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to do at mintmobile.com. Long

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only to have that awkward conversation

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medical insurance to receive care or

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prescription medication. Hey,

1:32

what's up everybody? It's Mark Gagliardi, The

1:34

Voice of Croach, and others from the

1:37

Thrilling Adventure Hour. When Thrilling Adventure Hour

1:39

ended, its original run in 2015, Hal

1:41

Lublin and I, were not done making

1:44

each other laugh on podcast. So we

1:46

started one of our own, called We

1:48

Got This, with Mark and Hal, where

1:50

we, and frequently our celebrity buddies, will

1:53

settle life's little arguments like Star Trek

1:55

versus Star Wars. You know, the important

1:57

stuff. Well, after nine years and

1:59

over five. fun network. We are

2:01

finally settling our most frequently requested

2:03

topic. What is the best? Thrilling

2:05

Adventure Hour segment. And who better

2:07

to do it with than the

2:09

creators of the Thrilling Adventure Hour?

2:11

Ben Acker and Ben Blacker. And

2:14

we're better to do it than

2:16

right here on the Thrilling Adventure

2:18

Hour feed. So thank you for

2:20

letting us jump on the Thrilling

2:22

Adventure Hour feed. So thank you

2:24

for letting us jump onto the

2:26

Thrilling Adventure Hour feed. I am

2:28

under onus to you for indulging

2:30

us. Also, we know you will have

2:32

opinions about family during our... Max Fund

2:34

drive at maximum fun.org/join make sure you

2:36

tick the box that says we got

2:39

this with Mark and Hal that's how

2:41

we get your support. Also the thrilling

2:43

adventure hours going on tour that's right

2:45

after our shows this coming weekend March

2:48

29th at the lodge room in LA

2:50

and then March 30th at WonderCon free

2:52

for badge holders we're doing a panel

2:54

we're hitting the road and hitting Chicago

2:57

in April we are going to the

2:59

Bell House in Brooklyn once again our

3:01

New York home on October 25th Then

3:03

on November 1st, we're across the pond

3:06

in London at the Lester Square Theatre,

3:08

just a few tickets left for that

3:10

show. We will see you on the

3:12

road in the theaters or at the

3:14

conventions and enjoy this episode of We

3:17

Got This with Mark and Hal. Hello,

3:19

I'm Hal Lublin. And I'm Mark Gagliardi.

3:21

Since the dawn of humanity, one issue

3:23

has gone unsettled. With the fate of

3:25

the world in the balance, we're here

3:27

to settle once and for all. Best

3:30

Thrilling Adventure Adventure segment.

3:33

That's right, don't worry

3:35

everyone. We got this.

3:38

Parkas should have a theme

3:40

song. Parkas should not have

3:42

a theme song. Yes, they

3:44

should. No, they shouldn't. They

3:46

sound good. Yeah, but people

3:49

are just going to skip

3:51

past debt. Hmm. You know

3:53

what? You're right. We got

3:55

this. Best Thrilling Adventure

3:58

Hour segment. Best Through the

4:01

Adventure Hour segment. Hey, happy Max Fun

4:03

Drive Hal. Happy Max Fun Drive to

4:05

you and to everybody listening who should

4:08

be going to maximum fun.org/join right now

4:10

to become a member or booster upgrade.

4:12

We'll wait. Thank you for doing it.

4:15

That's how fast it happened. Don't worry.

4:17

We're going to keep mentioning it. This

4:19

Max Fun Drive seems to have become

4:21

just by happenstance, thematically episodes that we've

4:24

avoided. Yes. Our bonus content is all

4:26

of the topics that we never used

4:28

over the last 10 years. We did

4:30

a super fast version of that as

4:33

bonus content. We're doing what's the best

4:35

swear word, another episode that we have

4:37

avoided in that this show generally plays

4:39

clean. And another one we've avoided because

4:42

it feels like just patting ourselves on

4:44

the back and naval gazing and all

4:46

other metaphors for that thing is best

4:49

thrilling adventure hour segment. But it's the

4:51

thing people have asked for over and

4:53

over and over. again in the last

4:55

10 years. Because a lot of people

4:57

who certainly the core audience we

5:00

started with all came over from

5:02

the Thrilling Adventure Hour and more

5:04

people when they come in and

5:06

are Thrilling Adventure Hour listeners or

5:08

have since found the show and

5:10

started listening to it. So it's

5:12

time to finally do this one.

5:14

Do it for Max Fun Drive

5:16

and force the creators of the

5:18

Thrilling Adventure Hour, Ben Acker

5:21

and Ben Blacker, to do it

5:23

with us. Hello gentlemen. Striking? Maybe

5:25

they're not here. We don't know.

5:27

Yeah. Oh my gosh. I swear if

5:29

you guys do this the whole time.

5:32

Did you guys plan this? Hi

5:34

guys. Oh, there we are. I really

5:36

got so worried that you were going

5:38

to make us do it. Hi guys.

5:41

Hi Akker and Blacker. Nice to see

5:43

you guys. Always. Always. A

5:45

pleasure. Will you? Do, it's so funny

5:47

to be the ones on this side of

5:49

asking you to do this, but for those

5:52

who for some reason are listening and may

5:54

not know, give a short version of what

5:56

the Thrilling Adventure Hour is. Sure. The Thrilling

5:58

Adventure Hour is a... a stage show

6:00

kind of in the style of

6:02

old-time radio that the four of

6:04

us have been doing for 20

6:06

years. Yeah, yeah. We have a

6:08

20th anniversary logo. Yeah, we have

6:10

show, if you're listening to this

6:12

during the drive, we've still got

6:14

the LA show there may be

6:16

tickets left. We've got Chicago coming

6:18

up, New York and London. We're

6:20

going to be doing panels in

6:22

there. Who knows what else will

6:24

pop up. But it is, it

6:26

is kind of nice to do

6:28

this. It's the 10th anniversary of

6:30

we got this, the 20th anniversary

6:32

of the 20th anniversary of the

6:34

Thrilling Adventure Hour. And there are

6:36

tons of different segments, some of

6:38

which made it to podcast. Oh

6:40

no wait, Desdemona Hughes, that one

6:42

made it out too? Desdemona Hughes

6:45

made it out. Oh so everything

6:47

has been committed. People who are

6:49

listeners to the Thrilly Adventure Hour

6:51

have heard, likely, all of the

6:53

different segments. I was just thinking

6:55

back to the early attempts to

6:57

try to record it. So I think

6:59

we tried to record it probably

7:01

around 2008. Maybe even a little

7:03

bit earlier, you would try to

7:05

get recordings when we were doing

7:07

it at a small supper club

7:09

called the M-bar, and then those

7:11

didn't go through. But it's like

7:13

the energy of those shows are

7:15

like lost to history, which is

7:17

interesting, because it's for people who

7:19

came to see the show month

7:21

after month, it was really like

7:23

the two of you figuring out

7:25

what the format was. Agar? Some

7:27

of those got put out over

7:29

the course of time. We had

7:31

one month that got properly recorded,

7:33

so we were able to... as

7:35

like bonus content or along the

7:37

way, like people were able to

7:39

hear our Hamburg-German-style origins. And also

7:41

in moving to the next venue,

7:43

when we moved to Largo, we

7:45

were able to apply years of

7:47

experience writing the show to those

7:49

original pieces. So in some form

7:51

or another, they've heard, I think

7:53

all we've had. Right, because it

7:55

was kind of, there was a soft

7:58

reboot when we moved over to

8:00

Largo, right? Yeah. I'll also say

8:02

there is video that exists from

8:04

those first few. years, maybe as

8:06

early as the second or third

8:08

show that we ever did in

8:10

2005, we've made some of it

8:12

available to our patron subscribers, which

8:14

is over at patreon.com/thrilling adventure hour,

8:16

I think. But like, it was

8:18

fun sort of digging through the

8:20

archives and seeing what we could

8:22

give those folks. And yeah, there's

8:24

some old audio, there's some old

8:26

video. It was 20 years ago,

8:28

guys. It's amazing. Yeah. We were

8:30

babies. The video like the because

8:32

I have these videos and I

8:34

love these videos of the I

8:36

think was yeah was the second

8:38

show from that one onward and

8:40

but. I was like, man, you're

8:42

not film, you're not supposed to

8:44

fade, why is all the color

8:46

so muted? It's like, do digital

8:48

videos, if you leave a digital

8:50

video on the same spot too

8:52

long, it does that like war,

8:54

war thing. We'll tackle best video format

8:56

in the next episode. Yes, great.

