The path from Silicon Valley computer programmer to rising star in standup comedy is not one that’s well traveled. Nor is the opposite path for that matter, where one leaves behind a world of headlining clubs and making specials to write code in a cubicle somewhere. But Richard Sarvate, former programmer and current standup, is a trailblazer. He fills us in on his former life, including why “spaghetti code” became such a problem, and also his near death experience in Puerto Rico that led to his ...
May 15, 2024•49 min•Ep. 67
New York's Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is 13,700 feet long. Comedian, Rifftrax star, and MST3K alum Bill Corbett is at most six feet long, maybe even a little less. Still, Bill has a lot more to say about the bridge than the bridge can say about him because bridges can't talk. Bill's funnier too, by a lot, whereas the bridge has its own strengths like 13 lanes of traffic to Bill's none. Bill, a native New Yorker, fills us in at great length about New York's second most famous bridge, the Andrew Ri...
May 08, 2024•44 min•Ep. 66
When Julia Duffy is not filming something to entertain and delight you, chances are she’s reading a book. It’s generally non-fiction, often historical, and in one notable recent case, it was all about a tiger. Don’t worry, there isn’t enough action in her detailed descriptions of these books to keep you awake at night. It’s more like Julia, who starred as Stephanie on Newhart and as Mary Jones Davidsoul on Palm Royale , is doing your bedtime reading for you, so you can just shut your eyes and dr...
May 01, 2024•49 min•Ep. 65
Yes, that headline can be confusing. Read it slowly. We’ll wait. Lindy West is an acclaimed author, podcaster, and all-around funny person. Her best-selling book, Shrill , was adapted into a series for hulu starring Aidy Bryant. Lindy finds it relaxing to surf through YouTube videos of expert gamers performing “speedruns” through popular games, especially games that Lindy herself played as a young person, like the King’s Quest series. Maybe you can get to sleep by listening her describe those ga...
Apr 24, 2024•45 min•Ep. 64
Ray Ellin, according to Wikipedia, is a comedian, talk show host, producer, writer, and director. According to Sleeping with Celebrities , he is also a fairly fanatical devotee of the television series Little House on the Prairie and he discusses it freely, openly, and in great detail on our latest episode. He’s so into the show, Ray hosts the Wild Nights on the Prairie podcast. Learn what sparked his interest, what job he would have in Walnut Grove if he could teleport into the LHOTP universe, ...
Apr 17, 2024•46 min•Ep. 63
Honestly, we haven't had that many people on our show who have started entirely new religions. Most of the time, if someone wants to be religious, they simply follow one of the existing faiths that are out there in the world in great abundance already. But Marsha Warfield, who played Roz the bailiff on the classic sitcom Night Court and who appears in that show's newer reboot, has developed a religion that is all about empowering women. And there's no need to convert to the Church of She-sus sin...
Apr 10, 2024•44 min•Ep. 62
The hilarious Rob Haze, a rapidly rising star in stand-up comedy, has loads of sneakers. Really a disproportionate amount of sneakers compared to the cubic footage of space he lives in. He doesn’t go into great detail on every single pair he owns in this interview, mind you, but he does provide enough information to lull you into a sleepy state with a smile on your face. Rob also describes how Michael Jordan’s NBA career tracked with the beginning and end of his parents’ marriage and why he was ...
Apr 03, 2024•50 min•Ep. 61
Dickey Simpkins loves breakfast. So much so that this Australian wallaby started a blog about breakfast, which led to a podcast about breakfast, which is now one of the most popular podcasts in the world. This is that story. We would like you to support Sleeping with Celebrities during the Max Fun Drive. To make this prospect more appealing to you, we are charming you by presenting mini-sodes of unscripted bedtime stories, drowsily invented and told by John Moe. Please visit maximumfun.org/join ...
Mar 29, 2024•16 min
A special sneak preview of this year's MaxFunDrive bonus content, "Let's Talk About the Weather"! Join at the $5 level to listen to the full episode. We rounded up a lot of our guests, friends really, from Sleeping with Celebrities and asked them one simple question: How's the weather where you are? Now you can enjoy weather updates, some lengthy, some brief, some hilarious, some rather dry, from celebrities like Felicia Day, Neil Gaiman, Justin McElroy, and dozens more. Get cozy as familiar voi...
Mar 28, 2024•3 min
Arden Neely was a muskrat who worked as the assistant manager at a coffee shop. They had to start work very early in the day but wanted to go see rock concerts at night. How did they manage this tricky sleep conundrum? Listen and find out. We would like you to support Sleeping with Celebrities during the Max Fun Drive. To make this prospect more appealing to you, we are charming you by presenting mini-sodes of unscripted bedtime stories, drowsily invented and told by John Moe. Please visit maxim...
