A WKU quarterback and comedian about town, K.C. Armstrong was well known in the mid 90’s on campus and it didn’t take him long after leaving to gain national notoriety as Associate Producer and on air personality for the Howard Stern Show.

From 1998-2004 Stern listeners were entertained by K.C.’s shenanigans and unique view of reality. Stern ribbed Armstrong incessantly, particularly regarding his sexual orientation and mental health saying Armstrong was “gay” and “sick”. Always proclaiming he was straight, K.C. consented to riding a float in a gay pride parade in a dress and taking lie detector tests about his fantasies for Stern. After ongoing bouts with drug, alcohol and gambling addictions as well as severe mental breakdowns effected his job duties Armstrong was let go. One low point was reportedly the loss of $330,000 to an online casino in less than a month. He has continued pursuing a stand up comedy career known for its explicit adult content and controversial subjects which can be seen April 7 at Ellis Place. Armstrong currently works for Johnny Fratto’s Son of A Gun Pasta and http://www.beverlyhillschoppers.com/“>Beverly Hills Choppers. Fratto embraces his roots as the son of an infamous Mafia leader to market his products. Among Armstrong’s duties is finding models for the Beverly Hills Angels calendar. The Beverly Hills Choppers recently received enormous exposure when they gave a pair of the mini choppers to Paris Hilton and Kim Stewart (Rod’s daughter). While posing for photos, Stewart inadvertently started her bike and sent it crashing into equipment. The incident topped all the wardrobe malfunctions to win VH1’s Top Red Carpet Moments. Armstrong is promoting his upcoming DVD Die Laughing which gives a behind the scenes view of life on the comedy trail.

The following is about half of an interview with K.C. Armstrong. It has been edited for both length and explicit content. You can read or listen to the full version HERE. Note – some readers may prefer not to read further in even the edited version.

Kim: Your father was a gym teacher and you were a quarterback at Western in the 90’s and I guess also All-State Wrestler, Runner and Weightlifter. Was a career in sports your plan as a kid?

KC: Yeah. I never thought I could do anything else. I guess I thought sports were, well, I was just introduced to sports at a very young age. My parents had a wrestling camp and I spent every summer out there. That’s the first time I was molested! I’m just kidding. I wasn’t molested. But there was one guy that wrestled me who had an erection. That’s true. If you call that being molested well I guess I was.

Kim: Well my next questions was “What was your fondest memory from your WKU football days” but is that what you just gave me?

KC: Yeah, ha, that’s funny. No. My best memory at WKU. That would have to be … CENSORED…

Kim: One site mentions you worked in a bar near campus, do you remember what bar it was?

KC: Ah, yeah I worked at… Ah, that was the best time! There was a place right across from Diddle – it was called Thursdays. Now there’s a bookstore there. It was great because I used to bartend there and some of the linemen would work the door. We would have to close up and clean up and stuff like that. So they would have bands there every time and when the bands … They would leave their stuff because they’d be playing the next day. So after we cleaned up and closed the bar down, nobody really knew about this but we became the worlds most horrible band. You know we’d just play on the instruments and we made a racket and it was the most horrible noise you have ever heard but it was fun… CENSORED…

Kim: Sounds like it. Someone identifying themselves as a college acquaintance of yours on a fan site said you beat up one of his frat brothers for messing around with your girlfriend and had to take some anger management classes. If that’s true what was anger management like?

KC: It just made me angry! It was a very frustrating. Yeah, that’s funny, I use to beat up a lot of guys in fraternities because of that.

Kim: Cause of the same thing?

KC: Yeah, I think so. You know what I mean, because some of them when you go to those party and stuff like that, you know, sometime you just get – well I was an asshole back then so I’d fight at the drop of a hat – but I’ve since got a lot smarter and a lot poorer!

Kim: The same site has a post from a guy named Hubert that says he was a fellow football player and he defends you against Howard Stern’s jokes that you are homosexual. Hubert says your yankee accent and lines always “got the hot chicks”. Can you share one of your best come ons?

KC: Oh, of course, I’d love too! … CENSORED…

Kim: You’ve actually been quoted as saying 80% of all women are whores and you considered the female guests on Howard Stern dirty? I was wondering what your view of women is?

KC: What I meant by, when I said that is… people by nature are bad and negative. And I must have been in a bad mood that day. It’s probably not 80% its probably about 78.

Kim: Okay. I noticed in your promo materials you had a show called Late Night with KC Armstrong on WKYU-TV. That’s Western’s PBS station?

