In 1992 a super violent video game called Mortal Kombat started popping up in arcades. It was a low budget fighting game produced by Midway games and had a look we'd never seen before. Instead of digitally drawn characters, real actors were used in the game. Daniel Pesina was the actor brought in to play the roles of 3 of the playable characters: "Johnny Cage", "Scorpion" and "Sub Zero". The game would go on to generate $750,000,000 in arcades alone. It spawned 13 sequel games, 2 major motion pi...
Jan 01, 2017•49 min
9 men in history have been the "official" Ronald McDonald. Joe Maggard is one of them and was the longest reigning Ronald in history (1995-2007). He is also the subject of a 2015 documentary called "Ronald" which gives a very interesting look at Joe's current life. Joe is a method actor, former sheriff's deputy, singer, writer and U.S. Military veteran. His story is so unique that as soon as I learned about him I knew we had to get him on the show. I also talk about some of the McDonald's menu i...
Dec 15, 2016•42 min
The Garden of Allah was a famous hotel in Hollywood, California located at 8152 Sunset Boulevard between Crescent Heights and Havenhurst on the east end of the Sunset Strip. Built in 1913, it was owned by a famous silent film era star named Alla Nazimova, the highest paid silent film era actress at the time. This 2.5 acre estate featured a series of private bungalows surrounding a swimming pool and it was home to some of the biggest names in Hollywood at one time or another. Buster Keaton, Grouc...
Dec 01, 2016•50 min
Zack Ward had the honor of portraying one of the most terrifying on-screen bullies of all time in 1983 when he was cast as "Scut Farkus" in A Christmas Story. On this episode we talk about this holiday classic and catch up with Zack, who went on to appear in over 100 films and television shows- including Transformers, Almost Famous, The Devil's Tomb, NYPD Blue, Walker Texas Ranger, Jag, Party of Five, Titus, CSI Miami & New York, NCIS and many many more. We learn about his upbringing in Cana...
Nov 15, 2016•46 min
Kerry Remsen appeared in some of the most well known horror films from the 80's. She played Maggie in Pumpkinhead (1988) and Nicole in Ghouls II (1988). She also appeared in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985). Her TV credits include Family Ties, Doogie Howser, MD, Beverly Hills 90210, 21 Jump Street and The Facts of Life. She comes from a Hollywood showbiz family with a very interesting backstory. We learn all about Kerry's father-famous character actor Burt Remsen and her moth...
Nov 01, 2016•48 min
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a fantastic cult classic sci-fi horror comedy from 1988 written and directed by the Chiodo Brothers. The Chiodo brothers are these 3 brothers who grew up making films in their basement for fun and now work in the Hollywood special effects industry. They do it all...puppets, creatures, stop motion and more! They created and operated the Critters in the movie Critters (1986) and it's sequels, they did the stop motion in the famous Large Marge scene in Pee Wee's Bi...
Oct 15, 2016•51 min
Best selling author and pop culture historian Steve Cox is back to talk about the Three Stooges. Steve is the author of "One Fine Stooge- Larry Fine's Frizzy Life in Pictures". We get into a great discussion about the history and lives of the America's favorite comedy team. As usual, plenty of odd trivia and cool behind the scenes stories. Steve has written over 20 books on various tv, film and pop culture topics. He's a wealth of information on this and many other topics that you and I love. In...
Oct 01, 2016•47 min
Pop culture historian and author Steve Cox is in to talk about The Wizard of Oz with us. Steve is an authority on the topic. His book "The Munchkins of Oz" takes a fascinating look at the people who played the munchkins and found out how they became involved in the film, what filming was like and what became of them after the film. He's done exhaustive research on Oz and spent time personally with many of the munchkins. We discuss all sorts of odd topics including The Alton Giant, Mickey Carroll...
Sep 15, 2016•58 min
30 years ago, German born Matthias Hues brought his hulking 6'5" physique to Hollywood with the intention of making a big splash in the entertainment industry. Now with dozens upon dozens of credits to his name, it's safe to say he is one of the go-to guys in the action movie genre. You've seen Matthias in No Retreat No Surrender 2, Kickboxer 2, Big Top Pee Wee, Blackbelt, Dark Angel, Star Trek 6 The Undiscovered Country and many many more. He splits his time between Hollywood where he writes, a...
Sep 01, 2016•38 min
Matthew Karedas aka Matt Hannon is the star of the low budget, "so bad it's great" action flick from 1991 called Samurai Cop. The film which was destined for a "straight to video" release was never given a proper release at all, and in fact went completely unseen for decades before eventually finding its way to youtube a few years ago. What's happened since has been nothing short of incredible! Samurai Cop has developed a crazy cult following of fans who appreciate the campy nature and ever-pres...
