Comedy vs Everything

Like a month ago, we talked to Brian Emuge. We talk about doing shows when you work nights, Uganda, pronunciation, public school, and a surreal show Jeremy and I did in Centralia.

We visited Truman University in Kirksville, MO, and interviewed Dr. Jay Self, who taught the class "The Art and Science of Humor" which led to Jeremy's first stand-up set. Dr. Self is also faculty advisor for the Upchuckles, Truman's stand-up club. In this short episode, we talk about the challenges of beginning stand-up, the importance of a venue, and reasons people laugh.

Sarah Bursich is a delightful, hilarious person who began doing comedy in rural Illinois, running her own shows and battling celebrity ghosts. She has a wall of goals and a head full of stories, some of which she shares with us here.

Andrew Mihalevich of Bareknuckle Comedy and the new Instant Expert podcast asks "What is funny now?" with only mild desperation. We talk about in what way he wants to die, internet witch hunts, and how it is both easy and difficult to be a feminist because people are idiots.

Ryan Dalton knows how to spot a scam and how to make a teacher cry with only the power of his dad's words. His experiences in Bareknuckle Comedy and co-hosting Nick's Open Mic do not qualify him to reform America's education system, though. Too bad. It's a mess.

Milly Naeger read Candide to prepare for this podcast because Jeremy mentioned it the day before. She does stop motion and was in a French German singing group. She co-hosts No Straight White Guys. She comedies good.

Nick Branson of the Drunk and Nerdy podcast has shifted from stand up to podcasting and other comedy mediums, but that doesn't mean he's forgotten the shows that were on when he started out or that roasts are fun. (Obviously. Why would he forget those things? That would be weird.) PLUS, we plot out a broad-appeal period drama that you will want to fund immediately.

COMEDY VS EVERYTHING'S TRIUMPHANT RETURN! Shop Talk! Fictional Universe Rules! Post-Apocalypse Highway Clean Up! Racism Towards Robots!

Chris Cyr, co-host of Wild Card Comedy, joins us (again...stupid dead computer) for a beautiful, multi-topic clusterfuck of a conversation. There's something for everyone we care at all about appealing to. Welcome back, us.

Chris Ward is 33 and joins us for episode 33, which means he's going to die according to some scroll, probably. We talk about how he isn't a comic, what he does instead (cat videos! social media! man-terning!), and his misguided attempts to be a counter-culture youth for the Lord.

Nick Vatterott is not only one of the most successful comics we've had on the podcast but also one of the most congenial. We talk about bigot heaven, Lion's Choice, and what freedom of speech actually means.

In this episode, we travel to Columbia, MO, to interview Patrick Mahon, who is very funny and a great guest, in Josh Beck's dining room, which is echo-y. Patrick shares a story of performing at a high school after-prom, Jeremy explains his engagement, and once again I yell about religion.

Natalie Cox is not a person who pretends to like things she hates, whether they're relationship conventions, rich people on reality shows, or Jeremy's less interesting China News stories. In this episode, we invent an app to avoid human interaction and Natalie falls down.

Gabe Kea returns to St. Louis from Cincinnati, OH. We talk about weird sport fan rituals, how booking and comedy work in different scenes, and developing as a comic.

In this episode of Comedy vs Everything, we talk with Ben Kronberg. Ben is a talented comedian who appeared on Last Comic Standing as well as a surprising number of other reality shows. We had a very fun conversation with him, and he named our tweet-finishing game.

Justin Luke is not funny and will never be on this podcast.

Erik Anker shares plans for the cluster of shows that will be happening between May 24th and June 1st, dubbed "Oops! A Comedy Week!" We also talk about movies, video games, and Erik's belief that we're all just living the same life over and over again. 

In this episode, Jeremy actually has a reason to talk about China when we interview Josh Arnold, a hilarious stand up comedian with years of improv experience who also taught English in Korea for two years. We talk racism, culture, sensitivity, and the impossible task of discerning the true nature of morality and reality. 

In the questionably triumphant return of Comedy vs Everything, we interview Ian McGowan of the bands Bearcub and Ian McGowan and the Good Deeds and the podcast A Beginners Guide to Interplanetary Destruction. The introduction is terrible. The episode is good. We're glad to be back.

In this episode, we drink quite a bit of whiskey with JC Sibala. JC talks about the challenges of writing new material while maintaining a solid hosting set, his experiences as a model, and sports shit that he and Jeremy care about (or, as JC would grammatically correct me, "about which he and Jeremy care"). Amy sings a kickass song. It is, as the kids say, a "pretty amusing episode."