Life on a Lawless Island, Inbred Deer, & My Nudist Dad | Ben Smith | Ep. 354

In this episode of Glad You’re Here, we are heading to the shores of Block Island for some wild coming-of-age tales and 90s New England nostalgia with comedian Ben Smith.When Ben Smith was a kid, he was the "good student" with a driver’s permit who took the fall for his brother’s $300 car crashes, a resident of an island so small it only has one intersection, and the son of a Harvard-educated journalist who doubled as a local nudist. From navigating a town filled with "inbred deer" to throwing legendary "Smithfest" ragers while his dad was away at nudist colonies, Ben’s upbringing was a hilarious and heartfelt mix of chaos and community. Somehow he survived the pressure of being the island’s class clown, eventually turning a tragic family eulogy into his very first stand-up set.In this episode, we discuss:Island Life & Beater Cars: Growing up in a town of 80 people where joyrides end in deer bounties and totaled Toyotas.Eccentric Family Dynamics: The legacy of Ben’s father, Robert L. Smith—a privacy expert who marched with MLK and wrote the encyclopedia definition of "privacy."Comedy in the Darkest Times: Finding the "high" of performance during his brother’s funeral and the absurdity of grief.Smithfest & High School Legacies: Throwing the "Project X" of Rhode Island and the glory of high school slapboxing matches.Coming of Age: The vulnerability of leaving the island at 15 and the "tradition" of the morning-after-Halloween candy pancakes.More episodes at gladpod.comWatch the video version of this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdULOP3OlIQTopics & Keywords for Search: childhood stories, 90s nostalgia, growing up in Rhode Island, funny memories, storytelling podcast, Block Island stories, small town childhood, sibling stories, coming of age, comedy interview, Ben Smith, family dynamics, 90s memories, childhood trouble.