Mar 28, 2024•16 min
He's best known as the leader of the popular and influential band the Mountain Goats and as a best-selling author, but John Darnielle should also be recognized for his exhaustive knowledge of tea. You know, the beverage. Tea. John details some of his favorite varieties of teas that you won't find on the shelf at your local grocer but that you can find if you send away to this one guy on the internet. John also walks us through his process of making tea to ensure maximum flavor and temperature. L...
Mar 27, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 60
Anson is a bit nervous for his high school reunion, which is happening at a Marriott hotel on Space Planet. Will people be nice? Will he be seen as successful and popular? Well, he ends up going and it turns out mostly fine. We would like you to support Sleeping with Celebrities during the Max Fun Drive. To make this prospect more appealing to you, we are charming you by presenting mini-sodes of unscripted bedtime stories, drowsily invented and told by John Moe. Please visit maximumfun.org/join ...
Mar 27, 2024•19 min
In this very special episode, our host John Moe tells the story of the now-ubiquitous board game Rooms & Complications and how it was invented one rainy day in Canadaburg, Canada by two siblings who used WordPerfect. We would like you to support Sleeping with Celebrities during the Max Fun Drive. To make this prospect more appealing to you, we are charming you by presenting mini-sodes of unscripted bedtime stories, drowsily invented and told by John Moe. Please visit maximumfun.org/join . Go to ...
Mar 26, 2024•19 min
In this very special episode, our host John Moe meets up with his friend Jill - not his wife, Jill, a different Jill - and they try to find somewhere to get tacos. It’s a little harder than they thought but it turns out okay. We would like you to support Sleeping with Celebrities during the Max Fun Drive. To make this prospect more appealing to you, we are charming you by presenting mini-sodes of unscripted bedtime stories, drowsily invented and told by John Moe. Please visit maximumfun.org/join...
Mar 25, 2024•16 min
Here is a bedtime story about Leonard, who is a sea turtle living a pretty okay life. He has two friends in Julia and Boris. He has a coral reef to swim around in. But he has a job in mind that he'd like to have. Will he finally pursue his professional goals? We would like you to support Sleeping with Celebrities during the Max Fun Drive. To make this prospect more appealing to you, we are charming you by presenting mini-sodes of unscripted bedtime stories, drowsily invented and told by John Moe...
Mar 22, 2024•17 min
Here is a bedtime story about Norman, who is a pangolin, but a very specific pangolin. Norman is a pangolin who works as a database administrator and has a yearning to learn to dance. You can hear about him doing so and making a friend. We would like you to support Sleeping with Celebrities during the Max Fun Drive. To make this prospect more appealing to you, we are charming you by presenting mini-sodes of unscripted bedtime stories, drowsily invented and told by John Moe. Please visit maximumf...
Mar 21, 2024•15 min
You might know Alan Tudyk as the star of the SyFy series Resident Alien or the groundbreaking series Firefly . You might know him from the films Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story , 28 Days , or A Knight's Tale . It’s possible also that you know Alan Tudyk from his robust participation in the yardstick collector community because the veteran character actor has a rather enormous collection of these measuring devices. Thousands of them. And Alan Tudyk will tell you all about his yardsticks as you d...
Mar 20, 2024•53 min•Ep. 59
Here is a bedtime story about Nadine, a duck who works with a lot of other ducks to operate a farm in Finland. It's hard work so she gets tired. Because of course she does. She bakes bread. We'll tell you all about it. We would like you to support Sleeping with Celebrities during the Max Fun Drive. To make this prospect more appealing to you, we are charming you by presenting mini-sodes of unscripted bedtime stories, drowsily invented and told by John Moe. Go to MaximumFun.org/join , choose a me...
Mar 20, 2024•19 min
We would like you to support Sleeping with Celebrities during the Max Fun Drive. To make this prospect more appealing to you, we are charming you by presenting mini-sodes of unscripted bedtime stories, drowsily invented and told by John Moe. This one is about a town in Texas where everyone wears stilts, except for one person who wears smaller stilts with large feet attached. Go to MaximumFun.org/join , choose a membership level, and select Sleeping with Celebrities to support our show! As a MaxF...
Mar 19, 2024•24 min
It’s the annual Max Fun Drive and your chance to support Sleeping with Celebrities . To celebrate, host John Moe presents a short, unscripted bedtime story about an owl who works in the important position of municipal government in central Nebraska. The main character was suggested by our listener Alex and we welcome your ideas for characters in future mini-sodes. Go to MaximumFun.org/join , choose a membership level, and select Sleeping with Celebrities to support our show! As a MaxFun member, ...