8:58

It was just that it was

9:00

so low-fi there. Like the lighting

9:02

wasn't great, it was just hard

9:04

to shoot. Yeah, exactly. At what

9:06

point... Because I remember early on

9:08

we had like Derek Hughes doing

9:10

presto Prescott the preeminent professor press

9:12

the digitation I think was his

9:14

title so he would do like

9:16

a full blown magic act for

9:18

radio but but actually for a

9:20

live audience because it was just

9:22

a stage show at that point

9:24

but as it changed over time

9:26

that never made it to podcast

9:28

that never made it to podcast

9:30

nor did my filling in for

9:32

him and doing a fake magic

9:34

act right around the audience which

9:36

was fantastic yeah Too bad suckers!

9:38

Oh gosh, you guys, you really

9:40

should have seen this. It was

9:42

pretty amazing. I mean, as the

9:44

bits go, it was easily the

9:46

best. Easily. Yeah. I'm curious at

9:48

what point do you two feel

9:50

like you kind of nailed down

9:52

the format you wanted to use that

9:55

we did for the majority of

9:57

the run? I think it was

9:59

the six month, honestly. way more

10:01

theater of the mind. The mess

10:03

that was providing the sound guy

10:05

at Mbar with CDs that had

10:07

sound effects and scoring stuff and

10:09

hoping some of it aligned. Was

10:11

that what CDs was what you

10:13

guys were using? Yeah. Oh wow.

10:15

Yeah, burned things from the internet

10:17

and from like, just, you know,

10:19

scoring that we liked from other

10:21

things. And it was, it was

10:23

messy, it was messy. And then

10:25

when we got Joel Spence, Mm-hmm.

10:27

Sound effects, Joe. Sort of within

10:29

those first six months, like the

10:31

cast solidified Hal, you and Annie

10:33

came in, Craig came in, the

10:35

sound effects were solidified with Joel,

10:37

and the Andy Paley Orchestra started

10:39

within those first six months. Yeah.

10:41

with a spark's theme and some

10:43

spark songs. And that's when Gruber

10:45

brought Paley to see the show

10:47

and go, they don't have a

10:49

music guy, do you want to

10:51

be that music guy? So we started

10:53

having a teeny tiny orchestra and

10:55

sound effects. And we knew like

10:57

we figured out to play for

10:59

comedy and not for theater of

11:01

the mind. And the cast solidified

11:03

and the audience was coming out.

11:05

Yeah. It was very much a

11:07

that all, it was a cool

11:09

alchemy of all of all of

11:11

those things coming together. And also

11:13

some things that felt like the

11:15

name, the Andy Paley Orchestra, really

11:18

was just called that because it

11:20

was a tiny group on a

11:22

stage. Right. Like that's, the name

11:24

came about because of the ridiculousness

11:26

of it being that size, which

11:28

I love. Yes, at the time

11:30

it was called The Thrilling Adventure

11:32

in Supernatural Suspense Hour. When did

11:34

that drop? I forgot the bad

11:36

one. When we moved to Largo,

11:38

we got to take away the...

11:40

The name that was a funny

11:42

joke, but hard to remember. Yeah.

11:44

Back when it was called Tashish.

11:46

Yeah. Who could forget? Now I

11:48

was going to say when it locked

11:50

in at that like six month

11:52

mark, I always felt. like we

11:54

all knew we had something really

11:56

special that we were doing. And

11:58

it's, I'm glad that we finally

12:00

got recordings that work that were

12:02

able to get out there because

12:04

obviously the fact that we can

12:06

still do the show 20 years

12:08

later is a big deal and

12:10

it blows my mind that there

12:12

are people who are very big

12:14

fans of the show who have

12:16

maybe only listened to Sparks or

12:18

only listened to Beyond Belief or

12:20

Laserbeam or what have you who...

12:22

have never seen the show. I

12:24

always think of that as like

12:26

that's not the way the show's

12:28

meant to be digested. There's a

12:30

whole conceit to it where you

12:32

come in and it feels a

12:34

little bit like you're watching a

12:36

radio show being recorded, but really

12:38

it's a we're playing to you,

12:40

but also stuff that's going to

12:42

work for the audience and then

12:44

being able to hear. people who

12:46

are listening at home hearing where the

12:49

laughs are and hearing those pauses

12:51

when something physical is happening or

12:53

the gasp when Croach dies on

12:55

stage and Mark throws himself into

12:57

it like that there's no better

12:59

advertisement for trying to come see

13:01

the show live which was almost

13:03

impossible in LA because we just

13:05

had people who would come every

13:07

month because they loved it. Yeah,

13:09

we were really lucky, you know,

13:11

we got enough word, I think

13:13

we figured out what the show

13:15

was early enough and we got

13:17

enough good word of mouth that

13:19

we, you know, started selling out

13:21

that small venue, then we started

13:23

selling out multiple shows at that

13:25

small venue. So we moved to

13:27

Largo and we started podcasting in

13:29

2010, which was pretty early for

13:31

podcasting. Yeah. And I remember, like,

13:33

we didn't know if anyone was

13:35

listening. We didn't, like, the show

13:37

was a live experience, and the

13:39

people experiencing the show through podcast

13:41

did not experience it in the

13:43

same way. So the first time

13:45

we went to New York, which I

13:47

just pulled up some of those

13:49

emails because I was looking for

13:51

something, and Paul F. Tompkins, who

13:53

has been part of the show

13:55

from the beginning, and John Hodgman,

13:57

who had guessed it, or he

13:59

liked the show and wanted to

14:01

bring us to New York, were

14:03

convincing me that this show will

14:05

play in New York. Don't worry.

14:07

Like you don't have to get

14:09

Stephen Colbert to be a guest

14:11

star in it. People will come

14:13

because the show is the star.

14:15

And I didn't know. like we

14:17

didn't know how it would go

14:19

and like Mark Evan Jackson tells

14:21

this story about the first time

14:23

we played and the Antpaley Orchestra

14:25

started playing the Sparks Nevada theme

14:27

song and the crowd went crazy

14:29

and they started singing along and

14:31

Jackson was back sitting we were

14:33

standing backstage and he was like

14:35

thank God like he could breathe

14:37

a sigh of relief they know

14:39

who we are we don't have

14:42

to sell the show to them

14:44

we can just all have a good

14:46

time and it's been that ever

14:48

since. Yeah, the gauge is always

14:50

the pow for me, right? When

14:52

it gets to that point in

14:54

the Sparks Nevada theme song, when

14:56

the whole crowd goes, pow, that's

14:58

when I look out and, and

15:00

you can see, and when it's

15:02

a sea of fists that go

15:04

up in the air. But I

15:06

was going to say also, like,

15:08

and Hal alluded to this, the

15:10

people who have only listened to

15:12

the podcast and not seen the

15:14

live show, haven't experienced the show.

15:16

in what it fully is, right?

15:18

Because part of the fun of

15:20

the show is these multiple segments,

15:22

you know, each section is a

15:24

genre comedy story. And usually there

15:26

are three segments in a show,

15:28

in a live show, and for

15:30

folks listening to the podcast, like

15:32

you say, maybe they've only heard

15:34

sparks or maybe they've only heard

15:36

beyond belief. I think it's a

15:38

different animal when you're kind of

15:40

along for that ride. And you've

15:42

also got the commercials in between as

15:44

well. to fill in the gaps

15:46

and give little, you know, palate

15:48

cleansers between. It seems to me

15:51

like, and tell me if I'm

15:53

way off base with this, it

15:55

seems like the segments that are

15:57

podcasted are the singles and the

15:59

live show is the concept album.

16:01

You know what I mean? That's

16:03

what we always said. That's how

16:05

we feel. Yeah. This feels like

16:07

a two-horse race basically between Beyond

16:09

Belief and Sparks. Those are the

16:11

two far and away. most popular.

16:13

There may be another one that

16:15

sneaks in there. I can't imagine

16:17

it. So hollerheads. Yeah, some hollerheads.

16:19

Absolutely. Is there a segment for

16:21

each of you? I'd love to

16:23

hear. I'll start with you, Akker.

16:25

That is a... favorite of yours

16:27

that is not one of those

16:29

two and what is it about

16:31

that segment that makes it favorite?

16:33

Hal, thanks for asking. You're welcome.

