

- We do the keynote, which, it's different than standup, very specifically different, but it's a lot of similarities.

- So I've had some people who've asked me about standup since, and I've recommended the Kiwanis event hands down because they come to laugh.

They're there to be supportive.

It's for a good cause.

So if you can get involved in a Kiwanis standup, that's where you should take the lead 'cause it really instilled in me so much confidence I always thought I had, but until I actually got up there and said the jokes and heard the laughs and felt the energy, you know?

So that kind of catapulted me into everything I'm doing now.

- Yeah, you know what they always say the key to standup is.

- [Blake] You don't get embarrassed?

What?

- Timing.

- Timing.

I would say your timing there was just a hair long.

- You would be wrong.

(laughs) So was it like a confidence booster?

- Sure, yeah, oh yeah.

That night I went home, I couldn't go to sleep.

- You were jacked up.

- I was on cloud nine.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- Again, in the Peace Corps, every night I sat on my porch, I didn't have electricity, so I had nothing to do.

I would just dream of like the what-ifs and doing the thing, but never did it.

Finally got kind of pushed into doing this, and I'm glad I did.

- So what type of people are you interviewing on "309"?

- All kinds of people.

There's a lot of intentionality behind the guests and the organizations we highlight, but from the guests, we've highlighted everyone from John Morris, who's the president of the Riverfront Museum and arguably Peoria's greatest cheerleader.

We've had philanthropists.

We've had people in the health industry.

We've had educators.

We've had CEOs.

Liv Warfield was on the show, and she's Prince's protege, like, incredibly talented musician.

So the guests have been wide-ranging, and I've been blown away with everyone's willingness to actually come on the show.

And again, great part about the show is it brings people together.

So, every guest brings their family, their friends, their coworkers, kind of their community, and then over time, more people are coming into the station, and it's just bringing people together.

And it's exceeded my expectations, really.

- And the people that have not been to the WTVP studios, this is the largest studio I have ever been in.

I mean, RFD that does, you know, 50 hours of live TV is literally a quarter the size.

This thing is made to be used.

- Incredible.

- Yeah.

Like, what do you do, just set up chairs, or how do you do it?

- Yeah.

So there'll be two... There's probably four or five rows and two sections, and we've been getting- - Who sets it up?

I know you don't set it up.

Does Don set it up?

- Don's a big part of it, the Todd Father.

I mean, they've got the camera crew here.

The whole team is behind it, honestly.

It's a big lift to host an audience and do it all, and they do it so well.

- Yeah.

What's it like being at WTVP and actually have a crew that wants to help you?

- Yeah.

(laughs) It's great.

I love it.

It's amazing.

This is the best team.

I love it.

- The only time these guys, like, wanna come up is like when I got food or something, like when you have somebody that has food or alcohol on.

- Have you given them any of those shirts or anything?

You gotta lure 'em in with merch.

- Dude, I mean, I gotta pay for this stuff.

- If you want 'em to do their best work for you, you're gonna have to give 'em something.

- Eh, I don't want it that bad.

(both laugh) What are you hoping from the show going on?

- I wanna continue building momentum.

I feel momentum.

Every time we have a taping, or we're out in the community doing a vibe check, more and more people seem to have seen the program or even seen a clip on social, and they're talking about it, and it's generating a lot of positive buzz.

The whole show is rooted in positivity.

In the opening show, I obviously, I said, "No city is perfect.

Every city has its set of challenges."

I know that, but that's not what this show is.

We're gonna highlight all the cool people, the awesome places, the good things that are happening, and we'll leave all that other stuff to other talking heads.

- So you don't like Peoria, that's what I just heard.

- I hate it.

I'm actually getting ready to move to, I don't know.

- Where?

Bartonville?

- Canton?

(Rob laughs) Why are you laughing?

Canton, they have a nice park out there.

- Okay.

(laughs) Is it true you don't get embarrassed?

- I really don't, I don't.

I don't know where that comes from.

I think it's because I've always gone for the laugh, and I'll do anything to get the laugh.

