Trocodero

Yes! So many awesome podcasts recording today! by Teagan Kuruna

Wahoo! We have an impressive lineup of podcasts recording live today:

Last Podcast on the Left (sold out) is packing the house at the Trocadero today at 6pm!

Starting at 1pm today, seven of Philadelphia's best podcasts will be at Tattooed Mom: Kidflix, Film Loop, Doom Thugs, The Ghouls Next Door, First Reaction/Fan Reaction, Blacklisted, and Jawn Appetit. Come join us for free shows, tasty food, and cold beer (you know you need a cold drink today--it's a hot one)!

Last Podcast on the Left + More Great Podcasts Join Podfest 2018! by Teagan Kuruna

Philly Podfest, in partnership with New Media Touring, are really excited to announce four great podcasts joining the 6th annual Philadelphia Podcast Festival at the Trocadero Theater!

  • Last Podcast on the Left, a comedy podcast that “covers all the horrors our world has to offer,” by Ben Kissel, Marcus Parks, and Henry Zebrowski (presale starts at noon, 6/5/18)

  • A double-bill with Part-Time Genius, a podcast of “incredible research, fun-filled quizzes, nerdy interviews and giant, head-scratching questions,” by Will Pearson and Mangesh Hattikudur, and Ridiculous History, retellings of “weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization,” by Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown (presale starts at noon, 6/5/18)

  • Unhappy Hour Live with Matt Bellassai, “a comedy show full of anger, judgement, and fully-clothed full-frontal nudity,” featuring Matt Bellasai (presale starts at noon, 6/5/18)

Q&A with By The Book by Teagan Kuruna

We have so many great podcasts participating in the 5th annual Philadelphia Podcast Festival, so we're highlighting some of them in this Q&A series. You can find the full schedule of live shows here, and purchase tickets for By The Book's live recording on July 16 at 3:30pm at the Trocadero Balcony Bar here.

by-the-book-philly-podfest

 

How did your show come about? How did you meet your co-hosts? Kristen and Jolenta have been friends for years, they met at work. A while back Jolenta felt like her life was falling apart and wanted to try living by different self help books.  She convinced Kristen to join her in this endeavor because Kristen is her most adult, down to earth friend.  Kristen agreed to live “by the book” to make sure her dear friend doesn’t go off the rails and join a self-help cult.

Are there episodes you consider your “greatest hits?” Which ones are good “entry” points for new listeners? We love our pilot episode about “The Secret,” it’s really fun. Also the “French Women Don’t Get Fat” episode, things get very real in that one.

What do you appreciate most about this medium? Mostly we love that it’s intimate.  And the fact that women and people of color can more easily make their own work in podcasting, as opposed to other forms of media that are harder to break into or cost more. Also you don’t have to look cute while you’re doing it, we love that!

What do you most look forward to when doing live shows? How does the show change? This is our first live show so we are SUPER excited to experiment a bit and give our live audience a real experience.  We plan on doing things like a self help book swap, reading ridiculous book reviews, and other fun things to change up our regular format!

What are you hoping to do in Philly other than record a live podcast? We definitely want to hit up Reading Terminal Market, Liberty Hall, and the Liberty Bell.

Where can people find your podcast and hosts? @bythebookpod, @kristenmeinzer and @jolentag on twitter!


Q&A with The Flop House by Teagan Kuruna

We have so many great podcasts participating in the 5th annual Philadelphia Podcast Festival, so we're highlighting some of them in this Q&A series. You can find the full schedule of live shows here, and purchase tickets for The Flop House's live recording on July 16 at 8:00pm at the Trocodero here.

flop-house-philly-podfest

How did your show come about? How did you meet your co-hosts?

Elliott: Dan and I met through performing at a basement comedy theater in New York called Juvie Hall that a mutual friend of ours ran. We became good friends pretty quickly, and it was through Dan that I met the ray of overpowering sunshine that is Stuart Wellington.

Stuart: Dan and I met at Earlham College, where we both went for undergrad. When we both ended up in Brooklyn, Dan and I started hanging out regularly and watching bad movies together. The show grew out of that. I met Elliott when Dan dragged me to Elliott's show in that basement.

Dan: Everyone has already answered the question, but I just wanted to say that I started the podcast in part because I wanted to get Stuart on tape, because I thought he was hilarious, and he wasn’t interested in performing comedy, so he’d never be introduced to the world without a little push. When Elliott joined, he was the motormouthed secret sauce we needed to complete the equation.

Are there episodes you consider your “greatest hits?” Which ones are good “entry” points for new listeners?

Elliott: A lot of people start with episodes for movies they’ve already seen. But I’d recommend the episodes for Bullet to the Head, Foodfight!, and The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure as personal favorites that might provide good entry points. 

Stuart: Folks seem to like our Mirrors episode. I really enjoyed watching Easy Rider 2: The Ride Home, and I think that's a really fun episode.

Dan: I think the top ones have been mentioned already, but people also mention Jonah Hex as a favorite. Maybe Fateful Findings too.