16:35

The silly answer is that like

16:37

really most of the time whatever

16:39

I'm writing at the moment is

16:41

my favorite thing. It's just like how

16:43

it's a cop out. No, bummer

16:45

leaf and sparks are the best.

16:47

Sure. And for different reasons, right?

16:49

Like some of the fun of

16:51

Sparks is getting to arc out

16:53

a multi-episodes serialized thing and part

16:55

of the fun of beyond belief

16:57

is never doing that, you know?

16:59

But still maintaining a long memory,

17:01

like the lure of beyond belief

17:03

allows you to bring characters back

17:05

even if it's not a full,

17:07

you know, there aren't necessarily full

17:09

arcs, but the Henderson's were there

17:11

a bunch. Like, there have been

17:13

a whole bunch of different characters

17:15

that have shown up multiple times.

17:17

to create sort of a fuller

17:19

world. But is there actor I'm

17:21

going to press you just give

17:23

me one that's not the two

17:25

of them and that's the right

17:27

answer by the way whatever you're

17:29

working on the moment should be

17:31

your favorite you should obviously there's

17:33

still a joy in writing and

17:35

I know how excited you get

17:37

when you break something or come

17:39

up with a solve but outside of

17:42

those two segments what is a

17:44

favorite of yours what comes to

17:46

mind when I ask that and

17:48

why I might be a hollerhead.

17:50

Dialogue of any of the pieces.

17:52

It's that the beautiful dumb of

17:54

taking 30 words to say a

17:56

two-word Sentence it's a joy to

17:58

watch you how and Craig together

18:00

like that chemistry is fantastic like

18:02

the It's it's sublimely silly. There

18:04

was an episode that was we

18:06

decided to do it my amic

18:08

pentimeter. Oh, we all remember that

18:10

I was just about to bring

18:12

it up So great meanest thing

18:14

you ever did but also one

18:16

of the best it was great

18:18

like what a great chat like

18:20

what it was so fun first

18:22

of all just to perform any

18:24

of it. Before you get to

18:26

your hand, let me just say,

18:28

let me just say, I'm excited

18:30

to do it. It was daunting

18:32

and exciting and I was looking

18:34

forward to the process but also

18:36

anticipating being terrible at it. Blacker

18:38

went on a flight, cross-country flight and

18:40

landed and it was done. He

18:42

did all of the heavy lifting.

18:44

It was my favorite thing I've

18:46

ever written. It was all over

18:48

that page. It was it's non-repeatable.

18:50

It was a confluence of events

18:52

that led to being able to

18:54

write that episode. What was the

18:56

confluence of events? Yeah. I was.

18:58

still teaching high school at the

19:00

time, and I was teaching Macbeth,

19:02

I believe. So I was living

19:04

with that language in my head

19:06

all the time and constantly talking

19:08

about it. And Ben and I

19:10

were also super into Deadwood, which

19:12

was currently running. So we were

19:15

watching that, and that flight was,

19:17

I was teaching in Italy. for

19:19

the summer. And so I had

19:21

flown to Italy and my wife

19:23

was, she was like a week

19:25

behind me. And so I flew

19:27

out and I sat in this

19:29

coffee shop every morning and wrote

19:31

this, wrote this episode because all

19:33

of that stuff was swirling in

19:35

my brain and then sent it off

19:37

to him. I have the mythology

19:39

wrong. In my head, you were

19:41

clapping out the syllables. being in

19:43

a place where I didn't speak

19:45

the language. Like I could only

19:47

order a coffee, but otherwise I

19:49

was really on my own. Yeah.

19:51

And so all I had was

19:53

the language in my head. Yeah.

19:55

It's maybe my favorite single episode

19:57

of anything in this. It just,

19:59

it's, yeah, it is a whole

20:01

other thing. Right. Yeah. It was

20:03

like acting camp. Because it's so

20:05

well written. Everything you guys write

20:07

is great. And you have a

20:09

group of actors that sort of

20:11

get. like the shorthand of what

20:13

you think is funny and the

20:15

deliveries are not obvious but like

20:17

you just like we're in the

20:19

for those rhythms, so to have

20:21

something like that, let's throw iambic

20:23

pentameter on top of it. And

20:25

there are easily like dramatic moments

20:27

that we don't quite hit over

20:29

melodrama. Like now, can you play

20:31

this, like an actual piece of

20:33

Shakespeare? I loved that challenge because it

20:36

felt like a, like, oh, I

20:38

can, if I've done this, I've

20:40

leveled up somehow internally. You guys

20:42

all killed it genuinely. Like, it

20:44

really was a fun episode. Blacker.

20:46

outside of those two heavy hitters

20:48

that is a favorite that comes

20:50

to mind when I ask that

20:52

question. I have, especially in the

20:54

past few years, really loved writing

20:56

Captain Laserbeam and watching Captain Laserbeam,

20:58

honestly. Like it is because Sparks

21:00

can, is actually a very, it's

21:02

deceptively deep, it's very much about

21:04

the character and the changes this

21:06

character goes through. And because beyond

21:08

belief really just plays with tropes

21:10

more than anything else. Laserbeam feels

21:12

very freeing to write. There are

21:14

more parameters to it. There's a

21:16

kind of a set structure to

21:18

it, but within those parameters, the

21:20

only job is to make each

21:22

other and then you guys laugh.

21:24

And when we do that, it's

21:26

worthwhile. Well that I think is

21:28

so great about that. Like you

21:30

said within those parameters trying to

21:32

make us laugh it's pretty easy with

21:34

the parameters you've set up knowing

21:36

that frequently it's there's going to

21:38

be an amazing list and there's

21:40

going to be some sort of

21:42

high drama with the adventure cathears.

21:44

Those two categories alone the details

21:46

inside them are always so fun.

21:48

I love the adventure cathears. I

21:50

love finding like the dumbest thing

21:52

that they take so seriously. Oh,

21:54

it's so fun for their whatever

21:56

relationship they have between them. And

21:58

then, like, honestly, part of the

22:00

fun, especially lately of Captain Laser

22:02

Beam, is using Hal as Philip

22:04

Fathommore because he's such a funny...

22:06

serious character in this very silly

22:08

world, like putting, you know, Nolan's

22:10

Batman into a cartoon. It's really

22:12

fun. Yeah, the, one of the

22:14

best gifts I ever received professionally

22:16

and personally was Christopher Maloney not

22:18

be able to make rehearsal in

22:20

San Francisco, because I don't, I

22:22

don't know that he comes back

22:24

otherwise, or I don't know that

22:26

it would be me. But yeah,

22:28

I love that character and I

22:30

love the Christmas episode you wrote that's

22:33

the night before Christmas with that.

22:35

Another, like, let's, here's the challenge

22:37

of, this is the night before

22:39

Christmas, but it is a superhero

22:41

caper about Philip Fathom learning the

22:43

true meaning of family. Yeah. Those

22:45

are two great ones. I mean,

22:47

Mark, are there any that you

22:49

want to throw out there that

22:51

you love that are little segments?

22:53

There are, but we're going to

22:55

take a quick pledge break and

22:57

we'll be right back and talk

22:59

more about these middle segments. Until

23:01

then, let's talk more about the

23:03

Max Fun Drive, shall we? We'll

23:05

be right back. Can you do

23:07

that like brain games? What's that?

23:09

Do it like brain games? What's

23:11

brain games? Mix fun drive is

23:13

almost over. You didn't watch brain

23:15

games on HBO? No. I think

23:17

I may have a few times,

23:19

but there were so many of

23:21

those, there were so many educational

23:23

shows on HBO when we were

23:25

kids. Yeah. Yeah. That was a

23:27

big one. Encyclopedia. I loved encyclopedia.

23:29

Whenever I think of things being sad

23:31

and over. That's what I think.

23:33

So I think. Max fun drive.

23:35

is almost over, but there's still

23:37

time left. Now you're making me

23:39

sadder, Hal. Yeah, there is still

23:41

time left. Max Fund Drive ends

23:43

on Friday, March 28th. This is

23:45

the second week of Max Fund

23:48

Drive. You know what? This is

23:50

our ninth Max Fund drive together?

23:52

It is. Wow, because that's the

23:54

thing. We live in Los Angeles,

23:56

and there's really no concept of

23:58

time, because the weather never really

24:00

changes visibly all that much. True.