- Yeah?

- And so over time, if you do that long enough, and then you hit a certain point in life, and you're like, "Who cares?

I'm old.

No one cares."

So I just do whatever I want.

- Okay.

(both laugh) "Big believer in curiosity and not waiting for permission."

How do you get away with this stuff?

- I know.

I don't know.

I just do stuff, and I ask for forgiveness later if need be.

- Is that what the... Boy, this show's gonna change.

(laughs) Okay, you have an e-bike.

- I have an e-bike.

Yeah, (laughs) you did some research here.

What are you, Jason Bourne?

- [Rob] You're not dealing with a chimp here.

- Yeah, no, I have an e-bike.

I just logged 30 miles on it yesterday.

- Well, that's not... Who cares?

- I know.

- [Rob] It's an e-bike.

- No, I know, but I feel like the Terminator.

I look like John Connor on the dirt bike going away from like the Terminator.

(imitates bike squealing) - Do you even pedal at all?

- Yeah, oh, yeah.

(Rob laughs) I fly.

You'll catch me going 30 around town just whipping around, safely, of course.

(Rob sighs) I wear a helmet.

I take all safe paths.

- I wish I could remember what that '80s movie where the kids were on the bikes.

- Well, there's "Stranger Things," but- - Yeah, this wasn't it.

I can't remember.

It wasn't ET, either, so don't feel- - "Goonies"?

- That was a great movie, yeah.

That was the one where the guy, remember he put his hand on there and the bike on the side of the car, and they... All right.

How old are you?

- [Blake] I don't know.

- Okay.

- No, (laughs) I actually turn 40 very soon.

So I'm 40 in a couple weeks.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

- You're a young fella, huh?

- I think so.

- Does that bother you that you're gonna turn 40?

- No, no.

The way I look at it, and I tell my wonderful, beautiful fiance, who's watching this in the control room right now, I tell her all the time, a lot of people don't even get to 40.

We're lucky to be able to get to whatever age we get to, so- - Yeah.

- Yeah.

I hope I'm a fossil.

I'm like, "I wanna live till like I'm 140."

- So your fiance, what's her name?

- Misty.

- What's wrong with her?

- Why she picked me?

- Does she have visual, can't see well or what?

- No, I think she just likes a good joke.

- Is that what it is?

- If you just lean into making fun of yourself, women like that.

- Okay.

(laughs) When's the wedding?

- Well, we're aiming for next summer.

We're aiming for next summer.

I would marry her tomorrow if everything logistically were in order, but it's not.

It's hard to plan a wedding, I'm told.

- I wouldn't know.

Here's the thing.

If you want community, right, that's the whole premise of your show, then literally everybody who watches your show should be invited.

- Yeah.

You're invited.

- No, like for the free meal and everything.

- What do you mean the free meal?

- Well, if you go to a wedding, you go to the reception.

You gotta give 'em a meal.

- Oh, you mean the... Okay.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

No, we can't do that.

How many viewers is WTVP at?

Like 430,000 or something?

- [Rob] Dude, we have dozens on this show.

- Dozens?

- Dozens.

I don't mean to brag.

- Well, it's gone up, 'cause it was just at 10 before we- - Well, it's been a good year.

(both laugh) - This is awesome.

Can we get extended to an hour program for this or what?

- No, I think they were gonna cut me down to 15 minutes.

- 15 minutes.

(laughs) - Another pledge drive.

(both laugh) Okay, all right, where- - What's with the bell there on your desk?

- Nobody really knows, yeah.

- Do you ever hit it?

- Yeah.

This is literally the only thing they allowed me to have.

- You ever hit it with your... Your forearm looks like my leg, like you... (air squeaks) - I don't know what to say to that, but I'll tell you the story behind it.

When I got out of college, and I was farming, and I would be in a tractor for endless hours, I would listen to WLS in Chicago, and they had the Roe Conn and Garry Meier show.

And they would hit the bell (bell dings) when everybody did an, like, unpaid plug.

