WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:04.480 Kalaroga Shark Media. 2 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:12.439 Hello Chi Meg with your daily comedy news this week. 3 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:15.919 The first annual Columbus Comedy Festival takes place the fourteenth 4 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.839 through the eighteenth, featuring over one hundred performers including national, 5 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.519 regional and local comedians. Headliners include Jason Banks, Michael Ee, 6 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:26.559 and black Tony Rock, Irene Ii fumu Abe, and a 7 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:30.399 bunch of others. My guest today is Walker Evans. Walker 8 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.280 is putting this thing together and as you're about to hear, 9 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:37.479 dude knows his stuff. And this is no little comedy festival. 10 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:39.520 This is not the as you'll hear me say during 11 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:42.479 the interview, the Smallville Comedy Festival where we grab the 12 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:44.799 locals from the chuckle Hut and called it comedy festival. 13 00:00:44.840 --> 00:00:47.439 This is a real deal. So we get into the 14 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:50.320 business of it. And as you listen, you'll hear that 15 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:53.799 Walker knows his comedy. So it's the Columbus Comedy Festival, 16 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:56.920 kicking off on August fourteenth, five days, one hundred and 17 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:00.200 fifty plus comics. Here's Walker. So I'm really curious on 18 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:05.000 your background. I've definitely attended festivals. I've even put together 19 00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:09.920 a few events. It is no small task, whatsoever? What's 20 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:12.120 your deal? How do you come to put together a 21 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:14.840 comedy festival? And as we dive into the details of it, 22 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:17.760 this is no small festival. I've looked at the sponsor list, 23 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:21.200 the number of events, the level of comedians. This isn't 24 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:23.640 you know. Hey, I'm friends with the guy at the club. 25 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:25.079 We'll throw a two night event and call it a 26 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:27.560 comedy festival. This is a real deal. So what's your story. 27 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:30.480 Yeah, My wife and I have run a local news 28 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:34.680 publication here in Columbus for the past twenty three years, 29 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:37.519 started in two thousand and one called Columbus Underground, and 30 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:41.879 about eleven twelve years ago, we decided to pivot into 31 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:45.519 event production. Instead of doing like a paywall model that 32 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:48.120 a lot of news organizations do, we throw events and 33 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:50.680 so we can tell our readers, Hey, if you like journalism, 34 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:52.640 if you like what you're doing, buy a ticket, come 35 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:54.000 to an event, have a good time, and know that 36 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.599 helps to fund local journalism here in Columbus. Some of 37 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:59.079 our events are on the smaller side to three hundred people, 38 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:03.560 but we've run a coffee festival since twenty sixteen that 39 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:07.200 has grown. Last year, in the eighth year, it's sold 40 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:10.159 out in advance with eighty five hundred people in attendance, 41 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:13.000 so that event has grown into a pretty big undertaking 42 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:16.120 putting this coffee festival together, So we do have experience 43 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.199 with like larger scale of end production. We're aiming for 44 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:21.520 ten thousand attendees this year in October. But we're also 45 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.000 big fans of comedy and there isn't a festival in 46 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:26.719 Columbus currently, so we're like, why don't we rally the 47 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:28.960 troops and try and pull off one of these to 48 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:29.759 a large scale? 49 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:31.400 All right, so many questions, So let's start with the 50 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:35.680 business sides. Presumably you have existing relationships with sponsors, You're 51 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:37.639 known in the community, so it was a little easier 52 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:40.599 to reach out as opposed to if I just showed 53 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:42.680 up in small town, USA and I was like, Hey, 54 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:45.120 it's the Smallville Comedy Festival. Who wants to sponsor it? 55 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:47.000 Can I have a check? So I assume it was 56 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:49.280 a little more straightforward because of your two decades. 