S10E10 - Zach Sherwin, Creator of The Crossword Show

“ The joy of live performance is that we're all experiencing the same thing together and it unites us as a community.” When I think of crossword puzzles, I think of a quiet, cerebral exercise. It's often a solitary activity, maybe occasionally yelling out if anyone knows a four letter word for "milk's favorite cookie." When Zach Sherwin considered crossword puzzles, however, he thought, okay... but what if it also had comedians, rap, music, and just a little bit of chaos, all wrapped up in an epically funny live show? Zach Sherwin has long had a way with words. He cut his teeth performing sketch comedy and honing his rapping skills as MC Mr. Napkins. He eventually found his way to Epic Rap Battles of History, which found a way to make nerdy, boring history feel fun and – dare I say – cool. His love of wordplay and puzzles led him to create The Crossword Show. Zach Sherwin presides as two guest comedians solve a crossword puzzle live onstage, with everything displayed on a big screen so you can follow along. As the solvers decipher the clues, Zach takes the show down rabbit holes of comedy, music, wordplay and trivia, all inspired by the answer words. Everything ties together at the end for a grand finale. It is clever, hilarious, and had me awestruck at the mental gymnastics Zach goes through over the course of the show. Zach joins us on REPOD to talk about how he turned a quiet nerdy activity into something funny, thrilling, and interactive. I really enjoyed hearing him talk about the secret sauce of crafting this show, from how he adjusts the difficulty of the clues, to what makes a live show special. He was a delightful guest. Are you intrigued by how a live crossword stage show works? Zach will be performing at the Reality Escape Convention in Laval in 2026. This is a show you won't want to miss.   Full Show Notes   Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.   Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.   PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht