Hey Gang!
It Is Time.
As always I find the most exclusive interviews just for you guys, and this time it is no different. We have with us a podcasting genius behind The Last Podcaster Standing, Seven Days A Geek, and Ask an American..
Jason Parsons
So everyone sit down, shut up, and learn something…On with the Questions..
1: Name and Occupation? My name is Jason, though I think most people probably know me as “The Angry Ginger” from the podcasts that I’ve been involved with. I have a 9 to 5 day job, actually 2 of them but I wouldn’t say that those are my occupation. Those more less feed the family and sometimes put money in the bank account…not very long mind you…I am married with 4 kids and 1 on the way! I try to create or write as much as I can. I’m working on a graphic novel right now as well as a “How to Book” for podcasters.
2: How long have you been doing comedy? That’s such an odd question to me. I don’t know how long I’ve been doing it. I’ve always enjoyed attempting to make people laugh. Some would say I’m good at it. Others may say things that would make me want to attempt to crawl back into the womb and hide! Perhaps a new one, not sure I want to go back to the original! I think Sigmund Freud just rolled over in his grave on that comment! To answer your question, I guess I’ve been doing it for a few years now. I mean, I’ve always had a sometimes witty sense of humor I guess, but it’s not like I was sharing it with the world untill recent. I’ve been doing podcasting now for a few years. I suppose you could call that doing some type of comedy?
3: How did you get into comedy? I slid through the back door while Carrot Top was comforting Larry The Cable Guy as he cried on his shoulder! They were having a discussion about that Sarah McLachlan “In the Arms of an Angel” commercial about pets with 1 eye or 3 legs or something…holy hell, now I’m starting to tear up! This is worse than a Barbra Walters interview! I told myself I wouldn’t cry…dammit!
4: What did you do prior? Well, as a child I trained with some of the best fighters in the world. Ninja, Karate Masters, Circus Clowns ect. You see my family was murdered right in front of me as we walked out of the theater. We had just seen the “Citizan Kane” of comedy known as “Freddy Got Fingered” and I was at my happiest moment! Then the shots rang out! I knew right then and there as a bat flew over my head that I would become….
5: If you weren’t doing comedy what would you be doing? I’m not sure that I”m doing comedy yet. I mean, nobody has sent me a membership card or anything. I think I have a few thousand hours to log in still. I’ve yet to be yanked off stage by that really long cane they use in cartoons! So I’ve got that going for me. When I’m not doing “comedy”, I’m usually working on a project that’s a bit more serious. Don’t get me wrong…I always try to put funny in everything I do, but I don’t want to be looked at as the guy that can only do mildly funny! I’m a bit bi-polor when it comes to my creative output! I like to pretend I’m a jack of all trades. I could write James Bond as easily as I could write the next Charlie Sheen sitcom. Wait a minute…Charlie Sheen as the next James Bond? I think we’ve got something here people!
6: What made you go into podcasting? I’ve always been told I have an excellent face for radio! Radio’s always told me I have an excellent voice for watching paint dry! So I did what any Ginger or Non-Ginger for that matter would do in that giving situation. Started a podcast!
No, really what got me into podcasting is Kevin Smith. I’m a huge fan of his. I think he’s a bit brilliant even though he likes to play the “I”m to fat to fly” card a bit. He’s got his hands into everything. Maybe some would say he should stick to 1 or 2 things! I say, why? He just follows his heart. If he wants to write a comic book he does, if he wants to write a movie he does. Granted he’s probably got a few things like money and talent that helps guide him. So then he started podcasting. I thought I’d give that a listen. Soon I was hooked! I thought hey this would be fun! As a kid, a friend and I used to record fake radio shows on a tape recorder. I always thought that was pretty fun so I went to the library and found any books I could on podcasting. Which at the time there wasn’t much. I soon figured out how to do it and I”ve been doing it ever since!
