Written and Media by Joey Clinton.
The final notes of Journey’s “Faithfully” fade away, leaving you sitting there, alone with your thoughts for a brief moment, Steve Perry’s magical voice still ringing in your ears.
One voice comes on the radio, followed by another. They are discussing street names.
Passionately.
In fact, one of the voices is actively calling out Greenville City Manager, David Willey, demanding that he update the street name of College Avenue to reflect the rebranding of Greenville College to Greenville University. You can’t help but laugh at just how surreal this moment is. You have just experienced your first taste of WGRN’s newest hit radio show, Weekly Jam With Nate and Cam (or, as it’s known by its fans, The Nate and Cam Show).
The Nate and Cam Show is an anomaly. It is an eclectic mix of dry humor, surreal nonsense, news programming, and observational comedy. There is no one word that can be used to describe the content of the one-hour show, and if you were to ask the creators, as I did when I sat down with them for an exclusive GU Papyrus interview, you would quickly find that the amorphous nature of the show is entirely on purpose.
“The whole show is pretty much the ‘Seinfeld’ of radio,” says Nathan Craig, one half of the two-man radio hosting team. “It’s a show about nothing.”
Nate and Cam are incredibly hard-working, and the team as a whole is excited for all the new show has in store.
-Maggie Schoepke, producer and videographer for The Nate and Cam Show
Nathan Craig immediately strikes you as the sort of guy you would want to get a Lifestyle-Statement-approved root beer with. He is quick to laugh, always ready with a goofy joke or two. Even on the radio, without seeing his face, you can hear his enthusiastic smile shine through his voice in the tone of each word he says.
“So, we were at dinner one day, and our friend Danielle Miller was like, ‘Hey, I’m doing a radio show tonight, and my co-host, Ivy, isn’t going to be here. Do any of you want to come?’ And I was like, yeah, I wanna be on the radio because I consider myself a pretty funny guy at times. So, I went on the radio, Cameron showed up there as well, and we just kinda had a good time, and we realized that maybe we could have our own show. That way we could beat Danielle and everybody and rule the radio world.”
“Yeah, there was a show, and then we were like, you know what would be better? If we had our own show. Then we did that,” says Cameron Privett, the comic foil in their double act. Cameron is Nathan’s opposite in almost every way. Where Nathan is a Sports Management major, Cameron is studying Computer Information Systems, where Nathan stays focused on the subject at hand, Cameron is always chasing down another topic. One trait he and Nathan have in common, however, is that there is something immediately likable about Cameron. His voice switches rapidly from sardonic disinterest to faux outrage over listeners’ Tim-Allen-filmography-based viewing habits, playing nicely off of Nathan’s excited demeanor.
“Basically, we started off just thinking of a bunch of segments, and we were like, ‘This would be a really funny thing to do on the radio,’ and then we were like, ‘This would also be really funny. This would be really informative. Then as we started making this list of stuff, we kind of realized, ‘Oh wow, we’re actually gonna make a radio show,’ because up until that point, it was just a joke,” says Cameron. “The ‘show about nothing’ thing is sort of what it means. Basically, we pick a bunch of segments and talk about random things on the air. We play a lot of music too, so it’s probably like, fifty-fifty music/talking. ”
The music of The Nate and Cam Show is highly reflective of the show as a whole: an entertaining mix of literally everything imaginable. From Journey to Ed Sheeran to a-ha, there is no rhyme or reason to the musical choices of the show. The only correlating factor between them is that they are all enjoyable by the standards of the listening public, and, more importantly, by the standards set by the two hosts.
In this day and age, surreal humor and non-sequitur have made their way into the mainstream, with networks like Adult Swim or comic book characters like Deadpool forming entire cottage industries around making people laugh at the unexpected. There is an art to this style of humor, however, and it is incredibly difficult to do properly, and incredibly awkward when done poorly. So many programs, be they for radio or television, attempt this style of humor and end up making fools of themselves because they focus solely on the random aspect of the humor and not on what actually makes us laugh: the people. The Nate and Cam Show is unique in that it succeeds in non-sequitur by relying on the charisma of its leads to make you, the listener, actually want to pay attention to even the most frivolous of topics, from street signs to “Stuart Little 2.”
This success cannot be solely attributed to the hosts, as they’ll readily admit.
“Once we decided that we wanted this to be a real thing, we had two DM majors who are our friends, Kristyn Ewing and Maggie Schoepke, and they kind of became our managers/producers of the show… Maggie comes and videos our actual show so we can put it on YouTube, and we have Kristyn there running our social media during the show,” Nathan explains.
I caught up with Chief Papyrus Editor Maggie Schopeke and Addy Award-winner Kristyn Ewing and got their perspectives on the situation.
“To be honest, I kind of invited myself. The guys recruited Kristyn for logos and social media, and so naturally, I wanted to be included. I needed some video content for my portfolio this semester, so I offered up my skills in hopes that I could kill two birds with one stone… Some of my favorite moments so far have been filming the short promos we release before each week’s show. Nate and Cam always have a rough idea of what they want, but I think it’s safe to say the promos always turn out way more entertaining than ever expected,” Maggie relates.
Kristyn shares a similar story: “The concept of The Nate and Cam Show started as a joke, but soon became a casual conversation topic among us at our typical meal gatherings in the DC. Nathan and Cameron individually are a hoot, but as a duo are a team that’s unstoppable when they put their minds together. When I realized they were serious, it was a no-brainer to offer my Digital Media & Marketing background—keeping in mind that it would benefit my portfolio. With something new, the sky is the limit for creative, so why not hop on board at the opportunity to continue to grow in your craft? By working on the show, I enjoy doing what I love! To find a passion for something is a discovery one can be forever blessed for.”
“Nate and Cam are incredibly hard-working, and the team as a whole is excited about all the new show has in store. We really do have as much fun as it looks and love interacting with viewers, so be sure to hit us up/follow us on our social media,” Maggie adds.
The Nate and Cam Show is one of WGRN’s hottest new radio shows, and is sure to cause a splash in weeks to come, due in no small part to the charisma of its hosts and the diligence of its production crew. You can hear the entire uncut interview below, where you can get a taste of Nate and Cam’s personality, along with more stories about the creation of the show, and a sneak peek of what’s to come in future episodes.
Catch The Nate and Cam Show Tuesday nights at 7:00 pm on WGRN 89.5 FM, or listen to the station live online here. Reruns air every Wednesday night at 9:30 pm.
Very good article. As Nathan’s mom I am obviously prejudiced as to who is my favorite of the Nate and Cam duo, but then I have had the privilege of witnessing Nathan’s unique and funny personality emerge over the past 21 years. So glad that they are having this opportunity available to them at Greenville University.