When Jim Krenn found himself unemployed after 24 years in the radio business, he had to reinvent himself a bit.
That meant going back to his comic stand-up roots here and in Los Angeles, hosting comedy/variety shows and a weekly podcast that has more than 100,000 subscribers.
He even got a small part in a soon-to-be-released indie film, “Another You,” playing a “creepy” professor: “I’m a bad guy, like, times two, the worst professor you’ve ever had.”
Still, Mr. Krenn, who was released from his contract with WDVE more than two years ago, missed being on the radio.
Beginning Friday, he’s back. Mr. Krenn, 54, joins the “KDKA Morning News” with Larry Richert and John Shumway, and will provide humorous takes on the events of the week each Friday from 8 to 9 a.m. He debuts as part of the annual Spaghetti Breakfast fundraiser broadcast at the Heinz Hall Garden Plaza.
“I had all of these different things going on, but I did miss the connection I had with listeners on morning radio,” he said. “It’s something I’d done for a quarter- century, and I’m a Pittsburgh guy. I wasn’t going to move from Pittsburgh.”
“It’s like adding another big bat to an all-star lineup, and will give KDKA listeners another reason to smile heading into the weekend,” said Jim Graci, program director for Newsradio 1020 KDKA.
“We’ll do some news satire, take joke angles on stories, strange stories from around the news that week. Eventually, because I love doing the impressions and the characters, I will ease in, organically, some characters and sketches.”
Those would include on-air alter egos “Ralph the Cat” and “Stanley P. Kachowski,” the latter a yinzer of the highest order.
Mr. Krenn said it will be no problem toning down the language for KDKA’s more mainstream audience: “I’ve always known the boundaries. Even on [podcast] ‘No Restrictions’ it just means I can swear. ... I mean, I’ve never even gotten a [radio broadcast] warning from the FCC.”
Raised mostly in the Strip District, Mr. Krenn said he also has lived in Bloomfield, on the North Side and in Green Tree. He and his wife, Hedy, are planning a South Side move in the coming months.
“We’ve talked about this forever, being able to walk out of your house and over to the coffee shop or restaurant. Moving to the South Side, I’m really going to be channeling my inner Stanley P. Kachowski,” he added, laughing.
First Published: September 17, 2014, 2:01 p.m.
Updated: September 18, 2014, 2:01 a.m.
