Succotash Epi302: A Very Special Episode

Saluton, estas mi Tyson Saner and I will be you host for this, I don't know that there is a better way to put this, "Very Special Episode" of Succotash, The Comedy Soundcast Soundcast that numbers #302. Before I get into what I mean I'd like to take a moment to remind you that Succotash celebrated 11 years of showcasing other soundcasters via clips of their efforts. That coincided with our 300th episode, which executive producer and show creator Marc Hershon and I co-hosted simultaneously - which might sound like an odd way to put it, but it shouldn't be odd to regular listeners who know that Mr. Hershon and I have been hosting weekly episodes more-or-less every-other-episode for the last 2 years, and it is really only on special occasions that we might both be bringing you the same episode, at the same time.
There's a great recap of Epi300 IN Epi301 in which Marc brought you a quartet of clips from the soundcasts Aristotle Full Throttle, Brilliant Observations, The Jann Arden Podcast, and TheKnuckleheadsPodcast. That episode can still be found over at SuccotashShow.com and wherever soundcasts can be streamed and/or downloaded…except Spotify for the time being and the foreseeable future.
Now, if you wouldn't mind my attempting to explain what I mean by this being a "Very Special Episode" I will begin that now. This is a memorial episode. We have lost a great many comedians in the last year or so. I have chosen to feature three of the recently departed, and  I based my selection process on my personal preference for starters, but mostly on the fact that there's a pretty remarkable photograph that Gilbert Gottfried, who passed away after "a long illness" on April 12, 2022, posted to his Twitter account. It was of him, Louie Anderson, who succumbed to cancer on January 21st of 2022, and Bob Saget, who died due to head trauma earlier that same January on the 9th.There's an article on the Huffington Post about the photo that you can find here.
I was, as many people were, shocked and saddened by the passings of Mr. Anderson and Mr. Saget, but Mr. Gottfried's passing really bummed me the fuck out, and it is still pretty fresh as I write this on the 23rd of April, less than 2 weeks later. When I saw this photograph, along with how understandably eerie it seemed, it inspired me to revisit Mr. Gottfried's podcast which, in turn, inspired me to create this episode that attempts to both celebrate the humor and humanity of these folks, and memorialize them in some fashion.

So, in this episode, I've got clips from The Louie Anderson Podcast, Bob Saget's Here For You, and Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast.
I will be including a classic "Henderson's Pants" spot about something called PC Jeans because it seems like it could the most appropriate choice of the fake ads for our fake sponsor that I have available to me.

I need to point out that I will still be including social media account information after each clip. (Quite a few folks have died with Twitter accounts, many of whom I still follow, and the accounts are usually maintained by people who keep the legacy alive with information about events such as additional materials like unpublished memoirs, final stand-up specials, charities supported, etc.) I will also be providing info to the various charities as I find them. If you know of any additional charities supported by the comedians featured in this episode, feel free to contact the show via the emails which will be mentioned at the end of the program.

Ok, let's get to it and cope with our grief together…

CLIPS

The Louie Anderson Podcast
The Louie Anderson Podcast is a conversation with comedians, entertainers and others about their journey. My featured clips comes from the February 13th, 2015 episode in which The Amazing Johnathan talks magic, Letterman, drugs and his current health situation. (If you'd care to, you can go back into the archives of Succotash to find Episode 95, called "Interfacin' with The Amazing Johnathan" from 2014. Johnathan Szeles and Mr. Hershon had worked on a Merv Griffin game show project in the past called Ruckus which you can definitely find clips of on YouTube.

