Succotash, The Comedy Soundcast Soundcast

Greetings, Succotashians! I think this may be a record of time between episodes for the show. Apologies for the delay. Work, mostly, and I'm three weeks into a new diet which took some reconfiguring of my energy reserves to get the show done. Good news is that the diet's going well - dropped about 15 pounds in 3 weeks - but now Succotash is bloated. This week's epi runs about an hour and 15 minutes. We have much clippage to share, a funny song by Britcom Isabel Fay that's burning up the internet, a classic spot from our friends at Henderson's Pants, and our Burst O' Durst with our Ambassador to The Middle WIll Durst. The core of our show this time around is my interview with Hawaiian comedian David Lee. I first heard about David from his father when I was vacationing on Oahu last year. His dad's a bartender at the Outrigger Canoe Club and as we got to talking, he seemed a little less than pleased that his boy was pursuing the comedy, and was doing it in Colorado Springs of all places. Being a supporter

We're back in Studio P in Sausalito for Epi27, which means the show always sounds better and I certainly feel better when engineer/producer Joe Paulino is pushing the buttons and flipping the switches. PLUS it gives us the chance for another Boozin' With Bill segment, where our loyal booth announcer Bill Haywatt shares a libation with us that he picked up somewhere during his illustrious (some might say spotty) career in radio.  Unfortunately, Bill's drink this time – Barbecue Punch – turns out to be a dreadful cautionary tale. I'm reproducing the formula here but be warned: This drink is not for the timid, smart or sane. Hideous beverage aside, it's a fast-paced episode, with a bunch of clips, a dip into the TweetSack, our Burst O' Durst, and a brand new Henderson's Pants spot for their newest line, The Drifter Chino. Musically, I found a fun little ditty called Incompetent's Lament by Paul & Storm, a duo that has cranked out a lot of comedy tunes, much of which is available via their website. They al

Joe Klocek No clips this episode. Just warning you up front. Normally we bring you a barrage of comedy podcast clips from around the Net of Inter (hence our subtitle, the Comedy Podcast Podcast.) This episode there's mostly just room enough for my interview with our special guest Joe Klocek. NEXT epi, however, there will be a barrelful of clippage and no interview. You'll like Joe. He's a funny, engaging standup comedian, solidly based in the San Francisco comedy scene — "a big fish in a small pond" as he puts it. Was not moving to Los Angeles or New York earlier in his career a misstep? Could be — we get to that and a whole lot more in our chat that took place this past week in the green room at San Francisco's historic Punchline Comedy Club. (A visit that really took me back, as I was hanging (and helping) out at the Punchline when it first opened more than 30 (!) years ago.) If you're within hailing distance of The City By The Bay, do yourself a favor and check out Joe's monthly show Prev

I always miss our engineer/producer Joe Paulino and the comfort of the awesome Studio P, but a little less so this show because Succotash Epi25 comes directly from the Four Seasons Resort on the island of Maui, Hawaii! No special reason, other than the fact I got a chance to hop over to the islands with friend-of-Succotash Dana Carvey as part of my celebrity ride-along program. It won't sound any different, unfortunately, but you might be able to hear the exotic birds squawking in the courtyard out the window. Actually it DOES sound a little different in one regard: I recorded my tracks with the snappy new iRigMic Cast from 1K Multimedia - a tiny little microphone that plugs directly into the input jack on an iPhone, iPad or Android. GREAT for poddin' on the road! We start off with a Kickstarter update from the X-Files Dean Haglund, who is THIS close to reaching his $7000 goal in order to get his Shock N' Awesome graphic novel off the ground. Just a few days left and, if he DOESN'T get the 7G's, he gets not

This is Episode 24 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast! We’ve got clips. We’ve got the Burst O’ Durst. We’ve got an interview with actor/comedian/artist and podcaster Dean Haglund to talk about his exciting new Kickstarter project. We’ve got a funny song by comedian/songstress/chanteuse Karen Kilgariff from her album “Behind You”. A classic Henderson’s Pants commercial perhaps. And that about it. Dean Haglund A little bit more about Mr. Haglund. Fans of the XFiles and The Lone Gunmen know him as Langley, the gangly long-haired conspiracy wonk. He's also renowned for his improv and standup comedy chops. And Succotashians have heard Dean and his partner-in-podcasting, Phil Leirness, declared by me to be "podcast royalty" (given the tenure of their show Chillpak Hollywood Hour) when I interviewed them back in Succotash Epi4. In addition to those performance nuggets, Dean is also a talented painter and using that skill to create Shock N' Awesome, a graphic novel tracing the adventures and t

