If there's anything Abby McEnany is better at than making people laugh, it may be laughing at herself. Don't be fooled by the self-deprecating title: This conversation is about how Abby has embraced the person she is, how she has used it to influence her comedy, and how so much of one's path and career has to be about being happy in the place you are. In the same way that "improv is all about reframing," Abby is affecting change she wants to see by reframing and being true to herself, a "queer f...
Aug 17, 2016•1 hr 20 min
Allison Reese used to ball so hard she'd make enemies on the court, but now she mostly uses her love of basketball to create analogies for other aspects of her life (read: comedy). A total gem and softy when not shooting hoops, Allison shares some personal stories ranging from attending Phoenix Suns games with her dad to the kinds of things her mostly Mormon high school teammates would bring to conversations in the locker room to who she sees as the Steve Nash of Chicago comedy. Be glad she didn...
Aug 10, 2016•1 hr 23 min
Ali Keirn has been such a big fan of Walt Disney World since her first visit at three years old that she can trace her desire to study and perform musical theatre back to seeing the highly produced parades and stage shows the park had to offer. Since then she's been back to the park, seen all of the classic animated movies Disney has to offer, ventured to Disneyland in California, and become a performer still driven by her favorite Imagineer (Joe Rohde) and her favorite lyricist (Howard Ashman)....
Aug 03, 2016•1 hr 21 min
James T. Green is a coder, designer, podcaster, and all around creative type whose generalized anxiety has driven his work habits for his entire career. He has recently had to explore how his anxiety effects the way he can ennact social justice. As someone who doesn't feel comfortable or useful in a march, rally, or protest setting, he has learned to use his skills as a creative to raise money and awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement and amplify the voices of other marginalized groups. ...
Jul 27, 2016•1 hr 25 min
As a performer and teacher in Chicago, Tim continues to define and redefine what success means to him as an actor and person. A lifelong cinephile, he thought for sure he would spend three years studying in Chicago before shipping off to be a big time movie star in LA. He's now passed the ten year mark here and has a world of friends and experience he never could have fathomed. We discuss striving for success (and happiness) in whatever forms your career and personal life take and how his goals ...
Jul 20, 2016•1 hr 30 min
Mom and I break down nearly every branch of the Braverman family tree as we discuss her favorite TV show, Parenthood. We mostly focus on how the casting, writing, and even music of the show make it such a strong, emotional exploration of a variety of hardships and heartfelt moments in the life of a big family. We spend more time on the moments we can relate to more directly, and my mom shares a lot of insight on how the homemaker priorities of her generation and her mother's are examined in the ...
Jul 13, 2016•1 hr 38 min
Cher has loved Thom York's Radiohead since she heard a track from Kid A on a joy ride with her dad during a difficult time in middle school. She built out her collection of their early albums thanks to the cashier at her local record store in Hyde Park, IL, giving her recommendations upon her purchasing Kid A, and she's now seen Radiohead (or Thom York solo) a followed-a-band-on-tour number of times and touts a tattoo of the Modified Bear. We talk her emotional attachment to their work, how inte...
Jul 06, 2016•1 hr 17 min
On the third anniversary of the release of the first episode of MBSing, MBS holed up in a studio and took 35 calls from past guests of the show. The topics ranged from specific episode updates to current concerns to catching up. The guest list filled quickly, and there were a handful of interested parties who wanted to catch me on another day (and a couple people I specifically reached out to as I knew they had incredible follow-up tales). Here are those six stragglers: Rob Grabowski, who humore...
Jun 29, 2016•1 hr 26 min
On the third anniversary of the release of the first episode of MBSing, MBS holed up in a studio and took 35 calls from past guests of the show. The topics ranged from specific episode updates to current concerns to catching up. Here's the fourth installment of nine calls from friends: Nick Johnson, who shared a story about the worst NOFX concert experience he has ever had. Bryan Duff, who addressed some FAQs he gets about his episode re gluten, food allergies, and paying attention to what your ...
Jun 22, 2016•1 hr 45 min
On the third anniversary of the release of the first episode of MBSing, MBS holed up in a studio and took 35 calls from past guests of the show. The topics ranged from specific episode updates to current concerns to catching up. Here's the third installment of nine calls from friends: Vernon Mina, who remarked on how much we made each other laugh and offered a clarification of his parents' roles in his life. Eric Braband, who made a Spotify playlist of Rustic Overtones songs and remarked on our ...