One charity I found that was supported by Louie with a search on Look To The Stars was Comic Relief, which you can learn more about by visiting https://www.comicrelief.com/

Bob Saget's Here For You
Bob Saget's Here For You is a podcast that is like no other— For one, this podcast has guests who are friends of Bob’s, or just really interesting people who many of you know and love. Secondly, this podcast is unique because it goes inside Bob Saget’s mind, and then quickly filters out through his mouth. Bob has a way of calming people he has conversations with as well as being entertaining and often informative. Bob talks with his guests with genuine empathy and humor, while reaching his unusually diverse audience that he talks to as a friend, Bob is the dad with great advice, the irreverent funny guy who’s always there when you need a laugh, and the free-associative Bob who goes off on crazy tangents then returns to the subject at hand, as serious or as comedic as it may be, to wrap up each episode in a way only Bob can do. Because he really does believe, “He’s here for you." Our clip is from the last episode to post, on Jan 31, 2022, appropriately titled "Final Episode: Dane Cook"

Comedian, actor, and long-time friend Dane Cook joins the podcast for its final episode. Dane shares his journey to the stage, opening up about his battle with social anxiety as a child and how his parents' personalities influenced his acts. Bob and Dane tackle a share of serious subjects, including their memories of the late Robin Williams and Louis Anderson, how pain can develop into great comedy, and Dane's experience having to put his older half-brother in jail. (With a foreword from Bill Burr that was included in the episode posted previous to this with Margaret Cho).

Bob Saget had also been a Board Member of the Sceleroderma Research Foundation since 2003.You can find more information about it at www.srfcure.org

Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast
Comedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried, a man Stephen King once called “a national treasure,” talks with the show business legends, icons and behind-the-scenes talents who shaped his childhood and influenced his comedy. Along with co-host and fellow pop culture fanatic Frank Santopadre, Gilbert is joined by comics, actors, musicians, talk show hosts, writers and other eyewitnesses to Hollywood history, including Bruce Dern, Chevy Chase, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Adam West, Steve Buscemi, Micky Dolenz, Jim Gaffigan, Judd Apatow and DOZENS more, for a funny, frenetic, fly-on-the-wall look at showbiz then and now (but mostly then.)

I snipped this clip from the show that posted April 11th, 2022 - Bob Costas Encore. The GGACP ushers in the start of the 2022 baseball season with this encore of a 2015 interview with Emmy-winning sportscaster, journalist and Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Costas, recorded at the New York Friars Club. Also in this episode: Bob analyzes “Top Cat," imitates Howard Cosell, “interviews” Jack Palance and recites Babe Ruth’s farewell speech. PLUS: "The Million Dollar Movie"! Crazy Guggenheim returns! Rod Steiger emotes! Shirley MacLaine clams up! Gilbert sings the theme from “Underdog”! And the boys praise the under-appreciated genius of Bud Abbott!

In Honor/Memory of Gilbert Gottfried who passed "Too Soon" of Myotonic Dystrophy Type Two: Please consider a donation to the research of this debilitating disease. Donate here: http://giveto.urmc.edu/DM2Research

By show's end I do hope that you find something to enjoy.There are so many soundcasts out there, and none of us could possibly listen to them all. I wonder what the percentage is of comedians that have podcasts? I imagine it is a large percentage. Personally, comedians and musicians are among my favorite classes of people. Aside from loved ones or people that I know well in my actual life, comedians and musicians seem to leave the biggest gaps in the world when they leave us behind. Thankfully, they have a body of work that we can revisit if we were to desire to do so. We can laugh and sing with them until we literally cannot laugh and/or sing anymore for one reason or another, including our own deaths. Most importantly, if you love people or otherwise hold them in high regard, don't miss an opportunity to express the way you feel about them to them. You never know when it will be too late. I don't really have anything new to add as far as those sorts of sentiments go. I just keep on keepin' on because that's what we do. We carry on because we must.

So, tune in next week for Marc Hershon's episode 303 and I will hopefully talk at you in two weeks for Epi304. Until then, be decent to each other, try to stay safe, and if someone asks you if you have heard anything worth listening to lately and we come to mind, don't forget to pass the Succotash…

— Tyson Saner

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Succotash Epi301: 4 Clips to Kick Our 11th Year into Gear!

Greetings, listener! I’ll be your host, Marc Hershon, for Episode 301 of Succotash, the Comedy Soundcast Soundcast, which I’m calling “4 Clips to Kick Our 11th Year into Gear”! Yup. 11 years of snipping clips and chatting up folks from soundcasts or from soundcast-adjacent endeavors.