It's been roughly a year this month since I started Succotash and it's been an very interesting journey just getting to this point. Originally I foresaw us moving into a weekly model but as you can see, with us just now getting to Epi23, we didn't even get to a pair of shows a month. I've been working on streamlining the workflow, however, and hopes are that the remainder of 2012 will see more Succotash more often! Dana Carvey, Tom Carvey & Frank Cronin For the third time, Dana Carvey graces us in Studio P ("The Home of The Hit!") and he's not alone. Frank Cronin is a globetrotting Irishman, capturing his journeys on video and posting on YouTube on his Glowpunk channel. Currently in the United States for as long as his visa holds out, he's going to travel the country with his video camera, grabbing as much Americana as his hard drive will hold. This is Frank's very first podcast appearance, which makes this a Succotash exclusive. And, in another excloo, we also have Tom Carvey, in the studio

I gotta tell you - trying to pull a podcast together with a fulltime job while moving and having sketchy Internet connectivity is harder than it sounds. Apologies for the gap between 'casts. And for the sound quality on this particular epi. Not only was I NOT in Studio P with ace producer/engineer Joe Paulino, but our featured interview with comedian/actor-turned-director/producer Jordan Brady turned out to be really echo-y, which I didn't discover until after we were all done. And then my audio wraparounds during the show were recorded late at night and I had to be quiet, so the whole episode sounds like it's been commentated by a golf announcer. That rundown get you in the mood to listen? Audio weirdness aside, this is a fun interview with Jordan, who I first met years ago during the half year he lived in San Francisco during his life as a road comic. He's gone on to direct some films, some TV and a boatload of commercials, but what put him back on the comedy radar bigtime was his release of I Am Comic, a

Succotash is legal! Well, at least we've turned 21, as in episode 21. Now that our podcast is officially an adult, we intend to stay out late, stop listening to our parents, and vote for whatever candidate spends the most money on TV commercials. I'm continuing the campaign we kicked off last episode, the Save Our Hard Drive Drive. In an effort to stir more emotions about donating money to our efforts to retrieve some unproduced interviews off of my broken external hard drive, I feature a quick Skype conversation with comedian/writer/podcaster Ed Crasnick, who is the subject of one of the lost interviews. Here's the picture that I promised I'd include during this podcast - it's the contents of the "Bob Ducca Resolution Ointment Application Kit" that I discovered included in a shipment I'd ordered from First Aid Global in Tarzana. Considered that image of my eyeball is from my @hershco Twitter avatar, I have to assume that Todd West, GM of the company and whose card was included in the bag, must be a Succotas

I had no idea it was going to take this long to get to the next episode of Succotash. Between moving, a bum hard drive and the day gig (you don't think podcasting actually pays, do you?), it's been hard to scrape this epi together. But because it's been so long since the last show, I kicked in an extra half hour of audio goodness. Dorien Davies and Kenny Stevenson The core of this epi is my interview with Kenny Stevenson and Dorien Davies, a couple of sketch players, actors and now movie "hyphenates" who were recently in range while Kenny's group Oh, Brother! was performing in the 2012 San Francisco Sketchfest. (A few years ago, the three of us were also heavily involved in an innovative LA-based sketch group, called Fries On The Side.) I caught them on a sunny Sunday just before they headed back down south and we did the interview in Washington Square Park. (Needless to say, the audio experience of being outside is a little different than the perfectly balanced environs of Studio P - so please bear

This epi is really a mixed bag. No interview this time around, but plenty o' clippage. Including two of the biggest big names in show biz, stuff from across the pond in the UK. And a song — more or less — from past guest and Friend of the Succotash Fred Stoller, all about a podcast interview gone wrong. Are podcasts changing the way people relate with each other? The more of them I listen to, the more I believe that it may turn out to be doing so, slowly but surely. We've got a clip from one show where a host returns after a stay in a mental health facility and I talk a bit about how such a thing used to be something shameful, not to be discussed. The way the others on the show treat the situation takes a lot of the gravitas out of the proceedings. (You may heard about comedian Todd Glass and his recent visit to Marc Maron's WTF podcast, where he chose to reveal that he is not a heterosexual. Again, a fascinating (and brave) approach to breaking social convention wide open.) As trumpeted in the headline for

