Tim and Chris Convy are co-hosts on the popular morning radio show THE COURTNEY SHOW on 106.5 The Arch. While Chris gives his older brother Tim a hard time with hilarious morning show banter, the joking around is amplified when their mom, dad, younger brother Curran and youngest sister Kaki are on the show. Laughs aside, what is most remarkable about these two brothers is their unwavering friendship, respect, admiration, support, and love for each other along their journeys in the entertainment industry.
Chris Convy: A big part of our story is our parents. They were insanely supportive and cool, believing in us and encouraging us to follow our dreams when we wanted to pursue careers in entertainment.
Tim Convy: I don't think I ever thought I'd end up back in St. Louis, let alone a mile from where I grew up. And I never thought I would end up working here with Chris.
Kirkwood Lifestyle Magazine: And yet….
KLM: Did you always know you would be in the entertainment industry?
CC: Have you ever heard a story about someone who willed things into existence? That's Tim. He has wanted to be in a rock band since grade school. His first song, Trouble with the Bubbles, was a big hit at Ste. Genevieve du Bois.
TC: As a kid, I remember saying I want to play music - that's my thing. I was in bands all through school.
CC: One of the kids at my high school started making sketch comedy videos for the student council, and he inspired me to get a camera and start making videos.
TC: I could still watch these videos today. They were way ahead of what people were doing in high school.
So, what was the catalyst that launched you both into the entertainment industry?
CC: It was Tim. Tim always paved the way for us. Tim has obsessions and makes them happen. I let them happen.
TC: It was the luckiest thing in the world. When I was in college, MTV offered an internship program. I knew a lot about music, so my internship was working directly under the only executive producer that still did music programming. I worked on the Video Music Awards, Unplugged, and The Movie Awards.
CC: Tim decided that as cool as that internship was, he wanted to be in a rock band. So, I took over his internship when he left to join the band Ludo.
TC: The early days of Ludo were all about having big dreams, living in a van with my friends, not having a clue what we were doing but figuring it out as we went.
CC: Tim went off with the band, and I moved to New York and stepped into what could have been his career trajectory. Looking back, I could have done different things and been smarter about my entire career if I had known more. I should have focused more on directing. But I got hired to produce things. As you jump from show to show, you get fun new titles like production assistant, associate producer, segment producer, and coordinating producer. I worked at MTV as part of the production team for the VMAs, The Movie Awards, Unplugged, Spring Break, and the Super Bowl. It was a great rotation of shows until the Janet Jackson thing happened at the Super Bowl. After that, our production team dissolved, and everyone went on to do other things. Television production is a lot of freelance, so you bounce from job to job. I am well suited for that because I quickly get tired of things. I was lucky enough to continue to get hired, so I could keep working.
TC: Fast forward five years, and we are both grinding - Chris in TV and me with Ludo. Our band signed a record deal in 2006 with Island Def Jam. The label sent us to LA in 2007 to record our album at the legendary Sound City Studios. Island also paid for Chis to come out and spend months with us documenting the making of the album.
CC: They didn't pay me a lot because I lived in the closet of your apartment.
At the age of 25 and 27, was that experience surreal?
TC: I don't think any of that was lost on our band. We had spent the past five years living in a van, eating PBJs, and putting in a lot of hard work to get to that point. There was an extraordinary level of stress that I've not experienced since that time. I was a kid. I wish I had enjoyed it. We were on MTV, and I didn't enjoy it because I wanted to be on Late Night. We were on the Tonight Show, and I didn't enjoy it because I wanted to be on SNL. We never got there. Now, post-Ludo, I don't take anything for granted.
CC: Tim can build momentum and drive something to fruition. Some people have dreams, hopes, and aspirations, but those die on the vine. When Tim wants something, watching him drive to bring it home is pretty amazing.
What was the turning point from those early days to where you are now?
TC: My career fell apart. His career continued cruising. At the height of Ludo, we performed on the Tonight Show, and all these great things were happening, but internally, we couldn't keep it together as a band. We were on different pages. And then it ended. It broke my heart and crushed me.
CC: When Tim's dream got taken away, it affected our entire family. It was his dream, but we all loved and supported the band. Ludo has a movie story ending though. In 2018, after having not played a show in 6 or 7 years and being somewhat estranged, the band sold out two nights at The Pageant. It was magical. Our whole family was on stage together. Watching Tim do what he was born to do was pure joy - which was being up on stage. Since then, Ludo has performed sold-out shows at The Pageant every Halloween.