24:02

Nine years, man. This has been

24:04

so fun. And it's all because

24:06

of the membership that has come

24:08

through and supported our show and

24:10

become members at the $5 a

24:12

month level or upgraded it to

24:14

10 or even boosted from a

24:16

$5 a month level. All of

24:18

that support is why we've been

24:20

doing this show for nine years,

24:22

brother, almost 10. Unbelievable. And that's

24:24

why we've been doing this show

24:26

for nine cycles of Max Fun

24:28

Drive. Plus? Yeah,

24:30

plus. It's almost 10 years. If

24:32

you're listening to this, you're not

24:34

familiar with Max Fun Drive, maximum

24:36

fun network is a listener supported

24:38

network. And that means the current

24:40

contributions set up through your membership

24:42

are what supports and keeps our

24:44

show going. And all it takes

24:46

is $5 a month. And during

24:49

our drive, there are all sorts

24:51

of cool gifts you get for

24:53

that. you get bonus content at

24:55

higher levels you get pins there's

24:57

all sorts of fun stuff for

24:59

you but the most important thing

25:01

the greatest gift you can take

25:03

away from this is knowing that

25:05

art you care about gets to

25:07

keep going because of your support

25:09

that's the greatest gift you can

25:11

get from any of this everything

25:13

else is awesome but really the

25:15

way you feel when you take

25:17

ownership in something that you love

25:20

that comes to you free of

25:22

charge every week anyway that's something

25:24

that I always struggle to really

25:26

describe, but I always think it's

25:28

important to say it because people

25:30

who are members would tell you

25:32

themselves how good it feels to

25:34

be an even deeper part of

25:36

the community maximum fun and the

25:38

community of our show. We got

25:40

this with Mark and Hal and

25:42

it lets us do all sorts

25:44

of things, including continuing to produce

25:46

the show on a weekly basis.

25:48

Yeah, I hear what you're saying

25:50

how because right now we are

25:53

living through interesting times and quite

25:55

often our money is being spent

25:57

on things that we don't know

25:59

how our money is being spent

26:01

and in some ways we wouldn't

26:03

like how our money is being

26:05

spent. This is the most direct

26:07

way you can say this is

26:09

what I want to support it

26:11

as directly as possible. So I'm

26:13

going to become a member of

26:15

a worker-owned co-op. That's the beauty

26:17

of Max Fun. You know how

26:19

the Green Bay Packers are owned

26:21

by the fans? Max Fun is

26:24

kind of the Green Bay Packers.

26:26

of the podcast world. And I

26:28

really love that. It means we

26:30

don't have corporate overlords. How? Nobody's

26:32

telling us, hey, we're going to

26:34

shelve this episode because of XYZ

26:36

advertiser. No, you can't say this,

26:38

we're going to move this. No,

26:40

we're making the show we want

26:42

to make. And it's because of

26:44

the membership of maximum fun. Really,

26:46

it's because of all of the

26:48

people of the world who listen.

26:50

and all of the people of

26:52

the world who listened to We

26:54

Got This on behalf of that

26:57

wonderful brilliant kind, smart, funny, argumentative

26:59

group. May I say to the

27:01

membership of Maximum Fun, thank you

27:03

for making this show possible for

27:05

all of us to listen to.

27:07

If you are in a position

27:09

where you can jump from listener

27:11

of the show to member who

27:13

helps everyone listen to the show

27:15

every week, visit Maximum fun.org/join and

27:17

make sure you check the box

27:19

that says we got this. That's

27:21

right. We please join us as

27:23

a member. Please, that's not an

27:25

aggressive, but it actually was loving.

27:28

maximum fun.org/join. You can become a

27:30

member for the first time. You

27:32

can upgrade your membership for new

27:34

gifts or you can boost if

27:36

that is what you're capable of

27:38

doing at the moment. It's also

27:40

a great time for those who

27:42

are upgrading or boosting or boosting

27:44

to update to update or to

27:46

update those who are upgrading or

27:48

boosting to update the shows that

27:50

they listen to. You absolutely are

27:52

the ones that make this show

27:54

possible with your support. And now

27:56

back to the show. All right,

27:58

let's jump back in. I know

28:01

you started to ask my favorite.

28:03

I'll get yours as well, Hal.

28:05

But then I wanted to look

28:07

at a couple of ways to

28:09

break this. down. That have been

28:11

done for us already. First of

28:13

all, I will say, Tales from

28:15

the Black Lagoon. It was my

28:17

favorite thing I got to do

28:19

of a middle segment. The noir

28:21

was great. The way it all

28:23

wrapped up was great. It was

28:25

heartfelt. It was the funny. I

28:27

think the... Sorry, Mark, shut up

28:29

for them. 20 years. You're right.

28:32

Mark, do you want to in

28:34

one sentence tell people what that

28:36

was? And then then tells a

28:38

story about Gags finding that voice.

28:40

Sure, Tales from the Black Lagoon

28:42

was part of the Hollywood Noir

28:44

trilogy. It was Ben Chapman, the

28:46

voice of the creature from the

28:48

Black Lagoon is framed for murder

28:50

and has to go around 1950s

28:52

Hollywood to clear his good name.

28:54

Was that concise? It was almost

28:56

there. We'll get it in...ish. Yeah,

28:58

we'll cut it down. It was

29:00

the voice of the creature from

29:03

the Black Lagoon. Anyway... Yes. Did

29:05

I say the voice? How did

29:07

he go land? He just went.

29:09

For all of his life. How

29:11

did you find that? Tell the

29:13

story, Ben. I'll use a file.

29:15

So when we wrote it before

29:17

we had done any shows, we

29:19

had a bunch of rehearsal time

29:21

before we launched Throwing Adventure and

29:23

Supernatural Suspense Hour, and we wrote

29:25

this two-fisted, more-ish, Robert Mitchum voice

29:27

narrator for this. segment in the

29:29

middle and Mark was going to

29:31

play it and Mark kept at

29:33

every rehearsal not giving us Robert

29:36

Mitcham and so we gave him

29:38

Robert Mitcham we gave him the

29:40

DVD of What's the one night

29:42

of the hunter? And you said

29:44

Mark you said on the night

29:46

of the show I'm gonna give

29:48

you some options and one of

29:50

them will be a pitch perfect

29:52

Robert Mitcham and then that night

29:54

you gave me the opposite voice

29:56

which was Ben Chapman And it

29:58

was it was right. It wasn't

30:00

it what it was the opposite

30:02

of what we were looking for

30:04

and it felt right and I

30:07

grabbed whacker and said. do it

30:09

again do it for him and

30:11

you did it and it was

30:13

it was right and you told

30:15

me yeah day one of acting

30:17

school at class one you don't

30:19

need to do what's on the

30:21

page it's on the page find

30:23

the furthest thing away from it

30:25

so that everything in between is

30:27

a level you can play and

30:29

you know that felt like a

30:31

giant lesson for us moving forward

30:33

oh thanks funny yeah it was

30:35

actually I was actually in a

30:37

cafe in Italy every morning working

30:40

on that You didn't speak the

30:42

language. I put you in acting

30:44

school. I put black airplane. It's,

30:46

you know, it's artists prerogative. It's

30:48

just Mark making fun of rural

30:50

Italians. He's doing, that's what they

30:52

all sound like to him. It's

30:54

really mean. I love some prosciuto.

30:56

Oh, Modena. This is where the

30:58

balsamic comes from. They're very offended,

31:00

Mark. Yeah, my people. What about

31:02

you, Hal. I love Testimony Hughes

31:04

just because it's such a fun

31:06

dumb conceit that she is the

31:08

world's greatest actor who comes in

31:11

and just plays different roles to

31:13

get people to confess. I feel

31:15

like at one point I don't

31:17

know if I pitched myself for

31:19

it or what that I wanted

31:21

to be like her professor Moriarty

31:23

or I come in and play

31:25

a bunch of different people it

31:27

never happened but I think we

31:29

only did like two or three

31:31

episodes of Des Moines Hughes. Yeah,

31:33

they were crazy stupid and hilarious.

31:35

That's why I think because it's

31:37

rare. It's like a deep cut.

31:39

Mm-hmm. And it's earned swear. One

31:41

of the only really well-earned swears

31:44

on the show. What remind me?

31:46

What was it? It was by

31:48

the like the third... time we

31:50

had done Desdemoney was in the

31:52

show. And I don't remember if

31:54

it was Craig or Paul. It

31:56

was Craig. It was Craig. But

31:58

when, yeah, because it was always,

32:00

she would rip the disguise up

32:02

and say, it is I detective

32:04

Desdemona Hughes. And it was always,

32:06

she'd rip the disguise off and

32:08

it was. testimony Hughes and we

32:10

all lost it. It's very very

32:12

funny. It turned about whatever segment

32:15

we're talking about. Also my favorite.

