The Sweetness with Dave Maher

Thomas Kelly of Sand joins me to talk acting, clowning, CTA theater and the out-of-commission ATM he wants to paint. Plus, the panel discusses the Buzzfeed-and-Upworthy-ization of news in Not-So-News. Skippers: panel starts at 6:45, interview at 45:54!

Sketch comedian and fellow Off-Off Campus alum Bryan Duff joins Dave to talk about the open and closed creative states, finding a balance of discipline and fun, and Bryan's days playing high school football in rural Illinois. Prior to that, the panelists discuss potentially embarrassing pop culture they unabashedly love. Skippers: panel starts at 13:50, interview at 42:50.

Alex Stone is a great stand-up comic who moved to Chicago after starting comedy in Dave's hometown of Cincinnati. Dave and Alex share not just a hometown but a high school, and they talk about Alex's time there (or not there, as it were), starting comedy in Cincinnati and the moments that got him to start working hard at stand-up. Alex also has some writing insights that almost anyone would find helpful. Plus, the panel explores Mike Klasek's ongoing personal transformation in "Not-So-Classic Klasek." For skippers, the panel starts at 4:00, and the interview starts at 41:47.

Gabe Liebowitz is Dave's roommate and the songwriter and singer for Dastardly, a really great band! Gabe stops by Dave's room from his own room to share the first song he ever wrote, a Frank Ocean cover, and tons of great music/creativity talk. Plus, the panel discusses the deals they'd actually be willing to make with the devil in exchange for their immortal souls. For skippers, the panel starts at 6:28, and the interview is at 37:11. Enjoy!

Aarón Alonso is an electric solo comedy performance artist, and he stops by the Sweetness to share the ideas that motivate him. He also talks to Dave about growing up in Juárez, Mexico and the lengths to which he's gone for love. Plus, the Sweetness panelists discuss things they've attempted but ultimately failed to like in "Sorry, I Just Don't Get It!" and Dave shares a story of being both literally and metaphorically lost in New York City. For skippers, the panel starts just before 25:00, and the interview starts at 1:01:00.

John Reynolds (Kill All Comedy, Holy Fuck Comedy Hour, Hunkz 'R Us, solo comedy things) stops by the Sweetness to swap high school stories with Dave and talk about happiness. Walt Delaney, Brian McGovern, and Andrew Tisher join Dave to start the show off with a panel about "Effective Missed Connections." Enjoy! (For skippers: the panel is at 8:45, and the interview starts around 39:00.)

Stand-up comic Joe Nudelman stops by the Sweetness to talk with Dave about doing material on sensitive subjects, the influences of George Carlin and Bill Hicks on his approach to comedy, and how The War of Art pertains to the grind of open mics. This week's panel features Annie Donley, Nick Mestad, Daniel Shar, and Daniel Strauss talking about Drake's new album, Nothing Was the Same. Panel starts around 7:00, and the interview starts at 55:00. Enjoy!

Sketch, improv, and video performer/director Mike Klasek stops by The Sweetness to talk about his group Sovereign, confrontation in comedy, bombing on stage, and being the kind of sensitive dude who can dish it out but can't take it (Dave can relate!). This episode also features the debut of the show's panel. In it, Daniel Strauss and Jo Feldman join Dave to talk about things they should and shouldn't have begun, music/movies/TV/books they've lied about seeing/hearing, and times they should have gone home but didn't. For show notes, go to thisisthesweetness.tumblr.com. Enjoy, and then go make something today!

Carmen Christopher introduces his version of The Sweetness before graciously handing the reins back over to Dave. Dave thanks listeners for a great year, reverse engineers meaning into the podcast's name, and details some changes to the show.

Erin McGathy, Nigel Ng, Jo Feldman, Jeff Murdoch, and co-host Annie Donley made the first live Sweetness a great experience. Unfortunately, Dave went too far in his response to Kendrick Lamar's "Control" verse by calling out other Chicago podcasts, which caused "#1 fuck bro" Carmen Christopher to crash the show and take over The Sweetness. You are now listening to The Sweetness with Carmen Christopher.

Multi-talented comedy dude Mike Glazer stops by the podcast on the verge of his move to L.A. He talks about his reasons for the move, the importance of staying true to yourself, and the twin motivators of guilt and love in balancing creative pursuits with the demands of a relationship. Plus: Dave relates the story of his first (and hopefully last) Twitter fight. P.S. For those who prefer to skip straight to the interview, this episode starts with about 23 minutes of music and intro.

Brandon Ogborn (Sports Team, The TomKat Project writer/actor) stops by The Sweetness to talk about failure in the writing process, taking on family responsibilities at a young age, and growing up evangelical Christian in a small Michigan town. Bubba also reminds Dave of a terrible, inherited piece of home decor that Dave is too lazy to take down.

