By Lindsey Horsting
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Cabral Richards’ interviewing style is comedic and
“self-deprecating,” similar to Conan O’Brien – a man he holds in high regard. Despite the fact that they are competitors,
his sentiments in regards to some of O’Brien’s sets are humble.
“Man, that’s so kill!" he said. "I wish I thought of that.”
Richards works in a niche market for sports enthusiasts and
further distinguishes himself within the profession with his style.
Richards, 38, is native of Toronto,
Ontario and has based his career in Canada between TSN and Sportsnet – two
Canadian Sports Networks. He studied radio and television arts at Ryerson University in downtown Toronto,
and completed three years before he decided he wanted to work full-time at The
Score, a channel of the TSN Network.
Richards was an intern at The Score on TSN in July, 2001
when he pitched an idea for a segment to be a “man on the street.” The segment debuted as a weekend highlight
show and eventually the name changed to “Cabbie on the Street.”
An admirer of Jimmy Fallon, Richards said he wanted to
combine his silly nature and love of sports into his interviewing style. “Cabbie on the Street” involved stopping random Canadians and asking them silly sports
questions. For example, on his first
segment that aired he asked: “how do you feel about the National Anthem being
played at sporting events?”
He would ask people which tournament they thought was the
most exciting, either March madness or the World Cup, and then he would
ask them a personal question about what's exciting in their own lives.
Richards explained when he interviews he is an amplified version of himself.
“I’m kind of like the dumb one in my circle of friends so I
would say dumb or awkward things in conversation, so it’s just an extension of
that, and keeping it in the world of sports,” he said.
Richards has since taken his interview techniques
stylistically one step further with professional athletes and entertainers. “Cabbie Presents” playfully brings an awkwardness
for the interviewee, and takes a more friendly, casual approach, he said.
“A lot of my humor, a lot of my on-camera presence revolves
around either invading personal space or actually physically engaging the
person that I’m speaking with,” Richards said.
The day of Richards’ phone interview he mentioned he had
just flown back to Toronto from Penticton, British Columbia where he had just
finished interviewing Canadiens' goalie Carey Price. He
laughed when describing his mindset going into an interview.
“I know that people revere you, but I’m just going to speak
to you as though you are a friend of mine,” he said.
He wants athletes to experience something new and bring the
viewers an exclusive glimpse into the athletes’ lives, Richards said. In preparation for the interviews Richards
asks:
“What haven’t they done before, what can I get away with,
and what would they be willing to do?”
Interview:
Cabral Richards: So I
went to…I suppose Broadcasting school. I
studied Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson University and then my second year
I got an internship at a television station, which at the time was called Headline
Sports.
Lindsey Horsting: Ok.
CR: It then
re-branded itself The Score I think around 2001 or 2000 and that’s when I
pitched an idea to be a “Man On The Street” in July of 2001. So the segment, I guess, debuted on a weekend
highlight show was on a Sunday night at like 11:55 a.m…err p.m. It was so late. The first seven episodes were called On The Street With Cabbie and then I
changed it to Cabbie On The street, and
that’s how it started.
LH: Wow, that’s…
CR: And…sorry, the
segment was, I would just go out and ask random Canadians like silly sports
questions. And, and it was, you know, I
would make fun of myself. You know I’m a
huge fan of Conan O’Brien and so I’d be self deprecating. It was never like trivia, it was just like…I’m
trying to remember what I would…you know, I would ask like you know “How do
people feel about the National Anthem being played before sporting events,” was
that was actually the first one that went to air. I would ask questions like, you know, which
tournament they thought was the most exciting, whether it was March Madness or
the World Cup, and then I would ask them something really personal about what’s
exciting in their own lives. Like I
would do like, really silly and awkward things.
LH: Right. And that’s what I really like about your
style and how did you decide to pick that, because it’s, it’s so unique right?
CR: Oh, Thanks. How did I decide. Well…well I wasn’t going to make a
character. I, I guess it’s in some ways
an amplified version of myself, but I’m kind of like the dumb one in my circle
of friends so I would say dumb or awkward things in conversation, and so it’s
just an extension of that and keeping it in the world of sports.
LH: Gotcha. Did you, did you go back and finish at
Ryerson after your second year after you interned?
CR: No, I only did
three years.
LH: Oh. Ok.
CR: So the program
was four, so I left after my third year.