KC: No, it was on the local Fox affiliate. That was on that – also you know what’s funny? I wish I could get a copy of these. There use to be a soap opera on campus. A soap opera that I was on and it was the most horrible, horrible yet most addictive show to watch because there was nudity on it. My friends use to just quote the lines that I would do with bad acting and they would walk around all week just quoting my bad lines.

Kim: I also heard you did a short film that won some awards called “White Frenzy” involving genetically altered white squirrels that were trained as killers?

KC: Yeah that was actually, Kelly Hobbs was the name of the guy that really put it together. He actually won an award. I remember watching it. It was on, I forgot what station it was but he actually got an Emmy for that or a college Emmy or something equivalent to it. It was actually really well done.

Kim: Yeah. I think there was another more infamous film you made here where you portrayed Lou Reed performing sexual acts on men around campus – what were you thinking there?

KC: That was the work … CENSORED… It’s real stupid. It really is, I’m so retarded, it’s so juvenile immature, childish. It’s probably the best thing I ever did.

Kim: I assume WKU is also where you developed your love of body building, tanning salons, beauty products, steroids, and laxatives and other practices that contributed to your amateur body building career. Which that has actually included a layout in American Health and Fitness, emceeing the GNC Pro-Performance Hour in New York and all kinds of shrines to you on the internet. But the Stern crew was particularly hard on you for using a tan in a can product calling all of these practices “gay”. But what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done to maintain your physique?

KC: Back when I was wrestling, and by the way I’ve really got to applaud you, you’ve done a lot of research, wow.

Kim: You’ve got a lot of fans out there putting stuff out to see.

KC: Wow, no you really are very thorough. Man, I forgot a lot of this stuff and I’m glad you brought it to my attention to remind me of what a total asshole I am. No, I guess one of the strangest things I use to do, when I use to cut weight for wrestling I use to take laxatives to lose weight the night before and then the night before I would … CENSORED… Plus you’d sleep with the window open and no blankets. We thought it would make you burn more calories and lose more weight. But all it would do is make you more miserable and not only would you be hungry, you’d be cold and hungry. So, yeah that sure wasn’t fun.

Kim: In 1998 you were hired as Associate Producer on Howard Stern show to book guests and write comedy. What else did the job involve?

KC: I had to get Howard’s breakfast. Yeah I had to be there for a while for him to trust me to do that. That’s like a, when you’re there it’s like a badge of honor. Nobody wants the job but he trusted me, I had to get their early and wait for him to get there and get out of his limo and I’d walk him up like kind of for security. And that was just an extra thing because the guy that ran the station was just too cheap to hire a whole team of security so you know, I was just, you know, I guess I was the most – youngest or athletic, so you know “put him down there too”. For people who don’t like him or whatever. But there was never a problem. Now he’s got a good bodyguard and everything.

Kim: You also interviewed several celebrities on the show, what was your favorite interview and why?

KC: It never turned out good because the whole thing is well, you know. That use to be my favorite part of the show even before I started to work there was celebrity interviews where they’re treated as if they’re just normal people and just get their balls broken just like anybody else. You know nobody kisses their ass or makes them think that they’re so special because they’re really not. Everybody’s the same. I guess my favorite would be I once I asked, lets see what would the best one be… either Chevy Chase or Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore… CENSORED… Oh, Marv Albert that’s the one. That’s the one that definitely sticks out because I was an intern and it was the first job that they gave me. They sent me and this was broadcast live nationally. It was when Marv Albert got in trouble for biting that woman. Well I didn’t really know exactly what I was suppose to do but I knew at the end I was suppose to yell out the first question and just probably get thrown out from there. But what happened was I kept waiting for every sentence and I kept thinking that every sentence was the end so finally my anticipation and I was just excited got the best of me and a just blurted it out, I screamed it, I was like “Hey, Marv, do you wear your hair to bed?” and everybody just like gasped, they were so angry and the place just stopped and the press conference just turned to me and you know I was just this little like punk in college. And then the questions got worse. He was just ignoring me like “I can’t answer any questions”. And this was broadcast live. And then the next question was something like “Hey, Marv, how do your women taste?” or “If you were hungry why didn’t you order room service?” You know, so I have to yell all these things out then some other reporter tried to grab my tape and I almost could beat his ass. He actually followed me outside but I was with the producer and she got me in a cab and we got out of there. That was definitely the most embarrassing. I was so red. I just didn’t, it was the first one that they sent me on and it was like the biggest one so that’s like the biggest one. Howard played it the next day on the air and kind of admired that I had the audacity and I was a wise ass and ball breaker.

