Norm Nathan's Vault of Silliness with Tony Nesbitt

To kick of 2026, we will feature a DBG from January 2nd, 1994 which I have titled: The Deli

And there are a couple of reasons for that. Italian influences and some ahem, “sharp” commentary later.

Players:

Denise

Ed in Boston

Marie from Revere

George in Everett

John Kelly producing and playing in studio

Tony on the phone

Aaron Sawyer in Traffic

Bdays:

Jim Bakker

Julius LaRosa

Daniel Rostenkowski

Monday – 1/3

Mel Gibson

Victor Borge

Jesse White

Dabney Coleman

Bobby Hull

Ep 269, The Deli, slices its way to your ears in 3, 2 & 1.

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As we close out 2025, I want to thank our listeners, subscribers and supporters. I’m so very appreciative of all your support. And if you’re wondering, “How can I support this wildly entertaining rebroadcast podcast?”

You can join Patreon where I post exclusive content and episode previews and other silliness. Buy Me a Coffee is a great way to do so as well. It’s kind of like a tip jar but I’ve added monthly support categories where, if you choose, you’ll receive a special certificate when you choose an option. I’m tellin’ ya, this is heady stuff!

I am trying to save enough to make a decent donation to the Norm Nathan Scholarship Fund at the Berklee College of Music here in Boston. It’s a slow process so if you need a reason to help that’s one of my goals. Links are always in the bio and, on occasion, I even include them here at the end of this opening.

We also close out the year with FIVE, count em, FIVE new countries to appear on the World Silliness Meter:

Hola, ¿cómo estás? (Hello, how are you?) to Bolivia and Panama, “გამარჯობა” (pronounced gamarjoba) to Georgia, “Salemetsiz be” to Kazakhstan and “Marhaba” to the UAE! I’m just so darn pleased!

Soooooo, what do we have today? We have a SMQ from December 28th, 1995, which is titled: Confusion, Consternation and Competition

Norm was filling in for Bob Raleigh with Mike Epstein producing

The Rules: God help us…

Three rounds – we ask, you answer correctly, 2nd round, if wrong, you’re gone / 2nd round, you ask, we get it right, you’re outta here / if we get it wrong you move to the 3rd round where we ask another question, you get it right you win, you don’t and you’re gone.

And, for the love of all things holy, have a question ready to ask us

All of that to win a Misspelled Certificate of Award with funny jokes.

The Panel:

Norm

Ed

Tony (at some point)

Jack

The Categories:

Rock n Roll (by the decade if you like)

Big Band/Jazz

Musical Comedy

And possibly, Classical?

Callers:

Mike in Norfolk

Fred from Medford

Brian in Worcester

Al from Beverly

Barbara in Quincy

John from East Boston

Paul in MI

Ellen from Lynn

Bob in Waltham

Robert from Medford

Andre in Seabrook

Larry on the Cape

Matt in Haverhill

Jeff from Boston

Les in Sharon

Todd from MD

Larry in Brookline

Freddy in his car

Tom from Dover, NH

Peter in Middleton

Tom from Boston

Fred in Medford

Helene from Belmont!

John in Hopkinton

Rob from Ontario

Skip in Kittery, ME

Fred from Westford

Frank in Salem

Joe from Norfolk, VA

Parker

Richard on a car phone in Plaistow, NH

Edmund from Franklin

Mario in Cambridge

Don from Cambridge

Jeremy in Milton

Brian from Melrose

John in Revere

There’s also some very partial commercial content and one complete one for The Globe Santa.

Ep 268, Confusion, Consternation and Competition, conducts its way to your ears, now.

Buy Me a Coffee

https://buymeacoffee.com/normnathan

Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/normnathanvos

Castos

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This here broadcast is filled with stories. Whether from our guest or all the callers. It’s a good one to entertain you as do some last-minute shopping.

By the date on the cassette, it’s all from December 23rd, 1995, but there’s some peepers talk later in the show so we may have a splash of Spring,  1996?

Even if that’s the case the title shall be: A Merry Ol’ Broadcast

The Guest that night was Theresa Rice Engels author of “Just Before Christmas: Children’s Stories to Read Aloud.” Norm couldn’t find the copy of the book but begged for mercy. The guest was delightful and was a great one to have on just before Christmas. She reads a story so you might want to get a hot cocoa or toddy and curl up by your audio broadcast device and enjoy.

Callers:

We have a few callers where we know the name

Janet

Gilly

Marie

Monica

Harriet from Quincy

Maryann in Danvers

Fred from Medford or…

John in Somerville

David

and at least 10+ calls where we don’t

Check out the links below for ways to support the show.

