Atletico Spudland

Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Irish stand-up comedian Lorcan McGrane. Lorcan’s a comedian that I really admire, a man doing his own thing and on his own terms. Unlike many comedians that attach themselves to a scene in a certain city he’s doing his own thing living in rural County Monaghan, a border county in the north of the Republic of Ireland, but it’s not Northern Ireland, even though it is in Ulster and has a border with Northern Ireland, and all the counties of Northern Ireland are in Ulster. It’s all a bit mad, Monaghan’s a bit like that. Anyway, we kicked off the interview by talking about the McGrane surname, Id’ read it was derived from a Scotsman who left the Kingdom of Dalriada on the Scottish isle of Jura. Lorcan put me in my place though and informed me that the name comes from McGrainne and explains why that’s a bit unusual. We spoke about growing up and living in Co. Monaghan with that constant feeling that everyone is watching everything that everyone does, all the time. We spoke about not falling into the trap of so-called ‘edgy comedy’ and how comedy promoters seems to love phrases like ‘no holds barred’ and ‘anything goes’ but you’re not allowed be racist or sexist, and you’re not anyway coz only scumbags are racist and sexist. Lorcan revealed that remaining real and truthful to yourself brings out the best in comedy. Lorcan told me about the time he was asked to do a set in front of the local GAA crowd, which didn’t really go down as well as had been hoped. We chatted too about two of Lorcan’s favourite subjects, geek culture and films, in particular superhero movies. The commonalities of teaching and stand-up comedy get a mention too, Lorcan is a lecturer in pop culture and has done his fair share of substitute teaching too so we chat about that and what they have in common. The rise of ‘fake news’ gets a mention too, it’s only coming to the fore now but Lorcan tells us it’s been around for a good while. We speak about some of Lorcan’s alter egos on stage, Dermot H. Dark Materials, Livid Lorcan and Defective Deckard 237 and how exploring themes through new characters can open up a whole new take on things. We spoke then about the advantages of being a stand-up comedians while living in Co. Monaghan, not too far from the Dublin and Belfast scenes but still too far away from them to fell connected to them and how ploughing his own furrow suits Lorcan down to the ground. Finally then we spoke about Lorcan’s comedic influences and his advice for new comedians. Lorcan McGrane’s Twitter: here Lorcan McGrane’s Soundcloud: here Lorcan McGrane’s Tumblr: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with

Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Irish stand-up comedian Martin Angolo. Martin’s a Dublin man, raised in Cabra on the north side of the city. Recently he’s been hitting a lot of peoples’ radars in Ireland thanks to his particular style of comedy. While still certainly new to the scene you can definitely see his progression as a comedian from his material on YouTube. We kicked off the interview like any two Irishmen, we bitched about the weather, we spoke too about being raised in Cabra in Dublin, a place with a bad reputation, but really that’s all it is. We spoke about Martin’s surname Angolo, his Namibian roots and his mother’s experiences when moving to Dublin to work as a nurse. We talked too about how and why Martin got into comedy and how he actually see stand-up comedy as a stepping stone to other things; his desire to be a comedy writer and certainly not an actor, as hereveals why he doesn’t have much time for actors. We also spoke about about Martin’s experience growing up in Dublin as a black person, I was nervous asking that question I won’t lie. I’ve heard some bad stories from black friends at home. We talked then about Martin’s comedic influences growing up and how his mother’s taste in comedy was a huge influence on him. Martin decides to turn the tables on me about halfway through and I get a grilling about the podcast. We speak too about Martin’s writing process and how he works on his act. And we spoke about how Martin’s act has evolved over the years away from one-liners to being more anecdotal or more ‘truthful’ as he himself says. We speak about the first time Martin died on his arse and how he picked himself back up from it and finally we talk about the supportive nature of the comedy scene in Dublin. Martin’s Facebook: here Martin’s Youtube: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here  

