Preston & Steve talk to people on the other end of the Portal live on Philadelphia radio.

Last week, Philadelphia opened a live-streamed portal, connecting the City of Brotherly Love to three other countries across the world. The Preston & Steve Show wanted to connect with the people on the other side of the screen. So we sent our friend, WMMR’s nighttime host Jacky Bam Bam, over to Love Park to greet folks in Ireland, Lithuania, and Poland.  

In classic Philly fashion, Jacky showed up in in full Mummers gear, but it wasn’t just any old outfit. This specific Mummers costume comes from Woodland String Band, a group that plays frequently in Ireland. He went with a pink suit in support of breast cancer awareness month.  Not only was his flashy wardrobe an attention grabber, it was certainly a unique way to introduce other countries to a Philadelphia tradition.  

We sent along a sign with the phone number to the radio station and a link to connect via Zoom. There was a slight concern as to whether it would be blurred out (apparently the knuckleheads in New York were so obscene that they added a censorship feature). But it worked! The Preston & Steve Show scored three phone calls from folks in Dublin! There were a couple of Zoom attempts, but people were slightly skeptical to connect.

The Irish callers described which of the three portal streams was Dublin; they noted the Spire and General Post Office in the background. The highlight of the morning was the first caller, Beth. After prior calls had dropped during the “on hold” moment, we decided to cut into a commercial break to get her live on the radio. Beth and her travel companions were excited to be talking to us in such an unexpected manner. Listen closely during the segment and you can hear her say, “this is so strange!” Was she talking about the surprise radio interview? Or Jacky Bam Bam strutting on the other end of a massive video screen? We thought that we may never know as she had to cut the conversation short due to the high cost of international calls.

But alas! Beth found our YouTube livestream and jumped into the conversation with P&S Fans. It’s there where she said that it was “an amazing experience” and she couldn’t believe it was real! Beth also promised to jump back into the live chat on Tuesday morning. Join and subscribe here to see if she returns!

The other callers include a father and young daughter who were dressed for Halloween and a Philadelphia native who is currently studying abroad. His mom listens to WMMR everyday and told him to make the 45 minute trip across town to the Portal. Thanks, mom! [video available here]

UPDATE: Beth Is Our New Best Friend!

From a coffee shop in Dublin, Beth and her partner Connor Zoom’d into The Preston & Steve Show to share the Portal story from their end. As expected, she was slightly concerned after connecting, “I thought that you were going to hack my phone and take all money!” But after a little investigating, Beth felt better once she found out that the radio show on the other end of the Portal was real!

Turns out that they are from England and on holiday. But the most exciting thing we learned is that Beth and Connor have never been to the United States. We have to get them over here for a visit! (and we have to convert Connor into an Eagles fan, thanks to Madden, the Patriots are his team). Click over to today’s Livestream to see the conversation.