It's January, which is S.F. Sketchfest time in San Francisco. Now in it's 11th year, Sketchfest has bcome a Big Deal in the national sketch scene, taking place in multiple venues across the city with over a hundred shows. And with some very big names gracing the stage — this year bigger than ever —the festival has gained massive attention. That was one great reason to have Cole Stratton as our guest, as he is the co-founder and co-organizer of the event. If you've never had a chance to check out S.F. Sketchfest and you're within driving distance of The City By The Bay, you should definitely try to get in to see at least one of the shows (if you can still get tickets - many of the bigger name shows sell out quick!) For the full lineup, hop over to http://SFSketchFest.com.  The other great reason to have Cole on is that he's also the co-founder and co-host of Pop My Culture, a very popular podcast that's about ten years younger than Sketchfest. It made a bunch of Top 10 Podcast lists last year and just fell i

Back with producer Joe Paulino in Studio P for this New Year kickoff show! Succotash Epi 17 is stuffed full o' clips, this time a look back at some of my personal favorite p'casts. But we're only retreading a couple of cuts — I've selected a bunch of recent clips from amongst the podcasts I tend to listen to most (when I'm not scanning, scrolling and slicing up bits n' pieces of the known and unknown p'casts that have yet to grace our show...) 2011 was a banner year for Succotash, mainly because we kicked this whole mess off last April. Our first lucky break was getting a kickass theme song provided to us by our musical director Scott Carvey. And we've gotten a lot of nice ratings on iTunes (but we can always use more!), kindly comments on Twitter, got picked up by Stitcher Smart Radio, and yours truly started contributing reviews weekly to This Week In Comedy Podcasting over on Splitsider.com. On the downside, we have yet to attract a sponsor (besides Henderson's Pants who, between you and me, doesn't

Apologies in advance to anyone who believed me when, during the last edition of Succotash - that would be Epi15, that there was going to be a "regular" clip-heavy version this time. As luck, the Fates and some long-ago reserved vacation time would have it, I'm vacationing in Honolulu, Hawaii, as I both record this epi and bang out this blog entry. Since, therefore, I'm about 2400 miles from my beloved Studio P (and my equally beloved executive producer Joe Paulino and his audio magicianship), I'm opting to run an interview as the core of this edition. Jon Manfrellotti It's a great interview with a longtime friend of mine, comedian/actor Jon Manfrellotti. You might recognize him from his recurring roles on TV, either as Gianni on Everybody Loves Raymond or as Manfro, the bookie from Men Of A Certain Age. I talked to Jon about his standup career as well as his acting work, then we also veer into his favorite hobby: playing guitar. There are parallels between getting into a comedy career and startin

Christmas comes early to all you loyal Succotashians: We're going to start getting our episodes out more quickly! Since April, Producer/Engineer Joe Paulino and yours truly have been averaging a new 'sode about once every two or three weeks - sometimes even longer. (Hey, we gotta work for a living, just like you!) BUT we've hit on a new format that should allow us to crank out more Succotash more often. By featuring interviews every other episode — with comedians, podcasters, comedian/podcasters, and other folk from the business of show — it really saves us production time. (People think doing a show featuring clips from other shows is easy, but it's very labor-intensive and we don't have interns, segment producers or anyone else running around here screening podcasts.) In between those shows, we'll still feature our usual crop o' podcasts, but this will allow us to get more shows out to the listeners a lot more frequently. Fred Stoller & Mitchell Our interview this episode is with comedian

We're back. It seems I'm saying that every 'sode now for one reason or another. This time we got delayed and had some technical difficulties (which are addressed by producer/engineer Joe Paulino during the show.) Epi14 has finally dropped, as they say, and it's a doozy. So much show that we allowed it to run seven whole minutes over our usual one-hour running time! One of the main missions of Succotash is to expose you, our Gentle Listeners, to all manner of comedy podcastery, especially some of those shows you might not have even heard about, let along listened to yet. And I can proudly say that this epi does just that. There are a couple of clips from some previously visited shows but mostly you're going to hear some new stuff that hasn't popped up on everyone's radar yet. (And if it's a show you already now then congrats - you beat us to it!) We've got a couple of Studio P visits this show. One is with the owner of Studio P, the aforementioned Joe Paulino. He pops in so I can make him plug his new CD, a

