Before we start, we would like to say congratulations to Craftsman Experience for their one year anniversary and thank you for the opportunity to interview Ty Pennington. In case you are not familiar with Craftsman Experience or read our Craftsman Experience Blogger Post by Eric or Craftsman Experience Post by Dan, which we don’t know why you wouldn’t, here is a little background. Obviously by the title of this post you know Craftsman Experience has been around for 1 year. They have a studio in Chicago at 233 W. Huron Street where they film live streams and have a radio show all dedicated to the Home Do it Yourself market. If your in the area, you should stop by and check them out. Everyone is very friendly and they put on a great show, plus you get to have some hands on experience with their power tools.
Now I am sure you would like to hear about the show, but before I get started, I have to put a dig into Dan. Well the day started out great until Dan called and said he had some bad news. He told me that we are driving into the city instead of taking the train. Not sure why that was bad news, but OK. After telling him it would be a lot easier taking the train in, he whined like a girl that he wanted to drive, so I had two choices. Listen to Dan whine the whole time on the train or drive into Chicago. Like any sane person I figured the driving would be easier. After sitting in traffic we finally arrived and believe it or not we found a parking spot right in front the the building. After paying the Chicago outrageous parking meters cost, we decided to grab a bite to eat. After finishing our tasty food, we headed back to the show. We were walking by Dan’s truck and noticed something on the windshield, it was a $50 ticket. Well I knew I would never hear the end of this, so I had to prepare myself. He received a ticket for an expired license plate sticker. Ever year we need to get a new sticker and his happened to expire August 31, 2011 and today was September 1, 2011, so not even 24 hours over due. Now as much as I wanted to gloat that we should have taking the train, I did have to agree that was a little harsh to give a ticket so quick, but again that’s The Great Corrupt State Illinois and that the Chicago private parking system, do I need to say more.
After Dan calmed down, we went inside to visit the show. As with the past we were greeted with open arms and everyone was very nice. They had free drinks and finger food for everyone, which is always nice. When the lady with the finger food approached Dan with some food he got really excited, but I had to remind him that she wasn’t trying to give him the whole plate of food, he just needed to take one off the plate and say thank you. We then proceed to talk with some people from Craftsman and play with some of the tools. Then they came over and said it was time to sit down and we could start our interview with Ty. Wow we thought, this is really happening. If you have every watched our videos or even talked with us, you know we are not the most professional people around, in fact we are just two tools in action. This was our first interview, so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. I do have to say beside me forgetting to video tape the first part of the interview, it went well or at least thats what we think. Dan did a great job and didn’t make us look like to much of an a**. Ty seemed to be a pretty down to earth guy and had some fun with us. A couple of times we weren’t sure if he was serious or just taking us for a ride. I could not figure out how to work Dan’s phone so I missed the first part of the interview. Of course we asked Ty what is his favorite tool, and surprisingly he said a Camera, followed by a sledgehammer. When asked what he did for fun, he said Yodeling, not knowing if he was serious or not, we asked him to yodel for us, my immediate reaction was ” Don’t quit your day job” but not knowing if he was serious I refrained. I could tell Dan was Star Struck as he babbled about computers. Overall Ty is a great guy and really does a lot for people in need and we appreciate that. You can watch the video below for the rest.
Not only did Ty attend the show, but Frank Fontanna and Erik Buell also attended. Last but not least Alan from Screw*d. If you haven’t seen screw*d, you should check it out. Craftsman found a guy who knows nothing about tools and they send him on different adventures. The goal is for him to get certain projects done with the help of the internet community. So you can visit the show, provide your input and help him out. So far the show has been very entertaining and educational at the same time.
Again we would like to congratulate Craftsman Experience for their one year anniversary and thank them for the opportunity to attend the event. The event was a lot of fun and don’t forget if your in the Chicago area, drop by and take a look at the show, you’ll have a great time.
I really enjoyed the informal comedic aspect of the interview. ‘When one tool is not enough, you need two tools…..Eric and Dan’ That could be good motto. Well done.