57 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:52.520 Yeah, yeah, we've built a pretty good reputation on being 58 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:54.680 able to pull off the events that we say that 59 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:56.520 we're going to produce. So we've got a little bit 60 00:02:56.560 --> 00:02:59.840 of history and again, twenty years yeah, connecting. Columbus is 61 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:02.400 a really interesting city because it's a region of two 62 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:04.879 million people, so we're a pretty big city. But it's 63 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:06.719 pretty easy to get to know people here. You just 64 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:08.520 reach out and say, hey, do you want to get coffee, 65 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:11.280 and you can connect with people pretty pretty easily. There's 66 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:14.199 not a lot of gatekeepers, so yeah, and I think 67 00:03:14.199 --> 00:03:16.439 people really like We love festivals. We have a whole 68 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:20.280 summer lineup of the Arts Festival, the Asian Festival, the 69 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.879 Red White and Boom. We have a huge Pride festival, 70 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:24.719 so all some are long. People are looking for things 71 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:27.479 to do. And because we're not replicating something else that's 72 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:30.199 already here. There's six different Taco festivals. We're not like, hey, 73 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:33.240 we're going to be Taco fest numbers step because we're 74 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:35.759 doing something different. There isn't a comedy fest currently. There 75 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:37.479 have been some in the past that have come and gone. 76 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:40.039 People seem to be really excited about something new to 77 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:40.840 add to the lineup. 78 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:44.879 Who's uh, I don't necessarily need a specific name, but 79 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:46.599 who's helping you with the booking? Because there are some 80 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:50.400 big time comedians on this list. Again, this isn't the 81 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:53.039 Smallville Comedy Festival. We'll just get the regulars from the 82 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.039 Chuck ohad do you play there every Tuesday? You're bringing 83 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:58.439 real names in, knowing something about the business. Again, no 84 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:02.039 small feat and discussions and logistics going to that. So 85 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:05.240 how are you tackling the bringing in the Mike Leean 86 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:06.000 Blacks of the world. 87 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:09.520 Yeah, so I guess to rewind to last year, like 88 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:12.439 last October, when we were sort of noodling on this idea. 89 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:16.839 We brought together all of the local venue operators, promoters, 90 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:20.360 different groups in town to say, hey, what if Columbus 91 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:23.439 Underground runs the festival as a whole, But then each 92 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:26.040 of the different venue partners can program their own events, 93 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:27.920 do their things their own best way, and it's all 94 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:31.519 under the umbrella the festival. So that allowed others to 95 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:33.959 do their own things. And so, for example, the Attic, 96 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:36.399 which is a local club, they're bringing in Jim Florentine. 97 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:38.560 They have a pre existing relationship with him, so they're 98 00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:41.079 able to tap into him pretty easily. The Funny Bone, 99 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:43.920 which is the big dog in town, got Tony Rock, 100 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:46.040 so that's obviously a big name and they had their 101 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:49.000 relationship there. But the events that we're programming, we just 102 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:51.519 started reaching out to people to see who we could get, 103 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:54.519 who's available, whose price range and budget we can work with. 104 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:56.800 And there's been a couple of folks that you reach 105 00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:00.240 out to one agent or management or group and you 106 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:02.360 get one person, They're like, oh, what about this person? 107 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:06.160 This person they're on tour. Anyway, adding a Columbus date 108 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:08.920 might be pretty easy. So some of it, like Mike 109 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:12.759 William Black just came through talking with Curtis Flag in Chicago. 110 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:15.560 I think I reached out to him originally about Kristen 111 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:17.560 Toomey and He's like, here's the rest of the list 112 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:19.800 that I represent, right, who can we plug it? And 113 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:21.319 I'm like, yeah, I love my people Black, I love 114 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.399 the States. I'm old enough to remember the state from 115 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:27.160 the nineties on MTV, and so yeah, it ended up 116 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:29.240 being just throw a. 117 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:30.959 Lot with the wall and see what sticks. Approach. 118 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:33.759 Let's talk about these specific lineups and catch a listeners 119 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:36.319 up on it, and I will be doing raps about 120 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:39.519 it on the particular individual days, but in multiple venues, 121 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:42.240 multiple artists every night, can you just give us an 122 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:45.480 overview of who's coming in what a typical breakdown is 123 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:49.160 both headliners and I always advise the audience if you 124 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:54.079 go to festivals, especially the really bigger name ones, I 125 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:56.720 always say, don't go see Chris Rock. You can see 126 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:59.399 Chris Rock on Netflix. Go see somebody who maybe you've 127 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:01.720 never heard of, who's in up in comer. So just 128 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:03.120 if you can give us an overview of what the 129 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:04.040 next few days look. 130 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:06.439 Like, Yeah, sure, I mean I would say, even like 131 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:08.920 the bigger shows in the bigger rooms, the bigger headliners 132 00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:10.399 are still like emerging. 