If you missed last week’s extravaganza for Epi300, featuring both me and my normally every-other-week co-host Tyson Saner literally co-hosting together. We each pulled three clips from the Succotash archives and stitched them together right before your ears, to create a triple—sized episode.

We included: The opening few minutes of the second Succotash test show, guest Phil Leirness (Chillpak Hollywood) meeting Bill Heywatt in a memorable Boozin' with Bill segment, a clip from 2013, and the Smodco Smorning Show, which was the first snippet that Tyson ever snipped for Succotash, the first time I ever had Tyson on the show as a co-host, a clip from a soundcast host by Nardwuar, the Human Serviette, and his guest Japp Blonk, a slice from Episode 173, during the stretch where Tyson had taken the reins as the fulltime host for the show, and his guest Hunter Block, longtime fan, friend, and supporter of Succotash, not to mention the last clip coming from a LIVE Succotash show from Los Angeles, featuring Marc hosting, with guest Dana Carvey, his sons Dex and Tom, and Wayne Federman.

You can get that from our SuccotashShow.com homesite, Apple & Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Audible.com, Amazon Music, Soundcloud, and pretty much everywhere else that soundcasts are streamed and/or downloaded.

But that was LAST week. Now that the celebration and hoopla around our 300th episode is all over, we plow, full steam ahead, into year number eleven doing business as usual. I have a quartet of comedy soundcastery samplage from Aristotle Full Throttle, Brilliant Observations, the Jann Arden Podcast, and The Knuckleheads. There’s one misguided call I’ll play from our Succotash and Runaway Truck Ramp Status Hotline, and the whole kit and kaboodle is brought to you from our fake sponsor Henderson’s Pants’ disgusting DungGarees!

The shit gets real starting NOW.

CLIPS

Aristotle Full Throttle 
First clip out of the bag if, indeed, the clips came in bags, is from Aristotle Full Throttle, hosted by Aristotle Dreher, which I was turned onto when we got a note in the Tweetsack from the man himself which reads: “Hey! Can you please do me a solid and subscribe or share my podcast? It would really help me out and I PROMISE it will make you chuckle.🤘😂  Thank you! 🙏” Your wish is my command, Aristotle! And the “Full Throttle” part is no lie. This gentleman cranks out the content on a daily basis – on his Twitch channel initially, which is then ported over to YouTube, and then into soundcast form. Aristotle is a force of nature! I reached into the whirlwind and grabbed a clip from his March 27th episode, entitled “The Joker Deleted Scene Live Reaction with Special Guest Travis Thompson.” The title refers to a deleted scene from the newest movie featuring Batman, called “the Batman”, starring Robert Pattinson, featuring the Caped Crusader wheeling and dealing with his arch enemy The Joker, who is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum, to get information on The Riddler. The scene was released shortly after the movie came out and I have a link up at the blog piece for this episode at SuccotashShow.com so you can go watch the scene on YouTube (https://youtu.be/FKGhtSCVovo) if you want. It will certainly give this bit of conversation between Aristotle and his guest, filmmaker Travis Thompson, a lot more context.

Brilliant Observations
Next up is Brilliant Observations. Borrowing from the About section on their web page over on Podpage.com, the show is about real friends and is real funny. They also swear a lot. The description goes on: “Join us for unscripted, uncensored, and definitely unsuitable-for-work comedy conversation about relationships, marriage, friendship, sex, hope, parenting and prospering at midlife. It's like grabbing a weekly cocktail with your favorite girlfriends for a candid look at life that lifts you up as it pulls you in. From religion to porn to money, fears, our bodies, our brains, secrets, failures, food, family and finding your path, almost nothing is off-limits (except politics — gross). Longtime friends Melissa Brilliant and Amy Fugazi overshare about everything with the love and trust that only comes from a lifetime of being there for each other. So cut through the fake friends who try to glamorize all the BS masquerading as midlife. We're the bawdy, brutally honest best friends you never knew you had.” Our clip hails from their Epi241 “The Slap Meets The Toe”, which dropped earlier this month. The hosts kick around the slapping incident from the Oscars but then Melissa sidetracks into a vivid description of a personal issue she’s having with one of her toes and Amy is a bit grossed out. As was I. As you will be as well, I’m sure…

