The New Podcast About The Hunt To Find Richard Simmons Is Staggering
With all the blogs that have been written about Richard Simmons within the past year or so, you probably have an idea about this story by now. Richard the vibrant work out guru who out of the blue cut off contact with just about the whole world on February 15th, 2014.
The podcast has made some headlines within the last couple of weeks, but I’m not sure just how many people have fully plugged into it yet. It’s being done by former ‘Daily Show’ producer Dan Taberski who does a phenomenal job narrating it. Taberski actually knew Richard personally and worked out at his workout facility called “Slimmons”.
Throughout the first two episodes he talks about how he and all the workout club regulars just showed up on that random day in February and there was a sign that was posted saying that Richard was dealing with a knee issue and would not be teaching that month…only to never appear or talk to anybody from the fitness center again.
I know everybody’s initial reaction is to laugh at Richard because of how out there he is, but this whole situation is actually pretty fucking insane. We’re talking about a dude who LOVED people/helping people. A guy who LOVED the spotlight and being the center of attention. Then all of a sudden he just cuts everyone off? Taberski interviews a Hollywood tour guide in Episode 1 who said that out of any celebrity the person that he saw the most was without a doubt Richard Simmons. The guy would flag the bus down just to take pictures and say What’s up to everybody, even estimating that he easily saw him over 200 times. But, ever since that day three years ago, he hasn’t seen him once and there was a 6 foot fence put up in front of his house. That’s pretty fucking eerie.
I’m not going to give a ton of it away as you should definitely give it a shot if this kinda shit interests you, but it’s really really good so far. The narrator actually even stakes out Richards house at one point and has words with the famous housekeeper who has been in the headlines as the person who is allegedly keeping Richard against his will.
Here’s a link to the website where you can find the podcast- www.missingrichardsimmons.com. If not, it’s on iTunes.
P.S.
I’m now for the second time in a week reminiscing on old Stern Show characters, but anybody who’s a fan of the show knows how Richard is easily one of the best guests of all time. Howard and the crew gave him a ton of shit, but he always took it in stride and always came back. His in studio moments were classic and the “GAAAAARY” drop that Fred plays is still used today and might be my favorite one ever. We can only hope that Richard will be back on someday.
(Note: This video is not from 2015. The tag is wrong…it’s from sometime around 2010)