32:17

Oh this is going to be

32:19

tough. Except for Desmond Hughes, except

32:21

for Desmond. Except for Des Moines.

32:23

Oh wow. That one you hate,

32:25

yeah. Craig Kacowski is the only

32:27

cast member with dispensation to swear.

32:29

He can swear whenever he wants

32:31

in the show. Yeah. Because he'll

32:33

pick the right time to do

32:35

it. It'll be the perfect, like

32:37

he's a comedy sniper. He knows.

32:39

He really is, he's a, he's

32:41

a scalpel guy. Yeah, just incredible.

32:43

Like, should we do favorite cast

32:45

member? Yes, Craig. No, it's Craig.

32:48

It's easy, Craig. That easy. Come

32:50

on. All right. So this is

32:52

not from us, though we do

32:54

frequently break things down into categories.

32:56

This is from whoever. It's Craig.

32:58

Yeah, he doesn't really seen it

33:00

broken down like this, but we

33:02

got this fandom wiki though Yes,

33:04

the we got this fandom wiki

33:06

No, I'm really adventure out. The

33:08

thrilling adventure our fandom wiki. So

33:10

we have I've never seen it

33:12

put like this before. We have

33:14

multiple universes. We have the Captain

33:16

Laser Beam universe, the Sparks Nevada

33:19

universe, and the Chrono Patrol universe.

33:21

Like you said, beyond belief, pretty

33:23

strictly its own world, its own

33:25

thing. Well, how do we not,

33:27

sorry, how do we not talk

33:29

about Jefferson Reed and a million?

33:31

And Tiktok. Because all of the,

33:33

see, this is what I'm talking

33:35

about. So which of these universes,

33:37

let's talk about all these universes

33:39

in turn. We've got the laser

33:41

beam universe, which we just talked

33:43

a little bit about. We'll get

33:45

to the Sparks Nevada universe when

33:47

we talk about sparks. And then

33:49

the, let's go, yeah, let's go

33:52

into the Corona Patrol. universe. That's

33:54

the Algonquin Four, the cross-time Adventures

33:56

of Colonel Tik-Tok, Amelia Earhart, Fearless

33:58

Flyer, and Jefferson Reed, Ace-American. The

34:00

Algonquin Four was so fun. There's

34:02

so many of these are just

34:04

fun dumb, do it a couple

34:06

of time. Yeah, some of them

34:08

were like, Algonquin. for I think

34:10

was first in a Colonel Tiktak

34:12

episode and then we had so

34:14

much fun of it we spun

34:16

it off into one of its

34:18

own segments but I think was

34:20

it well Amelia was as well

34:23

wasn't Amelia Earhart first appeared no

34:25

she was her own part of

34:27

the Corona Patrol okay and Amelia

34:29

is also really one of my

34:31

favorites I think yeah like it's

34:33

our doctor who even more than

34:35

Colonel Tiktak was and I'm not

34:37

sure why what's the difference is

34:39

is our is our Eccleston doctor

34:41

who Yeah. And like a big

34:43

part of it is just what

34:45

Autumn Reserve brings to the part.

34:47

Like she made that part her

34:49

own, complete with costume. Oh yeah.

34:51

And like she's just a fun

34:53

character to write. She has levels

34:56

to her in a way that

34:58

some of the other, the lighter

35:00

segments don't. And also it's a

35:02

fun, it's I feel like the

35:04

Amelia segments are just, are plotted

35:06

just enough. You know, like there's

35:08

just enough story in them to

35:10

get more silliness than story. Yeah,

35:12

and just get to see tiny

35:14

autumn up there in her jodbers

35:16

and goggles, you know, still with

35:18

this tiny kind of voice that's

35:20

this very, you know, very perky

35:22

voice, play this character that is

35:24

somehow 10 feet tall and just

35:27

an absolute action hero. So that.

35:29

I think so many of these

35:31

segments it's the character at the

35:33

front and the performer at the

35:35

front that really drives it. That

35:37

really drives the writing. Definitely not

35:39

the writing. Yeah. I also love

35:41

like the timing like how much

35:43

you make fun of the timey

35:45

why me stuff. Like why don't

35:47

we just go back to that

35:49

if only it were that simple

35:51

like just I think it's a

35:53

fun. One thing you guys have

35:55

always done well and I think

35:57

is the reason why the show.

36:00

remains popular remains around people are

36:02

aware of it as like tearing

36:04

apart genre while also somehow like

36:06

acknowledging like going this is stupid

36:08

stuff about it rather than this

36:10

is stupid. And I think that

36:12

I mean it all comes from

36:14

a place of love like we

36:16

we love this stuff we love

36:18

these genres I love Westerns I

36:20

love horror stuff and so like

36:22

all of it is just getting

36:24

to play in those playgrounds in

36:26

the way we know how yeah

36:28

yeah which which gets to be

36:31

character first actor first like these

36:33

people don't buy the silly stupid

36:35

or they just do you know

36:37

right Yeah, and I think that's

36:39

one of the beauties of it,

36:41

I think, is that all of

36:43

the different segments have their bonkers

36:45

realities, but everybody is truthful within

36:47

those realities. Yeah, they're humans within

36:49

whatever reality they're in, even if

36:51

they are. Yeah, exactly. I want

36:53

to pull Hal's quote out and

36:55

put it on one of our

36:57

tour posters, but The Thrilling Adventure

36:59

Hour, people are aware of it.

37:01

People are aware of it. Like

37:04

a big period at the end

37:06

of that. Someone, listen,

37:08

or someone please make that. Yeah.

37:10

Those will be the mugs. They'll

37:12

be available. Julie will be in

37:14

lobbies all around the world. I

37:16

would hang that poster on my

37:18

wall. I would too. People are

37:20

aware of it credited to a

37:22

guy in the show. A guy.

37:24

And people will go, oh Craig

37:26

said that. Well, he's the favorite.

37:28

He would have said people are

37:30

effing aware. That's true. Well, he's

37:32

alive. Let's talk about Jefferson Reed,

37:34

Ace American. Sure. Many people have

37:37

been Jefferson Reed, Ace American. Let's

37:39

just set the stage here. Let's

37:41

remember to set the stage mark.

37:43

Jefferson Reed, Ace American is our

37:45

take on two-fisted Nazi punching Captain

37:47

America type hero. Yes, thank you.

37:49

Now the stage is set for,

37:51

and again, every performer has brought

37:53

something different. to it. Didn't Paul

37:55

do it first? He was the

37:57

first one to play an M-bar.

37:59

Paul then, but most famously, yeah,

38:01

or Baniac did it. Billion, but

38:03

he's the most Sam Richardson. Yes,

38:05

yes. No, no, Sam Richard said

38:07

is laser beam, yeah, laser beam,

38:10

but it was, that was like

38:12

Nathan's role, that was his, that

38:14

in fact, Jefferson, were his two

38:16

of his, two of his, two,

38:18

say a last name. Oh, Nathan,

38:20

Nathan Philian. James R. Baniak had

38:22

done it a couple times at

38:24

Embar and then when we moved

38:26

to Largo we were re-running Asamerican.

38:28

We've only written three Asamericans. Really?

38:30

Yeah. We run them a bunch

38:32

of times with different actors. Oh

38:34

that's why it feels different. Sure.

38:36

And they're like I really love

38:38

all three of those episodes I

38:40

think they're really fun. So we

38:43

were going to rerun one at

38:45

Largo for the first time and

38:47

James got sick before the show.

38:49

And we were like, oh no,

38:51

we need someone like to do,

38:53

this is like our third month,

38:55

I want to say at Largo,

38:57

like we need someone to play

38:59

this part. Who is the most

39:01

American actor we can think of?