After a long, unplanned but much-needed hiatus, The Sweetness is back with a nice long episode of music and chat. Alex Honnet is this week's guest, and he talks to Dave about the past and future vision for the Upstairs Gallery, what millennials want, and whether improv is art or comedy. They pretty much settle that last one for good!

Annie Donley shares a story from her high school days in this bonus episode.

Annie Donley stops by to talk about love, life, performance and the delicate act of balancing all three!

I talk to Daniel about wrestling and great advice he's gotten, and I give some encouragement and read a poem by Dean Young up top. Check out the new show bio at thisisthesweetness.tumblr.com!

Daniel is one of my best friends, and we talked about his comedic journey through the Second City ranks in this first part of a two-part interview. Lots of bits in these episodes! Get into it...

Listen to Episode 22 guest Daniel Strauss talk about the Inner Sanctum of fans who are all his! Then listen to Part 1 of Episode 22 of The Sweetness on Monday. http://thisisthesweetness.tumblr.com/ 

Gary Richardson is one of my youngest and oldest friends in improv, and I attempt to dissect and possess his confidence in this episode of the podcast. Gary had a lot of cool stuff to say about inspiration, bucking tradition to follow your own inner voice, and the duality of artistry vs. craftsmanship. Basically everything that's right up The Sweetness' alley.

I catch up with my University of Chicago improv buddy Drew Dir and trace his journey from improv comedy with Off-Off Campus to grad school in London for performance studies to dramaturging for Court Theatre to shadow puppetry with Manual Cinema. We delve deep into creativity vs. criticism, our relationships to our alma mater, and PUPPETS. This dude smart and cool as hell!

A song by previous-guest-of-the-show Andrew Tisher!

I talk to Tyler Smith of Claymore about ambition, doubt, and the gap between starting to pursue a creative career and actually making a living.

I talk to my very good friend Nick Leveski (K.C. Redheart, Flyin' High, Attica) about his journey into comedy, our friendship and past collaborations, and his own relationship with what I view as his comedic persona. Heady stuff! Enjoy.

Danny Groh (Groh Show on iTunes, Selfish Green Men at The Upstairs Gallery, Squall at The Playground Theater, force of nature at Life) stops by The Sweetness to talk about his journey into comedy from the world of business, plus the people and experiences that made him into the force of positivity he is today. Danny is an amazing guy, and I'm so glad I got to talk to him. Enjoy this!

I know Irene Marquette (Eckstein) from performing together in Maine. She visits The Sweetness to talk about those adventures as well as directing, making opportunities for yourself, and starting over. We went up the mountain!

Trevor Martin from the sketch group Oh Theodora and PlanetTown Films talks about jealousy, expectations, and the hard work of making an independent sketch group go in Chicago.

Part 2 of my interview with Eric Eyerman, in which we delve deeper into his year-long meditation and writing sabbatical, how his spirituality impacts his creativity, and the search for happiness (duh, people want it!). Also, come to Total Football True Variety Hour at Upstairs Gallery on Wednesday, February 27th at 8pm. There will be ice cream cake!

I talk to my new friend Eric Eyerman (Exquisite Corpse writer and actor, improviser on Black Wax and Den Mother, Be Good Boys director, AND MORE) about his meditation practice and the experiences that led him to it.

In the second part of our conversation, Drennen tells me how he got from Atlanta to Chicago, with a short stop-off in Austin for the Jon Glaser story that validated his move. We conclude with a look toward our own improv/comedic futures. Happy holidays from The Sweetness! Spend it with good people focusing on good things.

Drennen Quinn is my best friend, and, realizing we have been friends for almost five years, we decided to sit down and look back in a chat about music, having a preference for weirdos, and our friendship. This is just the first of a two-part interview, and there are so many great stories Drennen tells in this episode that I can't wait for you to hear. Enjoy!

Ryan Heywood and I talked a lot about The Artist's Way in the last episode, and in this bonus clip, I tell him about how an exercise from The Artist's Way led to the genesis of The Sweetness. It's our shortest bonus clip yet! Enjoy.

Ryan Heywood stops by The Sweetness to talk about starting over creatively after being cut from iO, his transition to the world of acting, and experiencing the universe as a creative entity. He gives many great details about his processes, both creative and spiritual, and we talk A LOT about The Artist's Way. Also in this episode: a diatribe on the "messy joy" model of creativity, my last apology for the podcast, and a Thermals soundtrack. Enjoy!

Are masturbation and genius related? Probably not, but that doesn't stop the two topics from getting uncomfortably close to each other in a bonus clip from this week's interview with Peyton Brown!

