This should be one helluva celebration!
"And this time I’m being honest wit’ you" as one of Gary Burbank’s many famous alter-egos, The Big Fat Balding Guy with A Stubby Cigar In His Mouth, would say.
Burbank — the funniest guy in Cincinnati radio who died Aug. 28 at age 84 — will be celebrated with his radio bits, stories and his music at Covington’s Madison Theater 5-10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.
Daughter Tracy Songer and the organizers plan to “celebrate Gary’s most beloved characters and stories from his radio career.” Burbank started as the morning host on WLW-AM in 1981, but spent most of his time here in afternoon drive time until retiring in December 2007 at age 66.
His fans will hear classic comedy bits featuring right-wing commentator Earl Pitts; the hopelessly befuddled Gilbert Gnarley; evangelical huckster Rev. Deuteronomy Skaggs; Eunice and Bernice, the Siamese twins joined at the telephone; children's host Ranger Bob; blues player Howlin' Blind Muddy Slim; the Synonymous Bengal; former Reds owner Marge "Saint CEO" Schott; and maybe an episode of his All My Bengals soap opera.
“I have tons of his bits and some videos,” Songer says. Longtime sidekick Kevin “Doc” Wolfe and some of Burbank’s writers also will be there, she says.
Sonny Moorman, the Bluebirds and the Recreational will provide the music — including performing some of Burbank’s songs, his daughter says. There also will be a silent auction and split the pot “to benefit two causes close to Gary’s heart,” she says.
- Play It Forward, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit which Burbank created before retiring from WLW-AM in 2007. It supports local musicians in crisis helping cover basic needs, rent, medical bills and more “when gigs fall through or life gets hard. These are the artists who keep Cincinnati's music scene alive and Gary was always in their corner," she says.
- The Good Samaritan Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit at the Virginia-based Sunrise Senior Living. The fund “supports the caregivers, nurses and aides who walked with Gary and our family during his final days. It helps them with emergency needs, car repairs, school tuition, and more. It’s a lot like Play It Forward,” she says.
Songer’s team is looking for silent auction donations “big or small” from local businesses. “Services, gift bundles, art, collectibles or anything you think you could contribute to honor Gary’s love for our city,” she says.
Donors are asked to contact silent auction coordinators Jamie Turner (jturner@trivc.com; 513-401-2617) or Courtney Deinlein (creitmandeinlein@gmail.com; 513-304-7482) by Jan. 20.
Tickets for the event are $30 at the door, or $25 in advance at this link.
Burbank — born William Purser on July 29, 1941, in Memphis, Tennessee — came to Cincinnati from Louisville intending to stay only one year, until his “non-compete” clause expired, so he could return to Louisville. Instead, he stayed here 26 years, longer than his previous radio stints in Louisville, New Orleans or Windsor, Ontario (Detroit market).
After retiring in 2007, he continued doing Pitts' comedic conservative commentaries for 13 years in national syndication. The Pitts bits, which always opened with Earl snarling, “You know what makes me sick?” were inspired by his stepfather Raymond Woods, a Memphis fireman.
Burbank created Pitts in 1986 as a counterpoint to news anchor Jerry Springer’s nightly news commentaries on WLWT.-TV. Pitts was an instant hit. Within months he was doing Pitts in costume for TV commercials promoting WLW-AM and launching a campaign for Ohio governor.
His most famous bit was in 1993, when Gnarley called Johnson & Johnson about KY Jelly, a lubricant used to intensify sexual relations. Gnarley told the company how much he enjoyed eating the jelly on toast.
“No sir, we don’t make that type of jelly. …. No sir, it’s not meant to be eaten!” he was told. To which Gilbert replied: “Well, pray tell, what do I do with jelly if not eat it?”
Burbank often boasted that “we do more material in a week than a stand-up comic can imagine in his life.” (I often wrote that Burbank did more original material in a day than David Letterman or Jay Leno did on their late-night shows.)
Burbank’s rare talents were recognized nationally. He is the only person to win back-to-back Marconi Radio Awards for “personality of the year” from the National Association of Broadcasters in 1991 and ’92. (The NAB changed the rules after Burbank's two wins.) He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2012.
Read more about his career in my August tribute, "Gary Burbank, the funniest man in Cincinnati radio, dies at 84."
