High Pitch Erik Vows to Keep Joey Boots’ Legacy Alive

Wack Packer also details the tragic evening he found his friend unresponsive and the massive food delivery he got that night

January 3, 2017
Photo: The Howard Stern Show

On Tuesday morning High Pitch Erik arrived at the Stern Show studio to pay homage to his friend and fellow Wack Packer Joey Boots after finding the 49-year-old deceased in his apartment just before Christmas.

Joey failed to show up to host his podcast on Dec. 23, leading co-host Gonzo Shitcock to call Erik and ask that he check on Boots who lived in the same building.

Gonzo phoned in and told Howard that High Pitch first had to be persuaded with an incentive of $50 and a large pizza from a caller who went by the name “Bobo from California.” The caller later reported that the full order included two 2-liters of soda, four Jamaican beef patties, and some penne alla vodka along with the pizza.

Erik explained that Joey liked to sleep and would get angry when people woke him up, so he was hesitant to bother him. Nonetheless, with a deal struck, he hatched a pretty intelligent plan to stand by Joey’s door and see if he could hear his friend’s cell phone ring while calling it. After discovering he could hear Joey’s cell phone, but was not able to rouse Boots to open the door, High Pitch got a building receptionist to let him in to do a wellness check.

Upon opening the door, Erik noticed Joey slumped over in his chair. “I tried to touch him. I said, ‘Joey, Joey, wake up!’ And he didn’t respond,” Erik recounted.

“The building receptionist goes over to Joey and the building receptionist says, ‘he’s cold and no pulse,'” High Pitch continued.

The fire department was the first to respond to the 9-1-1 call and declared Joey dead around 9:30 p.m., according to Erik, who told Howard he had spoken to Joey the previous evening and his friend had complained of a cold.

After answering some questions about Joey’s social media accounts for detectives, the distraught High Pitch finally dug into his feast sent by “Bobo from California” around 4 a.m. “After Joey’s death I can’t stop eating,” he admitted.

“I’m hoping in honor of Joey, you will start taking better care of yourself,” Howard told the Wack Packer. “It will break my heart to lose you.”

High Pitch vowed to try to improve his health and, moreover, to keep Joey’s legacy alive by thinking about him “all the time.”

Howard wondered if Erik would be taking up the “Booey bomb” mantle in Joey’s absence, but the frequently walker-bound Wack Packer said he likely would steer away from activities that could cause him to gain a criminal record.

“Someone sent me a message on Twitter … and offered me a Joey Boots tattoo and I’m thinking about that,” Erik said, though.

Our deepest condolences go out to Joey’s family and friends.