7: How do you make a Podcast? Making a podcast is fairly easy! Getting people to listen to it…that takes time and patience. All you really need is a computer! As long as you’ve got some recording software and a microphone you can record your shows. Of course I would say if your serious about it then spend a little bit of money on a mixer and a couple of decent microphones. That alone really makes a difference. There are a few podcasting sites you can go to that helps you publish your show out there on the interwebs…of course that costs money.
I mentioned earlier that I”m writing a book on podcasting. I get asked a lot of questions about podcasting and I love it. I tried to do the same thing when I first started. At the time it was like pulling teeth with the ones that I could get in contact with. I’m not sure if they thought I’d be trying to steal their audience or what, but I all I could get from them was a “Good Luck with your podcast” now leave me alone little one! So now that I’ve had a few years of experience I thought I’d share that with anyone who may be interested. I don’t know it all…far from it. But I know enough to help get people started and put them on the right path! I”m like the Jedi Master of Podcasting!…Maybe….
8: Do you find Podcasts easier to do than say stand up or other forms of comedy? I’ve never done stand up. I’ve always thought that it would be so much fun to do, but as a young adult, maybe even now, I get stage fright. I love making people laugh but I’m not a fan of them just staring at me and telling me I suck!…And fuck you Mr. 10th Grade Speech class teacher…picturing my classmates in their underwear doesn’t do a damn thing but make me look at the one cute girl in class and pop a semi! Now how is anyone going to give a speech on the JFK assassination when you’ve got visions of the cutie in her panties and half a boner forcing you to hide behind the podium! Wait…what are we talking about again? Ah yes, podcasting. Yes I do think it’s easier. There’s no pressure to do good…at least not any outside pressure. You sit in your room, or your “Studio” and record what ever it is you decide to talk about and put it up for the masses to listen too. Easy right?
9: Where do you get your ideas for your Podcasts from? Well, it depends on what podcast show I’m doing but I find the best thing to do is jot down notes in your phone or where ever as much as possible. Anything that you find interesting or humorous…whatever. Just keep track of all of that stuff. When you start putting a show together you’ve got so much to pull from. It’s always better to have way more than not enough! At least that’s what my ex-girlfriend said!
10: Who do you do your Podcasts with? “The Last Podcaster Standing” podcast started out with some buddies at work. We weren’t close but we all got along and thought it be fun to do a show. The fact that all 4 of us are completely different people helped make the show as big as it got, I think. Of course it also didn’t help all the behind the scenes arguments either. But we always had plenty to talk about. I also have a brand new podcast “7 Days a Geek” that is more geared to my interests. Comic Books, Movies, Pop Culture and what not. I do that show with a few of my childhood best friends as well as a listener/friend from The Last Podcaster Standing who lives in Australia. He’s probably one of the biggest comic book geeks I’ve ever met. Great guy! One of the hosts from TLPS has been known to show up and play along as well. He’s always good fun!
11: Are you close to your Co stars ? I think so. I think that helps. You’ve got to have good chemistry and share some of the same interests so you as a group can continue having great and/or funny conversations.
12: Funniest thing to happen to you during a show? I can’t think of something that’s happened to just ME. But there are several funny moments that I”ve been involved with. We’ve had discussions on how nasty a yeast infection can actually get, to almost watching a co-host kill herself from attempting the “Cinnamon Challenge!”
I work security for a few low income buildings and the residents in them tend to be on a ton of medications! I’ve had stories of crack heads completely naked having sex in the stairwells to having to kick figments of deseased imaginations off said residents bed and out of his room! I actually yelled at “Nothing” well, “Two Nothings” having sex on a residents bed with out his permission. I said “Hey! Get your cloths on and get the hell out of here!” and I pointed across the room to the exit door into the hallway. The resident smiled and looked completely relieved! I got the hell out of there!