133 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:11.879 Upcomer might not be. 134 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:14.759 The best term for them, But people like Chloe Radcliffe 135 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:17.120 who's been doing it for a while, building an audience, 136 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:20.800 but still very much not an arena level comic, but 137 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:24.160 headed on that trajectory. I would say her, Sumi Abe 138 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:27.959 who's coming in on Friday, Sam Jay, who was recently 139 00:06:27.959 --> 00:06:30.319 on the roads to Tom Brady. Some of these folks, 140 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:32.639 I think being able to come and see them in 141 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:34.720 a little bit more of an intimate environment in a 142 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:37.879 room that seats two hundred to four hundred people is 143 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:39.959 going to be something special because those folks when they 144 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:41.839 come back to town and play like the big arena 145 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:44.240 in a couple of years, that's when the tickets are 146 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:45.720 going to be a lot more expensive, and that sort 147 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:48.360 of thing. But we have a lot of great regional comics, 148 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:52.040 not just from Chicago, but Cleveland and Cincinnati. Ramon Revas 149 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:55.600 is a big name in Cleveland that's coming down. Ran 150 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:59.560 Barnaclough and Blake Hammond from Cincinnati are coming up. 151 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:01.399 But a lot of great locals though too. 152 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:04.199 Jason Banks is one of our big kind of hometown heroes, 153 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:07.399 Simon Fraser, who's semi local. Yeah, there's gonna be a 154 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:09.600 lot to choose from, and a lot no matter what 155 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:12.199 your style of comedy is. We try to go for 156 00:07:12.279 --> 00:07:14.560 diversity and style of comedy as well. 157 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:17.160 What comedy are you into? No, I hate comedy. I'm 158 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:19.279 just doing this festival some question. 159 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:21.879 Yeah, No, I like a variety of things. I would 160 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:26.480 say I love a good weirdo. Okay, me too, yes, yes, 161 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:29.560 so on. One person I'm very excited to see is 162 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:30.680 Comrade Tripp. 163 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.519 I'm not sure if you're familiar with them. He's based 164 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:34.839 in Minneapolis. 165 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:39.240 Definitely like an emerging talent, but he's very monotone and dry. 166 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:43.720 His humor is very nihilistic, it's self deprecating. It's really 167 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:46.839 funny if you like that style of comedy, a little 168 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:50.560 emo phillips ish I would say a little Mitch hedbergish 169 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:53.000 in terms of like tone. So folks like that I 170 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:56.920 really enjoy quite a bit. But I'm really excited to 171 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:00.639 see Pat Burscher. He's a Canadian comedian based in New York. 172 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:03.439 He's had some really great viral clips that I've watched 173 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:06.079 and fell in love with on the social media, so 174 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:07.720 we'll be going to see a full set from him too. 175 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:10.079 I think we're speaking the same language. There are different 176 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:13.560 styles of comedy and there's the straightforward approach, and it 177 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:16.319 was recently a notable Netflix special where the comic and 178 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.759 question went straight down the middle, and that's fine, but 179 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:22.040 I prefer personally to play on the edges as well. 180 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:24.920 As I was prepping for this and clicking on Walker 181 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:27.319 Evans and seeing what comes up, you got to see 182 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.720 Mitch Hedberg. Now he's not someone I saw. Just to 183 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:35.440 catch you up and the listeners, I started running Serious 184 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:37.679 XM comedy. I think it was two thousand and four, 185 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:42.399 so Mitch was around and hot. I've told the listeners 186 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:46.080 a story before. We were doing a broadcast at the 187 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:49.120 Javit Center at the New York Car Show. Jim Brewer 188 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:53.000 was our afternoon drive host, and it's been twenty years. 189 00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:56.039 Jim was a little pissy that day because the night before, 190 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:59.759 Mitch didn't show up for a show. We later found 191 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:01.720 out the reason Mitch didn't show up for the show 192 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:04.360 is because he had passed away. But he was booked 193 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:06.360 on the show that day, so I never got to 194 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:07.919 see him. I never got to meet him. I know 195 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.759 his wife reasonably. Well. What was it like seeing Mitch 196 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:11.799 Hedberg in concert? 197 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:13.960 It was great. We were big fans. 198 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:16.919 This was it the what was then the Cleveland Improv. 