The Jann Arden Podcast
Our next clippage comes from a soundcast the originates north of the US border, in Canada. The Jann Arden Podcast is hosted by its namesake, who is a singer-songwriter and actor. She has a couple of ballads she’s well-known for, “Could I Be Your Girl” and “Insensitive”, she’s had more than 10 albums and has appeared in a bunch of TV shows. Her show, The Jann Arden Podcast, is not a comedy soundcast per se, but she’s got a great sense of humor and this clip is from an episode that dropped just last week, on April 15th, and features comedian Rick Mercer. Rick’s also an actor, author, and political satirist but he and Jann get into his new comedy tour that he is just setting off on, the first since COVID restrictions dropped.

The Knuckleheads
Our last featured soundcast this episode is going to be a little challenging for you to find out there in Soundcastland. It’s called TheKnuckleheadsPodcast and that is all run together with no spaces. That will be helpful, because there is another Knuckleheads podcast that a sport-oriented show hosted by NBA vets Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles and it’s been out for a while, so it’s what mostly comes up. Then there’s The Knucklehead Chronicles, hosted by Terry Little, a Spanish-language soundcast called Knuckleheads hosted by Enrique Calavera, The Knucklehead Podcast with Dom Vitalli, the Knuckleheads MMA Podcast with Tim, Jose, and Lee, Knucklehead Hour with Hayden Davis and friends, Shootin’ From the Lip by the 5 Knuckleheads, Cement City Chatter hosted by Three Knuckleheads from Midlo, and there’s also the Knucklehead Media Group, which produces soundcasts like The Sales Prescription Podcast and Expert(ish) Podcast. Compared to all those, THIS Knuckleheads looks like there are only 20 or so episodes in, so it’s a bit harder to get it to come up in a search.
On Apple Podcasts, the numbers for the episode I clipped was listed as, though, so maybe they had a hosting service go down on them and they lost a bunch of back episodes? I dunno. Add to that trying to find a legit website and I was really flailing. Sorry guys. I also couldn’t catch the hosts’ names. They don’t appear anywhere that I looked and at the beginning of the show it sounded like Fanboy and Potato…even though there are supposedly 3 hosts. Here’s the Apple Podcast description of the show: “Theknuckleheadspodcast is a weekly podcast based in Brooklyn NY! offered on Podbean, Apple Podcast and any where you listen to podcast’s. TheKnuckleheads are 3 guys in a room talking everything under the sun! authentic, real, funny and not PC… The best Podcast you never heard of! WELCOME TO THE CONVERSATION.” So you’re going to have to do some digging to learn more but here’s a clip from part of their lively voting on which cereals should be atop the Mt. Rushmore of breakfast cereals.

Tyson Saner will be with you for Episode 302 next week, heading your way via this very feed.

I’ll be back with Episode 303 after that but, until I return, if you’re roller blading down a super steep hill and you happen to whiz by an old man making his way painfully up the hill who gestures frantically for you to stop – which you do – and he points at your ear buds and asks if you’re listening to anything good, won’t you please pass the Succotash?

— Marc Hershon

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Succotash Epi300: 11 Years of Soundcasting!!!

Kind of unbelievable - 300 EPISODES! This jumbo-sized installment of Succotash, the Comedy Soundcast Soundcast, is being perpetrated jointly by your co-hosts Marc Hershon and Tyson Saner, and features a lot of us yakking back and forth about this show's 11 years of bringing you clips from soundcasts and also many, many interviews with comedians, and soundcasts, and comedian-soundcasters.

We each selected three "moments" from the stockpile of shows, including:

• The opening few minutes of the second Succotash test show, before there was a theme, an announcer, or even Henderson's Pants.

• Guest Phil Leirness meeting Bill Heywatt for the first time, live at Stuido P, and participating in a memorable Boozin' with Bill segment.

• A clip from 2013, and the Smodco Smorning Show, which was the first snippet that Tyson ever snipped for Succotash, which led to him becoming first honorary associate producer, then associate producer, and then his ascension to host.

• The first time Marc had Tyson on the show as a co-host, and a clip from a soundcast host by Nardwuar, the Human Serviette, and his guest Japp Blonk.