Aug 15, 2016•1 hr 1 min
For over two decades Matthew Thompson has been creating Fluke Fanzine, an independent, small batch magazine that covers a wide range of topics ranging from hobo culture and train graffiti to punk rock music. Zine's are actually everywhere but most people just don't know that. If you happen to come across one, very often you can tell as you flip through it that the creator has poured their heart and soul into this...not for money or fame, but for the love of the topic they are covering and love o...
Aug 01, 2016•53 min
Queenie Booher is known to many as "Glamazon Queen Kong"...the scary lady wrestling villain on the 1980's television show G.L.O.W. She's been in dozens of movies and TV shows including Spacebars, Night Court, Mama's Family and Parker Lewis Can't Lose. She was also in Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator" music video. She's worked as a phone sex operator. She's been on TV doing roller derby professionally, she once tried to start a commune for people interested in "open lifestyles". She's been invest...
Jul 15, 2016•51 min
Today we chat with a Cape Girardeau, MO resident named Timexx Seabaugh, a horror host aficionado who had been on a year-long search for the whereabouts of 1970's horror host "Baron Von Crypt"...a St. Louis based vampire/host. The search landed in the local media here in St. Louis and completely sucked me in...so I wanted to share this fun journey with the Odd Podcast audience. We chat about the the history of horror hosts, the horror host hall of fame and what he was able to discover about "Baro...
Jul 01, 2016•49 min
Richie The Barber lives his life as both a clown and a professional barber-at the same time. His face is covered in clown makeup tattoos, his own hair closely resembles Bozo's famous red locks and he's well versed in a variety of sideshow tricks. People around Hollywood know Richie and now it's our turn to find out about him! He's been featured on TMZ and America's Got Talent. Join us for a discussion about life in Hollywood, clowns, tattoos, body modification and more! This episode is sponsored...
Jun 15, 2016•36 min
Desi DosSantos is one of the owners/founders of screenused.com - a company that deals in actual screen used movie and tv memorabilia....props and wardrobe pieces from film and television that they have acquired, authenticated and sell online. He's an expert on the subject and shares some incredible stories about his time in this business. We chat about this interesting hobby and some of the most well known pieces to ever hit the market that they have handled, i.e. Hoverboards from the Back to th...
Jun 01, 2016•38 min
Pulp Fiction was released in 1994. A scene nobody who sees the film will ever forget involves a person covered head to toe in leather bondage gear-complete with a black leather mask who is brought out of a wooden box to participate in a pawn-shop basement sex scene. "The Gimp" as he is called was played by a man named Steve Hibbert and he is our guest on this show. What's it like being "The Gimp"? We're going to find out! We talk all things 1994 and dive into Steve's very interesting career as a...
May 15, 2016•42 min
Talking about baseball movies today with David Mickey Evans, an accomplished Hollywood writer and director who brought us The Sandlot-which he also narrated! He also wrote Radio Flyer! Join us as we discuss all things related to The Sandlot and dig into some trivia from some other classic baseball films like Field of Dreams, The Natural & Major League. Find out more about David here: http://davidmickeyevansblog.blogspot.com Visit our sponsor at www.screenused.com Email The Odd Podcast- theod...
May 01, 2016•52 min
The Warlord was a bad guy wrestler in the WWF during the 80's and 90's. Billed at 6'5", 325 lbs, this beast from "Parts Unknown" who would come out with a painted face, double mohawk and a bodybuilder's physique usually crushed whoever was unlucky enough to be facing him on that particular night. He spent years as one-half of the tag team known as "The Powers of Pain" with his partner The Barbarian. As a team they faced off against all the big names of that era...The Rockers, The Bushwackers, Ho...
Apr 15, 2016•53 min
Everybody remembers that moment. When the 4 young men in classic 1986 film "Stand By Me" find the body of "Ray Brower" halfway buried in the brush. It's a moment permanently burned into our memories and the movie has been a pop culture phenomenon. Today we talk all things "Stand By Me" and visit with the actor who was "Ray Brower"...a gentleman named Kent Lutrell...who had not done anything in the entertainment industry prior to Stand By Me! I wondered how this role came about...what it was like...
Apr 01, 2016•32 min
David Grann is a New York Times best selling author and staff writer for the New Yorker. He put out an amazing book in 2009 called "The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession In The Amazon". The book covers the amazing life and mysterious disappearance of Colonel Percy H. Fawcett who vanished searching for a lost city in the Amazon he referred to as "Z". He has never been found. Fawcett was basically a real life Indiana Jones. Since his disappearance, more than 100 people have died or vanish...
