I was born a poor, black child. Then I grew up.
Mike the Apeman got his start in internet radio in 2004 as a co-host on No Holds Barred Radio, the flagship show of the No Holds Barred radio network. A high school classmate of Damon Fibraio, founder of NHB, Apeman called into the live show one week, revealing some details about Damon’s school days, much to the chagrin of Damon, but the enjoyment of the listeners. It wasn’t long after that that Damon asked Apeman to be a regular co-host on the show, thus the ‘career’ began.
For 2 years, Apeman was Damon’s wingman on the show, providing a level-headed view to most topics, and acting as referee for Damon and Racist Dave at times. It was during this time that he befriended the hosts of PTR Radio, another show on NHB at the time. Shaggy helped teach Apeman about the inner-workings of the website and servers. This helped Apeman to expand his role at NHB, taking some of the burden off the server team, and helping build the show. At the Staff Picnic in 2004, the PTR guys and Apeman became fast friends (Ask Nate about the Top Gun quote battle over IM in the hotel room!), and the friendship grew as time went on.
In September of 2006, Apeman and Damon began to lock horns about the future of NHB. Differences of opinion came to a head when Apeman walked off the show while live on the air, bringing his internet radio career to an end…or so it seemed.
In the wake of his departure from NHB, The Apeman Cometh was born. A weekly podcast that began as a non-comedy view of life, offering up advice and opinions on how to live one’s life, eventually evolved into a comedic rantfest that listeners have come to love. One listener was even quoted as saying that the ‘re-born Apeman is much better off on his own, because this version of the primate and Damon would have killed each other by now’. The Apeman Cometh has had ups and downs, quiet periods, and times where it seems the podcasts were coming far too often, but in a little over the year the podcast continued to grow to the tune of about 1000 regular listeners.
Enter Shaggy, stage left.
Throughout this year of podcasting, Apeman and Shaggy stayed in touch. Eventually, the bug to start doing a live show again bit Shaggy. A proposed comeback was in the works, and this time PTR would return with ‘the primate upgrade installed’. Mike the Apeman joined PTR Radio live for their first broadcast as an independent show on September 10th, 2007. Shaggy, Nate, Colin, and Apeman picked up where they had left off with live broadcasting, and listeners have even said it was like they never left.
PTR Radio eventually re-joined the No Holds Barred radio network after discussions with Damon led both sides to agree that a return would be mutually beneficial, however after almost a year to the day the relationship was dissolved. PTR decided it was best, once again, to walk their own path. Going independent again has proven to be a challenge, but the show continues to grow in popularity, and the hosts are having as much fun as ever.
Since the split from NHB, Apeman has been given the title of UN Ambassador. The only member of the show who is not a type-A personality, at one point he was using this experience to prepare for a possible strike duty job of call center work. Due to a hernia, these plans were canceled. Regardless, he remains the diplomat that the show can rely on to broker ventures when yelling, cursing, and shooting just won't do.
In his spare time, Apeman enjoys playing ice hockey, working on his Jeep, surfing the web, working on computers, and woodworking. (Yes, actually building stuff with wood, not the perverted thoughts you freaks were thinking). He enjoys Tolstoy, walks on the beach, and sunsets.