Succotash Epi322: Interesting Behaviors

There you are! Right on time. I just got here myself, actually. Yes, it’s me, Marc Hershon, creator, executive producer, and your host for this Episode 322 of Succotash, the Comedy Soundcast Soundcast. And what does that mean? Our main focus is to shine a favorable light on the world of comedy soundcast – or podcasts, if you insist – usually by playing clips of a variety of shows but sometimes by chatting with fellow soundcasters or other people in the business of show.

When I say “we”, that’s not the royal “we”, I’m referring to myself and my kindly, well-versed co-host Tyson Saner. Unlike traditional co-hosts, Tyson and I don’t often appear together on our episodes. Instead, we’ve found that we can crank out these shows every week if we divide and conquer the task of listening to soundcasts and clipping out bite-sized segments to share with you.

Last week, for example, Tyson was hosting Epi321, entitled “Summer Close-Out Clips” and dealt out a trio of clips from Last Week on Earth with Ben Gleib, Best Friends Back, Alright!, and The Fckry with Leslie Jones and Lenny Marcus. In case you were somewhere last week where soundcasts aren’t available, you can still get Episode 321 at a wide array of soundcast distribution points – including Apple & Google Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeart Radio, PodBay, Podchaser and, of course, always on our homesite at SuccotashShow.com, where you’ll find our entire archive of 11 and a half years of shows.

As for this week’s show, which I’m calling “Interesting Behaviors”, I’ve got clips from My Neighbors Are Dead, The Doug Stanhope Podcast, Sarah Halstead’s Drinking During Business Hours, and Were You Raised By Wolves? This episode is brought to you by our fictitious, non-paying sponsor Henderson’s Pants and their seasonally appropriate Leaf Behind Pants. I’ve also got the TweetSack, where we acknowledge folks that has used our @Succotashshow handle in their socials – during which, by the way, I’ll be reading an actual email which we just go in. And there’s even a call into our Succotash & Runaway Truck Hotline we’ll get to today.

CLIPS

My Neighbors Are Dead
The last time we checked in with the soundcast called My Neighbors Are Dead was a little over a hundred episodes ago, when Tyson clipped it in Epi219. I actually reviewed the show back in 2017 for the then-Splitsider.com and a quote from my review is STILL up on their homesite at MyNeighborsAreDead.com, where I wrote, “I wish I’d thought of that!” And I do. The brainfever of Adam Peacock, MNAD chats up the lesser known characters from scary movies. He’s had a lot of comics and others pop in to voice the horror movie side characters, but recently Patton Oswalt (who I SWEAR I will get in front of the Succotash mics one of these days) was on as truck dispatcher Frank Ludd and his take on one of his company’s hapless drivers, Ed, who made the mistake of stopping to pick up a “hippie chick” as he put it, and barely escaped with his life. Our clip covers how part of it went down…

Sarah Halstead’s Drinking During Business Hours
Normally Tyson and I come across the soundcasts we clip pretty much the same way you and people you know might: We scan the scads and scads of shows that are out there and we see what captures our fancy about one show or another. Sometimes it’s a familiar name or face, occasionally it’s shows that share a similar theme, and often it’s a bit of a crap shoot. There are plenty that I’ve listened to that I just end up not finding a viable clip. Or the sound quality’s off. Or whatever. In the case of this next clip, however, it was a comedian buddy of mine, Rich Chassler, and the surprise announcement via his socials that he had proposed to comedian Sarah Halstead. That’s when I learned that in addition to soon becoming the future Mrs. Chassler – I don’t know if she’s actually changing her name – that she’s also the host of Sarah Halstead’s Drinking During Business Hours. Her usual M.O. on the show is to crack open a bottle of vino and kick back with what she called a ‘diverse line of creatives about their fife’s journey, passions, and what might lead them to drink during business hours.” In this case, after having taken a couple week off from dropping new episodes, Sarah is back this week for Episode 47 and her guest is the future Mister Halstead…Rich Chassler.

The Doug Stanhope Podcast
We’re going to revisit another show and this one we haven’t clipped since 2013. It’s The Doug Stanhope Show with the titular Doug Stanhope. Truly an original comedy voice, Doug also take a great interest in the folks he talks to and recently for his 499th episode back in August he invited comedian Kristine Levine into his studio, affectionately called the The Funhouse, in Bisbee, Arizona. Entitled “Kristine’s Wad of Gum is Cancer”, they get into her bout with and upcoming operation for stomach cancer. Our clip is from early in the show, when Kristine talks about her wait problem and other issues. (There’s a GoFundMe for Kristine. And Doug Stanhope has a new audio book out on Audible.com called “No Encore For The Donkey”.)

Were You Raised By Wolves?
Our last clip this week deals with the idea of etiquette and how to handle yourself mixed company. Hosts Nick Leighton and Leah Bonnema have a virtual grab bag of sticky social situations and they break out some usually pretty practical advice how to deal with stuff. Their episode from last week was called “High Tea, Overcoming Terrible Handwriting, Tipping for Gas in new Jersey, and More”, and the clip I’ve snipped deals with a few of the finer points of auto etiquette.

If you’d like to write to me or my co-host Tyson Saner, it’s SO easy! Just email me at [email protected] or Tyson at [email protected] and who knows? We may read YOUR email on the show!

Remember to catch my partner in soundcasting, Tyson Saner, in this same feed next week for episode 323.

Oh, and I almost forgot! I’m appearing on an episode of the Legal Geeks soundcast this week. Not sure when it drops but that’s show show with real lawyers, headed up by friend-of-the-Succotash and past guest Josh Gilliland and Jessica Mederson, talking about legal issues that crop up in comic books, movies, and other not-real-world situations. They did an episode about last week’s fifth episode of She-Hulk on the Disney Channel when the main character gets sued by her nemesis, Titania, for infringing on the She-Hulk trademark. Since I actually work in the branding business when I’m not clipping soundcasts, I got called in as a kind of “expert witness” as the legal eagles batted that case around.

Okay, last thing: The next time you’re at the grocery store and you find yourself reaching for the last bottle of Clamato juice at the same time as someone, look ‘em square in the eye and ask: “Have you heard anything good lately?” If their answer is “No”, `won’t you please pass the Succotash?

— Marc Hershon

Other than that, if you find yourself pushing a cart down the aisle in your neighborhood grocery store and a kindly senior citizen is heading your way from the other end of the aisle and stops you to ask, “Have you heard anything good lately?”, won’t you please

pass the Succotash?

 

• Marc Hershon