199 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:20.399 I think it's rebranded to the Cleveland Funny Bone. But like, 200 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:23.360 his level of fame and popularity had gotten to the 201 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:25.720 point where he's on stage and he's trying to tell 202 00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:28.639 jokes and there are people in the crowd finishing the 203 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:31.320 punchline because they had listened to his material, like they 204 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:34.240 bought an album, and so you could see that like 205 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:36.759 wearing on him and frustrating him. And at one point 206 00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:39.679 halfway did the show, he said something along the lines 207 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:42.440 and I'm paraphrasing, but he's you know what, screw it, 208 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:44.519 I'm going to do all new material. It's not as good, 209 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:46.320 but at least you people won't be able to finish 210 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:48.399 my punchlines because you've never heard it, and everything we 211 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:50.759 cheered that, we'll like, yeah, let's hear some new stuff. 212 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:52.919 So he was rolling with it, but you could tell 213 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:55.440 like maybe the fame was getting to him. He wasn't 214 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:58.080 able to cope with it in a way that other 215 00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:01.120 people do, so it was really of his past. 216 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:04.039 It's really interesting to me to hear you tell that 217 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.360 story unless you've listened to fifteen hundred episodes of Daily 218 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:09.240 Comedy News and you were familiar with the story I'm 219 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:12.200 about to tell. So when Mitch passed away, I'm not 220 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:15.600 a vulture. I wanted to do something for Mitch on 221 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:18.639 the radio station, but I'm not like, Hey, your husband 222 00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:20.639 passed away three hours ago, let's do a tribute show. 223 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:23.240 So I like waited whatever amount of time, and I 224 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:24.960 reached out to Lynn and I'm like, hey, we really 225 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.519 want to do something. And she came in and shared 226 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:29.519 with me that this is going somewhere that she had 227 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:32.840 shared me that she hadn't really heard from anybody was 228 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:35.519 excited about it. So she came in and I was 229 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:37.840 sitting in one of the little edit boots with her, 230 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:42.679 and she had some tapes of Mitch late in life sets, 231 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.879 perhaps a show you were at, and she's playing them 232 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:48.639 and they're really well recorded, and I'm like, you've got 233 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:53.320 an album here, and I don't make comedy albums. Just 234 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:55.320 as a fan, I want to hear it. And we 235 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:57.320 connected her with Comedy Central and a guy named Jack 236 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:00.399 Vaughn and that became the posthumous Mitch Hedberg album. But 237 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:03.159 she had shared with me exactly what you said, that 238 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:06.840 he was frustrated that his timing was getting off because 239 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:08.919 he had to speed up and tell the punch before 240 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:11.879 somebody in the audience got to the punchline, and he 241 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:15.080 was really struggling with his cadence there. So it's fascinating 242 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:17.320 to me as a fan to hear you tell that 243 00:11:17.399 --> 00:11:18.600 story that you experienced that. 244 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:22.039 Yeah, Yeah, that was a really Despite the issues that 245 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.080 he was dealing with on stage, it was a really 246 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:25.919 fun show. He put on a great show and we 247 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:28.600 couldn't have been more pleased to have the opportunity to 248 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:32.080 see him. I will say too, we had a local 249 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:35.519 comedian here at Columbus Pass relatively recently within the past 250 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.879 month named John Summerville, who I didn't really know very well. 251 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:41.200 He ran a lot of open mics like ten to 252 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:43.200 fifteen years ago. So a lot of the folks who 253 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:46.440 are coming up now really wanted to pay tribute to 254 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:49.440 him because of what he helped build in the local 255 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:52.679 scene here. And we noodled with the idea of doing 256 00:11:52.679 --> 00:11:55.399 something like in remembrance or making some sort of award 257 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:57.879 in his name, maybe for comedian during the festival, but 258 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:01.159 it feels a little too soon because it was so fresh, 259 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:03.039 and so it's one of those things that we need 260 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:04.759 to talk with his family and maybe see if there's 261 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:07.080 something like next year, like some sort of legacy award 262 00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:09.600 or something, just to kind of keep his name in 263 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:10.240 the spotlight. 