So, Tim, how did you step into standup comedy?
TC: After the band broke up, I returned to New York and lived with Chris. I stayed in the music industry and worked with incredible artists. There were cool moments and some projects that I'm proud of, but ultimately, I was miserable. On the other hand, Chris was killing it in TV and started working on a show at MTV called Nikki and Sara Live. Chris and Nikki (Glaser) started dating. I'd come home and tell them stories about my bad dates. Nikki said, "You should do stand up and tell your stories." That's where the idea of doing standup started. I wanted to leave New York for a while, so I returned to St. Louis and started doing open mic nights at the Funny Bone. I also started doing marketing at the Funny Bone. I met with an old friend in radio who asked me if I had ever considered working in radio. I joked, saying, "If you give me a morning show, I'll consider it."
CC: In 2016, Nikki and I created a show called Not Safe with Nikki Glaser. We sold the show to Comedy Central in LA, packed a van, and drove cross country. We hired Tim as the show's talent producer. When I was making this show, I felt the same thing Tim felt when making his record. I thought, "If I do my job right, everything will be fine for the rest of my career." The Ludo album did better than the TV show, so you be the judge.
TC: I never could have left their TV show because it was so much fun, but after it ended, I decided I'd rather be back in the comedy community at the Funny Bone. And by then, there was an opportunity on a St. Louis morning radio show.
But not with Courtney Landrum.
TC: Right. I was at a different station. But eventually, I auditioned and joined Courtney & Company on Y-98.
CC: I'd come on the show and make fun of Tim when I was in town. Courtney loved it. She and I are kindred spirits.
TC: Courtney left Y-98 and immediately found another morning show on 106.5 The Arch. I would have gone with her, but contractually, I couldn't. Courtney said, "Well, what if we got your brother instead?" I thought, "There is no way he's going to do it - he's crushing it in LA."
CC: Courtney is beloved. She is the perfect center of everything that is St. Louis, and she is so cool. We started talking about making this happen in February 2020. I can take a year or two off in my TV career, which wouldn't matter much. I've never done radio and have always been behind the camera. I thought it would be a fun experience. It was also a great time to come home and spend time with my parents and my sister Kaki who was having kids at an alarming rate. I joined Courtney and Brando in April 2020.
Do you still produce TV shows?
CC: I produced Beauty and the Beast Live, and then most recently, I executive produced the Mark Twain Prize honoring Adam Sandler. With freelance television, I can split my time between doing radio here and then spend a few months on a television show in LA or NY.
And you continue to do standup comedy, Tim?
TC: I never stopped. After I left Y-98, I spent a year on the road doing standup comedy with Greg Warren. Eventually, there was a place for me on Courtney's show with Brando and Chris. Somewhere along the way, I got married and had a baby.
How did you meet your wife?
TC: I was flying to watch Nikki shoot a comedy special in New York. I ran into some friends on the plane and invited them to see the show. They asked if they could bring a friend. That friend was Emma. Emma does not remember that night, and I remember everything about that night.
What's the next big thing?
CC: I want to watch Tim's and Kaki's kids grow up having the same adventures, opportunities, and fun we had growing up. I want to teach them to play sports, take music lessons, or sing. I'd like to be a part of their childhood as much as possible. I also want to win a pickleball tournament, which is my only goal right now.
TC: I hope to shoot a comedy special next year, and I hope that Chris will produce it.
CC: I'll look at a reel. I'll take a meeting.
TC: We are so thankful to Courtney and the show for allowing us to continue to pursue our dreams while we work on her show.
CC: I love that people from Kirkwood like Nikki (Glaser) and Greg (Warren), and Scott Bakula can make an impact doing exciting things. Young people need to know there are paths to follow if they want to do something that is not the typical career. Be adventurous. Tim was inspired by his dreams, which helped inspire me, as his little brother, to do big things.
TC: He gives me more credit than I deserve for all of it. But thanks, Man.
"I don't think I ever thought I'd end up back in St. Louis, let alone a mile from where I grew up. And I never thought I would end up working here with Chris." - Tim Convy
"Young people need to know there are paths to follow if they want to do something that is not the typical career. Be adventurous." - Chris Convy