And if you voted for us in the Podcast Tonight Awards, thank you!

Short list announcements are on January 26th so I will update you then whether we made it to the finals.

Ep 267, A Merry Ol’ Broadcast, jingles its way to your ears, in 3, 2 & 1.

Support the Silly! 

Buy Me a Coffee

https://buymeacoffee.com/normnathan

Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/normnathanvos

Castos

https://norm-nathans-vault-of-silliness.castos.com/donate?_gl=1*12szy98*_gcl_au*NDc3NDU0Mzc1LjE3MjI4Nzc4ODk

This is it. The final countdown. 

In just 3 days, on December 25th, the voting in the inaugural Podcast Tonight Awards will close. This is your absolute last chance to try and help Norm Nathan’s Vault of Silliness with Tony Nesbitt be part of podcasting history (well, that may be a little grandiose but hey, I’ll take it)! 

·       Final Registration Deadline: December 25, 2025 

·       Shortlist Announcement: January 26, 2026

·       Winners Revealed: February 28, 2026

I humbly ask for your vote and with your help we can expand the universe of Silliness to even more people.

The link to vote is below.

I do thank ya!

Podcast Tonight Awards

https://tinyurl.com/2s3w5ye5

Apologies for the double episodes but I was informed our little gremlin has returned where parts of the end credits are cut off. I have a work around and hopefully that will solve it again. Thanks for all the listens and views!

Now…

In honor of what would have been Norm’s 99th Bday (December 20th), I present to you a DBG from December 21st, 1991, which shall be titled: Duck…Under the Covers.

Players:

May or MAY-be not

Mike

Steve in Boston

Wolfie

A well-rested Ruth Clennott

Jack Harte in Traffic

Tony producing and playing in studio

Bdays w/all the SFX:

Kurt Valdheim

Jane Fonda

Frank Zappa

Chris Everett

Paul Winchell

Florence Griffith-Joyner

Phil Donahue

Commercials:

Gold Bond

Keep It In Your Sneaker

Norm read for Ginsana!

Ep 266, Duck…Under the Covers, cozies its way to your ears, now.

Podcast Tonight Awards

https://tinyurl.com/2s3w5ye5

Support the Silly!

Buy Me a Coffee

https://buymeacoffee.com/normnathan

Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/normnathanvo

Castos

https://norm-nathans-vault-of-silliness.castos.com/donate?_gl=1*12szy98*_gcl_au*NDc3NDU0Mzc1LjE3MjI4Nzc4ODk

https://tinyurl.com/2s3w5ye5

**RE-upload as the first was cut off before it ended.**

The Vault has given us another longer form episode so you can listen whilst you do your Christmas shopping, baking and/or wrapping!

It’s very possible that some of this may have aired in a previous episode. That occasionally occurs. Sometimes I can catch it and make changes. There are many tapes and some may be copies where dates were transposed incorrectly. Other times they are too good not to hear again. And if this is the case here…what a treat!

Before we get into all the details let me remind you of the Podcast Tonight Awards. Voting ends on December 25th. YOU can make my Christmas Merry by following the link here and cast your vote for NNVoS.

https://tinyurl.com/2s3w5ye5

Also, if you haven’t already, please subscribe, share, comment (even just to say hello) and always click that LIKE button. Every bit helps open the Vault of Silliness to a wider audience.

And off course, for exclusive content, join Patreon, Buy Me A Coffee or Castos. All the linkages are in the bio and in the description box.

We have a NNS/DBG/NNS from December 10th & 11th, 1993…the title of which shall be Kerry On My Wayward Pun.

It all begins with a caller, Bob Coffey talking about George Shearing (who was a guest earlier in that night).

Bob also hosted a jazz show every Sunday Morning from 6a – 12n in Brattleboro, VT.

Other Calls throughout:

The inimitable PAT!

Robert from Everett!

Kevin in Dorchester

Tony from Swampscott

Betty in Sudbury

And a Post Game call from John in Lowell

The DBG portion is from December 11th with our players being:

Al

John in Charlestown

Jenny from Plymouth

Mark

Sid Whittaker producing and playing in studio

I'm hanging around in studio

Jack Harte from traffic

Bdays:

Rita Moreno

Brenda Lee

Jermaine Jackson

Carlo Ponti

Teri Garr

Donna Mills

John Kerry

Event in History:

In what year did Boston’s Bijou Theater become the first American playhouse to be lighted entirely by electricity?

Some additional highlights include:

Another deep thought from Norm’s HGPG and a rare INCLUSION of ABC News w/Bob Aronson, the WBZ News w/Darrell Gould who intros Jack with traffic and then Accuwx w/Dale Moler.