LH: Gotcha. So for, for
a woman who would want to do something and be silly, say for example Kate
Beirness went up to Kobe Bryant and tried to awkwardly hug him like you do, do
you think it would be as funny? How
would she go about doing that?
CR: Wow. Good question. How would Kate…I don’t know that Kate would
ever do that. How would she do that, how
would she do that. See there’s a, there’s
a male-female dynamic which, is, makes it tricky to do anything with a certain
physicality. I can get away with it
because I’m chubby, and I’m like goofy looking, and Kate is both the opposite
of chubby and goofy looking. Ok, so let
me try to answer your question. How
would she, how would she do that…Phew, man I don’t…like maybe if she was
wearing one of those like sumo suits maybe he would accept a hug from her? Nah…I shouldn’t say he would accept, but,
maybe that would be…that’d be funny?
LH: Yah, I could see
that.
CR: Man, my idea
sucks right now.
LH: No, that’s…it’s
true because, it’s, it’s really difficult for women to be funny like that.
CR: No well, Kate can
be funny, it’s just the physicality. A
lot of my humor, a lot of my on-camera presence revolves around either invading
personal space or actually physically engaging the person that I’m speaking
with. Two devices that I use is I, I
invade your space or I touch them as sort of a disarming mechanism to tell them
like “hey, we’re the same, like, I know that people revere you, but I’m just
going to speak to you as though you are a friend of mine.”
LH: Ohhhh.
CR: So Kate could use
a, like, a dis, I, I don’t know how she’d disarm them, I mean, she’s, she’s
cool as hell, and, she has, she definitely has some charm. I don’t know how funny she is though.
LH: That’s
awesome. And then I wanted to know how
much preparation you put into your job?
CR: Ok, so
preparation. I do prepare. I like to have a roadmap before I go into the
interview, just to know where I’m going to go, but it’s not a detailed
map. So I, I’ll prepare like, you know,
two or three or four questions and then, and then go from there because I
wanna, a) I want the athlete to experience something new as far as a line of
questioning, questions go and, and b) like I want them, I just don’t want to
totally free-for-all it because then it can go sideways really quickly and I
don’t want to waste their time and I don’t wanna just like have all these funny
clips which I can’t use on TSN. So I’m,
I’m mindful of that. So yes, I do go in
with a plan.
LH: Right, awesome.
CR: And brainstorming
really stresses me out.
LH: Brainstorming
really stresses you out?
CR: Yah! ‘Cuz like,
it’s like, what, I’m trying to imagine what an athlete has never done
before. And then so, it’s like what
haven’t they done before, what can I get away with, and what would they be
willing to do?
LH: Right.
CR: So I have those
three things constantly, mostly it’s what haven’t they done before, what can I
ask this specific person that would be fun or entertaining. That stresses me out.
LH: Yah, no. Well I’m glad I’m not the only one and I’m
just sort of starting so.
CR: Ok, are you doing
sort of a similar kind of thing, like light-hearted interviews, like playful,
playful interviews?
LH: Well, ultimately, that would, that would be my jam. I love something that’s different right,
because everybody always asks the same questions.
CR: Yes.
LH: And with the
stuff that you have, like, I used to watch Cabbie
On The Street and like NBA XL,
and all that stuff right, so it’s like, it’s really, it’s just different. It’s fresh, it’s funny, you laugh, you know
you get a side of the players you don’t normally see, but I’m just starting my
Masters program in Journalism, so I’m just sort of starting to like get that
going and brainstorming and stuff and I find that, I thought that, I was hoping
it would get better as you progress, but yah it’s difficult at first.
CR: Yah, it’s
difficult all the time. Like, I, I
really envy, you know, Fallon and Kimmel and their writing staff and Conan too
because like they have, they have these huge platforms and they get to do, like
when they come up with ideas and stuff I’m like “Ah man, that’s so kill, I wish
I thought of that,” or “I wish,” but you know, I’m just one guy and I have a
producer, my man ‘D’, we’re just two guys and we try to come up with stuff, but
we have to sort of have to play in that space because I’ve had so much luck
with big athletes that people think I can do the same thing as what a Kimmel
and a Fallon can do.
LH: Right.
CR: Or, or a Funny Or Die. So we are all, because, YouTube has leveled out the playing field, and, and it’s accessible
to everybody regardless of what country or city you live in – that, that levels
it out. So that’s like my competition
and I’m getting smashed.
LH: I don’t think so!
CR: Those guy, those
guys are, those guys are legends! I’m
just trying to stay in the game.
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