I knew this is where comedy was Johnny Carson changed my life twice. It was just like

a dream. It was just like everything I had worked for and dreamed about has come to fruition.

They said Johnny fell over laughing. It makes me so happy. I made him laugh.

But with Johnny, you know you knew you had a kid who wanted you to really go great.

And I went with the crew, all hell broke loose backstage. People were running up and

said go back out, go back out, go back out. Johnny wants you back. I walked back through

the crew and very calm and Johnny, that I took about and Johnny put that little circle

up at the finger and I knew I had a ride.

Welcome to the Carson podcast episode number 384. I am Mark Malkoff. Our guest this week worked

on Carson's Tonight Show for 14 years and even won an Emmy for his work on the show.

And that is Roger Cortez. He spoke to me from California. Enjoy.

Roger Cortez, thanks for talking to me. Oh, my pleasure.

You have one of you on for a long time and our mutual friend Kevin Quinn made it happen.

So I'm really looking forward to this. Before you got on Carson, I don't think I've ever heard

of this. You won an internship to NBC from the TV Academy. How did that happen? What year was this?

And what did it entail? When I graduated from high school, I was a football player.

Not that I had, you know, colleges knocking at my door. I wasn't that good, but there was a

football coach at Chafee College. I lived on Terriol, California. I was supposed to go there.

And I've decided what I wanted to do with my life. And I always like radio. I had a friend of mine

who became a disjockey in San Bernardino. And his name was Bob Brute. His brother Jim Brute became

head of the Republican Party of California. So anyway, he'd gotten me into liking broadcasts.

And I was starting to gravitate towards a technical side. So I was deciding what school I wanted to go to.

...