Last but not least, our stockings are stuffed with Commercials:

Norm promos his appearance at the Liberty Tree Mall from 2-4pm to benefit Children’s Hospital

The Sounds of Christmas Past with Heritage Radio

Silver City and Barbosa’s Auto World

NH State Liquor Commission

National Credit Group

Jim Brown of Grand Prairie, TX for Triple Action Gold Bond Medicated Powder

A Christmas Carol at the Huntington Theater

Rich, Chocolaty Ovaltine

ADT Security Systems

Norm read for National Credit Group

Ep 265, Kerry On My Wayward Pun, loads its way to your ears in 3, 2 & 1.

Buy Me a Coffee

https://buymeacoffee.com/normnathan

Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/normnathanvos

Castos

https://norm-nathans-vault-of-silliness.castos.com/donate?_gl=1*12szy98*_gcl_au*NDc3NDU0Mzc1LjE3MjI4Nzc4ODk

Vote early and often!

Drawing from my personal archives of this beloved WBZ-AM talk show, Norm Nathan’s Vault of Silliness resurrects the warm and comforting voice of the Boston broadcasting legend, Uncle Norm himself. This podcast, which is curated by me, his former producer, Tony Nesbitt features a treasure trove of recordings from his time at WBZ. They are presented in their original, unvarnished glory. Listeners are treated to the authentic, analog charm of the broadcasts, complete with the distinctive hiss of tape and the occasional home-edited pause, all serving as a perfect backdrop for Norm's unique blend of news, talk, and music that cemented his status as a cherished voice in New England.

Vote for the Silly!

https://tinyurl.com/2s3w5ye5

Let me take a moment to inform all subscribers and listeners that I have entered NNVoS in a niche comedy category for a Podcast Tonight Award! You will see some official badging in places as well as hear an announcement. Hey, why don’t I play that now?!

The link is below to cast your vote!

I would be a just so darn appreciative if you would.

It is getting slightly more difficult to match dates and even some months with the current calendar. That doesn’t mean we are short on episodes, far from it! It’s simply that some months may be running low or dates end up spread throughout a month instead of the same week. For example, we may hear a February show in January or an August one in September.

Methinks we’ve done pretty darn well so far, but I wanted to let you all know. 

OK, today we have a NNS from December 9th and 10th, 1995.

I have titled it: Yodel Rad-ee-O-hoo

Our first guest was Dr. Myles Bader, author of “6001 Food Facts & Chef Secrets.” The title is self-explanatory and he shares some of those and takes calls from:

Jeff

Bridget from Timmons, ON

Bruce in Boston

Sam from Newton

Katie in Boston who suspiciously sounds like Kristin from Dorchester

Dieter from MD

Al in Everett

Ronnie from PA

Mystery Caller

The Next segment is some misc stuff with Calls from:

Bob

And Ingabore who plays some yodeling song that has Norm breaking up

Larry

Caller with Ben & Jerry Info

And there’s Jack Harte appearance squeezed in here with conversation, and a Traffic Report whose sponsor was the Wentworth Gallery. 

We move on to 12/10 with guests Kathleen Brady author of “Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball” and Ric Wyman author “For the Love of Lucy” which is a collector’s guide. These were excellent guests and an enjoyable interview by Uncle Norm!

They ask some Lucy trivia and take calls from:

Linda in Watertown

Eddie from Chelsea

Kristin in Dorcester

Carol from Baltimore, MD

Steve in Dedham

Estelle from Newton

Pan in Everett

And Deedee from Charleston, WVA

Again, please check out the link to the Podcast Tonight Awards 25/26 and Vote for the Vault!

https://tinyurl.com/2s3w5ye5

Ep 264, Yodel Rad-ee-O-hoo, vocalizes its way to your ears, now.

Welcome back dear friends of the Silly. Today brings us a DBG from November 25th, 1994

Everyone is in fine form here so it’s a good one to listen to while you’re prepping your Thanksgiving dinner.

This will be provocatively titled: Two Virgins and A Doctor

Players:

Angela in Holbrook

Hank from Baltimore, MD

Anne in Portland, ME

Keith Shields producing and playing in Studio

Jack Harte in Traffic

Mike Epstein newsroom producing

Bdays:

Joe DiMaggio

John Kennedy, Jr.

Ricardo Montalban

Amy Grant

Kathryn Crosby

Bucky Dent

John Laroquette

Date in History:

In what year did the first football play-by-play radio broadcast occur?

Ep 263, Two Virgins and A Doctor gently examines its way to your ears in 3, 2 and 1.