39:03

And so I think it was

39:05

through Marissa Tancharon, we reached out

39:07

to Nathan. The Canadian. The Canadian,

39:09

Nathan Philian. And we told him

39:11

like, this is what the show

39:13

is, here's what the script is,

39:16

can you come to Padgett and

39:18

reverse? We'll be a surprise guest,

39:20

although that wasn't true, right? Because

39:22

he tweeted it. I think we

39:24

told him that, but then he

39:26

treated it because the rehearsal was

39:28

so much fun. And honestly, like,

39:30

it was having Nathan in the

39:32

show that changed the show. Like,

39:34

he helped an audience find our

39:36

show because there was a lot

39:38

of crossover audience between our show

39:40

and Firefly and the kind of

39:42

stuff he was doing in that

39:44

Comic-Con audience. So it was a

39:46

big deal getting Philian. For that

39:49

and it came from like this

39:51

is the best guy for the

39:53

part and he really was yeah,

39:55

yeah, absolutely killed him just fantastic

39:57

was June of 2010 and that

39:59

was when we like that was

40:01

when we found our Largo sea

40:03

legs too. Yeah. First Day Foley

40:05

episode his daughter came out in

40:07

cat face like she had gone

40:09

to Carnival that day and had

40:11

cat make. So during the thank

40:13

yous it was everyone was happy

40:15

that Philean was there that Foley

40:17

was there that Foley was there.

40:19

It was a sold out house.

40:22

Yeah. But the star of the

40:24

show was... The cat. Alina, yeah.

40:26

Sure, of course. Rex Flagwell is

40:28

from Jefferson Reed, Ace American. Yeah.

40:30

For those who don't know, one

40:32

of my favorite little anecdotes about

40:34

the show is Rex Flagwell's catchphrase

40:36

came from a little container of

40:38

snack on Benacher's table. That snack

40:40

was called Sweet Cajun Fire. I

40:42

just had an audition recently and

40:44

I just lifted DiMaggio's Rex Flagwell

40:46

voice. I was like, I haven't

40:48

used this in an audition yet.

40:50

Nor have I really done it

40:52

because Jackson took over. Later on

40:55

I was like, oh yeah, I've

40:57

been dying to break this out

40:59

because it's such a it's such

41:01

a good voice I don't want

41:03

to do anything else set the

41:05

state I had I had been

41:07

to Whole Foods. Yeah, yeah, he

41:09

had been to Whole Foods Yeah,

41:11

which is fun fact a cafe

41:13

in Italy Yeah, and that's what

41:15

they all sound like. No, no,

41:17

they were as just my memory

41:19

was like, General Rick's flag, well,

41:21

because everything had that little dude

41:23

on the end of it It's

41:25

really good. He's American. So, such

41:28

a good voice. And then Jackson

41:30

does it brilliantly as well. But

41:32

you can't, that is one, there

41:34

are characters like Laser Beam where

41:36

different actors have inhabited the role

41:38

and play it differently. Even if

41:40

there are sort of shades where

41:42

they cross over, it is a

41:44

different character each time, which became,

41:46

that was like the running joke

41:48

originally is that different actors had

41:50

played, like the actual in world.

41:52

different actors I played Captain Laserbeam.

41:54

Isn't that right? I believe it.

41:56

He was like a, if he

41:58

was Holmes Osborne originally, wasn't he

42:01

the first? No, he was. He

42:03

was the first. He was the

42:05

first Sparks. Yeah. Never did pre-thrilling

42:07

adventure hour. He plays parks. So

42:09

we're talking about a segment where

42:11

lots of actors have played the

42:13

roles. Let's jump to our main

42:15

segment, one of our main segments,

42:17

and that is one where, yes,

42:19

two people have played Frank, one

42:21

for the vast majority of the

42:23

run, and that is the incomparable

42:25

Paul F. Tompkins, there is no

42:27

one who can play Sadie Doyle,

42:29

like Padgett Brewster. I don't know

42:31

what, I don't, that was literally,

42:33

I just pulled the rip cord,

42:36

I was like, talk about Beyond

42:38

Belief, I grabbed the little pull

42:40

string on Woody's back and just

42:42

expected something to happen. It's fine,

42:44

Mark, this is your first podcast.

42:46

Beyond Belief is a segment of

42:48

your scripts. No, belief is a

42:50

segment of the show, it is

42:52

like the thin man with ghosts,

42:54

it's about Frank and Sadie Doyle

42:56

played by Paul of Tompkins and

42:58

Padrester, a married couple who love

43:00

each other and love drinking and

43:02

that is it. but they are

43:04

constantly set upon by supernatural beings

43:06

or beings affected by the supernatural

43:09

who need their help. Was that

43:11

a you idea that you brought

43:13

to Accur? Did you break it

43:15

together? Or was it an Accur

43:17

idea that he brought to? I

43:19

had written a pilot that was

43:21

a pair of married mediums. She

43:23

had died. He was drinking himself

43:25

to death to join her. It

43:27

was real. I'm 21 and 100

43:29

Thompson's the best writer. And then

43:31

Blacker said, well, what if we

43:33

set it in their marriage and

43:35

it's the thing with ghosts for

43:37

the purposes of the stage show?

43:39

I was like, oh, yeah, that's

43:42

right. Yeah. And it's brilliant. It's

43:44

so good. The writing is great.

43:46

Then the timing of the actors

43:48

is great. And one of the

43:50

things that also evolved over time

43:52

in the show as, you know,

43:54

I'm sure as writers, you create

43:56

something and then the actors come

43:58

in and do it. And when

44:00

you're continuing doing those characters again,

44:02

everybody sort of adjusts to everybody.

44:04

So you can write for Padgett

44:06

and Paul knowing what they're going

44:08

to deliver and then they're going

44:10

to, it's just the growth together

44:12

of writers and performers is what

44:15

makes it so good. But mostly

44:17

writers. Mostly writers. Yeah, they're right

44:19

here. Look

44:23

at this, you're halfway through a

44:25

DIY car fix, tools scattered everywhere

44:28

and boom, you realise you're missing

44:30

a part. It's okay, because you

44:32

know whatever it is, it's on

44:34

eBay. They've got everything, brakes, headlights,

44:36

cold air intakes, whatever you need,

44:39

and it's guaranteed to fit, which

44:41

means no more crossing your fingers

44:43

and hoping you ordered the right

44:45

thing. All the parts you need

44:47

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44:50

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45:23

terms and conditions apply The

45:25

thing about that's one thing I

45:27

wanted to say about beyond belief

45:29

that I think is really one

45:31

of its huge strengths, and you

45:33

guys know this, but if you

45:36

handed me two highlighters and a

45:38

script with none of the character

45:40

names in it, I could go

45:42

through and easily highlight all of

45:44

Frank and Sadie's lines, divide them.

45:46

You know what I mean? Like,

45:48

you know those characters so well,

45:50

and their points of view are

45:52

so, so specific and so clear.

45:54

that it feels like if there's

45:56

a moment where you think to

45:58

yourself frank would have said something

46:01

there and doesn't it feels weird

46:03

you know i mean like and

46:05

then by the by the next

46:07

draft he's throwing something in there

46:09

you know I mean yeah Paul

46:11

will let you know no that

46:13

is such a great sorry go

46:15

ahead part of the fun of

46:17

the show in its entirety like

46:19

we had talked about the live

46:21

show experience is that you know

46:23

you all of you actors can

46:25

do anything and kind of you

46:28

do get to do everything We

46:30

do and we thank you for

46:32

that. Part of the fun of

46:34

the unbelieve is we can give

46:36

any line to Paul and Padgett

46:38

and they will kill it. Like

46:40

a half-baked joke they will fully

46:42

bake, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes

46:44

for the rhythm of the thing

46:46

I'll go, okay, it needs to

46:48

be frank than Sadie, but I've

46:50

written it the other way around.

46:52

And so I'll go in and

46:55

switch the names and then I'll

46:57

look at the lines and go,

46:59

Mark will have been right. Put

47:01

it in the voice and sometimes

47:03

I know Blacker does this too.

47:05

Sometimes when you're writing Frank and

47:07

Sadie, you will accidentally write Paul

47:09

and Padgett. Oh wow. We both

47:11

get drafts from each other and

47:13

you know like final draft has

47:15

the auto fill for characters and

47:17

so you if you look at

47:19

the list of auto fill oftentimes

47:22

you will see like PA in

47:24

there. It's because one or the

47:26

other of us has started writing

47:28

Paul or Padget and like we

47:30

do it all the time they

47:32

are they are their characters. Is

47:34

Beyond Belief more or less of

47:36

a challenge to write? as compared

47:38

to Sparks. As Sparks, you break

47:40

an entire, you basically break a

47:42

season, you break an arc of

47:44

episodes, you know where the story

47:46

is going, and that allows you

47:49

to maybe fill it in differently,

47:51

but as opposed to be on

47:53

belief where it's one and done.

