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• Angus Lamond
• SURF'S UP: No Limit Larry (left) and Tone X scan the Web and yuck it up.

J.D., a graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, started her career as an assistant editor and morning show producer at WGHP-TV in High Point. She later branched off into radio as news and public affairs director at 102 Jamz in Greensboro before honing her radio skills as an afternoon anchor and reporter for WRAL in Raleigh. She eventually moved to Charlotte and hosted the nationally syndicated "Tom Joyner Morning Show" on WBAV before becoming a producer/co-host of "The Breakfast Brothas Show" on Power 98. The skills she learned there landed her the position as co-host of "No Limit Larry and the Morning Maddhouse."

Church Boy followed a similar path of No Limit and J.D., breaking into radio through internships and on-the-job experience, while Tone X took a completely different track. The comedian got his break after winning an open mic night at the Comedy Zone, which lead to a host of local and national comedy gigs. His stand-up experience paved the way to a position at Power 98 as a morning show co-host and his spot on the Maddhouse.

After nearly four years of working together, they have built-in confidence with one another. No one worries about taking off their headphones and leaving the room to take an emergency phone call because they know their co-hosts will pick up the slack and the show will go on.

It's a little after 6 a.m., and the show is warming up as listeners start calling in. This morning, a caller the Maddhouse crew refers to as "Eye Witness News" calls in to let them know that a local Burger King just got robbed. Long-time caller Tawanda calls in to give her two-cents on the day's topic: "The best advice your father gave you about men." But before her comments make the air, No Limit gets the lowdown on what's going on in her life, finds out she's still on the grind at Chick-fil-A and dishes out some advice on what she should do career-wise. "You should think about getting a franchise with them," he says. "You can make some serious money doing that."

Angelica, a high school listener, calls in to let them know what she's up to this summer, and the Maddhouse crew offer her words of encouragement.

They have a few favorite callers who sprinkle the show with their off-the-charts personalities. There's Mean Mother, who is like the real-life version of Martin Lawrence's character in the movie Big Mama; Pittscinnati from Cincinnati, who puts his own spin on everything the Maddhouse says; JR Lockheart and a whole crew of high school students who listen to the show faithfully. "The callers become as much a part of the show as we are," says No Limit. "If we don't hear from them in a while, we'll miss them and be like, 'Dang, where he at?' Especially with the high school callers because you get connected to them and start to feel like they're your brother or sister."

And since the Maddhouse counts its listeners as part of their extended family, they want them to walk away with something at the end of each show. "We don't want it to be all buffoonery," says Tone. "We want to make people think."

J.D. agrees. "We want our show to be a learning experience," she said. "We want you to laugh, to cry ... we don't just tell jokes, we deal with serious topics as well."

Finding middle ground between keeping the show light and dealing with serious issues affecting the community, however, can often be a tough balancing act. Many listeners tune in for the silly banter that takes places between the hosts -- but that's also what makes some people tune out.

"There's always people who say we talk too much," says No Limit. "They say I'm too loud, J.D.'s too opinionated, and Tone's not funny. But as long as the positive outweighs the negative, then it's all good."

Terri Avery, program director for Power 98, says she doesn't hear much negativity about the Maddhouse. But, the way she sees it, if the streets are talking, that means people are listening. "A lot of people may be saying this and saying that," she says, "but they're steadily listening and they can repeat everything that Larry says verbatim."

While the conversations that occur between the Maddhouse cast takes up the bulk of the show's four hours, the music also plays a part. But, in a time when urban music -- specifically hip-hop -- is under the microscope by the media and conservative groups for its often degrading images of women and glamorization of violence and drugs, the Maddhouse is aware that some listeners may switch stations just because of that. "There is some negativity associated with the music that we play, but people don't have to listen to the music, they can just listen to the show," says No Limit. "People have to understand that some of the stuff that these artists talk about in their songs is stuff that has happened to them. It's real life for some of them."