Mar 18, 2024•21 min
This special network wide event is a celebration of The MaxFunDrive! If you’d like to support podcasts you love for just $5 a month and get bonus gifts in the process, go to maximumfun.org/join . We’re kicking off the most exciting time of the year for the MaxFun Network with a trivia game show featuring hosts from tons of great podcasts. J. Keith van Straaten and Helen Hong from “ Go Fact Yourself ” are joined by: Jackie Kashian -“ The Jackie and Laurie Show ” Jeremy Bent -“ Eurovangelists ” Jo...
Mar 18, 2024•16 min
Secretly Incredibly Fascinating , a fellow podcast here on the Maximum Fun network, is about just what the title promises, mundane parts of life that are very compelling upon closer examination. But we don’t want to compel you into staying awake here on our show. So when we booked hosts Alex Schmidt and Katie Goldin (at the request of listener Alec, whom we thank), we were happy to hear them talk at great length about their cats and dog. Oh, these pets are interesting but certainly not so intere...
Mar 13, 2024•49 min•Ep. 58
If you happen to be one of Steve Almond’s children, you already know about the Dad Compactor. Because Steve isn’t just a best-selling author ( Candyfreak , All the Secrets in the World ) and beloved podcast host, he’s a household appliance. Steve won’t stand for wasted food, you see, and so the Dad Compactor reuses and reinvents foodstuffs in ways you never thought possible or even wise. Doze off while he tells you all about it. You might become a Compactor too. Preorder your copy of Steve Almon...
Mar 06, 2024•54 min•Ep. 57
You might have seen Oscar Montoya as one of the stars of the acclaimed TV series Minx or heard him as one of the hosts of the acclaimed Maximum Fun podcast Eurovangelists . Or maybe, just maybe, you’ve noticed him in the rice aisle at the supermarket, carefully examining the selection and putting a surprising amount of thought into rice, as he does so often in life and as he does in this week’s episode. Rice is very important to Oscar and he is perfectly willing to talk you all the way off to sl...
Feb 28, 2024•47 min•Ep. 56
Technically, Stefanie Wilder-Taylor and Cecily Knobler are not and have never been part of the lineup of the band Barenaked Ladies. But in their own way they feel like the band is at least part of them. These best friends host the podcasts Rose Pricks and Bored A.F. and Stefanie is the author of a remarkable number of books, dealing with, among other topics, parenting and sobriety. They love Barenaked Ladies in a really deep and sincere way and have stories to tell about their encounters with va...
Feb 21, 2024•42 min•Ep. 55
Dessa is many things but mostly she’s a cake decorator. For our purposes for this episode, at least. Oh sure, you may know her has a brilliant musician, rapper, poet, and occasional guest host on public radio. You may have heard her work on Welcome to Night Vale or heard her in action as part of the Doomtree collective or on The Hamilton Mix Tape . But we think her real passion is doing up those cakes super fancy. She details for us what kinds of piping equipment and ingredients she uses to make...
Feb 14, 2024•37 min•Ep. 54
John-Luke Roberts is a comedian, actor, and podcast maker and he's from England so you know his voice is going to be pleasant to hear. John-Luke created and hosts Sound Heap, a very funny podcast about a podcast network taking on the daunting task of making too many podcasts. Sound Heap is joining the Maximum Fun family this month and to celebrate this fact, John-Luke stops by our show to talk at great length and with tremendous knowledge about pigeons. His British voice will soothe you off to s...
Feb 07, 2024•43 min•Ep. 53
Laurie Kilmartin is a veteran comic, a best-selling author, and an Emmy-nominated writer for Conan. She is also a newly minted anime fan, coming to it initially as a pandemic bonding activity with her 17-year-old son. He tricked her into enjoying animated violence, sexy wizards, and the occasional bit of cannibalism. Laurie also asks the big pop culture questions: How did Daryl from The Walking Dead get to France? Was the ever-dashing Kimba a white lion or a white tiger? Why would you name one c...
Jan 31, 2024•42 min•Ep. 52
Sandeep Parikh is well known to anyone who followed the web series The Guild, where he played Zaboo. Sandeep is a writer, producer, director, and comedian in Hollywood, where he also, very importantly, serves as president of his local homeowner's association. It is this role that he explores in meticulous depth in a soothing interview that gently tackles the legal dispute between Sandeep's southern California neighbors and a contractor who did a terrible job. Hear how Sandeep reluctantly rose to...
Jan 24, 2024•48 min•Ep. 51
Jason Pargin has taken care of writing seven novels, including John Dies at the End and the new Zoey Is Too Drunk For This Apocalypse. But he's only taken care of one pet bunny rabbit and his name was Rico. Rico the rabbit. Jason explains to us, at sleep-inducing length and snoozable levels of detail, some of the myths and facts about bunny husbandry, including that you shouldn't feed them carrots but you should expect them to be surprisingly furious if you put a paper plate in their cage. Bunny...
Jan 17, 2024•49 min•Ep. 50