47:55

Essentially, monster of the week. Is

47:57

that more of a challenge because

47:59

you don't have the guide and

48:01

you don't want to repeat stuff?

48:03

Or how does that affect the

48:05

process? I think one is any

48:07

more of a challenge than the

48:09

other. Okay. They each have their

48:11

challenges with inherent to like those

48:13

things like sparks. the urge is

48:16

to write for a cast of

48:18

30 recurring characters and give them

48:20

all, you know, a reason to

48:22

be in the episode. And Frankenstein

48:24

is hard sometimes because like there's

48:26

really no threat to them often.

48:28

And so finding out like what

48:30

to put in danger and what

48:32

to, how to raise stakes on

48:34

characters who feel no stakes, you

48:36

know. And I think that speaks

48:38

to the difference in like. Idiating

48:40

each of those segments, like the

48:43

unbelief tends to start with what

48:45

is our take on this horror

48:47

trope. And Spark starts with what

48:49

do we want to do to

48:51

Sparks? Like one is about character,

48:53

the other is about story. Because

48:55

Frank and Sadie don't change. Right.

48:57

That's part of the fun of

48:59

them. They are Bugs Bunny or

49:01

the Marx Brothers, you know, like

49:03

they are there to be smarter

49:05

than everyone and funnier than everyone.

49:08

Yeah, they're kind of like a

49:10

Greek chorus. They're, they're there to

49:12

sort of guide you through it.

49:14

Not necessarily, but they're like, no,

49:16

no, can put it in twice.

49:18

Yeah, they are, they're, they're facilitators

49:20

of, of the story rather than

49:22

the story themselves. It's whoever showed

49:24

up at their door and what's

49:26

going on, and their involvement. Even

49:28

as we brought in new writers

49:30

in the past five years or

49:32

so, who are writing, you know,

49:35

we're doing little writers' rooms for

49:37

the show and they're writing drafts

49:39

for us, like telling them that

49:41

if Frank's only desire is to

49:43

get this vampire out of his

49:45

house, that's an okay goal for

49:47

a character. Mm-hmm. Right. Simply the

49:49

better sometimes. Yeah. Once you know

49:51

what characters want, then it is,

49:53

you're not really doing stuff to

49:55

them. But you sort of are

49:57

because you're creating people that won't

49:59

leave quickly. Right. And so they

50:02

have to try to solve the

50:04

Rubik's Cube in record time to

50:06

get them out. So it is,

50:08

it's not personal towards. for them

50:10

above and beyond the inconvenience of

50:12

somebody interrupting their alone drinking time.

50:14

Well they are characters who want

50:16

to maintain the status quo. The

50:18

status quo is the two of

50:20

them alone drinking in their apartment

50:22

and with no interruption. So the

50:24

entire goal of an episode becomes

50:26

get rid of this interruption. And

50:29

hopefully we can keep making it

50:31

entertaining. It always feels fun and

50:33

a little bit knotty when they

50:35

actually get invested in the story.

50:37

Yeah. Right. Let's talk about those

50:39

interruptions. because we love Frank and

50:41

Sadie, we know we love Frank

50:43

and Sadie, and we know what

50:45

we love about Frank and Sadie.

50:47

Let's jump over to some of

50:49

those characters that have interrupted through

50:51

the years, have been some of

50:53

my favorite characters ever to show

50:56

up, because they show up for

50:58

this one-off episode, gobble up the

51:00

scenery, and then never appear again.

51:02

Or sometimes they do come back

51:04

if you're the Donna Hendrickson and

51:06

the Vamp. Henderson, thank you. Wow,

51:08

spoke it like a true Sparks

51:10

cast member. Yeah, who's it, Donna

51:12

Hendrickson? Yeah, yeah. Cute, look, I'm

51:14

usually eating pizza during. Gags, you

51:16

have played one of the all-time

51:18

great beyond belief characters who has

51:20

made multiple appearances. Yeah, one of

51:23

my favorite characters, Carlisle Raven Castle.

51:25

Dark husband to the midnight. All

51:27

of the vampire, the unnecessary flourishes

51:29

of the vampire characters in Beyond

51:31

Belief is so much fun. How

51:33

will you give us a taste

51:35

of Carlisle Ravencastle, their husband or

51:37

the mythic? Carlisle Ravencastle, dark husband

51:39

to the midnight. Perfect. It's close.

51:41

It's pretty close. Night? That's what

51:43

it is. Yeah. That's his catchphrase.

51:45

Yeah. ABA, always be auditioning. Yeah.

51:47

That's great. I figured we were

51:50

going to segue to talk about

51:52

A. Agee. Who broke the the

51:54

cast more than anybody ever? Yeah.

51:56

We couldn't go back after that.

51:58

I think they still the actors

52:00

in the episode where Steve A.G.

52:02

played. an uncharacteristic, non-supernatural monster, a

52:04

Texas chainsaw massacre, or type named

52:06

Cinnamon, and had trouble with his

52:08

glasses of the lights and the

52:10

script all coming together so that

52:12

he could do it. So he

52:15

broke every single one of these

52:17

professional actors, like professional in the

52:19

sense that they don't break. And

52:21

I think there is still a

52:23

text thread with that cast that

52:25

every once in a while is

52:27

kept alive by just someone going,

52:29

thought of this, ha ha ha

52:31

ha. That's great. That's the magic

52:33

of age though. He's just so

52:35

funny. I remember he vine was

52:37

big in like 2011 2012 and

52:39

he was all over creating vines

52:42

and he made one that I'll

52:44

never forget where he took the

52:46

empty pizza boxes and then coming

52:48

from backstage on the three steps

52:50

up to the backstage area he

52:52

tripped and made them fly everywhere

52:54

and it was the funny like

52:56

you knew what he was going

52:58

to do and it was the

53:00

funniest thing to see live. We

53:02

can make this the best Steve

53:04

Agee bit I would put his

53:06

Baba Ganouge Instagram stories. We can

53:09

dracula all day well. You can

53:11

dracula. That's right. Oh Lord. guest

53:13

monsters. Yeah. Skeleton guys. I love

53:15

those guys. Oh yeah. They were

53:17

two dumb skeletons who were played

53:19

by. They just wanted organs so

53:21

that they could fit in. Yeah.

53:23

And it was Adam Savage and

53:25

Rich Summer, right? Was the first

53:27

time we did it. And we

53:29

loved them so much that we

53:31

brought them back. Which we shouldn't

53:33

have it. We've done so many

53:36

like simpletons on the show. But

53:38

I think that those two guys

53:40

are like the Apex Simpleton. Yes.

53:42

Yeah. One of the biggest ones

53:44

is Nightmare Clowns. We'll go right

53:46

past the genies episode. Oh sure.

53:48

You can't go past the genies

53:50

episode. Oh sure. You can't go

53:52

past the genies episode. ABG. Always

53:54

be granting. Always Grant. That was,

53:56

are there any memorable stories involved

53:58

with that genies episode? Yeah, of

54:00

course. 100 times. Yep. You mean

54:03

Joe Montania not realizing that it

54:05

was Mamet? That's not what happened

54:07

hell. What was it? Tell the

54:09

story. So we did this episode

54:11

about genies and it was sort

54:13

of a Glenn Gary Glenn Ross

54:15

riff about genies who had to

54:17

grant wishes. So Ben, go ahead.

54:19

We had a line in the

54:21

movie, it's always, it's a, what,

54:23

put that coffee down, and in

54:25

our show, it was, and it

54:27

became clear in the rehearsal that

54:30

the Alec Baldwin part of Glenn

54:32

Gary Glenn Ross that had been

54:34

written for the movie was not

54:36

in the original stage show, but

54:38

Joe was, so that matter least

54:40

in the world of anyone it

54:42

mattered to have, at least to

54:44

him. We had a line in

54:46

the movie, it's always, it's, what,

54:48

put that coffee down, and in

54:50

our show, was, put that Martini.

54:52

right in the rehearsal and I

54:54

was aware that I was going

54:57

to have to get him to

54:59

do it right but not give

55:01

a line reading to Joe Montagna

55:03

because I know enough to not

55:05

do that. So I went to

55:07

the dressing room and I asked

55:09

Paul, hey Paul, do you remember

55:11

how he said put that coffee

55:13

down in the movie and Paul

55:15

delivered it and everyone knew what

55:17

I hadn't done and had done

55:19

and Joe was like cool got

55:22

it and did it on the

55:24

night and I realized like five

55:26

minutes after I just told him

55:28

where I put it put it.