Jun 15, 2016•1 hr 25 min
On the third anniversary of the release of the first episode of MBSing, MBS holed up in a studio and took 35 calls from past guests of the show. The topics ranged from specific episode updates to current concerns to catching up. Here's the second installment of nine calls from friends: Stephen Kropa, who caught me up on all things Harmon and Wright since our first chat. Jessie Stegner, who started a podcast of her own recently and was looking forward to Little Mermaid at the Hollywood Bowl. Becc...
Jun 08, 2016•1 hr 33 min
On the third anniversary of the release of the first episode of MBSing, MBS holed up in a studio and took 35 calls from past guests of the show. The topics ranged from specific episode updates to current concerns to catching up. Here are the first eight sandwiched between some sweet voicemails: Sarah Shockey, whose new show Marty and Sarah Love Wrestling you should give a listen. Mike Gifford, who laments the passing of Shake, Rattle, and Read in Uptown Stephanie Corkery, who has nowhere near en...
Jun 01, 2016•1 hr 26 min
In a world of drugs and sex, a straight edge hardcore punk fan arose in Virginia and continued to maintain his abstinence for a number of years as a part of the Chicago comedy scene. Chris and I discuss his turn to the Dark Side, how even with the best of tenets and intentions, most movements have negative extremists, and how it feels to align oneself with a lifestyle choice to be a part of a bigger community. We even get into the history of the subculture and the current state of punk and sXe. ...
May 25, 2016•1 hr 15 min
Grab a D20 and roll up a character sheet because we are gonna go on a softly-guided journey, listeners. Bennett and Brendan have both had a love for tabletop RPGs since being looped into campaigns as teenagers. After years of different game groups and editions of Dungeons and Dragons, they've joined forces with other members of their theatre company, Otherworld, to create a staged version of their beloved pastime, Fight Quest, that recruits an audience member at the top of the show to be their h...
May 18, 2016•1 hr 45 min
Eric Schinzer is no musical sheep waiting around for the sounds he loves to pop up in the lame stream. He knew he loved the sweet sound of synth from a young age (citing Dire Straights's Walk of Life as an early intro) and became a fan of midi, 80s sounds (and styles) from then on. A recent resurgence of synth came with a heavy dose of love of 80s-style scoring and turned into this specific Synthwave genre. It's mostly taking off in France and the UK, driven by soundtracks like Drive and Far Cry...
May 11, 2016•1 hr 44 min
Honduran hunk Vernon Mina has been living a Hispanic family life his whole life... because... it's... his family. But there's way more to it than that! From entertaining his uncles as a young boy with bits borrowed from his Latino entertainment heroes (Don Francisco anyone?) to meeting his wonderful Mexican wife in high school and accidentally enrolling in a military school to follow her out of state to starting a family of his own and choosing to speak Spanish at home with his son, so much of V...
May 04, 2016•1 hr 35 min
Want to hear how Saturday Night Live played a hand in Mary Catherine Curran's journey to Chicago? Of course you do. She's a total badass. It starts with falling for Phill Hartman as a cast member thanks to her first and biggest comedy love, The Simpsons. There's a time in there where impersonating Mary Catherine Gallagher got her through middle school. It continued with having the opportunity to meet cast members and attend show tapings while working with Sketch Up at University of Maryland. It ...
Apr 27, 2016•2 hr 22 min
Along with likely being the first person to ever tell me I should host my own podcast, Nathan Brewer is also the first person I've ever met who would defend Home Alone 3 as the best film of the Home Alone series. He champions the follow up to the first two [similar] films as a successful spy movie with a child protagonist, calling it both the Tootsie of Home Alone films (for it's tight, three-act structure) and the John Wick of Home Alone films (for getting each individual aspect of the genre ri...
Apr 20, 2016•1 hr 29 min
Hooli beers me times two as we chat about his favorite brand of beverage, beer. From sours to stouts and malts to hops, Hooli knows his brews as a Cicerone-certified beer server. He's basically the beer equivalent of a base-level sommelier. On top of learning a ton, enjoy hearing about his endeavors in home brewing and his finely-honed service industry skills. Check out Sports Retorts with Hooli and The Joe for more Hooli and MBS on-mic endeavors. Thanks to Field Notes Brand for sponsoring and t...
Apr 13, 2016•1 hr 34 min
It's easy to think there's some sort of god complex going on with Jules, but it seems more like a genuinely joyous and creative person genuinely interested in the goings-on of the people around her. What better way to entertain that than playing in a Sims world? From Sims Tumblrs to How Addicted to The Sims Are You BuzzFeed lists to stealing away in a Boston coffee shop to download Sims 3 to refusing to playing on her iPhone because there's not enough room to interact with the world, Jules is ju...
