It's “That Guy… Who Was in That Thing” meets "WTF" but with people even less well known! Sure it's fun to interview the crazy famous and ask them about the difficult years, but that's been done. Memories are plastic - we're getting the real dirt from people still crawling through it. Laura Scruggs is the playwright and Jake Scruggs is the technical guy who listens to a lot of “This American Life” and thinks that qualifies him to interview people.
Episodes 1-10 - Bad sound, bad internet connection, but where it all began. Bryn, an aspiring actor who just moved to New York, and his friend that he left behind, Jake, discuss trying to become a working actor. Jake's wife Laura, who's trying to become a playwright, joins the show as does Nilsa, Bryn's actress girlfriend who ran a theater in Chicago.
Episodes 11-110 - Sound and internet issues are fixed and the show transitions into an interview format with updates about Bryn, Nilsa, and Laura's artistic careers. The updates get longer and longer as everyone starts doing more things so in episode 29 we move to 'hostfull' episodes (concept stolen from the Nerdist) with only the hosts and separate interview episodes where the focus is the person being interviewed.
Episodes 111 and Beyond - Bryn and Nilsa leave the show as they were doing so many things that scheduling became crazy and stressful. Jake and Laura continue on doing mostly interviews but occasionally getting the gang back together for updates on their respective careers.
10 Notable episodes:
12a + 12b - Two part interview with Dan Taube, Chicago theater legend, friend of Bryn's, and teacher of a class where Jake and Laura met.
33 - Captain Ambivalent performs his golden accordion and explains why he wears 'Kiss Boots', a cape, and uses an inflatable dinosaur in his act. Imagine Weird Al as a one man band, without the song parodies, with a fair bit of 'They Might be Giants' influence, and you're starting to get the idea.
37 - David 'The Rock' Nelson brings his big pile of crazy ambition and just plain craziness to the show to discuss making movies in his back yard since the 90s.
59 - Laura and Jake discuss their miscarriage. Sad and raw.
96 + 97 - Jeremy Wechsler, former database administrator and current artistic executive director of Theater Wit, tells some amazing and entertaining stories. He also applies his rational side to the craft of running a theater company and being a director.
101 - We fulfill a lifelong dream of Laura's and interview 'Uncle Fun' the one time owner of the store with the same name. He is exactly as wonderful as all the toy/crazy-stuff stores he's run over the years. He's also an expert on 'Intuit and Outsider' art and quite the patron.
118 - Laura and Jake discuss 'Punk Grandpa' - Laura's soon to be published play that was part of the 2016 Frigid New York Festival. Producing a play in New York is pricey and tricky.
125 - The Q Brothers. Hip hop artists who adapt Shakespeare plays (including a play commissioned by Shakespeare's home theater: The Globe). These are some of the most entertaining people alive - A delight of an interview with a bonus freestyle rap.