Searching for compelling content or the next great bit is never far from the mind of Ramie Makhlouf. And it really can’t be, seeing as if he’s not thinking about his weekday afternoon drive radio show at Sactown Sports in Sacramento, he’s likely thinking about his next stand-up comedy routine.
Makhlouf’s comedy skill is one of the things that separates him from others in the sports radio industry. He has the unique ability to bring out a more fun and light side to his co-host, all while being the funny guy on the show. There’s no question that doing stand-up has made him a better sports talk radio host over the years, but in what ways has Makhlouf seen the benefit over the air?
“I think they fit into each because with stand-up, you get that immediate reaction of your material,” said Makhlouf. “From that, you can get a sense of what works, you can practice your ability to grab and hold an audience. When you’re talking about radio and not having that immediate reaction and knowing how people are receiving your material and your content, that’s a lot like the writing process in comedy, where you sit down and you’re thinking of a joke and you don’t have an audience to react to it, so I think you’re working that muscle, too, of working to a blank slate and seeing how it will be received.”
Whereas his stand-up career has benefitted his sports radio journey, Makhlouf isn’t willing to say the opposite is as true. Granted, sharing his stories of stand-up has resulted in listeners attending his comedy shows, but there hasn’t been a direct effect on how it’s helped his skill set.
“Maybe one or two jokes that I’ll do here or there, or if it comes up naturally, like if there’s a listener in the audience, that presents a funny in the moment sort of thing,” said Makhlouf. “But my stand-up is something really different from what I do in sports talk. I will say this, there are times where we’ll be talking about something on the air and I’ll stumble into something where I say, this could be a bit. This is something I could do in stand-up. I take that and flesh it out, build on it and make a joke out of it. But it never really works the other way, where I’m putting my job into my routine. It’s a completely different thing.”
On the air, Makhlouf has never shied away from who he is; an unabashed Chicago sports fan that wants to have fun on the air. Whether it’s hosting at The Score in Chicago, SKOR North in Minneapolis, or 1250 The Fan in Milwaukee, he’s never changed his identity on the air. There’s something to be said about that, especially when you consider that the Bears, Bulls, and Cubs aren’t the most beloved teams in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.
“I was lucky enough to live out the dream of working in Chicago at The Score during some shifts at night and on weekends and sitting in a few times with Danny Parkins in the afternoons,” Makhlouf said. “If you’re in sports talk radio you want to grow up and talk about your teams, but the majority of my career was an out-in-the-open Chicago fan. Bears, Cubs, Bulls, working in Milwaukee and my approach has always been to just be real. If something is bad, say it’s bad. If something is good, say it’s good. Overall, just create good, entertaining content. Even if people don’t buy in at first, because you’re the Chicago guy, or you came from Milwaukee, you’ll win them over eventually, as long as you’re not trying too hard or trying to be something you’re not. That’s never been the approach I’ve taken. Most of my career has been outside of the markets of the teams I grew up rooting for. That’s not a new thing to me.”
Makhlouf isn’t in the Midwest anymore. He’s two time zones away on the west coast in Sacramento. But his approach on the air has stayed the same as it was in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee. The story of how he got to Sactown Sports is almost one of fate, seeing as the seed was planted for his new show just before the pandemic hit. It was two years in the making, but Makhlouf has found a co-host he fits perfectly with.
“It’s kind of a funny story,” laughed Makhlouf. “When I was in Minneapolis just before the pandemic and all the layoffs to SKOR North I was doing a 10-2 show solo. They were looking to hire a co-host for me and we were auditioning people. Nick Cattles was one of the guys we auditioned and I thought he had the best audition and that we had some natural chemistry. And then obviously everything hit the fan and they basically shut down the station. They didn’t hire a co-host and they laid me off. And then two years later, Nick texted me out of nowhere and said, hey man, I’m the PD out here in Sacramento and I’m looking for a new co-host and you’re the first person I thought of. We started talking and I kind of knew already we had that chemistry from that audition but also they brought me out here and showed me what the game plan was and that they were going to be putting some resources into rebuilding this brand. I saw a group of guys that I wanted to work with and a plan I thought was pretty good. I took it. It seemed like a good fit.”
Makhlouf joined Sactown Sports in late June and Cattles and Ramie have already created plenty of buzz in the market. But as well as the show may be going, his move to Sacramento has been a little more difficult.
“Honestly, we’ve made a bit out of it on the air, it’s been a nightmare,” laughed Makhlouf. “I got scammed by a shady moving company. I’ve been living on an air mattress with a TV and a kitchen table and a desk since I got here.”
“Doing stand-up comedy you try to find the joke and the content in everything you do. The funny thing is, before I even knew I was being scammed, they had recorded a bumper coming back for the show that said, “one of these guys is likely to throw furniture, and the other one is still looking for his.” It actually played out that way, which is kind of ironic.”
As much of a pain and hassle that Makhlouf’s moving process has been, there’s always the thought of making it into a bit on the show. It’s content that’s brought out the lighter side of the show and possibly has even made him more relatable to the new listeners in the new market he’s in.
If that hasn’t done it, the yin and yang nature of the show with Makhlouf and Cattles probably is. It’s the perfect mix of strong opinions, mixed with laughter, and fun.
“I always try to look for the more entertaining and funny angle of things and Nick is more of the I have takes guy,” joked Makhlouf. “He told me that when he brought me into the show that he wanted me to bring the fun to the show, bring some more fun out of him and work that yin and yang chemistry that we have. I just think it works. He reminds me of guys that I’ve worked with in other radio stops in the past and the type of person that plays very well off of me. I don’t know if you want to call it the straight man vs. the funny guy, I don’t know if you want to put labels on it but there’s definitely a yin and yang there.”
Certain markets across the country tend to be apprehensive about new hosts that come from outside their city. Sacramento doesn’t feel like a market that’s tough on outsiders, but Makhlouf says he’s not certain that’s the case. Regardless, that’s not something that’s ever bothered or intimidated him. He’s more concerned with finding out what Sacramento truly cares about and the teams it roots for.
“The Raiders probably lost a lot of fans out this way, but it’s mostly 49’ers and football is king,” said Makhlouf. “You go to cities that are nowhere near an NFL market and football is still king a lot of times. I think the 49’ers have grabbed the Sacramento market. I don’t know what it was like before I got here, but the Raiders probably lost some fans around here when they moved to Vegas.”
Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.
