Tom Mabe

While employed at his Louisville, KY workplace, prank caller Tom Mabe launched a one-man campaign targeting telemarketers, spinning intricate tales designed to frustrate the solicitors until they ended the calls themselves. Over time he began capturing the exchanges via his answering machine, then shared the recordings with acquaintances; before long he was also guesting on radio morning programs, which prompted him to self-fund a compilation CD spotlighting his sharpest routines under the title Revenge on the Telemarketers. Once a copy reached Virgin Records Nashville, the imprint offered him a contract and released Revenge on the Telemarketers, Round One in early 2000, an album that mixed several selections from his initial disc with a wealth of fresh segments. Another installment appeared before the close of that same year.