Episode 58: Nick McQuik

Meet Nick McQuik, the always hustling comic who co-hosts The Quik and Slow Comedy Show, a long-running podcast featuring "comedians interviewing comedians about comedy in a basement." Nick started podcasting in part to learn more about his craft, a good trick I may have adopted myself a time or two. He also jumped in with both feet by buying a lot of equipment, so he kind of had to make it happen after that. I suspect I am too old and square for some of the comedy on Nick's show, which he co-hosts with Aaron Maslow and a cast of other artists, but I admire the work that goes into producing a weekly podcast while forging a full-time career in comedy. That requires a tremendous amount of discipline and entrepreneurial spirit, which we talk about a fair bit in this episode. You'll also hear about the connections between Nick's stage show and the podcast; his philosophy of giving to get; Quik and Slow's most downloaded episode; the thriving nature of Edmonton's comedy scene; and some interesting ways to use social media to build a fan base.  This episode is also available in iTunes, on Google Play, on SoundCloud or on Stitcher. Nick made a couple of podcast recommendations: The Movie Jerks, where JP Fournier and Shawn Gramiak talk about movies they love to hate (on which Nick made his podcast debut); Dave Rae's The Devil's Advocate, where Dave debates a guest on any topic and always wins.  He also shouted out to some local businesses he admires:  Big Rig Distillery Flat Out Apparel Tasty Tom's High Level Diner He also mentioned a bunch of non-podcast comedy pursuits, including Chew On This, an Internet comedy show; The Debutantes and their biweekly Odd Wednesday sketch comedy show; and Rigby Muldoon: Bad Situation, a movie currently in post-production.  Find The Quik and Slow Comedy show on iTunes, Stitcher and TuneIn, as well as on Twitter and Facebook. Nick himself is @nickmcquik on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.  This week's Seen and Heard in Edmonton is brought to you by Taproot Edmonton, a source of curiosity-driven stories about the city, cultivated by the community. In this episode, you'll hear about Taproot's most recent stories, which tackle the way we see pedestrian safety in this city, and the consequences of that approach. Read the stories, and if you'd like to put more such work into the world, join us at taprootedmonton.ca.