Apr 06, 2016•1 hr 7 min
Jo Scott has boys. Jo Scott takes the boys places. The Chicago Park District has the best places to take them. Hear about all of the possible classes, programs, and settings the park district has to offer everyone in Chicago and remember that going outside and being active is both fun and affordable. Some of my favorite moments are Jo's descriptions of the people teaching the classes and the ways the boys have taken to organized sports. Stick around for some thoughts on internet culture, identic...
Mar 29, 2016•1 hr 38 min
Ever since her first taste of unlimited television, Ilana Gordon has been obsessed (though maybe not with the shows you'd think). After getting a degree in writing for TV/film, she relocated to Chicago and snagged some writing gigs after a bunch of fun with improv and sketch. We talk about her time working for the Steve Harvey Show, ways she motivates herself to write, and a bunch of shows we like. Don't worry, we do talk about that whole Miss Universe thing, too. Notes: Mike Gifford on Your Sto...
Mar 23, 2016•1 hr 39 min
Warren Arnold has got it bad for bad movies. Ever since his childhood in rural Arkansas forced him to choose between televangelists or the one movie airing on cable, he's taken the low road (high road? who can say) of watching hilariously bad films. This led him to a very specific appreciation for poking fun at these horrible projects via MST3K. We talk about the ideas of joking without tearing down, rebooting beloved properties, and getting at the crux of where a hilariously bad movie went off ...
Mar 16, 2016•1 hr 32 min
It's a very special college reunion episode of MBSing with dear friend, former improv teammate, and playwright Bryson Howard who has more love for France than anyone I've ever met. We talk about his early years in French classes, spending a semester abroad in Versailles, and his current stay as a teacher in a program called TAPIF just outside of Paris. It's many, many laughs, some pep talks, and a sobering conversation towards the end regarding his experience during and thoughts on the Paris att...
Mar 09, 2016•2 hr 3 min
Megan Johns has been creatively collaborating in some capacity for what seems to be her entire life. After thriving in programs like Odyssey of the Mind as a young person fueled by her parents' creative encouragement, Meg has been a part of bringing people together to create shows in Chicago (mainly at the Annoyance Theatre and as a part of The New Colony theatre company) for over a decade. We chat about how personality types, fear and anxiety, and finding a balance between healthy compromise an...
Mar 02, 2016•2 hr
Meghan has been booking performers for and hosting Thunderdome, an irreverent comedy variety show, for almost a year. We get into a lot of the frustrations and revelations that have arisen as a result, including the inevitability of a weekly show happening regardless of being ready for it, balancing life (school, love, self) with being an aspiring performer, and the energy necessary to book the best, most diverse acts. There's some talk in here on the current state of the Chicago comedy communit...
Feb 24, 2016•1 hr 25 min
Mike Gifford graced MBSing with his presence for a frank conversation on companionship, or lack thereof. We cover ground from Mike's (late) introduction to masterbation, a peer into his soul-searching as a lifelong single person, a recent experience of the grass not being green at all on the other side, and his feelings about late Justice Scalia.
Feb 17, 2016•1 hr 45 min
Lovelies Mary-Kate, Dylan, and Elliot have inciteful ways that Billy Shakes entered their lives and remains an inspiration for them and across the world of theatre and culture, and we get to spend a lot of time dissecting their new show with Otherworld Theatre, Messina3004, a futuristic adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. After I chat with them as actors (and director/adaptor in Mary-Kate's case), we delve into Shakespeare plays we love, like, hate, and hate that we like to round out a convers...
Feb 10, 2016•1 hr 38 min
Shannon's been giving tours of Chicago for about a year now, and she gave an hour of her time in the off season to tell me about what works, what doesn't, and who the biggest troublemakers are on her laissez-faire bus tours. She gets the opportunity to cater tours however she wants, so she's had a great time diving into more of Chicago's darker, more realistic history. I love that one of Shannon's favorite aspects of touring is finding out about the customers and what brought them to Chicago. I ...
Feb 03, 2016•1 hr 19 min
Stand back as Lisa and I get down and dirty into why she loves science. From her first visit to the beach (not a lake) to sailing various seas as a cruise ship entertainer, Lisa has loved marine biology since she was around 10. Along with learning about Rosalind Franklin and Sunflower Seastars, I had a grand time chatting about how we both navigated our love for performing as science majors in college. Also, Lisa challenges me to name things that make my tummy hurt and how far my corpse would go...
Jan 27, 2016•1 hr 29 min