So if you mentioned, oh, "My e-bike was so whatever," they would hit that.

- Oh, okay.

- So when I came to WTVP, I was like, "What is my budget to buy stuff?"

and they said- - [Blake] Whatever you have?

- There you go.

That's your bell.

It came from a game called Pit.

- It's good quality.

What is that, a burnt orange?

- Yeah, but this is actually theirs.

Maybe Don brought it in, I don't know, but the one I got at home is a little rougher.

- I always feel rude.

I was just at Casey's the other day, and they have the bell, and I didn't hit it.

I waited the night when she came back.

It's rude I think.

- [Rob] I don't know what to do there either.

- 'Cause there's no way to lightly... It sounds like you're just like, like you're pissed.

- So like today we're coming off of, what, 74 to turn like at Kelly Seed and that.

So there was a van in front of Emily, and it wouldn't go on the red light while we sat there and discussed it because, I mean, are you a jerk and that?

But we were running a little late, so she (imitates horn honking).

And I don't think they- - The horn, you can get away with like a (imitates horn beeping).

But like the bell, it's like (imitates bell clanging).

- Except I think the only place you can do it is a hotel 'cause they expect it 'cause they're in the back always.

- Well, they have bellboys there.

They come to it.

- Well, I never thought about that.

- Yeah, that's how the bellboys know to come.

- Oh, that's... Gosh.

- I don't know if that's true or not.

It sounds right.

- We're here to learn.

Learn something new every day.

Okay.

Okay, the "Vibe 309," I'm gonna make a wild assumption.

It seems like you love doing it.

- I love doing it, truly.

I'm living a dream.

I'm not just saying that.

I love it.

I love it.

I get to concept, create, perform, edit, all of it, promote it.

It's great.

- Yeah, I don't like the promotion part.

- Why?

By the way, I like your cards there, your note cards.

Those are nice.

Why don't you like promoting it?

- I don't like talking to people in general.

- You have a talk show.

- It's the damnedest thing, isn't it?

- But you have a half hour, and that's it.

As soon as the cameras, you're gonna tell me to get out.

- If we last that long.

(Rob laughs) - Get out.

- I don't know, I feel weird saying, you know, "Watch my stuff."

I don't know, it's just odd.

- Well, you could promote other guest shows like "Vibe 309" or "In the Arena" with Doug Cruitt or Christine Zak's show or Mark Welp's.

There's a host of shows.

- Yes, that's high on my list.

- And then you could say, "Also, if you want, if you have time, watch 'Shot of Ag.'"

- Okay, I'll take that advice.

What's wrong with birds?

How come you don't like birds?

- I don't trust 'em.

I saw Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" way too young in life.

There's something about, they could come and peck your eye whenever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

- Technically, yes, a bird could come and peck your eye.

- I've had too many close calls.

I won't stand for it.

- [Rob] So, like a sparrow?

You don't like a sparrow?

- No.

- I mean, I can see a lot of people don't like our friend the Canadian goose, right, because they're aggressive when they're nursing.

- Geese are the worst of them.

- Okay, I know.

They're like, what did they call 'em?

- Cranky.

- Canadian cobras?

Prairie cobras or whatever they are.

- That makes sense.

- Like to the extent, I don't know, do you not wanna put trees in your yard 'cause you don't want the birds to come?

- No, no, no, it's not.

We have trees, and I enjoy the sound of birds and the visual when birds are far away.

But if we're in Florida, and we're at the beach, and they're coming after your potato chips, like, who has time for that?

- Yeah.

It's like when you go on vacation there, and everybody's like eating a breakfast, and you think it's so cool that the birds are there until they're not.

- I'm like white-knuckling my silverware when we're, like, doing that.

I mean, I'm on high alert.

- Yeah.

- I'm ready.

- [Rob] What's a guy like you do for fun?

- I do a lot of sports.

I try to stay active, play sports.

I like to ride my bike, e-bike or a normal bike.

Play with my dog.

I have a wonderful Goldendoodle named Leo.