264 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.279 Yeah, I think your sensibility is in the right spot. 265 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:15.480 There's always that careful walk of your heart wants to 266 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:18.559 do to the right thing, but sometimes things are just 267 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:21.320 better off if you take a beat, and I think 268 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:25.159 legacy things like that are great. I was recently speaking 269 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:28.399 to Jerniy Gunderson, who runs the National Comedy Center, about 270 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:33.559 how comedians get forgotten. We were specifically talking about people 271 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:39.039 like Richard Jenny or Robert Shimmel who were huge twenty 272 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:41.679 five years ago and you don't hear their names now, 273 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:45.840 and there's their material doesn't really surface. I guess Netflix 274 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:47.360 really isn't going to put up a twenty five year 275 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:50.440 old special, and the YouTube algorithm is more friendly towards 276 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:52.480 newer things, so it's a shame. So anyway you can 277 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:55.799 keep someone's name out there, I think that's really important. 278 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.679 Yeah, we're doing something else now that you mentioned that, 279 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:00.879 and I guess this will in the past at the 280 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:04.879 time this is released. But this Friday we are screening 281 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:08.679 the Aristocrats film from Henerie, I should say, from two 282 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:11.440 thousand and five, which I'm like, man, it'd be great 283 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:13.240 if it was the twentieth anniversary, but that would be 284 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:16.279 next year. And you go back and watch the trailer 285 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:18.519 and look at the list and how many people have 286 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:19.360 passed that. 287 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:19.799 Were in that. 288 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:22.960 George Carlin was in that when that was recorded, but 289 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:27.000 Bob Saggett has passed, Gilbert Godfrey has passed, Richard Lewis 290 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:28.720 has passed. So I think it's going to be fun 291 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:31.080 to watch this, especially with some comedians in town who 292 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:34.080 are like in their twenties, so they've never even heard 293 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:35.759 of this documentary, let alone seen it. 294 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:37.440 But my wife and I saw it in the theater and. 295 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:39.240 The one theater in town that would play it because 296 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:41.840 AMC wouldn't play it back in two thousand and five. 297 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:43.559 So I think that's gonna be really fun just to 298 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:45.879 watch some of these comedy legends like really go off 299 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:47.440 the rails. Have you seen that Cash? 300 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:47.600 Well? 301 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:50.200 Absolutely, You've got my brain thinking now that it has 302 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:52.120 been a minute since it came out and there's this 303 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:55.639 whole generation. I wonder what a Shane Gillis or a 304 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.960 Sam Morrell or somebody like that would do with the aristocrats. 305 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:01.879 I'd love to see an dated version of something like that. 306 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:02.480 Yeah. 307 00:14:02.600 --> 00:14:04.440 Yeah, So we're partnering with the local theater here at 308 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:06.360 the Gateway Film Center. They're going to do a screening 309 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:08.919 and we have a couple of local comedians who do 310 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:11.720 like some sketch kind of stuff, like some short films. 311 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:14.679 We'll tie in some local little bits before that as well. 312 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:16.039 So it should be a lot of fun a way 313 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:16.879 to kick off the festival. 314 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:19.639 That's awesome, all right, more with Walker Evans in a second. 315 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:23.840 It's the Columbus Comedy Festival kicking off August fourteenth. How 316 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:28.080 are you staffing? Having ran a very small event, I 317 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:30.039 know it's hard when you're not in the room and 318 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:32.279 worrying about what's happening in the other room and the 319 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:34.279 three things that are going to go wrong, and your 320 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:37.919 phone's going to light up because somebody's cranky about something. 321 00:14:37.960 --> 00:14:39.919 What do I do here? How are you staffed up 322 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:40.360 for this one? 323 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:40.879 Yeah? 324 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:43.759 So we have a full time events director, Daniel Hagworth, 325 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:45.960 who works for us with Columbus hunder Grounds, so she'll 326 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:47.840 be in charge of a lot of that stuff. We'll 327 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:50.559 have people at each of the venues that we're operating 328 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:53.759 to make sure that volunteers are checking people in, directing 329 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:55.879 people to where they need to sit, pointing out where 330 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:57.320 the bar is, that sort of stuff. 