What do you appreciate most about this medium?

Elliott: I love a lot of things about the podcasting medium. There’s an intimacy and immediacy to podcasts that really makes listening to them a more valuable experience. You get the feeling that you’re in a conversation (a one-sided one, sure, but still) with the people you’re listening to, and that you inhabit a kind of special private space with them for the duration of the show. A lot of people tell us that listening to our show makes them feel like they’re hanging out with their friends and that they feel closer to us than they do to people on, say, television. It’s an intimate medium, which means you can get away with being both really earnest and emotional and super random and goofy and stupid, often in the same show.

Dan: I couldn’t have said it better.

What do you most look forward to when doing live shows? How does the show change?

Elliott: The thing I look forward to the most is the immediate reaction from the audience, which energizes me to no end. I don’t have to wonder if a bit will go over well or flop, and I have a better sense of when to stop talking (not a strength of mine normally) if I’m losing the audience. It’s a real thrill to have people sitting there in front of you, enjoying the nonsense jabbering we do. 

Stuart: It definitely adds a bit of urgency to our conversation. And I love any excuse to mug for an audience.

Elliott: The change to the show is 1) we do visual presentations before the show that don’t get recorded and only the live audience sees, which are fun to put together and perform and 2) instead of reading listener letters at the end of the show we take questions from the audience. Which can be more fun because you can interact with the fans and also more unsettling and frightening because you can interact with the fans.

Dan: I look forward to being terrified ahead of time, and then suddenly feeling totally comfortable the moment I step on stage. It’s a weird bit of psychological magic that happens every time. I also just look forward to seeing the crowds – knowing that this silly thing I started as a kind of a lark has grown into something that’s genuinely important for a lot of folks.

What are you hoping to do in Philly other than record a live podcast?

Elliott: For me nothing beats seeing the Duchamp collection at the Museum of Art. He’s been one of my favorite artists since I was a teen, and Philadelphia is lucky to hold all his major works in one place. 

Stuart: My wife and I will definitely make a stop over at the 4th Street Deli, which feels like a little slice of Brooklyn away from Brooklyn. I will probably hit up The Reliquary to go record and tabletop game shopping afterwards.

Dan: I was in Philly to cover the political convention for The Daily Show recently, so I might spend my extra time checking out other podcasts at the festival.

Where can people find your podcast and hosts?

Elliott: Our site is at www.flophousepodcast.com and we’re also part of the Maximum Fun network, along with a lot of other great shows, at www.maximumfun.org. On Twitter I’m @elliottkalan.

Stuart: You can find me in Brooklyn at Hinterlands Bar, a bar that I own with my wife. I'm on Twitter as @flophousecat.

Dan: I’m @dankmccoy.


Q&A with Sawbones by Teagan Kuruna

We have so many great podcasts participating in the 5th annual Philadelphia Podcast Festival, so we're highlighting some of them in this Q&A series. You can find the full schedule of live shows here, and purchase tickets for Sawbones' live recording on July 16 at 2:00pm at the Trocodero here.

sawbones-philly-podfest

How did your show come about? How did you meet your co-host?

Well, Sydnee and I met around 20 years ago in a community theater production of Wizard of Oz. We dated, broke up for a decade then reconnected and got married. The podcast came later. We wanted something that would emphasize Sydnee's medical knowledge (she's a family physician) with my complete ignorance of even basic functions of the human body.

Are there episodes you consider your “greatest hits?” Which ones are good “entry” points for new listeners?

We did an episode on Medical Cannibalism. Seriously, Victorian people eating mummies for vitality. That's my favorite.

What do you appreciate most about this medium?

It's an intensely personal thing to be piped via headphone directly into someone's brain. It's so flattering to be invited in like that, and we try to always be respectful of that.

What do you most look forward to when doing live shows? How does the show change?

Well, we don't curse on our show which adds a thrilling difficulty modifier when doing it in front of a live crowd. Also, sometimes we add songs!

What are you hoping to do in Philly other than record a live podcast?

We do a podcast about medical oddities, so naturally we're going to go to the Mutter Museum!

Where can people find your podcast and hosts?

We're at http://www.sawbonesshow.com or on iTunes, Stitcher, etc.


Get Your Tickets! by Teagan Kuruna

In addition to more than 45 free live podcast recordings, the Philadelphia Podcast Festival is thrilled to welcome Sawbones, Call Your Girlfriend, The Flop House, and Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Be sure to get your tickets now before they sell out! 


Philly PodFest Pre-Sale! by Teagan Kuruna

The Philadelphia Podcast Festival is excited to be hosting some amazing podcasts at the Trocodero Theatre this year. Between now and 11:59pm on Thursday, May 18, use the checkout code PPF17 to get early access to tickets for these podcasts:

Be sure to get your tickets for Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, live at PhilaMOCA on Monday, July 17 at 7:00pm. And remember that we have 45+ free live podcast recordings at six additional venues across Philadelphia--check out the schedule and get planning!