55:30

period in the sentence and gotten

55:32

there not this humiliating exercise. Was

55:34

that you know? Was that more

55:36

or less humiliating than when you

55:38

called Josh Molina by his character

55:40

on show? One of the time

55:42

I ever did that one of

55:44

the shows was when I... You

55:46

have had a thousand people come

55:49

through this show who we are

55:51

fans of and like had watched

55:53

on television. But I needed a

55:55

job for rehearsal of the other

55:57

segment he was in while Blacker

55:59

was running a rehearsal of the,

56:01

I think, sparks on the... or

56:03

whatever, and I needed to know

56:05

if I could grab Josh. And

56:07

I said, are you, can I

56:09

grab Jeremy? I didn't even use

56:11

his West Wing name. And the

56:13

only one that heard me, because

56:16

I'm a mumbler, I'm a quiet

56:18

guy, the only one that heard

56:20

me was Josh Molina. The worst

56:22

person to hear that. Josh would

56:24

never let anyone forget that. Oh,

56:26

I live on forever. Yeah. Oh

56:28

my god. Nightmare's The Clown very

56:30

quickly. Yeah. Just a brilliant take

56:32

on it, James or Baniac. Great.

56:34

Like that was killed then. Oh

56:36

good. He was so great. He

56:38

was so great as nightmares. And

56:40

nightmares had one, a thing that

56:43

happens so often in Beyond Believe

56:45

and in Sparks as well that

56:47

I love, which is this absolute

56:49

power and status, but one tiny

56:51

little thing. Takes him down or

56:53

in the case of sparks. It's

56:55

usually an alien that shows up

56:57

that they are going to blow

56:59

up the planet So that they

57:01

can get this one very easy

57:03

to get item that we could

57:05

just get for them Or you

57:07

know what I mean? It's it's

57:10

it's always those are my favorites

57:12

when it's something so grandiose and

57:14

something so simple is the ultimate

57:16

resolution of whatever it is desire

57:18

behind this thing that like the

57:20

alien wants something very small and

57:22

simple and human, but They're going

57:24

to such comic extremes to try

57:26

to achieve it. They've got a

57:28

service for tropes. Yeah, but they

57:30

just want to hug your trope

57:32

work in the beyond belief monsters

57:34

is so fun because it's okay

57:37

how do we mine all of

57:39

the tropes out of this one

57:41

type of monster and then by

57:43

year 10 it was okay how

57:45

do we mine what technically counts

57:47

as a monster is a Poppins

57:49

a monster? Cool. Do a Mary

57:51

Poppins one. That was really fun.

57:53

I think that came out of

57:55

the Peter Pan idea, right? Was

57:57

what if there's a Poppins? Well,

57:59

yeah. The whisper of a Poppins

58:01

and like the way she appears.

58:04

It's scary. I remember in that

58:06

movie with a wind blowing and

58:08

shit. Guys, you don't have to

58:10

sell me on the monsterness of

58:12

Mary Poppins. But I also think,

58:14

like, especially, again, like, we brought

58:16

the show back five years ago

58:18

during lockdown and we did the

58:20

online shows and then we've done

58:22

a bunch of live shows once

58:24

things opened up. And I think

58:26

it's kind of always surprising to

58:29

me that we haven't run out

58:31

of stuff. You know, like, even

58:33

a year ago, not even, Ben

58:35

was like, I want to do,

58:37

I have this idea for a

58:39

Hellraiser episode. And that is like,

58:41

there's stuff that it sort of

58:43

sits nicely, like the universal monster

58:45

stuff, sits very nicely in the

58:47

beyond belief world, more modern horror.

58:49

It's harder to wrap your head

58:51

around. Yeah. But then he did

58:53

this Hellraiser episode, that was so

58:56

funny. And so, like, again, it

58:58

hinged on, like, the personal dynamics

59:00

of these pain-loving demons. And then

59:02

we got a great cast to

59:04

do it. Like, it was just

59:06

really funny. Like, like, we did

59:08

another one in that same. Beyond

59:10

Belief Night, where we were like,

59:12

what if we throw all of

59:14

the modern horror tropes at it?

59:16

So it saw, and it follows,

59:18

and like a bunch of stuff

59:20

that I really love, that I

59:23

didn't think would work in Beyond

59:25

Belief, but somehow just the sheer

59:27

massive it works in Beyond Belief.

59:29

Oh, yeah, you've covered a hundred

59:31

years of monsters with Beyond Belief.

59:33

We have to take one more

59:35

quick break. We'll come back and

59:37

talk about Sparks Nevada martial on

59:39

Mars and the extended Sparks verse,

59:41

and then we will decide. once

59:43

and for all for all people

59:45

what the greatest thrilling adventure our

59:47

segment is how's that sound that

59:50

sounds great all right we'll be

59:52

right back you can't say no

59:54

you can't say no yeah yeah

59:56

yeah Let

1:01:30

him know. Oh yeah, you get, well

1:01:32

you get not only all the episodes

1:01:34

we've done over the years, you get

1:01:37

all of the bonus content from all

1:01:39

of maximum fun. Once you remember, that

1:01:41

is opening up the vault of all

1:01:43

of the great. Once you become a

1:01:45

member, you have no idea the volume

1:01:48

of shows that you are going to

1:01:50

have over 500 episodes of We Got

1:01:52

This with Mark and Hal. One of

1:01:54

our bonus content episodes that is only

1:01:56

available to members of maximum fun. Changed

1:01:59

changed me how. maximum

1:04:19

fun.org slash join, then come

1:04:21

back and press that airpot

1:04:23

again, but do it on the count

1:04:25

of three, three, three, two, one. And

1:04:27

thank you, back to the show. All

1:04:30

right, let's jump in

1:04:32

Sparks Nevada, Marshall on

1:04:34

Mars. My personal favorite,

1:04:37

obviously, I have

1:04:39

to recuse myself from

1:04:41

this in some way. Yeah,

1:04:43

me too. Yes. Everybody's leaving.

1:04:46

Everybody's leaving. I

1:04:48

guess it's beyond belief by

1:04:50

default. Oh, it's going to be

1:04:52

on belief by default. Oh, it's

1:04:55

going to be. Sparks Nevada Marshall

1:04:57

of Mars is a wonderful mashup

1:04:59

of the best of the classic

1:05:02

cowboy western and the sheriff tried

1:05:04

to keep order in a town

1:05:06

in a lawless town and also

1:05:08

the sci-fi of it taking place

1:05:11

on Mars. There's a Star Trek

1:05:13

element. His parents work for the

1:05:15

USSA which is essentially the United

1:05:18

Federation of Planets and his companion

1:05:21

is a Hey, you wrote it.

1:05:23

And his companion is a Martian,

1:05:25

indigenous Martian named Croach the Tracker.

1:05:27

Who functions like the Spock? Yeah. If

1:05:30

we're seeing him at the Starring, it's like

1:05:32

a small Ranger and Spock Rogers.

1:05:34

Yeah. Yeah, it's a buddy, like a

1:05:36

Buddy Cop Western set in space. There

1:05:38

you go. There's a log line. I'm

1:05:41

taking any meetings on that. It's my

1:05:43

original idea. This was the start of

1:05:45

the Thrilly Adventure Hour. You'd written off

1:05:48

of Malcolm in the middle. Speck,

1:05:50

is that right? That's right. Yeah, that's

1:05:52

right. There was some sort of, it

1:05:54

doesn't matter. Yeah, we wrote him up

1:05:56

in the middle, Speck, and he went

1:05:58

to a Comic-Con and met. How

1:27:51

are you in Verizon? Of

1:27:54

them-is-through-my-hore pressure. A-or in quaternos,

1:27:56

in a limited welcome, and

1:27:58

in quas pro telephos, for

1:28:00

all the familia, and in

1:28:03

turn-cambiaros, quattru-te telephone-o- Apple, Google,

1:28:05

or Samsung. Two elisiscentre nus,

1:28:07

mons, mons, mons, mons, one,

1:28:09

pama, pah-lishis, sinter-nus, nus, nus,

1:28:12

mihore, mjor, mjos, mjos, muh,

1:28:14

muh, muh, muh, muh, muh, muh,

1:28:16

muh, muh, muh, o'o, o'o, o'o, o'o, o'o, o'o, o'o,

1:28:18

o'o, o'o, o'o, o'o, o'o, o'o, o'o, o'o, o for

1:28:20

all times. apply.