331 00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:59.639 We've got a pretty good group I think about thirty five. 332 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:02.960 Volunteers that'll help reset the rooms, clean up trash, do 333 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:05.159 the legwork of that sort of stuff. But then with 334 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:07.200 each of the shows, we'll have a show runner assigned 335 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:09.080 to make sure that the comedians are checking in when 336 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:11.159 they need to, the lights go down, when the lights 337 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:13.279 need to go down, the audio comes on, and that 338 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:15.559 sort of stuff. And then a lot of just background 339 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:17.799 logistics type of stuff. We have someone in charge of 340 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:20.399 like ground transportation to make sure that the headliners have 341 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:23.480 a ride to and from the airport, hotel, venues and 342 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.679 stuff like that. So it's a pretty big undertaking, and 343 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:28.679 there is stress knowing that I'm not going to be 344 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:30.200 in every place all at once, and I want to 345 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:32.759 make sure everything goes as best as it can. We're 346 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.600 good at delegating and trusting and people to make sure 347 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:36.600 that everyone has a good time. 348 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:38.240 Are you feeling good going in? 349 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:38.600 Look? 350 00:15:38.679 --> 00:15:40.960 I'm looking at the sponsors White Castle. How did you 351 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:41.879 pull White Castle? 352 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:44.720 They're based here in Columbus, so I've known the VP 353 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:46.879 of marketing there for a good long time. It's a 354 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:49.240 great I think it's easy to make fun of sometimes 355 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:51.919 it's like the drunken late night food. But it's still 356 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:55.200 a family owned business after one hundred years of operations. 357 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:58.720 So it's a really good, like fourth generation local company, 358 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:01.600 and they really care about the local community a whole lot. Yeah, 359 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:05.120 just tapping it into those resources and leveraging them. But overall, 360 00:16:05.159 --> 00:16:06.960 I mean feel good. You know, there's always like the 361 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:09.919 nervousness speak out from an event. I feel a little 362 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:13.200 better knowing that it's completely indoors, so whether it's too 363 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.440 hot or rainy or anything won't really affect it. With 364 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:18.360 our coffee festival. It's an outdoor event, so we always 365 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:21.759 start checking the weather, hitting refresh onweather dot com and 366 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:24.759 praying that it doesn't rain. But no, I think we 367 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:27.039 feel pretty good. People seem to be really excited. We've 368 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:29.679 got some local media coverage on it, and the buzz 369 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:30.559 has been pretty positive. 370 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:32.639 Good. Nervous energy is always a good thing. I've been 371 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:37.120 doing this in some form since ninety two, and I 372 00:16:37.240 --> 00:16:40.759 still get that nervous energy before a live show, before 373 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:42.799 a big show. I think it's a good thing. I'm 374 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:45.159 thinking now what my brain two went to is what 375 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:47.279 it was at Serius XM. We did comic Con radio 376 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.559 a few times, so that's part of my insight into 377 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.279 knowing what goes on behind the scenes. So we would 378 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.200 show up there and have to put together an entire 379 00:16:56.279 --> 00:16:59.639 radio station from scratch when the door's open, so we 380 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:02.399 would do if Comic San Diego Comic Con was Thursday 381 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:06.799 to Sunday, we'd land and not have anything and have 382 00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:09.200 to be on the air by six pm Eastern, which 383 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:11.480 was three pacifics So the doors didn't open un till 384 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:14.720 noon Pacific. So somebody go record a panel, and somebody 385 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:16.960 go talk to some fans and get some audio, and 386 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:19.759 I'd send it back to New York and till my 387 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:21.319 number two, who would stay back in New York to 388 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:23.839 run the show. Okay, I've got six minutes of us 389 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.880 talking to fans, and we'll have a panel in eight minutes. 390 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:27.519 But I don't have it yet, but be ready, here 391 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:29.359 comes a file, upload it and he would just handle 392 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:31.680 everything back and then I guess this is your role 393 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:34.400 for next week. I would try and stay calm in 394 00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:36.759 the middle and never let him see a sweat and 395 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:39.240 I'd have a million questions in my mind, but just 396 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:40.480 stay calm. 397 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:44.480 Yeah, yeah, I think we've learned with the iterations of 398 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:48.279 the coffee festival, the minutia, the detail that can get 399 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:50.599 under your skin and make you freak out in the moment. 400 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.480 You're the only one paying attention to that. 401 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:54.839