13: Coolest or best thing to happen during a show? To me it’s hearing from the listener. We’ve had listeners write in to say that us making them laugh helped them get through their terrible divorce. Another listener let us know that they had a kidney transplant and we helped them get through that by always having a laugh with us. One time a listener drunk dialed one of the hosts while he was lost in NY city! I’ve actually gotten pictures on Twitter of “Angry Ginger” written across a pair of breasts before! Can you believe that! The guy with a face for radio got that! Of course that was never mentioned to my wife because lets face it…I wanted to keep her off of death row! LOL
14: Do you have any special guests on your shows? I recommend to anyone doing a podcast to have guests every once in awhile! I don’t think it matters for what topic either…as long as it’s something you are fascinated by or interested in. Do it. It keeps the show fresh and adds something different to your show! It also brings in new listeners
15: If so, who? I’ve interviewed listeners as well as The cast and crew of a pretty popular web-series “Video Game Reunion.” I’ve also interviewed a women who claims to have 10 personalities and she actually spoke about killing the host off so they could take the body over and be happy!
16: Also if so, who was your favorite? I love them all!
17: How did you get an audience once you started making shows? That’s the difficult part! I think that’s the part that nobody thinks about when creating a show…Where does the audience come from? The best way is to network! Start a Facebook FanPage, create a twitter account. Be social. Don’t just say “Hey stranger I don’t even know…listen to my show!” 9 times out of 10 they’ll ignore you… or if your lucky… they’ll tell you to “Fuck off!” Make sure you get your show on iTunes. I don’t know if this is the same for all podcasts but once you start building a loyal listenership…they love to help promote the show! They want to see it grow as much as you do! That is priceless!
18: How did you decide where to put up your shows as in itunes and stitcher, and how does one do that? That’s pretty easy. If your using a publisher like Libsyn.com or Podbean.com, they do all the work for you. You just fill out what genre and sub genre you want your show to be included in and that all goes into your RSS Feed. Then you just have to go to both iTunes and Stitcher and “Submit Your Show” and you want to be on both of them. Now Stitcher does things a little different. They actually download your show and then they keep their own stats of how many times it’s listened to, and for how long…who’s favorited it and what not. Some like this…some don’t. I don’t care as long as I can see who’s listening!
19: How big is your audience and how many shows have you done? I’m not going to give out numbers but I will say that it’s much larger than I anticipated for 7 Days a Geek. I launched the show over Memorial Day weekend. It’s not even 2 months old yet and I’ve already had thousands of downloads across 80+ countries! I honestly planned on about 500 downloads for the first month…it has super exceeded any thoughts of how I thought the show would do! I’m very happy with the numbers so far!
20: Lastly what is your advice to anyone wanting to do Podcasts or comedy? Do it! Get a microphone…get some friends together and have fun. You’ve got to be doing it for you first….the audience will come if they see that you’re having a good time. Nobody wants to listen to 2 idiots broadcasting from their closet talking about “What do you want to talk about?” “I don’t know!” Make sure you each figure out in advance who’s roles are what! Stick to them. Also allow the show to organically grow. I’ve done enough shows to know that sometimes they take on a life of their own…have fun with it. See where it takes you!
21: For people wanting to find all your shows, where can they go? Website? Blog?
The Last Podcaster Standing
http://www.thelastpodcasterstanding.com
Search The Last Podcaster Standing on Facebook, iTunes, and Stitcher Radio.
Also on Twitter @Lastpodstanding
7 Days a Geek
http://www.7daysageek.libsyn.com or http://www.PodGodsNetwork.com
Search 7 Days a Geek on Facebook, iTunes and Stitcher Radio.
Twitter @S7evendaysageek
Tumblr http://www.7daysageek.tumblr.com
Ask An American (on hiatus but coming back soon)
http://www.PodGodsNetwork.com
Also available on iTunes and Stitcher Radio
What the hell are you guys still doing here? Go download some Podcasts!
Thanks Jason for being here with us, and here is a heads up gang we have another exclusive interview with another very popular podcaster coming soon!
Doctor Out
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