I was gonna bring him today, but- - They don't shed?

- Not really, he, no.

It depends on the generation.

He's a first generation, so his father was a poodle, and his mother was a golden retriever.

So he sheds a little bit a couple times a year, but it's not even noticeable.

- Yeah, my wife has, it's a little French bulldog.

It's the dumbest animal on the face of the earth.

I mean, literally, Noah should not have put this thing on the ark.

It is the dumbest dog you would ever see.

And it was supposed to be no shedding, but, you know, you could scratch on her back a little bit, and it comes up.

- She'll shed?

- Yeah.

- She brings nothing to the table, though.

- [Rob] She's an idiot.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- [Blake] Do you have a dog?

- My poor Sammy just passed away.

- Oh, I'm sorry.

- Yellow lab, was the best dog on the face of the earth, but now we're stuck with my wife's rodent-style dog.

(Rob laughs) How come you have such a good set?

- I invested in it, you know?

- You did it?

- Well, I didn't build that.

I think Don Steadman built it, but, yeah, we had a vision.

We came to him with a vision, a lot of the knickknacks and everything and furniture.

- You get props and everything and all that stuff.

- Yeah.

- (sighs) Okay, yeah, I see all the sets are looking really great.

- Yeah.

Like, a good coat of paint on that would probably- - Well, it's supposed to be a barn that's like weathered.

- You're going for that.

- Yeah, (cards tapping) that was a whole thing.

All right.

"Vibe 309," when is it on?

- It's on, new episodes there, the second Saturday of every month at 8:00 PM Central Standard Time.

- Oh, I think that's right in front of our show, isn't it?

- Is it?

I haven't been able to watch either.

We've been working.

Todd and I were at Soul Fest the last episode that aired, so we couldn't see it.

- Oh.

They stopped showing our show, I think, like two months ago, whatever, yeah.

- [Blake] Are you canceled?

- I think so.

- [Blake] Why are you still doing this?

- Well, see, again, we don't get this station at my house, so I can't watch it.

- You just keep coming in.

- I go to a farm show, and everybody's like, "Did they take your show off the air?"

I'm like, "Apparently so."

"I don't know."

(Blake chuckles) Where were we?

Okay, so it's 8:00 every other Saturday you said?

- Nah, it's just once a month.

It's just once a month.

- Why don't you do more?

- I wouldn't have a life.

I already don't have one.

I'm just grinding away.

I mean, it's great work, but it's time-consuming.

- But what is your job?

This.

- (laughs) Yeah.

- [Rob] Well, you gotta do it twice a month, man.

- I'll think about it.

- There's no thinking about it.

You just gotta grab the bull by the tail and hold on.

Okay.

- Well, I wouldn't grab it by the tail.

I would try to get on the back and then hold on.

- There's a lot worse places to grab it.

We'll just leave it there.

- Okay.

- Okay, well, tell people where they can find your show.

- On WTVP, obviously, PBS Passport.

(laughs) - On the app, yeah.

- On the app.

But you can also go to social media.

Instagram, it's vibe309tv, and then Facebook, it's Vibe 309.

- Okay, do you have any personal social medias?

- I do, yeah, Blake Wirth and Wirthwhile Creative.

- Oh, that's clever.

- It's a play on my name.

- Yeah.

- It's spelled W-I-R-T-H.

- You're gonna go far in life.

That's funny right there.

- That's marketing.

(Rob laughs) - Well, I'm glad you came on the show because, you know, maybe not agriculture, but there is not enough celebration of rural America.

And I know Peoria is a city, but honestly, I still look at it as part of rural America.

So I wanna thank you for not just coming today.

I wanna thank you for doing the show and celebrating Peoria, Illinois.

It's a lot of fun.

It's a lot of great people, and we need people like you to bring that celebration to our public at WTVP.

So, Blake Wirth, thank you very much.

Everybody else, we'll catch you next time.

(lively rock music) (lively rock music continues) If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to explore more of our local content.

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We can't wait to see you next time on "A Shot of Ag."

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