The Mob, Bon Jovi and Allan Rothbart

This is an episode of Inside the Tent, a podcast going behind the scenes of Campside’s award winning shows.Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.When comedian Barry Rothbart was growing up in Queens in the 90s, there were two things he knew for sure: his father, Allan, was his best friend, and Allan was Jon Bon Jovi’s manager. But everything changed in 1997, when Barry’s dad got arrested and admitted that he actually worked for the Italian mafia, running the largest bookmaking operation in the United States.High school Barry jumped in to work alongside him, making more money than most teenagers had ever seen. It all seemed like a perfect buddy comedy…. until it wasn’t.Years after Allan’s death from cancer in 2007, Barry discovered cassette tapes that his dad had recorded on his deathbed. These tapes contained confessions that, again, shattered everything Barry thought he knew about his father.Barry and Josh discuss why it’s so easy to make hours and hours of recordings, but so hard to edit those recordings down to make a show… especially when it’s about your family, your father and yourself.Barry opens about going to therapy and how Searching for Allan Rothbart made a positive impact on his relationship with his mom.And Barry asks Josh about the ethics of reporting in general and podcasting in particular.Their discussion gives a funny and honest window into a show that is equal parts true-crime, family memoir and late-in-life coming-of-age tale.Listen to Inside the Tent on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.Email us with questions or comments: [email protected] hope to see you inside the tent again soon. Subscribe now for updates on all of Campside’s hit shows. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit join.campsidemedia.com