• A slice from Episode 173, during the stretch where Tyson had taken the reins as the fulltime host for the show, and his guest Hunter Block, longtime fan, friend, and supporter of Succotash

• With the last clip coming from a LIVE Succotash show from Los Angeles, featuring Marc hosting, with guest Dana Carvey, his sons Dex and Tom, and Wayne Federman.

Marc and Tyson talk about the past, the present, and the future…where it turns out that Succotash probably isn't going to sound very much different than it does today. The show, as usual, brought to you by Henderson's Pants, featuring their new Parachute Pants.

Thanks to those who have been with us for all, part, or even one show through all 11 years. Please remember to rate and review the show on Apple or Google Podcasts, and go ahead and subscribe if you're not already doing that.

The next time anyone asks if you're listening to anything good, won't you please remember to pass the Succotash?

— Marc Hershon & Tyson Saner

 

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Succotash Epi299: Martin Olson Goes to Hell

Hello, listener (or listener-to-be…)! If you’re no stranger to this feed, welcome back! If this is all new to you, glad to have you auditing the show. This is Succotash, the Comedy Soundcast Soundcast, and I’m your host, Marc Hershon, for Episode 299, which I’m calling “Martin Olson Goes to Hell.” I’ll tell you why in a moment.

First, I’ll ask if you checked out LAST week’s show, Epi298, entitled “2 Hobbits, 2 Pals, and a Bee”, with my kickass, worldly co-host Tyson Saner. He featured a triad of soundcast clips from the likes of The Friendship Onion, The Deep Dive with Jessica St. Clair and June Diane Raphael, and Full Release with Samantha Bee. You can still tap into the magic at our homesite, SuccotashShow.com, or through any number of soundcast distribution points on the web – including Apple & Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, Soundcloud, YouTube, and Audible.com.

So, back to the title of this show. Why does Martin Olson go to hell? Martin is a longtime writer of comedy and television and assorted other bits and pieces of fun and frolic but I wanted to get him on to talk about the latest and second installment in his trilogy, The Encyclopedia of Hell II: The Conquest of Heaven. The first volume, Volume 1, is subtitled An Invasion Manual for Demons. Yes. Dig it! These books are funny, crammed with humor and incredible weirdness – it’s basically a set of instructions from Satan on how to take over everything.

The second book came out recently and, as you’ll hear, Martin and I have known each other in a kind of peripheral way for years through our mutual network of comedian friends. So I Zoomed him up for a chat and we get a some of his background and a whole wonderful download about how The Encyclopedia of Hell came to be – and peek into the third volume, which is still making its way out of Martin’s head. You can find both volumes up on Amazon, and links to them our our SuccotashShow.com homesite.

Sponsoring this week, as usual, is Henderson’s Pants,, who are re-introducing – just in time for Spring Break – their Wake Island Abbreviated Trousers!

Thanks again to Martin Olson for the chat. A little free from and all over the map – the kind of conversation that happens when you know so many people in common and have so many things in common that you sometimes wander all over the place. We’ll have him back and get into some of the TV shows he written for, where some of his other adventures have taken him, and where his roots are. I know, I know, that’s where you’re supposed to start. Oh, well. Hope you enjoyed it – I sure did!

This is Episode 299 as I mentioned at the top, which means our next show is our 300th episode!!! What does that mean? What do we have in store? Here’s the deal for next week’s Episode 300, celebrating our 11th year of doing this show: At least, Deal #1 is that we will have a special guest join us and the one we have in mind was also this show’s very first in-studio guest way back at the beginning. BUT I have to call him and make sure he’s available on short notice. If that bombs out, it will be Deal #2: Tyson and I will flashback to a few of our favorite clips from the past 11 years of doing this show. Either way, you’re getting both hosts for the price of one, so don’t forget to join right here in this feed for Succotash Epi300!

Until next time, if you should happen to be walking down the street and fall head first into an open manhole, just try to remember if the EMTs that rescued you just happen to ask if you were listening to anything fun, won’t you please pass the Succotash?

— Marc Hershon

Check out this episode!