Hello and welcome back once again to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing an interview with Zoltan Kaszas. Zoltan came across my radar thanks to video Zoltan had posted up on the mighty Stand-Up Comedy thread over on Reddit entitled “Trump & Toilets”. Having a name like Zoltan I instantly thought he was an American with Hungarian ancestry so it was a pleasant surprise to find out that he was actually born in Budapest and had lived there until shortly after the fall of Communism. So, we started out interviewing talking about Hungary, how great the place is and how Zoltan intends to return there this year for the first time in a long time. Since starting in stand-up comedy Zoltan has done particularly well in the comedy competitions he’s entered; winning 8 competitions over the last few years. We spoke about how comedy competitions are a necessary evil in the entertainment world for getting more publicity. We spoke about Zoltan and his family moving to American from Hungary in the early 1990s and ending up where he’s based now, in San Diego. We spoke about being an immigrant in America and how that had an effect on him growing up. We spoke too about Zoltan having an incredibly supportive mother and eve though coming from a country where you were lucky to have a job during communism she has supported his decision to become a stand-up comedian. We spoke too about touring the college scene, how the ‘f word’ isn’t the ‘f word’ you’re thinking of and how you pretty much go a bit mad being on the road when you spend so much time along. Trump gets an honorary mention. We don’t like him. We spoke too about Zoltan’s podcast; The Week in Zoltan, a solo podcast where Zoltan keeps his fans up-to-date with what’s going on with both his career and his life in general. Finally then we speak about Zoltan visiting Europe this summer for The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, his thoughts and fears over it and one of my favourite subjects, the American phenomenon of ‘clean comedy’. Zoltan’s website: here Zoltan’s Facebook: here Zoltan’s Twitter: here Zoltan’s Instagram: here Zoltan’s YouTube: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Ca

Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from the mighty Rachel Jackson. Rachel is a Scottish stand-up comedian from the outskirts of Edinburgh, Babeton to be exact about it and when you’re from a place with ‘babe’ in the name you’re already winning. At the time of recording Rachel’s mini-TV series had just started to air on BBC 3; Bunny Boiler’s Dating Vlog and will continue to do so until Valentine’s Day, so I’m sure many of you will be seeing it on your screens. We got good and nerdy on it, how it was transformed from an Edinburgh one-woman stage show to a TV mini series and all the processes that went along with that. We spoke then about the inspiration behind Bunny Boiler’s Dating Vlog, Cassandra (with a C) and we spoke too about how and why Rachel got into stand-up comedy. We spoke then about being spotted at the Edinburgh Fringe by the BBC and the whole madness of doing an entire month of stand-up comedy at the festival. We were given the definition of a ‘Bunny Boiler’ too, for anyone that doesn’t already know (I didn’t until a wee while before the interview). We spoke too about Rachel’s love to making videos and doing sketch comedy, and in particular her sketch videos with BBC Scotland and their Short Stuff collection. We had a chat too about knowing when to grab an opportunity by the horns and really going for it, in comedy opportunities will present themselves but to get places you really have to put everything of yourself into it, so with Rachel getting her first taste of television it was really interesting to hear her speak about this. Finally then we spoke about actors being social justice warriors, her comedic influences growing up, as well as now, and what’s in store for Rachel’s future in stand-up comedy. Rachel’s Twitter: here Rachel’s YouTube: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here

Hello, you’re all very welcomed back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Northern Irish stand-up comedian, Marcus Keeley. Thanks again for joining us here at The Comedy Cast. Regular listeners will know that I’m a massive fan of what’s going on in Northern Ireland’s comedy scene, indeed the whole culture scene up there. Finally there’s a generation of people taking to the stage in their chosen medium who aren’t burdened with the yoke of ‘The Troubles’ and they’re emerging from and showing the rest of us the new Northern Ireland. Marcus Keeley is a man that will be more than well-known to comedy nerds in Ireland, not only because of his unique take on comedy, but also for his work putting and promoting gigs. We start off by talking about coming from Northern Ireland and how he enjoys living under a constant vibe of tension, how ‘it could all kick off at any time’. We have a chat too about Marcus moving to Norwich for university and nearly being murdered by a British Royal Marine for no other reason that he was from Northern Ireland. When we got onto comedy I discovered that Marcus’ stage career had actually begun with poetry so we spoke about that for a while, slam poetry gets a special mention. We had a talk too about Marcus involvement with improv comedy, most recently with Wonderfrog, a really excellent Belfast-based improv group (video below). We speak too about Marcus’ love for making videos and we speak about some of the ones on his excellent YouTube channel. Finally then we speak about Voicebox Comedy, a comedy night that Marcus ran for years in Belfast, most recently in LOFT. A disused art gallery that recently was knocked down. Voicebox is on a bit of a break but he tells me he’s hopefully of it coming back in the future. Marcus’ Twitter: here Marcus’ Instagram: here Voicebox Website: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here

Welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from American author W.T. Fallon. W.T. Fallon is the author behind one of 2016’s best works of political satire, Fail to the Chief, a book about a USA Presidential race based on the concept of reality TV. Under another pseudonym, V.R. Craft, she has also written a science fiction book called Stupid Humans. We stated off the interview by talking about pseudonyms and why the are an important literary device for authors; the importance of being able to create a new identity while writing in a different genre. We speak to about the importance of using critique groups when writing and taking onboard constructive criticism. We speak about W.T.’s work of satire Fail to the Chief, inp particular how she enjoying putting her Presidential hopefuls through menial jobs and lie detector tests. We spoke then about where political satire is these days and its importance, especially now that President Trump has somehow come to power and certainly seems to have it in for the media. That led us on to the modern phenomenon of fake news and how there’s such a thin line between fake news and satire. We had a chat then about where W.T. is from, Arkansas and how it’s not pronounced how it’s spelt and why, for some reason, the state drink is cow’s milk. We chat about W.T.’s literary and comedic influences growing up and how they’ve inspired her to write, that and getting sacked from a retail job which she describes as hellish. We speak too about W.T.’s other book under the V.R. Craft pseudonym, Stupid Humans a science fiction book about Humans fighting People. Finally then, we had a natter about W.T.’s love of comedy and how she desires to write jokes for performers and maybe even try stand-up comedy in the future. W.T.’s Facebook: here W.T’s Twitter: here W.T’s Goodreads page: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here &nbs

Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Summer Helene, one of Hollywood’s rising stars. I won’t lie, this is a bit of a scoop for The Comedy Cast, as you obviously know we concentrate on stand-up comedians and authors so when I was presented with the chance to talk to someone who works, not even works, who organises everything behind the camera I grabbed it. Summer has had an incredible career and she’s only going to get bigger and bigger in Hollywood, the list of films she’s been involved with is far too big to go into here but she mentions a few in the interview. She also mentions her new role as Studio Head which she’ll be taking on during the year. We start off the interview talking about growing up in Australia and getting her first gig as a model with Victoria’s Secret, and then moving to America to pursue a career in acting. We spoke about how she has to shoulder two nicknames; The Duchess of Hollywood and The Wicked Witch of The West Coast and how and why she got them. We spoke about how she handles diva-like characters and directors who ‘get too big for their breeches’. Summer tells a great story about how Ron Jeremy was the one who convinced her to go from being an actor to working behind the camera. We also talk about how to pitch a film to get it made, who to speak to and how to get your pitch down. I even try my hand at a pitch and was pleasantly surprised with the reaction I got. Finally we talk about feminism in the modern age and what’s gone wrong. Summer’s Facebook: here Summer’s Twitter: here Behind The Scenes Radio Show: here Behind The Scenes’ Facebook: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here    

Welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Drew Taylor. Drew hails from the valleys in south Wales, and while he’s still quite new on the comedy scene there he’s been getting rave reviews and really lighting up comedy gigs since he started plying his trade on the Welsh comedy scene. We started off by talking about Drew’s duties on his partner’s grandparents farm and how living in the country means doing your duty sometimes, and being from a  rural background myself I know that only too well. Then we spoke a little about being from the Welsh valleys and got a wee geography lesson. We speak then about Drew’s career as a teacher for kids with learning difficulties and how teaching is a great job to prepare you for stand-up comedy. We talk about how and why Drew got into comedy, and in particular we speak about Drew’s specific style of observational humour. How he likes to take a different view than most people and where that comes from. We also chat about why Drew does some Mc-ing from time to time and how it comes in really handy when running his own shows and how he helps him to improve his jokes. We spoke about the local scene in Wales, how to get booked and the amount of talent on the current circuit there too. We have a chat about Drew dying on his arse the first time and how in particular it effected his girlfriend. Finally then, we spoke about how Drew works on improving his jokes and we delve into Drew’s approach to writing material. Drew’s Twitter: here Drew’s Comedy Promotions on Facebook: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here

Welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Neil Snyder, an American stand-up comedian from Indiana. Welcome once again, let’s make 2017 even better here at The Comedy Cast, I’ve got loads planned and loads of guest already lined up so I’ll stop rambling and let’s get back to the podcasts. First off, hat tip to Liysa Callsen, a previous Comedy Cast guest for putting Neil and I in touch. We had a really great chat about comedy, especially the promotions and organisational aspects of putting on shows. We began the podcast talking about the state of Indiana, I’m always interested to hear about where people are from and knowing nothing about Indiana except for Reggie Miller I had to ask Neil for some info on a state that’s famous for corn, apparently. We spoke about how Neil got into stand-up comedy and how it wasn’t long before he was running his own comedy nights in his hometown of Crawfordsville and bringing some international stars to it. We spoke about how Neil reacts to when he has a bad show and how he works on improving his jokes, we also talked too about how he actually doesn’t write down jokes and the reasons why he doesn’t. Neil also explains to me how he uses the room and how to work a room when he wants to win over a crowd. We talk too about Neil’s comedic influences growing up. We spoke too about how Neil likes to challenge his audience and bring them towards that thin line between funny and uncomfortable. Mad Hatter Shows website: here Mad Hatter’s Facebook: here Neil Snyder Presents Facebook: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here

  Ryan Cullen This is a rebroadcast of the Ryan Cullen interview from September 23rd. Welcome back to The Comedy Cast. Today you’ll be hearing from Irish stand-up comedian, Ryan Cullen. Ryan Cullen will be well-known to anyone that has ever seen any of the Facts videos; where Irish people give their reactions to eating or drinking crazy food from around the world, or their reaction to watching something strange from other countries, usually America for some bizarre reason. Had a great chat with Ryan about the Facts videos, how he got involved and the story behind their success. We spoke too about his love for comedy and in particular his special type of comedy.  We had a natter about his time at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival too and why it’s the best comedy festival in the world. We also spoke about his comedic influences growing up, what the future holds for Ryan and we finish off with our True/False Challenge. Ryan’s Facebook: here Ryan Cullen’s Twitter: here Ryan’s Instagram: here Ryan’s Snapchat: here Ryan’s YouTube: here Facts YouTube: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here  

Welcome back to The Comedy Cast; this is a rebroadcast of the Robbie Bonham interview from October 6th. Today you’ll be hearing from Irish comedian Robbie Bonham. Robbie will be well-known to anyone that follows the Irish comedy scene, he’s been gigging for many years now and is renowned for his honesty and his dealing with personal issues while on stage. This was a real education for me; to speak to a comedian in a time of real transition, as someone who has to deal yet again with alcoholism, relationship difficulties and depression, while also re-entering education as an adult and trying to re-find his place in comedy. Robbie’s a bit of a hero of mine as you’ll hear in the podcast and I wish him well for the future and I hope that we can speak again on the podcast because I feel he has a lot more to say regarding comedy and I strongly feel that his comedic talents have been somewhat overlooked in Ireland, but hopefully in the years to come he’ll finally get the recognition and praise he deserves. Robbie’s wesbite: here Robbie’s Twitter: here Robbie’s Facebook: here Robbie’s Youtube: here https://youtu.be/q5qzB_Xp39Y Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here

Welcome back to The Comedy Cast; this is a rebroadcast of the Ruth E. Cockburn interview that aired on September 8th. Today you’ll be hearing from an English comedian from Blackpool, Ruth E. Cockburn (it’s not pronounced as it’s spelt, so behave). We had a right old natter about her former career as a substitute teacher, teaching things like sex education to teenagers, why she got into comedy, her influences, her Donald Trump song and her current project Love Letters from Blackpool which she plans to tour next year. Ruth E. Cockburns website: here Ruth E. Cockburn’s Twitter: here Ruth E. Cockburn’s Facebook: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here

Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Irish stand-up comedian Sean Marshall. It being so close to Christmas we had to, at least, appear seasonal and have a natter about it, so we had a chat about Christmas in Dublin and the 12 Pubs of Christmas phenomenon that has swept the country like a wave of beer-vomit over the last few years. Then we got onto the main act and the reason you’re listening; comedy. We spoke about how and why Sean got into it, seeing comedy as a challenging calling, even though happy in his work Sean decided comedy was something he had to have a go at. And in a complete act of the bizarre it turns out that Sean and I are not only from the same county in Ireland, we grew up around 10 miles from each other, but don’t worry we don’t spend too long on it. In his other life Sean is a bit of a science geek, well, not a bit of he’s even got a Masters in it (in Science Communication) and had been hosting his own podcast called Science Chat. So we had a really illuminating talk about Science Communication and its place in the wider world and the uphill battle scientists must fight to keep the general population up to speed and educated. We spoke about Sean’s influences growing up and of course our traditional closing question on advice for comedians. Today will be the final podcast of 2016 but I’ll be back early in 2017 with more comedy interviews. Sean’s website: here Sean’s Twitter: here The Science Chat iTunes page: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here  

Hello, you’re all very welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from an American stand-up comedian and actor Missy Grynkiewicz. We started off the interview talking about how she got the name Missy and how her previous career as an acting teacher and director helped her when she stated comedy. We spoke too about Missy’s style of comedy and why she prefers to keep her comedy personal and relatable. We chatted about being from Maryland, how to pronounce it properly and how the whole state isn’t anything like the Baltimore depicted in The Wire. We nattered about kids and why it’s so much easier to love them when they’re not actually around you. Then we chatted about Missy receiving a Grammy Nomination for her comedy album “Miss Representation” and the current state of comedy albums. We spoke about Missy receiving dickpics and how underneath it all it’s actually quite touching and finally we spoke about “Days of Power” a movie starring Missy and Eric Roberts (of The Dark Knights, The Expendables and The Cable Guy fame) due for release in February 2017. Missy’s website: here Missy’s Facebook: here Missy’s Twitter: here Missy’s Instagram: here Missy’s YouTube: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: here  

Hello and welcome back to another episode of The Comedy Cast; today we’ve got something pretty cool for you listeners, an interview with an American ventriloquist, comedian and writer April Brucker. We got off to a great start by getting straight into how talented the Irish are at swearing and how to discipline kids Irish-style. We spoke about what April did before she got into comedy, mostly trying to get laid while in college and how she got into ventriloquism. This lead to April having a public access TV show while still in high school that aired in 36 American states and 6 countries and the fledgling technology of the world wide web. April was a massive viral hit in April 2015 when the British ‘newspaper’ The Daily Mail wrote an article about her dumping her boyfriend when he came to her with an ultimatum; me or the puppets. The article also revealed that April spends around $20,000 per year on her then 16 puppets, now 19, so of course we had to talk to about all of that. Poor April wasn’t very impressed when I told her that Mussolini was a massive Daily Mail fan and they backs Donald Trump and Brexit in the recent elections. We spoke about the strange phenomenon of Irish people going to New York for Christmas shopping, being in Tommy Hilfiger’s blimp. Then we got onto one of her newest puppets, Donald J. Tramp, not Trump…..Tramp, but you get the meaning, in January 2017 April will be touring America and hopefully the world with her new show The Lady and President Tramp. April’s no fan of Tramp and she’s no afraid of telling people either. We finally then spoke about April’s comedic influences and her writing career, writing for Spaz Comics and releasing her own novel; I Came, I Saw, I Sang: Memoirs of a Singing Telegram Delivery Girl, a book about being a singing telegram delivery girl, as the title says, obviously. April’s website: here April’s Facebook: here April’s Twitter: here April’s YouTube: here April’s Instagram: here Get in Touch Don’t be shy, get in touch with The Comedy Cast or follow us on social media If you’d like to get in touch, email me here: spud(at)thecomedycast.com The Comedy Cast on Facebook: here The Comedy Cast on Twitter: here The Comedy Cast on YouTube: here The Comedy Cast on Instagram: here The Comedy Cast on Google+: