Thomas David Mischke (born September 19, 1962) is an American writer, musician, podcaster, and former radio talk show host on WCCO NewsRadio 830 based in Minneapolis.
His show featured quirky regular callers, stream of consciousness humor, and experts on any topic he found interesting.
Since 1998, Mischke has been the winner of the "Best AM Radio Personality" award given by the local weekly alternative newspaper City Pages nine times.
[1] In 1986–1987, Mischke was known as "The Phantom Caller" on Don Vogel's show, where he would randomly call in (without identifying himself) with tightly-written, sixty-second comedic bits.
He so amused the radio personality that he was invited to become Don's sidekick on his show, Afternoon Saloon, on KSTP in 1992, during Vogel's second stint in the Twin Cities.
A feature of his Friday night show was an hour called "Misfit Friday", where rules were relaxed and callers were free to contribute in creative ways, such as "The Singing Bandit", who would call and sing short songs he had written, and then immediately hang up.
Psycho Ray often hinted at stalking Tommy, giving only vague inferences as to his activities; conversations about his hobbies included knife sharpening, gun cleaning, and hanging out with his auto mechanic girlfriend "Jodi".
He performed on fellow Twin Cities broadcaster Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion on the September 2, 2006 show.
The new hours, a late drive-time shift of 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, prompted the new format, the station banning many of the trademark Mischke bits including his prank 411 calls and the pockets of dead air that would occasionally fill large portions of his show.