A daily chronicle of creativity in film, TV, music, arts, and entertainment, produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from November 2014 – March 2020. Host John Horn leads the conversation, accompanied by the nation's most plugged-in cultural journalists.
You may have heard actor John Roberts as the happy-go-lucky mom on the Fox series, "Bob’s Burgers."
But before Roberts landed the role of Linda Belcher, he had a series of viral videos in which he imitated his mom — dressed in a frizzy red wig, wearing giant round sunglasses and his mother’s actual clothing. His first video was titled "My Son Is Gay," based on a letter he wrote to his mom in which he came out.
"She went through all the stages of grief and came out the other end," said Roberts.
Roberts actually started impersonating her from a young age after he discovered his mom's wig in a box in his childhood bedroom. Much later he parlayed this mom-inspired character into a dream gig on "Bob's Burgers."
Frame producer Michelle Lanz recently sat down with Roberts to hear how his mom inspired his act.
Bonus Mother's Day inspired video!