It took me FOREVER to get Episode 13 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, dropped this time. Plenty of material - with so many comedy podcasts online, THATS never a problem. The "hitch in the giddyup" as a old friend of mine says, was that our producer Joe Paulino, was traveling out of town. He suggested we just wait until he returned but - NO - I couldn't leave well enough alone, could I? "Just leave me all the bit and pieces," said I. "I can put it together. All I need to do is learn how to use Garage Band." Anyone who uses GB for their 'cast knows how simple it is...after you've done it a couple of times. I got it down enough to push out Epi13, but it was like a baboon giving birth to a porcupine. Wearing a blindfold. In a hailstorm. That said, I think I've managed to cram quite a lot into this 'sode. Pile of new clips. Couple of Henderson's Pants commercials. A joke from Larry Miller. And a brief visit with Kelly Carlin to talk about her upcoming one-person show, A Carlin Home Companion, which is hit

It seems there's something new every time I turn around to do a new 'sode of Succotash. Last time it was our inclusion as part of Stitcher Smart Radio's comedy lineup. This time Jesse Fox's Splitsider.com blog This Week In Comedy Podcasts has tapped me to be one of the contributing writers (which include Bradford Evans, Eli Terry, and Joel Mandelkorn.) So look for me to talk up some of the funniest comedy p'casts we have (and will) feature right here on Succotash. I was also just guesting on Radio Rubber Room, a radio show/podcast out of Richmond, Virginia. So thanks to hosts Derrick Vega, Dan Anderson, and Kris Manzelli to inviting to call in for a chat. (You can check that out by clicking the linked name of their show, above...) This episode I was happy to lure our booth announcer Bill Heywatt into the studio to share one of his favorite "adult beverage" recipes in our very first Boozin' With Bill segment. I can't attest to the tastiness of anything Bill might suggest but the formula is posted here if you

Back to basics with Episode 11 of Succotash, meaning we've got a full boat of comedy podcast clips in store this time around and no special guests. Unless you count my impromptu discussion with legendary announcer Bill Heywatt. That happens. We also play our very first message that's come in on the Succotash Hotline. The only message, actually. At least so far. The biggest news on the Succotash front is that we've just joined up with the Comedy channel on Stitcher SmartRadio! If you're not hip to Stitcher yet, it allows you to listen to your favorite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, BlackBerry or Palm phones. If you don't have Stitcher yet,  you can download it for free today at Stitcher.com or from your favorite app store. (If you're already used to listening to us on our website or download us from iTunes or grabbing it from our RSS feed, all that remains the same - Stitcher is just another way to pass the Succotash!) We've been getting some nice kudos from a few of the podcasters out t

WARNING: Episode 10 is not our typical 'sode. (Actually, I 'm not sure - in the first 10 episodes of our podcast - that we have anything that can be pointed to as "typical".) Anyway, what I mean is that this edition of Succotash, The Comedy Podcast Podcast, has no comedy podcast clips in it. Dana and Scott Carvey sharing memories at Studio P It does, however, offer something you're not going to find anywhere else in Podcastland: A visit with comedian Dana Carvey and his brother, Scott Carvey, who also happens to be Succotash's musical director. For the first time in podcast history, the Carvey boys sit down and talk about their love of sports, running, music, comedy...and anything else that this free-ranging discussion happens to hit upon. I think this show represents a true "find" for the comedy aficionado, comedy nerd, Carvey fan and anyone else who enjoys a one-of-a-kind experience. (Special thanks this week to our Engineer/Producer Joe Paulino for doing a bangup job in editing this week

Succotash is your Comedy Podcast Podcast and, as such, we feel it's our duty to keep stretching the definition of "comedy podcast" a bit more when we can. Succotash hit the road to interview this week's special guest, Kelly Carlin, who was kind enough to invite me into her home for a discussion about comedy, podcasts, and her late father, comedy legend George Carlin. She's a smart, lively, funny, and fascinating personality, who hosts Waking From The American Dream, an internet radio show and podcast. Interestingly, we learn that she wasn't involved in the world of comedy very much while her dad was alive but, immediately following his passing, she found herself greeted by well-wishers of high status in the comedy community, who were anxious to make the only child of a comedy figurehead know that she was welcome to become part of this great extended family. It's an interesting conversation, one which I've broken up over the hour-long episode and interspersed with a handful of clips from some comedy podcasts