In this episode of The Sweetness, I talk to my friend Peyton Brown, an improvisational actor in the multimedia sketch and improv group Claymore, in a conversation that focuses on the expectations, disappointments, and dreams of recognition that go along with wanting to perform for a living. We also define perfectionism and talk about the possibility of moving on from it. And we learn that Little Peyton wanted to be a hobo! Enjoy.

It's another bonus clip! In this one, Andrew Tisher recommends a piece of "high" culture (John Banville's The Untouchable) and a piece of "low" culture (the songs of Dave Edmunds). Thanks for making this a great week for The Sweetness, and: copyright, copyright, dibs dibs dibs!

In the first of two bonus clips from my interview with Andrew Tisher, he reveals the beginning of our friendship: me talking shit about another improviser. Please enjoy my shame!

Andrew Tisher (Sports Team, Holy Fuck Comedy Hour, Be Good Boys, Selfish Green Men) is one of my oldest Chicago improv friends. He comes on the podcast to talk about his artistic origins and aspirations, the weekly performance art show he does on top of the literal Steppenwolf garage, and the cognitive behavioral therapy that cured his OCD and changed his life. Also: the concept of the Ignore List, inspiration from Robin Yount via Bill James and Rainer Maria Rilke via Joanna Macy! Check out thisisthesweetness.tumblr.com for show notes.

On the verge of his move to join his girlfriend (Aidy Bryant: SNL, Chicago, Conner's girlfriend) in New York City, Conner O'Malley shared his thoughts on comedy and life in the only town he's called home. This is a great big long exploration of what it's like to perform comedy in Chicago right now, so strap in! Conner is pretty much everyone's favorite, and for great reason. Also, even considering some of the other intros so far, this episode may feature the very weirdest intro yet. Enjoy!

Bill Stern is one of my best friends, and I talk to him about all sorts of personal, crazy shit in this episode. Bill's house burned down this summer, and we spend the first half hour or so just talking about lessons he learned from that experience. And then we keep going! Bill's fascination with sports, our mutual fascination with the idea of mastery/self-improvement, and his history as an O.G. of the Austin, TX improv scene are covered in this episode. It also starts with the weirdest intro yet! So you have that to look forward to. 

Micah Sterenberg (DMNK, Meridian) drops by The Sweetness to talk about GOD! Predestination, growing up evangelical, cool Christian summer camp counselors: we cover all that stuff in this episode. There's also a lovely little detour into Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle and the tenets of Bokononism, the made-up religion from that book. The totally inappropriate outro music this week is Miguel's "Pussy Is Mine". Listen to that guy's album, Kaleidoscope Dream!

In between crankily astute editing, I talk to Joe Avella (Master of Inventions director, Teenager of the Year writer, performer, provocateur) about making movies, meeting idols, and how he's decided to model his creative career after a small business. Plus, he gives the most concrete and effective advice I may have ever heard about comedy writing for the stage. Listen, share, and enjoy!

The Sweetness gets its first 2-guest interview with former roommates Mark Logsdon and Jimmy Pennington. Mark (Sears Tower, former K.C. Redheart, lots of Annoyance shows) suggested I get Jimmy (Annoyance, CIC, his solo show "Jimmy of Nazareth") for a roundtable discussion of philosophy, religion, racism (Prussian Blue), God (umbrellas!), and all of the other very heaviest topics. And yet, this is probably the most lighthearted episode of the show yet! It was a blast of a conversation, and I'm very happy to share it with you. Enjoy, you sweeties. // Bed Music: Shabazz Palaces -"The King's New Clothes Were Made By His Own Hands", Outro: Band of Horses - "Detlef Schrempf"

Walt Delaney (Upstairs Gallery, Pizza Party, Fiction for the Poor, smiling face!) and I talk about looking left, doing what makes your heart beat faster, and not being able to quit. Walt is not only a great guy, he is a thoughtful dude, and I had a blast talking to him. I want to apologize for the poor audio quality of these early episodes and let you know that the low guest volume should be fixed next week, I think! (I have yet to figure out how to stifle my piercing laugh.) I could be wrong, and this might just become the worst sounding podcast of all time, although that certainly seems unlikely. Stick with me, and I will make sure it's worth your time. P.S. Do what feels light!

I spoke with Chicago podcast godfather Mark Colomb (The Poor Choices Show, videos with Conner O'Malley aka coozehound.com) about having the right mindset, balancing humility and confidence, and DOING WORK. Also, of course: podcasting. Enjoy this great conversation, you lil sweeties! Intro: The Beach Boys: "Forever" / Outro: Paramore: "That's What You Get"

In this first episode of The Sweetness, I talk to Chicago actress, writer, comedian, and my good friend Karisa Bruin (ButchMAX, Counter-Productive Lover, K.C. REDHEART!) about defining, refining, and forgiving ourselves. Self-betterment! Non-judgment! Reiki treatments! It's all here. Listen, please, and thank you!