Kim: Sure. Howard’s kind of known for his often brutal grilling of his guests and while on the show you were repeatedly ridiculed as being “in the closest”, not very intelligent and mentally ill. On several occasions you actually admitted to serious delusions, impulses and drug and gambling problems – what does it feel like to have such personal experiences being fodder for the Stern crew?

KC: Oh I don’t care, if you can’t laugh at yourself. You know, it’s the same thing, you just can’t have a big ego and really if you think you’re so important that you can’t make fun of yourself then you’re not going to be doing this very long.

Kim: One site says your new DVD Die Laughing has footage of a mental breakdown on stage. And there were also stories about the police and Stern Show representatives breaking in and finding you bleeding over a bible. Which, you later joked about serious episodes like that kind of stuff and you had been self mutilating for years. Why do you think these episodes are material for jokes?

KC: Any comic, anybody who can do this is a very sick person. Anybody who picks this profession picks a profession where they gotta go out and make people like them every night and prove something every night, make people laugh or try and get all this attention. You know you gotta have something wrong where you need that… every comic that I’ve met that I know, they all have problems, I haven’t met one normal one yet whether it be drugs, gambling sex or just being very childish. You know I’m not saying that doesn’t happen in other professions but for the most part it’s got to be almost a prerequisite for being a comic.

Kim: Howard suggested once that some early childhood experiences, like the Lonesome Coyote game, where your father put a helmet on you and you ran back and forth across the gym while the other kids were throwing balls might have been early origins of mental problems. What do you feel might have early on had an effect?

KC: I think that your born crazy and I think for the most part men are such p*?!s these days. You know that’s wrong. It’s always, every thing’s always “too rough”, you know you have to be careful. You know contact sports people are getting sued all the time. It’s different, it’s a different day and I was brought up I guess with old school traditional where things like that were funny. It’s just something that guys did. Guys were guys. It’s just a lot different with metro sexual and everything else, God bless them and let everybody be what they want and be happy but when you start screwing people over and you start blaming that all my problems would be gone if I hadn’t played Lonesome Coyote. Please! You know, most people would be happy to get that kind of attention.

Kim: I’ve seen some quotes where more recently you’ve kind of embraced your problems and said you won’t ever be normal anyway, you know “take me as I am” and “nothing wrong with having a few beers”. Are you currently doing anything about some of your mental problems, do you see therapy in your future?

KC: Yeah. I’m heavily medicated and I do speak, and am in constant contact with the greatest, the one and only, better than Jesus, no you shouldn’t put that, Dr. Suzie Schuder and Richard Perlin. Just unbelievable people.

Kim: On your DVD Meet the Creeps, Vol. 1: Outrageous Hidden-Camera Comedy that included Jim Florentine who was probably best known as special Ed on Crank Yankers and a group of comedians, you were pulling pranks on people to annoy them and I’ve also seen sites about your school day pranks. What is your favorite prank you’ve ever done?

KC: The best one would probably be… CENSORED… It was funny!

Kim: You have several movies to your credit – The Lucky Ones, Grace and the Storm, Death 4 Told and A Perfect Fit. How hard are you pursuing an acting career and do you have anything in the works?

KC: Yeah, actually that’s funny you say that, tomorrow I’m meeting with a bigger agency. And they expressed, they said they had some things that they were talking other people about that had an interest in me. So if I sign with them I’d hopefully take it to the next level. I’ve just been doing comedy and I haven’t done any auditions for the movies and stuff. I’d like to do that because it’s very easy you know, to recite someone else’s work just act like it’s real. How hard is that? Actors are stupid.

Kim: You’re coming to Ellis Place on April 7. Will you be bringing out the child molester bits in the Bible belt or do you tone it down for certain venues?

KC: That’s funny you asked. The only time I do that now is if people request it. It’s not in my set list and I really don’t do it unless people yell it out and the crowd seems to be into it. But I find that, I don’t think that’s going to happen when I come down there, I think it’s going to be, I’m so excited to see all my old friends and professors hopefully and just the town and the way it’s changing. I just love it down there really. I use to get, when I would go for like homecoming or something like that I would come back to New York and just get really bummed out. Wow, I just really miss it down there. I haven’t been back in a while and I’m just really looking forward to it. I just love that place.

Kim: Well even Howard Stern expressed disgust in the nature of some of your routines, especially involving child molesting, what’s the strongest negative reaction you’ve ever gotten at a show?

KC: Strongest reaction was I guess I walked a couple tables once and there was a woman that was crying… CENSORED…

– thanks to Moon Trent for photos http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/2493/kc.htm

-you can contact K.C. at www.myspace.com/kcarmstrong