Mar 15, 2016•39 min
Karate Kid was released in 1984 and went on to be an all out cinematic classic. It's a wonderful coming of age martial arts film set in the mid 1980's San Fernando Valley. Ron Thomas was one of the actors who played a member brutal and iconic "Cobra Kai" karate gang. His character "Bobby Brown" was known as the one Cobra Kai who actually showed some remorse for what the way Daniel was being treated. He delivered some of the films most memorable lines in scenes that EVERYBODY forever remembers. T...
Mar 01, 2016•45 min
Schlitzie was a sideshow performer in the early and mid 1900's. Born with a condition called microcephaly, his cranium and brain were unusually small and he only stood about 4 feet tall. He had the mental capacity of about a 3 year old. Little is known for sure about Schlitzie. His birthplace, real name, and who his parents were really remains a mystery. It's thought that his parents sold him to a traveling sideshow at a very young age. Throughout his entire life he was under the guardianship of...
Feb 15, 2016•36 min
Claudia Wells portrayed "Jennifer Parker", the girlfriend of Marty McFly in the 1985 classic Back To The Future. We catch up with Claudia to talk all about that time in her life, what filming was like and how the whole experience has impacted her life. Visit Claudia's website: www.claudiawells.com Visit Claudia's business at www.armaniwells.com Email Joe at theoddpodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/oddpodcast Twitter: @odd_podcast Buy Odd Podcast T-Shirts: oddpodcast.spread...
Feb 01, 2016•31 min
Dennis Woodruff went to Hollywood with a dream and a plan to become a famous actor. He's become a bit of a celebrity but not for staring in Hollywood films. He's know for his bizarre self promotion tactics, strange self-made films and relentless pursuit of the Hollywood dream. Dennis drives around Hollywood in "Art Cars" that he builds. The purpose of these wildly eye-catching "billboards on wheels" is to get his name and face in front of Hollywood's decision makers. Unconventional? Yes. Memorab...
Jan 15, 2016•37 min
In 1985, "Teen Wolf" took the world by storm! It grossed more than $30 million in the US and over $80 million worldwide. To this day it regularly airs on TV. Michael J. Fox played "Scott Howard", a high school basketball player who was very "average"...that was until he transformed into a werewolf! As the wolf, Scott was suddenly cool, confident and amazing at basketball! Leave it to Hollywood to pull one over on us. As it turns out, Michael J. Fox was a great actor but not a very good basketbal...
Jan 01, 2016•34 min
In September of 1989 a new sports entertainment show hit the airwaves and took the nation by storm. That show was American Gladiators and it became a pop culture phenomenon. Deron McBee was an actor working on the Universal Studios Hollywood lot in the late 80's as part of the Conan The Barbarian live show. He heard about a casting call and went. He got the gig and became "MALIBU" one of the original American Gladiators! He's well known for his signature look...the long blonde hair, tan, big mus...
Dec 15, 2015•42 min
Todd Newton has made quite a splash in the entertainment industry! From radio shows in New York, LA and St. Louis to hosting shows on The Game Show Network, he's become quite a familiar face over the last 20 years or so. He's currently touring all over the US as the host of The Price is Right Live and he hosted the Miss America pageant earlier this year. I was first introduced to Todd when he was known as Rik Idol, a top 40 radio dj here in St. Louis in the early 1990's on a station called Q106....
Dec 01, 2015•33 min
Today we talk with musician and actor Timmy Cappello. Timmy is the original "Epic Sax Man" and he made a splash on the big screen in 1987 in the film The Lost Boys, which starred Corey Haim, Corey Feldman and Jason Patrick. The film would go on to earn over $32 million dollars and become an absolute classic. Timmy's big scene happens about 10 minutes into the film, when he's shown performing at an outdoor concert on the Santa Clara boardwalk. He's shirtless, buff, heavily oiled, wearing a chain ...
Nov 15, 2015•49 min
Legendary boxcar moniker artist Buz Blurr aka Colossus of Roads joins the show to tell us all about his life and the various art projects he's been involved with. We discuss the hobo culture, graffiti and mail art. Then we talk about the mysterious "House of Hades" tiles that are scattered around intersections all over the United States. (It has been speculated that Buz is the artist responsible for these and we get to the bottom of it!) So what is a boxcar moniker? It's like old time graffiti d...
Nov 01, 2015•1 hr
We discuss the Amelia Earhart disappearance with Ric Gillespie. Ric is the executive director of TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery). His group has been on the search for Earhardt and her plane since the mid 1980's...and they have a great theory as to where the plane is and what happened! He tells us all about it and what his organization has in the works. We also discuss the Voynich Manuscript and Pee Wee's Big Adventure! Visit TIGHAR online at www.tighar.org Visit u...
Oct 15, 2015•42 min
